I want to start by thanking Entangled and Netgalley for this ARC.

I did finish this book in it entirety though I honestly can't say I would read it again. In the beginning, the main MMC is supposed to be I believe 18 and reads like a love-sick 13-year-old. Fast forward to the now and it felt forced when they grew into adults who still read like they have the minds of teenagers but the whole logical pov and algorithm made it hard to really connect to any of the characters let alone their "love" for each other. While I didn't fully enjoy this book it was decent writing and I could see where the specific Audience would absolutely love the story so I am giving it a 3 star.

One of favorite things about books and there characters is when I can see parts of myself in them, and then learn from them. This is exactly what happened as I read this book. Deanna and I have so many similarities, at one point I thought I was reading about myself, with the exception of the fact that I am not a California girl (even though I did want that in my younger years).

I loved that River tried to get Deanna past her need for logic to rule all. And I loved the growth of Deanna at the end when she saw the flaw in her ways. I'm haven't gotten there just yet, but seeing that it is possible did give me hope, even it was a fictional character.

I also loved the spice level of this book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was 100% perfect. The only thing that I would say could have been done better was that I wasn't sure how much time had passed once we got to the Epilogue. Making that clearer would have helped the book to have a more fitting ending in my opinion.

River grew next door to the sister. He has been in love with Lexi since he first saw her. He moved to NY and has recently moved back to be close to his grandma, while she is sick. All of those feelings come back the moment he sees her again.

Deanna and Lexi are two sisters, as different from each other, as you can be. Lexi is blond, bubbly, full of life and desperately afraid of commitment. Deanna is dark, serious, driven and eager to prove herself. They made a dating app together and need investors. Lexi found her perfect match through it but is afraid that it to become serious. Deanna needs that relationship to work, so she can prove that love can predicated by the algorithm. She also needs to keep River away from her sister, so they make a wager, but the more time they spend together, the more sparks fly between them. But this time love is not based on fairytale, but on reality.

Every guy she even liked, fell for Lexi sooner or later. And River has spent literary years in love with her, so it will take something bit to convince Deanne to give their love a chance.

It is a slow-paced story, we get to know characters before they start to really interact. It's not the style I usually like, but it works well for the story.

A dating app, a hilarious grandma, the boy next door, and a sabrina re-telling with a twist. Are you ready to find out what happens when you attempt to play matchmaker and someone else decides you should find a match first?

In order to secure their dream with MeetCute Lexi and Jake will discover that a wager is no match for love. If they are able to put someone else before their own needs then love may find a way to get through the front door.

This two person POV has spicy chemistry with a slow burn and a meddling grandma that is not what you expect.

A fun read for a sweet bookcation!

I give this book 4 1/2⭐️ I really enjoyed this whole book the banter ,the spice , and it was just a fun lose yourself and forget your reading kinda book

This was a DNF for me.

I found the book way too slow and the love triangle and dismissal of characters’ feelings really rubbed me the wrong way.

Deanna made no sense. She has an app for love but is so flip floppy. I had to reread paragraphs to make sure I didn’t miss anything because some of it made very little sense/flow was off. Lexi was an archetype with very little depth.

This book was a fun romp with some interesting characters but the plot definitely felt like I'd read it before and the premise was a little shaky for me. It was a quick read and had some good LOL moments.

Ratings: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶 🌶 🌶 /5
The Neighbor Wager by Crystal Kaswell is a boy-next-door romance following River Beau and sisters Deanna and Lexi. Growing up, River has a crush on bubbly blonde Lexi, having unrealistic fantasies and “love at first sight” expectations, and exemplifies the definition of a childhood crush. When River grows up and comes back home to help with his grandmother ,and prime caretaker’s, declining health, Lexi finally notices him. Lexi, however, does not have the purest of intentions, and Deanna has an ulterior motive in keeping Lexi in love with her current boyfriend. In the process and through conversation about the “magic” of love, Deanna strikes up a deal with River: he has to prove to her that love is magical with no logic or she has to prove that love is solely science and algorithms. If River can prove his point, he gets his shot with Lexi without Deanna’s interference. But what happens when River begins falling for the other sister?

