Don't let that cute cover fool you - this book was steamy! I wasn't expecting it to be so much. With the amount of sleeping around, it kind of took away the emotional element between our main characters and I struggled to feel their connection. It was an okay read and I have no doubt those that like their romcoms steamier will enjoy it.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed reading The Neighbor Wager, It’s a cute romcom. I loved the banter, the hard talks and getting to let loose around someone you feel safe around. I thought the characters were easy to connect with, even though at times I wanted to yell at them, I thought the plot was believable and fun to read.

This book is about two sisters that make a dating app, but when their investor wants to showcase the younger sister’s success at finding the perfect mate things start to look bleak. Lexi is not the kind of girl that wants to settle down, she is happy with the person she is and what she wants. It's not that she doesn’t love Jake, her 6-month boyfriend, it’s just the idea of having to make it something bigger than it is that scares her… and the idea of having to commit to someone. Dea just doesn’t have the want or need to fall in love, she has never had the idea of being all lovey dovey and getting married. Until River the boy next door comes back to take care of his grandmother. This nerdy boy has done a lot of growing up. He is now all muscle; he has tattoos, and he knows what he can offer to women.

River and Dea in this book are perfect together, and even though I wanted to yell and shake them at times, I loved how they made it work out. I think they compliment each other well and you can see how they truly help each other out by being the best them. I didn’t mind seeing a strong, career driven woman, who doesn’t believe in love because it really reminded me of a hallmark movie.

I thought the author did a great job of giving each of the characters their own personalities and making them into someone that we have all known in our lives. I liked that in this book you can see how just because an app says one thing you can’t just put all your balls in one basket because the unpredictable nature of humans can throw everything off, you will see personal growth, romance, great banter, and some spicy scenes.

I enjoyed Kaswell's writing style, it made it easy for me to finish this book in 2 days and I will continue to read books put out by this author.

I want to thank NetGalley and Entangled for the opportunity to review this book.

The Neighbor Wager by Crystal Kaswell
Contemporary romance, romantic comedy.
River used to live next door to Lexi and Deanna. He was a bit of a nerd and he had a massive crush on the vivacious Lexi. Both River’s grandmother and Deanna have told River to move on: He has no chance with Lexi and he should forget her. He eventually moves to New York to gator advantage of the culture. He’s back in town now, all grown up, with a sleeve of tattoos and a lot more confidence.
Lexi will talk to River now with some minor flirting but it’s Deanna that’s caught his interest. Deanna is running a startup business and app called MeetCute and is meeting with potential investors. She’s willing to prove to River that his feelings for Lexi is nothing more than a crush.

A fun transfer of interest as the grown up River has a bit of swagger and confidence himself now. An amusing profession of the grandmother.
Deanna is smart and River more than acknowledges it. He’s totally ok with her being taller than him when she’s wearing heels and proving her competency in business to others.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and audiobook. The narrators were Piper Goodeve and Kyle Mason who alternated chapters by their POV. Their delivery was entertaining and emotionally on topic and made it easy to follow and get immersed in.

Entertaining, steamy and romantic. I will definitely recommend this romance to bookclubs.
4.5
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Cyrstal Kaswell is one of my auto buy authors. When Entangled Publishing gave me access to this ARC, I RAN.

Take a man who is deep down a romantic (but for the wrong sister) and a woman who knows love via algorithms and spreadsheets. You get the neighbor wager. This book wasn't my favorite by Kaswell but it won't step me from reading more of her.

There was a third act break up (auto deduct of stars, I hate them), the FMC seemed to be more centered around math instead of letting her feelings take ride. My last complaint was that in the beginning it was hinted she was more of a dom in the bedroom, but it didn't really come up after that. I was looking forward to seeing a woman being the dominant one in the bedroom and having that change of pace.

I’m really not feeling this story. The blurb caught my eye but it just didn’t deliver. I don’t care about the characters, the story or anything about it to be honest…

I thought this was a fun turn-your-brain-off book for me. I liked the overall storyline however, I didn't like the two main characters as they felt a little flat to me and didn't have too much substance to them. They also both felt like character stereotypes rather than actual characters with personalities.

