Book Review: The Love Wager

You may remember a couple months ago when I couldn’t stop talking about Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter. I love that book so much! When I finished reading that book, Lynn Painter, had just so happened to post a promotion on her Instagram for her upcoming adult novel, The Love Wager. The promo said that if you pre-ordered The Love Wager you would get two (!) bonus epilogues to Mr. Wrong Number. Well I didn’t have to be asked twice!

Little did I know at the time that The Love Wager is a spinoff for Mr. Wrong Number that follows Olivia’s brother and Colin’s best friend, Jack Marshall, and new character Hallie Piper.

The Love Wager has that same fun, adorable vibe with hilarious banter as the other books I’ve read by Lynn Painter.

The novel follows Jack and Hallie after they have a one-night stand the night of Olivia and Colin’s wedding. Jack breaks up with his girlfriend at the wedding and Hallie is one of the bartenders. After the super steamy one-night stand, they don’t have any contact with one another until they see each other on a dating app. They start talking immediately, but as friends, and decide to place a bet to help motivate them both to find true love and not give up on the app and/or dating. Whoever can find their person/love first will owe the other person the thing they agreed upon. They are each other’s sounding board and support through all the swiping and dates and after each date, they meet at a taco place to eat and talk. They become best friends and are actually perfect for one another, but neither wants jeopardize their friendship.

Throw in some fake dating and a lot of fun banter and you’ve got a winner of a romcom! I loved both Hallie and Jack, but Jack especially. I don’t know why I liked him more than Hallie even though I really had nothing against Hallie. We also get some scenes with my favs Olivia and Colin!

Overall, I loved the book. I laughed out loud at multiple parts and adored the friendship and love between Jack and Hallie. I did like Mr. Wrong Number a little more, but still loved The Love Wager.

Read this if you’re looking for a funny romcom with friends to lovers and fake dating tropes with some slow burn vibes leading to totally worth it steam/spice!

P.S. Just a lucky coincidence that my flowers matched the book cover perfectly!

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