My heart is so happy. Honestly. I couldn't put it down and read it in under 24 hours - about 5 hours total.

This story is written in third person BUT we get both sides still. Dual point of views have become my favorite because we get to see the feelings and stuff develop from BOTH sides. AND we get some seasoned characters, which was just so genuine and sweet.

Tropes? Second chance love. (but the good kind). Forbidden love. I mean…. could it really be a good thing for a sister to fall for her ex brother in law? HAHA. If that doesn’t hook you, trust me, you’ll be hooked quickly by this book (which releases 8/8).

The actual story? Melanie is divorced and has a 14-year old daughter AND runs her own beauty salon. Nick has been divorced twice (once from her older sister) and just moved back to his hometown to take over the family’s gym after his dad retired. Their town has decided to host a “battle of the businesses” to raise money for their local food bank. On top of that, the land between their two houses is up for win - whoever wins the bet between Nick and Melanie, gets the land.

Not Betting on Forever if you are looking for… (spoilers)
-middle aged romance
-small town romance
-grumpy/sunshine
-taboo (ex brother-in-law)
-second chance romance (teen crush)
- neighbors who bet
I liked this story of two people who find happiness after previous marriages and are later in their lives. I do like some good spice in a book and this had a little sprinkling.
3/5⭐️ 2/5🌶

This one fell flat for me. The beginning was very slow, and there were too many characters introduced at once. I loved the storylines and ideas (older main characters, known each other forever, ex-brother-in-law) but the execution of these just were not great and didn’t make an enjoyable read.

The story felt fake and unrealistic, more so then most romance books. I felt like I was watching a hallmark Christmas movie. Overall disappointed with the read because it sounded so good and seemed to have all the tropes I normally love.

I received a complimentary copy from Entangled Publishing and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The book tells the story of Melanie who is a single mom with a daughter Ava who is spending the summer traveling cross-country with her father. Cue the neighbor that drives her crazy in every way and sparks fly for the two.

It was a fun read watching Melanie and the hot neighbor falling for each other. The book has the following romance tropes:
1) single mom hot neighbor
2) small town romance
3) age gap

It was cut read with the chemistry off the charts and the banter enjoyable. I recommend the book to new romance readers, seasoned readers and all readers.

This book is a light easy read but not one I would necessarily think to recommend. It’s slow going and not a lot seems to happen. That being said the romance part moves extremely quickly. I struggled to root for them though because they were both so immature. I also found Mel a bit annoying. She constantly states that they’re only having a fling and then gets angry when Nick treats it as a fling. There are a lot of side characters to keep track of as well. I did enjoy the hallmark feel of the small town though.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of "Not Betting on Forever" by Natasha Moore. This book is scheduled to release on August 8th, 2022.

This novel revolves around Melanie, a single mom whose 14 year old daughter Ava is spending the summer traveling cross-country with her father. Nick owns a family business (a gym) and moves back to town to run it after his father retires (well, semi-retires - he seems to have no problem butting his head in where he doesn't belong anymore) The two of them fall for each other (or continue to fall for each other, since they've actually known each other since they were 10 and 16, and they are now 42 and 48) The main problem is that Lakeside is a small town with lots of gossip (think Gilmore Girls) and that Nick and Melanie's older sister Shelby used to be married to one another (they are now exes)

Another large part of this book was comprised of "Battle of the Businesses" in which different companies (Melanie runs a salon) compete in a series of team-building type events in order to raise money for charity.

Overall, I rated this novel a 3/5 stars.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
First off this book feels very Hallmark-y. A small town competition with local businesses.
Second off while this is romance between people in their 40s it didnt really seem like it.
Nick has moved back home after 20 years in Albany to take over the family gym and home.
Melanie is his next door neighbor who has taken her childhood home as well. Melanie had a crush on Nick when she was a child but he eventually married her older sister who he later divorced.
The attraction between them leads to having a fling while Melanie's daughter is with her father for the summer.
I dont know that I would recommend this book. But it's a light fluffy read.

DNF

Once I found out that Nick was Melanie's sisters ex-husband not just boyfriend and that Nick had already been married twice, I couldn't keep going. I couldn't relate and found it a bit cringey.

The things I liked about this book: it was funny, swoony, and a lovely older MC romance.

I really love the small town, sort of second chance, rivals to lovers tropes. I’m also not that bothered by the fact that Nick was married to Melanie’s sister twenty years before the book starts. Things happen, and there’s no cheating or weird love triangles so I’m game.