Overall this book was a cute comfy read with a decent pace and some excellent spice. Crystal writes her smut with ease and gives us a dual POV to understand what each character is feeling and how their relationship develops. Towards the end, it got a little cheesy in my opinion. I felt like there was a lack in their relationship chemistry. They’re in love and it only took a couple of weeks, which isn’t uncommon, but what I felt was lacking was the scenes in which we get to see them grow as a couple and in their intimacy. We get the spice and smut, but we skip over them spending time together and their thoughts towards their developing feelings besides some post-sex breakfast a couple of times. However, this book does get more points in the comfort read department because the lack of anxiety the climax left me after their small-scale third act breakup. It immediately resolved itself and gave way to an HEA. The ending felt a little rushed, however, this was a cute, quick read packed with some excellent spice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled for an ARC copy of this great book!

I was thrilled to read this take on Sabrina. If you haven’t seen the Harrison Ford movie adaptation it’s a recommend from me. Loving the movie like I do, I knew I had to read this. Plus, as I talked about earlier this week-I’m such a sucker for a cute cover!!! This is a super cute cover!

It opens as our MC River is getting ready to deliver a hand made card to Lexi on her 16th bday. She is the dream girl who lives next door. The girl who is oblivious to who he is. When he gets there Lexi doesn’t even notice him. Her sister Deanna does and says she will pass his card along. Basically he is portrayed as super nerdy at this time and Lexi is out of his league. Fast forward 10 years and the sisters are trying to get their start-up going. They created a dating app with a unique algorithm that matches by personality traits only and zero pictures .

River now ten years older is visiting home from NYC taking care of his grandmother. He runs into the girls at another party. Lexi is instantly attracted to him. She had no idea he was the nerdy boy that lived next door. Thats because River has basically had a major glow-up. Muscles, tattoos, all the things that make them both stop in their tracks. Lexi may not have known who he was, but Deanna sure did. The very moment she saw him she knew. Does River still want Lexi or will Deanna steal his heart? Does their dating app deliver?

I will say what I love is the sisterly connection. They weren’t rivals and the sisterly bond wasn’t severed. The hardest part for me was the beginning of the book. I wasn’t sure I would be able to get into it. It just felt a bit forced and not really a story I wanted to delve into. I stuck with it and halfway through it really picked up.
Honestly I adored the last half of the book and I wish the first half had the same feel, pacing, and heart The ending was so good but you gotta stick with it to get there. The dialogue was beautiful in the last chapters and everyone needs a man who loves like River!!! 3.5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Overall, this was a fun, quick romance. But if it wasn’t an ARC, I probably would’ve DNF’d it - but i’m really glad i didn’t.

The story focuses on Deanna and her sister Lexi who are business partners developing a new dating app. They reconnect with River, the nerdy, scrawny next-door neighbour who after a few tattoos and hours in the gym, is now a major babe. Problem is, River has always fantasized about a future with Lexi. In order to make the app appeal to a potential investor, and prevent Lexi from dumping her long term partner (that she met on the app), Deanna bets River that he can’t make her believe in love…. and well the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

The first ~30% was not it. the dialogue felt so unnatural and stilted and the whole plot line of Lexi breaking up with her long term boyfriend so she can fuck the hot neighbour was gross. like wtf.

Further to that, Lexi’s character didn’t feel fully fleshed out - she’s supposed to be the superficial blonde barbie with depth, but we don’t get any of that in the book. We only hear about her intelligence and hard work through Dee telling other people - it never actually happens on page.

After River gets over his borderline unhinged obsession with Lexi, the book gets pretty good. The development of the main relationship between River and Deanna was fun - i think they had great chemistry and the sex scenes were 😮‍💨🤌🏻

I thought the open discussions of kink on page were refreshing and something i hadn’t read before in a more contemporary romance/outside of the “dark romance” genre.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Entangled for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved reading the amazing and awesome romance story. When Deanna makes a wager with River, surprising chemistry ignites between the two of them. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read riveting love story.

I really enjoyed this. I liked the strong female characters and sweet River. I liked the twists, keeping it not so predictable. Fun rom.com! I don’t love the title. It makes it seem like a less substantial story. Otherwise, great read! I couldn’t put it down.

I love the premise and the cover. And this did start off very strong! But unfortunately I made it to about 30% wondering when the book was really going to start.