Entangled, thank you for the ARC. This was a DNF for me, I just wasn't into it. I thought the writing was really simplistic and the characters were flat, I did not find myself rooting for the FMC, I found her tedious.

First l'd like to thank Net Galley, the publisher, and author for an Advanced Reader Copy of this story. For me, I'm giving it 2.5 stars. I think the author did a good job however I think the book could've been better with a better editing job.
The first half of the book-l hated it. The second half of the book I loved. I felt the female main characters were immature in the beginning and not fully developed. However, in the second half, you could see the complexities of each character.
I think I hated the let's keep my sister away from River because she can't control herself. So let me go get him drunk.
The second half of the book deals with complexities of love and what love means to each of the characters. I will definitely check out another book written by this author.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Read if you like:
▫️dual POV
▫️opposites attract
▫️hot nerd
▫️strong, driven heroine

This was not the book for me. River spent his whole life and first 30% of the book in love with and obsessed with Lexi. She’s never noticed him, but now that he’s hot and has tattoos, she wants to take a break from her boyfriend in order to sleep with him. Deanna needs Lexi to stay with her boyfriend to prove that the dating app she created works, so Deanna starts flirting with River. He then falls totally in love with her and never thinks of Lexi again. The whole thing felt kind of gross.

Aside from that, the “witty banter” felt forced, jumpy, and was hard to follow. It made the prose feel very stilted and unnatural. Additionally, the whole book was awkwardly horny, River was strangely obsessed with English Breakfast Tea, and Deanna broke up with him because they weren’t a high match on the dating app she created.

I disliked almost everything and can’t recommend this book.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing, NetGalley, and Crystal Kaswell for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I tried hard to enjoy this book. It seemed promising based on the description, but overall it didn't meet any expectations I had in my mind. While there were some emotional connections to the characters through very small glimpses of their lives, it was hard to feel much for much. It wasn't just because they were fabulously wealthy. I've read many books that have billionaires as the main characters that I felt strongly for. The character development just wasn't really there.

Also, I found myself so lost and confused. Not only was the wager not really defined that well (didn't really understand exactly what the parameters of the bet was for), but the internal monologue also made it very hard to keep up and understand what was happening.

The idea of the book could have been great if it had been refined just a bit more.

“…there’s no such thing as destiny, only dick-stiny.”

The Neighbor Wager reads like both a fun, early aughts romcom & a classic Hallmark movie but with more self awareness than the former & more spice than the latter (though, it’s not difficult to be spicier than a Hallmark movie). You have Deanna, the classic “I don’t believe in love, I only believe in algorithms” type of FMC who couldn’t put herself first in any situation ever. You have River, the literal boy-next-door who goes through a real Matthew Lewis-level glow up, but who is also apparently still obsessed with Deanna’s sister, Lexi. Then you have Lexi, the golden girl who is so afraid to accept the good in her life that she turns her focus on River as a literally attractive avoidance technique. And Deanna is convinced that the success of her app, & her very specific world view, depends on keeping Lexi & River far apart. So Deanna takes a really sexy bullet & decides the easiest way to keep them apart is to just make sure he’s only hanging out with her, instead of Lexi. If this isn’t a 2004 romcom, I don’t know what is!

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, though I’m not sure why outside of, apparently, my own thoughts which are cynical enough to give Deanna a run for her money. But yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Every character was dynamic in their own way & it’s always great when it feels like no one has any malicious intent but rather, they’re all just silly humans fumbling along & trying to navigate their feelings as they manifest in confusing &, often, unproductive ways. The writing was fun, the story flowed in a smooth way, & the spice was spicy; on a basic level, there’s really nothing else I need from a romance!

*4.5

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did I really liked it. River and Deanna are a fun duo who brought out the best in each other. The ending with the powerpoint was super cute.

I received an arc through netgalley.

