Break-ups and exes, bets, weddings, & friends-to-lovers fake dating, this has it all. Hallie is finally getting her life together when she runs into Jack, her wild one night stand; also fresh off a break-up. They begin a competition to see who can find The One first. But when they encounter another wedding weekend, the lines blur…again.
This is a fun romcom and quick, easy read. Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is out now.

I feel so bad, I usually LOVE lynn painter and her writing, but this book was just not for me. I felt the characters to be way too childish and immature and just could not bring myself to read this and I struggled to feel a connection to the characters. I appreciated the Colin and Olivia cameos but that’s about it

Hallie is working as a bartender at a wedding when she gets talking to Jack. His girlfriend becomes jealous and accuses him of having an affair with Hallie, so he tells her that he had been intending to propose but not anymore. Instead Hallie and Jack get drunk and spend the night together.
Deciding they are better suited to being friends after they end up on the same dating app, Hallie and Jack team up on dates, and forge a wager about who will find a partner first.
You can bet on plenty of banter, hidden attraction and fake dating, with a dual point-of-view.

This is by far my favorite rom-com of the year, and definitely on the top 10 of books I've read this year so far. It's hilarious and heartwarming, with the perfect amount of spice. This is the 2nd book I've read by Lynn Painter, and I am already eagerly awaiting her next release. I highly recommend this one if you genuinely want to have a good time reading a book! 5 stars all the way!

I would love to interview Lynn on my podcast, Raise Your Words. The Love Wager was both funny and swoon worthy.

Lynn Painter is my kind of author!

So. Many. TROPES in this book and they’re all fun and have all the wit and banter I am obsessed with from Lynn Painter. Unputdownable book. Gobbled it right up. I seriously love the pacing of her books and stories so much.

One night stand, friends to lovers, fake dating, bets, one bed. So much fun in this book!

Giving this book 4.5 stars and bumping Mr. Wrong Number up to 5 because I liked that one a smidge more. My only complaint, as it is with most contemporaries, is the 80% mark that hovers over you like an axe just waiting to fall. It makes me anxious reading knowing drama is gonna go down and I hate it when it does.

Loved it!!

I loved Mr. Wrong Number and now I can say that I loved The Love Wager too.

This book is about Hallie and Jack.

The first time they meet, Hallie is working as the bartender for Jack's sister's wedding. It's also the time when Jack's almost fiancee decides to be nasty and attack Hallie. This leads to Jack breaking up with her and instead spending the rest of the time with Hallie. One thing leads to another or should I say, one drink leads to another, and Jack and Hallie will spend a one-night stand together. Yet, this is not the end for this pair. They will meet again while using an app known for finding true love and meeting "The One". At first, their interactions are messages, then texts, and then phone calls. Their conversations are about everything including sharing their bad dates from the app and deciding to meet after those dates to discuss what went wrong while eating tacos together.

You can guess what happens next. Hallie and Jack both start developing feelings for each other but what is the best course of action? Ruin the friendship they have and enjoyed or try to become a couple and wish for the best.

Love both characters, their banter, and their very real friendship. Also, I loved how perfect they were for each other.

I can't wait to read a new book in this series. Will it be about Hallie's roommate? She seems like an awesome character.

Cliffhanger: No

4.5/5 Fangs

Lynn Painter is now an auto-read author for me. I absolutely loved this story about Hallie and Jack and how their one-night stand turns into friendship, then turns into more.

The banter in this book was great and laugh-out-loud funny. I'm such a sucker for friends-to-more stories. If you're looking for a cute, well-paced romance, this is it.

A wonderful read. Lynn Painter has a way of writing the sweetest, most heart-wrenching romance books.

When we first met Jack as a background character in Mr. Wrong Number, I was immediately drawn to the little glimpses of his personality, so I was very excited to read more about him and see him get his happy ending. Lynn did not disappoint.

The evolution of Jack and Hallie's relationship, from friendship to the slow burn of something deeper, was beautiful. Their banter was delightful, their inside jokes hilarious, and their chemistry off the charts.