What didn’t work for me:
-the MMC is so obsessed with not the FMC. It bothers me in romance when a main character is hung up on someone else for so long. I’m here for the romance! And honestly it did make more sense for him to be with Lexi or at least would have also been a compelling story, Lexi is pretty cool too and they had chemistry.
-I honestly thought it was a little gross the art he made of Lexi. I know he was a teenager at the time but it was objectifying and as an adult he still sees no issue with it.
-Possible plot holes. The timelines of when they lived next door to each other and at what ages doesn’t seem to be consistent. There’s one point when the FMC puts on a song and says it was her mom’s favorite (CW death of a parent, historical) and the MMC says “I know” then only just 2 pages later she asks what he remembers about her mom and he says not much, just her smile. How do you know her favorite song?? They were never friends btw so it’s not like Deanna mentioned it in passing. Conflicting moments like that took me out of the story.
-Conflicting characterizations. Deanna the FMC puts her and her sister into an anti-love box. And Deanna mentions how her and her sister only have casual hook ups. But then later she has internal musings wondering how and why her sister can only have casual intimacy. You just said you were the same?
-Too much internal dialogue. Everything that is shown is also debriefed internally and it slows the pace way down.

What I liked:
-I loved the sister dynamic. They really do seem so connected and their “us against the world” was definitely believable. Honestly I’d love to read just regular lit fic of them and their journey especially healing from the loss of their mom.

Thank you to Entangled for this eARC.

I struggled to get into the style of the book at first because it was an odd cadence, fast scenes, fast banter - pseudo-Gilmore Girls style. But then the inner thoughts hung up the story a bit and it felt stunted and picked up again. I felt the connection between Deanna and River; it was real, visceral, palpable. They just got in their own way! Yay for a happy ending and a strong woman with a strong man.

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

It’s not you it’s me.

I might come back to this at some point because I do think the book has potential but it’s just not holding my attention at all so I’m dnfing at around 15%. I’m struggling to connect with the characters or really even care about what they’re doing.

Thank you to Entangled publishing for the gifted eARC

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It was a slow start but it picks up and is such a good story.

The Neighbor Wager is a super cute opposites attract, boy next door (but all grown up) romance. It has a cute mix of falling for the unexpected

Deanna, our FMC, is everything her sister is not. She’s strong, independent, and business forward yet everyone always falls for her sister over her. She's so used to being second, but I love how she still knows her worth. On the other side, River is quite the opposite. An artist and happy-go-lucky he also falls into the "always loved Lexi" category. I loved watching these two get to know each other and eventually realize maybe what you thought you always wanted isn't what you actually needed.

This is an adult romance, so there is some good spice sprinkled in which I always appreciate. I think it also had a really cute story line. If you're looking for a quick, fun romance read about a grown-up boy next door... this one is for you!

This was a fast read but felt slow at the same time? I must say I hate love triangles but I thought this was a cute new twist on an age old trope. However Deanna was a walking contradiction in my opinion and it made it hard for me to like her. I also think it’s more contemporary romance than romcom because it did not have me laughing. Cringing a little with grandma joining the casual sex conversations but not necessarily funny.

This book my me smile and blush.

This book follows River and Deanna and how they fall in love with each other. River is the boy next door and was head over heels for Deanna's sister. Lexi. River was the geeky, invisible dork throughout high school that knew he was out of Lexi's league. 10 years later, River is this hunk who has a tattoo sleeve and can be viewed as eye candy. River who has been living in New York comes back to California due to family matters. River and Lexi reconnect, but it isn't until River spends time with Deanna that he starts to realize he is falling for her.

Deanna has always felt like she is in Lexi's shadow. Deanna talks about how all the guys she dates tend to want Lexi instead causing her not to trust the intentions of guys who say they are interested in her. Deanna acknowledges that she is a logical person and tends to see love in a different light. She also believes that she will never find love so she puts all of her work and data from dates in the app that she is working on with her sister, Meetcute.

4/5 stars for the Neighbor Wager as it was a fun read and kept me interested throughout the whole story. 2.5/5 on the spice scale as there were a few spicey scenes in there that I would want to read again. Thank you, NetGalley, Entangled Publishing, LLC, and Crystal Kaswell for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Popular Tropes (GrumpyXSunshine, the boy next door, friends to lovers)

I don't know how I feel about this one, to be honest. I went in blind not knowing what the storyline was truly about. It started great because I thought the story was about River and Lexi. He's had a crush on her for ages, she's never noticed him, and then they meet again in the future and they end up together, etc. (At least, that is where my mind went, when I read the prologue). Then I discover there is a POV from Deanna, so I know for a fact that she is then the love interest, not Lexi. I'm not a fan of the trope where the MMC likes two sisters, so I was already skeptical about it. But then I started following the story and I liked the interactions between Deanna and River. It kinda reminded me of The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren or The One by John Marrs. The whole science match-making thing. To be honest, the story got boring around the 67% mark, and the whole dom/sub conversation was not my vibe. All in all, an okay read. 3 stars!