The Neighbor Wager is an opposites attract story with an interesting premise. In this steamy romance, Crystal Kaswell sets up a wager between the main characters, and makes a case for feelings vs logic when it comes to finding love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Awkward, artsy River grew up next door to sisters Lexi and Deanna, and had a massive crush on Lexi. Deanna warns him off, not wanting her sister to hurt his feelings. Ten years later, River returns from NYC with confidence and tattoos, and now Lexi might be interested. But she has a current boyfriend who she met through the dating app Deanna designed; not only does Deanna like seeing Lexi happy, but she needs her to stay with her boyfriend to prove their algorithm works. So she makes a wager with River to keep him away from Lexi while they each make a case for logic vs intangibles as the basis of a relationship. Deanna hopes it will save her company and Lexi’s relationship, but she doesn’t count on her own feelings for River.

Look, I believe that all romance hotel rooms have only one bed, so willful suspension of disbelief isn’t usually an issue for me. But I had a tough time buying into River and Deanna’s initial wager, and each of their individual obsessions with her sister Lexi. And it’s odd that Deanna would want her sister to keep dating someone simply for the sake of their company. For his part, River spends the first section of the book sighing about his feelings for the beautiful Lexi, which makes his switch to insta love with Deanna a little abrupt.

While the start is awkward, the book gets better as it goes along. Once River and Deanna spend more one on one time, their connection is more apparent and their steamy scenes showcase their chemistry.

The Neighbor Wager is an interesting romcom. While the storyline didn’t always work for me, the connection between the main characters and steamy scenes did. If you are a fan of opposites attract and complex family dynamics in your romance, you might want to give this book a try.

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

The Neighbor Wager by C. Kaswell, published by Entangled Publishing is a witty and fun stand alone.
Deanna and River grew up next door. She crushed on him rather heavily, while he was interseted in her sister.
Years later, River's back, all grown up and Deanna's jaw hit the floor at first sight.
What to do?? Grifty girl that she is, she develops an app to match her current boyfriend with, sorry not sorry no spoilers here, only so much, this is an highly entertaining witty and fun, quick read, 4.5 beautiful stars.

An emotional next door neighbor, childhood crush love story wrapped up with a dating app twist. Two sisters develop a new kind of dating app that claims to be able to predict people's compatibility. Things get tricky when one sister starts falling for their childhood neighbor who's returned to help his ailing grandmother and tries to see if he can finally make something happen with the other sister he's always been infatuated with.

This was an okay read for me, I didn't really buy into the romance but I did really enjoy the emotional family drama parts. Recommended for dating app romcom fans of books like The soulmate equation by Christina Lauren or The right swipe by Alisha Rai. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: parent with addiction issues, cancer

The nerdy boy next door is all grown up and the Huntington sisters have taken notice…

✨ Book Review: THE NEIGHBOR WAGER by Crystal Kaswell ✨

I really enjoyed this steamy opposites-attract romance! I found the exploration of identity really interesting and appreciate how River and Deanna saw and brought out the best in each other. Plus, the side characters, especially River’s erotica-writing grandmother, were a hoot!

Read THE NEIGHBOR WAGER for
💞 Opposites attract
🔥 Steamy open-door romance
📈 Boss lady energy
🥰 Boy next door
🎨 Artsy meets analytical
✌️ Dual POV
🌴 SoCal scenery

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to @Entangled_Publishing and #NetGalley for the eARC of this books in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this opposites-attract rom-com more than I expected to at first. There was a part of me that was just not on board with a woman getting involved with a guy that was ogling her sister like 30 seconds before…but I’m glad I stuck with it. Turns out it was not as “ick” as I first imagined.

This story navigates how a passionate artist and a logic-loving cynic can inspire & educate each other. Maybe when it comes to love, it doesn’t have to be everything or bust. There is a lot of talk around casual sex, but I did not find this book to be overly explicit with any of the few on-page scenes really, just some of the dialogue.

Thank you to Entangled & NetGalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

Very cute book. Reading the story of Deanna and River was enjoyable. Not my favorite book of all time but a good quick story that ended with their version of a happily ever after.

I liked this book but didn't love it. I'm not sure exactly what it was about this book that failed to grab me, but I often found myself struggling with it. Overall, I would say it was a cute read. It just didn't strike me as funny or romantic as I expected it to be.

I unfortunately had to DNF this a the 45% mark.
I found the characters to be far to whiney and unlikeable to continue on with the story. I like the premise but this one is not for me.