The Love Wager
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4.1 • 62 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Wrong Number.
Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.
After agreeing they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie realize they’re each other’s perfect wing-person in their searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.
Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.
Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they both struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Sometimes you just want a comfort-food romantic comedy, the kind filled with fizzy banter and just enough heat. The Love Wager delivers on all counts. At a wedding in a posh Chicago hotel, bartender Hallie accidentally destroys best man Jack’s planned post-reception proposal to his girlfriend…and then does a hungover walk of shame from his room the next morning. Now both Hallie and Jack are ready to move on and make some big changes, so the odd couple reunite to become each other’s wingmen, making a high-stakes bet on who’ll fall in love and put their life back together first. It’s obvious where the story’s headed, but author Lynn Painter throws in just the right amount of believable obstacles and goofball supporting characters to keep us hooked. With its pair of immensely likable leads, this winner of a rom-com is unabashedly silly, endearingly sweet, and truly sexy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Painter follows up Mr. Wrong Number with an equally cute friends to lovers romance. Jack Marshall has a crisis about his love life after the playboy uncle he's always idolized dies alone, leading Jack to cling to his own toxic relationship. That plan blows up in his face at the wedding of his sister, Olivia, to his best friend, Colin—the protagonists of the previous book—where Jack gets dumped and winds up hooking up with the bartender, Hallie Piper, instead. For Hallie, drunkenly hooking up with a stranger in the middle of her shift is rock bottom, but Jack turns out to be a kind and supportive confidant. The two of them make a bet: the first one to get their lives in order and find true love wins. Wing-manning for each other over a series of disastrous dates brings them closer—so close that when Hallie needs a date for her own sister's wedding, Jack steps in to play her fake boyfriend. Though Jack doesn't feel quite as fleshed out as potty-mouthed spark plug Hallie, their equally filthy sense of humor makes their connection feel real and their game of constant one-upmanship is a lot of fun. Painter's fans won't be disappointed.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful!
This book was so so good! Honestly it was a perfect romcom. It had hilarious banter and realistic character that were dynamic. Jack and Hallie are so perfect for each other and their relationship had a true depth that was lovely to experience.