Finished this in one day! Very fun and easy read if you’re looking for something light. I really love Lynn Painter’s YA books and I think that’s where I like reading her voice best but I still found this to be a good time!

I am obsessed with anything that Lynn Painter writes -- it's not every author who can write great YA AND adult novels, but somehow she manages. Another great romcom from this fabulous author.

I am a sucker for a Lynn Painter book, but have yet to find an adult rom com that measures up tot he sheer quality and thoughtfulness of her YA material. This was cute and entertaining but sometimes felt like it was rambling on for the sake of there being more but without purpose.

The Love Wager
By Lynn Painter

Another addictive rom com from none other than the queen herself, Lynn Painter. I just loved this couple – Hallie and Jack - and their amazing witty banter, swoon worthy romance, and please give me all the tropes. This is the second book in the Mr wrong Number Series and it just keeps getting better and better. I love the writing and the audiobook was so well done by Kristen Di Mercurio and Zachary Webber – both did a phenomenal job capturing what I thought Hallie and Jack should be – utter perfection and sizzling chemistry.

Highly recommend.

I’m a huge fan of Lynn painter and it’s safe to say that I will read anything that she comes out with because I just adore her. Lynn is from Omaha Nebraska and she references a lot of places there and I’m from there as well so I love seeing all of those places reference it makes the book come to life even more.

Lynn Painter is one of my favourite authors. Once again, she has nailed the cute storyline. Our two main characters Jack and Hallie had chemistry right from the start however it was easy to see their closeness increase throughout their friendship and fake dating. Steamy, swoonworthy with sweetness overload - this book has everything you want in a great romcom!

I can now understand the HYPE around Lynn Painter. After reading The Love Wager, I need more books by them. This book gave me EVERYTHING I love in a romcom. It gave funny, witty, a little spice, fun banter, and swoon worthy moments. I loved every moment of it!

I loved seeing the relationship between Jack and Hallie develop. I loved the way they would come together after a date and have tacos. It was cute the way they went from not being into each other to friends to developing feelings to then being with each other. It made it more believable and meaningful. The chemistry between them was spot on. This also gave me one bed/forced proximity and fake dating trope and I absolutely ate it up!

Listen, just pick this one up! I highly recommend. It’s worth it. I need a physical copy of this book, so I can reread and annotate it. Also the audiobook was good!

I have read a few of Lynn Painter's books and so far have really enjoyed them. The banter in The Love Wager was sooo much fun, it's always some of my favorite scenes in romances, it gives a fun vibe and overall makes the experience better. I'm complete goo for the one bed trope and fake dating trope and the fact that these were BOTH included just had my heart!!! This was just so good, my heart could barely take it!

This was a very cute, short, and sweet friends-to-lovers story. I loved seeing a relationship built on such a strong foundation of friendship, and I think the pacing and length of the book was perfect. My biggest issue with this book was the "she's not like the other girls" themes that seemed to make up most of Hal's personality. It felt like all of the quirky personality traits that she had existed only to show how different she was from the women Jack had dated before (i.e. she eats tacos! she wears knee-high socks instead of sexy lingerie! she's chill and can drink whisky instead of fruity cocktails! she's not jealous like that last hag he was with! she has red hair instead of blonde! she tells jokes!) It's not overt enough to necessarily be offensive, but this just isn't the vibe for me in 2023.

After reading Lynn Painter’s other books I find myself disappointed with the flimsiness of this one.

It's been a hot minute since I read this book, but I can still remember all the details. That should tell you how much I loved this book!

Mr.Wrong Number is one of my FAVORITE romcoms and I was so excited for this book! I was not disappointed at all!

We follow Jack and Haillie in this book who have a drunken hook up. While they don't have feelings for each other, they end up becoming really good friends and help each other out on dating sites and if a date goes bad they get the other one out.

The witty banter, the spicy scenes, the friendship.... all the stars! I absolutely loved Jack and Haillie's personalities and they just meshed together so well. There were laugh out loud moments and some slow burn spicy moments.

While this book isn't anything new in the romcom world, I still devoured it!