Cover Image: The Love Wager

The Love Wager

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Member Reviews

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write this,especially considering how much I enjoyed it. I love a funny romance and this one made me laugh out loud. I will absolutely be finding and reading more books by this author.

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Absolutely loved this one! The sexual chemistry was off the charts and I loved both the main characters so much! This was a one night stand turned friendship turned fake dating turned love and it was brilliant

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Another absolutely unputdownable book by Lynn Painter. I adored the banter and premise. This was a heavy and much needed dose of friends to lovers.

I’ll continue to read everything this author writes.

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My god Lynn Painter you have done it again. The dialogue was kinda strange in the first twenty pages or so of this and I didn't think I was gonna like Hallie, but luckily it got much better VERY quickly. SUCH a good romance, very lovely light read but still some compelling and relatable emotional themes that I very much appreciated. I don't trust how perfect Jack is, but that's neither here nor there. Also, I thought their final reunion-get-back-together scene could've been better, but I am still a large fan of this book. FIVE STARS!

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You know that feeling you get in your chest when you read a really good love story? Your heart swells, your pulse quickens, you’re kicking your feet and squealing? That was me with this book. I didn’t think it was possible for Painter to top herself because Mr. Wrong Number is a masterpiece, but…she did.

This book was funny, sweet, sexy, two-halves-of-a-whole, once in a lifetime kind of love amazing. Jack and Hallie meet when she’s bartending his sister and best friend’s wedding (yes, Olivia and Colin!!!!) and what ensues is a super hot night of slutty wedding sex. But they later connect on a dating app, and through mutual dating woes, become best friends. Until they both want more, and it all comes to a head in Vail at HER sister’s wedding. Lord I just love these two so much. They were both hilarious and sweet and soooooo hot. They both wanted to find love, and wound up finding so much more than they ever dreamed of.

Lynn’s writing is beautiful. Her prose flows well. She’s hilariously talented, and creates characters that you feel like you’re living right alongside. I wanted to live in this story forever.

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Funny banter, great chemistry, and a wingman trope rolled in with there's only one bed, a bet, friends to lovers, AND he falls first? You can't go wrong.

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Why did I wait so long to read this?! I loved every single minute of it. I love the wingman trope and the bet they have. I love that they gather together for tacos after dates don't go well. I love that it also includes a bit of friends to best friends to lovers and a one bed trope and a fake dating trope for a wedding that turns into real feelings.

Jack and Hallie are hilarious together, their banter is top notch! I love that they will text each other even when they are in the same room together. The weekend was one of my favorite parts and how they "played" up the "fake ness" and the cat shelter was so fun too.

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I don't know why I keep trying Lynn Painter books because I just don't think she is for me. I imagine this will hit the spot for a lot of contemporary readers, but this just wasn't my vibe. So much of it just doesn't feel believable.

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Another solid romantic comedy from Lynn Painter! I really enjoyed her previous books and this was a fun addition to her repertoire.

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I love stories where there's a wager going on and the ending is not what either of them expected. This one was definitely worth the read, even though it was predictable, but hey, it's an HEA so what do you expect. I will definitely be reading more of Lynn Painter in the future!

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The Love Wager was definitely predictable, but sometimes you need the comfort of knowing what to expect. I liked that the book followed a formula that pretty much guaranteed I was getting a HEA after some miscommunication drama. The characters weren't my favorite personality-wise but chemistry between them was off the charts. This is the second book in the Love Wager series I read and I actually liked this one better than Mr. Wrong Number.

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I enjoyed this one. A very sassy and sultry and funny romance —with the panache and ups and downs of a wild wedding!

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I absolutely LOVED this book so freaking much. Mr. Wrong Number is one of my favorite rom-coms and I am so happy that Jack got his own book with the most perfect fmc Hallie.

I literally smiled so much while reading this book, it made me so giddy and it was the most perfect one night stand turned friends to lovers story. If you are a hopeless romantic like me you will fall head over heels for this book.

One thing about Lynn Painter is she is always going to write the most cutest books ever. Jack and Hallie have my heart forever.

“Kissing Hallie in the airport security line—that was something else entirely. That was like coming home.” 💛

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The Love Wager is the perfect follow up to Painter's Mr. Wrong Number. Hallie and Jack have instant chemistry when they meet at the wedding of Olivia and Colin, our main characters from MWN. After an amazing one night stand, the two reconnect through a dating app, sparking a bet between the two: whoever can find their "soulmate" first through the app wins, and the stakes are certainly high. However, as the bet progresses and Hallie and Jack go one hundreds of bad dates, they form a fast and fond friendship. After each date (during which they spend the majority of their time texting the other) they get tacos and beers and regroup. Then comes the kicker: Hallie needs a date for her perfect sister's wedding, and after many failed attempts at love, Jack offers to be her fake boyfriend. Can their blazing chemistry and astute knowledge of the other survive a weekend of fake romance, or will Hallie and Jack fall in love with being in love?

Hallie and Jack are the quintessential romcom couple, and it was a joy (as always) to read Painter's sexy slow-burn. Hallie was absolutely hilarious, and Jack took brooding and machismo to the most written-by-women level possible. I loved having the cameos of Olivia and Colin throughout the book, but also appreciated the focus we got on Hallie and Jack by themselves. Lynn Painter never misses, and I can't wait to continue to read everything she ever writes!

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the queen of rom coms! this was so fun and such an easy read, seriously, i read it in one sitting! i adored the characters and hope that she continues this series with more characters!

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I have discovered something about myself. I am always 100% in on a book that has characters with witty banter and this one knocked it out of the park!
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This book revisits the characters in Mr. Wrong Number. This could be read as a stand alone but let me tell you both of these books are so enjoyable!
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In this one Hallie is working as a bartender at the wedding of Olivia and Colin (from Mr. Wrong Number, yay HEA!) and ends the night with a one night stand with the bride’s brother. This was a wake up call for her. Time to start living life as an adult, not that her night with Jack wasn’t memorable.
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She decides to get what she considers a grown up job, a haircut, new clothes and get on a dating app but she comes across Jack. They message and strike up a friendship and become dating buddies, usually meeting for tacos after their disastrous dates. They make a wager to see who can find love first challenging each other to put their best foot forward while not shockingly falling for each other along the way.
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I really loved this one. It’s just pure fun and Painter writes characters that you root for. This book is out tomorrow!
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Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This was just such a fun, enjoyable read. The chemistry between the two main characters was off the charts, the banter was superb, and it was such a fun take on a friends with benefits to friends to lovers trope. There was also the fake dating and only one bed tropes which were done really well.
Overall, such a great romcom book - I can’t wait to pick up more from this author.

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This was such a great rom com. There was banter and the chemistry between Jack and Hallie leapt off the page. I loved that they were always competing. They are so perfectly flawed. Enough to make them relatable but not enough to turn me off.

I loved Hallie from her first meeting with Jack. Taking things in stride, yet being confident and sassy. Jack was swoonworthy as he stepped up and did the little things for Hallie. They were great characters that knew what they wanted in a relationship and didn't have any excuses as they hunted their forever relationship.

I could have kept reading about those characters for forever.

I switched back and forth between reading and listening to this one and loved the dual narration of the audiobook. That is my favorite way to listen to a rom com. The story was a little bigger and entertaining as I listened.

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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.

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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

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