I did not like Nick and Melanie’s families, though. I felt like they treated the both of them unfairly and then the revelations in the third act didn’t really require the sort of conflict resolution that makes them feel realistic.

Overall this was pretty cute, though!

Nick and Melanie were a perfect match for each other. This book has a great plot, riveting banter, steamy chemistry, ups and downs, all tied up with a HEA!.

3 stars!

First, the good. "Not Betting on Forever" has some decent banter and humor between the main characters, Melissa and Nick. Their little bets and rivalries between each other make for some interesting situations as the stakes of their dalliance slowly gets upped over time.

I have to say, I am *so happy* to read a book revolving around characters in their 40s! I think it's so ignorant for some readers to assume that people in their 40s are either not worthy of love or are incapable of lust. Grow up, seriously. Still, I'll admit, these characters do not act like "typical" 40-year-olds. Their actions might be seen as too immature for their own good, but I found it refreshing to see 40-year-olds going after what they want.

That being said, this book could have been A LOT shorter. Many lines, scenes, and scenarios are repeated multiple times. A lot of the fat could have been trimmed to make a more smooth-flowing, less tedious narrative. This book was obviously written as the beginning of a soon-to-be-ongoing series. While the seeds for future books are planted in this novel, there are way too many side characters here. I struggled to pay attention to who was married to who, who slept with who, who wronged who, etc.

Some people will be turned off by the fact that Nick was married to Melanie's sister decades ago, and that Melanie going for her sister's ex-husband is wrong and off-limits. I'll entertain that notion, sure, it's a bit weird...there are only 7.7 billion other people on this planet, but it wasn't necessarily a dealbreaker for me. Maybe it's because I just did not ever feel a depth of love between Nick and Melanie. To me, it felt like conveniently located (literally next door), perfectly timed (while her kid is on summer vacation) lust.

Overall, "Not Betting on Forever" is a mixed bag, but I'll probably give the next book in the series a go.

(Tropes: forbidden love, small town romance, older main characters, childhood friends AND enemies to lovers)

Thank you to NetGalley, and the author, for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated in any way for my review.

This one started off weird because Nick used to be married to Melanie’s sister, which just kind of gave me cringy vibes anyway. The part of the book I liked is that they are older, making this forever single lady think maybe in my 40s I’ll get a chance at love.

Overall, even though they were older, they both lacked emotional maturity and danced around issues too much. A real lack of communication, but don’t worry they get together in the end.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not quite sure how I feel about this. Don’t get me wrong: it was entertaining and swoony and if you love small-town romances, this might be just for you:

Melanie and Nick are both back in Lakeside. They once again are neighbors and instantly crushing hard on each other. They don’t really fight their attraction, but they don’t give in easy either, because –HELLO- small town AND Nick was married (!) to Mel’s sister. Granted, this was 20 years ago but it didn’t feel like it was ok.
At times it felt like they were very clear and sure, but most of the time, they acted like teenagers. Our side plot (really, it doesn’t signify for the story) is a bet about a connecting garden and Lakeside’s annual Battle of the Businesses where they both participate with their teams. Unfortunately this felt so unnatural and constructed that it just didn’t do for me.
Like I said: it wasn’t that bad, it just wasn’t for me.

Melanie Hayes’ new neighbor turns out to be none other than her sister’s ex-husband and her secret teen crush. Between raising her teen daughter and running her salon, she has no time for a handsome but off-limits distraction. Nick Campagna moves back to his hometown to take over his family’s gym. He can’t help the attraction he feels for neighbor in spite of her being his ex-wife’s younger sister.

Not Betting on Forever is an unusual take on a second chance romance. The “sister’s ex-husband” trope is not for me but that is the least of my problems with this book. If I didn’t know that the MC’s were supposed to be in the 40’s I would suspect them to be much younger. There is a lack of maturity in both the way they speak and act. Melanie acts like a whiny teenager with her family, especially her sister. The plot moves very slowly even though the MCs express their feelings fairly early on in the storyline.

While this book was not my favorite, I would like to take a look at some of the author’s other work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC!

I have such mixed feelings on this book. I really wanted to enjoy it, but it just fell short. I enjoyed the humor and banter between the characters. I also thought it was really cute at points too! The characters at points were just so immature. Both Melanie and Nick are supposed to be in their 40s, but I felt like the way they acted was like teenagers. Even the side characters just felt very immature in their behavior. In the end, this book was a cute and quick read but it just felt immature for the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not Betting on Forever is a fun reunion type romance. I love that the book is based around middle aged characters who have lives that they are settled into and have to navigate around. Melanie and Nick have known each other their entire lives having grown up next door. Growing up Melanie had a crush on Nick but had to dream on from the shadows while he dated and eventually married her older sister. Years later after getting divorced and moving back home Nick and Melanie are reunited but the friendship they used to share isn't what it used to be. I loved the banter the characters had together, the back-and-forth push and pull trying to keep their attraction at bay. The small-town gossip also added a fun element and made laugh. Parts of the book moved quickly and left out details I wish would have been touched on but overall, I really enjoyed this love story.

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. This was an okay read for me. It felt a little too cheesy at times and I didn’t really feel any connection with the characters (could totally be a me thing). I kept getting lost in the story trying to keep up with all of the characters that were included.

If you want a semi-easy read, that’s filled with small town gossip, then I would pick this one up to end summer with. However, if you aren’t the biggest Hallmark movie fan I would skip!

Read if you like:

💗 forbidden love (sister’s ex-husband)
🏘 small town gossip
🎰 betting
👩🏽 single mom
✨ older MCs

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I just couldn’t finish this one. Made it 2 chapters in. While I was excited for a love story with middle-aged characters, the storyline, characters, and writing seemed very immature.

I spent a good amount of time flip-flopping on my rating for this book, because it had all of the things that I liked, but there were certain parts that felt a little strange. But on the whole, Not Betting on Forever was a quick and fun read, it’s my first by Natasha Moore, but definitely got me curious about the others. It’s also the second in a series, but I don’t think you need to read the first book to fully grasp this one.

Not Betting on Forever has…
✨ forbidden (she’s the sister of his ex-wife)
✨ characters in their 40s
✨ neighbours to lovers
✨ childhood crush to lovers
✨ small town shenanigans
✨ a really fun wager
✨ a friendly town competition
✨ just one time to get it out of our systems

I mean, look at that list! This book was basically my catnip and I can’t even tell you how fast I clicked ‘request’ when I saw it on NetGalley. I know lots of people are iffy about this kind of forbidden romance, but I quite enjoy it. Especially when there’s no cheating or anything untoward happening. Besides, Nick and Melanie have tons of history and were friends before everything else in their lives happened, so I feel like it totally works. I’m also a sucker for small town shenanigans, and this book came with the added bonus of having something called Battle of the Businesses (BoB) where everyone in town that has a business participates in a month-long competition that has so many fun activities and games.

Nick and Melanie’s relationship was definitely interesting. There was a lot of pushing away on Melanie’s part, simply because she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her sister’s wrath and also because she knows that it’s not a good idea to get involved with Nick. But for Nick, he can’t stay away from Melanie. Yes, they live right next door to each other (in the homes where they grew up, even), but it’s so much more than that. Between their shared history (not just her sister) and the memories they have, it’s impossible for them to ignore the building attraction. I liked that Nick didn’t hide his attraction to Melanie either, especially when he just laid it all out there and told her how he felt.

Not Betting on Forever is fun, absolutely no doubt about it. And while I loved all of the BoB stuff, there were parts where I felt like things were dragging. I wanted to see more of their relationship and dive deeper into their feelings when they were together. There was a lot of sorting things out on their own and vaguely talking about it together, but I personally just wanted more. I do like how much of their businesses were brought into the story and how passionate both of them are about being part of such a tight community.

This book is for readers who enjoy small towns and the gossip that comes along with it, mature characters and unforbidden (sort of) love.

Having said that, the book is missing something. I'm not sure what that is exactly, but the premise has so much promise. There is a big hole in the romance genre for "seasoned" characters.

I've been waiting for a good rom-com that will showcase characters who have already been through their first crushes, loves, marriages, divorces - the whole shebang. People in their 40s need love and sizzle too and this is a goldmine waiting to be tapped.

I think the issues I had with NOT BETTING ON FOREVER were the pacing was too slow. The families butting in was weird considering Melanie's sister cheated on her husband so why is HER family supposed to be loyal? Also they are too old for their families telling them who to date. The arguing about their attraction and the back-and-forth "come on kiss me" thing. The competition games for the town was too drawn out.

I think this book would be great for readers looking for a bit of Hallmark After Dark reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an e-book copy of NOT BETTING ON FOREVER to review.

I rate NOT BETTING ON FOREVER three out of five stars.