The Neighbor Wager is a book about two people; one who believes in love, and one who believes in science. River and Deanna believe fundamentally different things when it comes to relationships and they wager on it. The catch? He's had his sights set on her sister for over a decade.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*


I have a lot of different feelings about this book. Kaswell wrote compelling characters in River and Deanna, and I truly didn't know how they were going to overcome the obstacle of his infatuation with her sister, Lexi. It gets resolved towards the end and I really appreciated the thoughtfulness that went into River's description of the idea of a what-if or an out-of-reach person, but I wish it was a conversation the characters would have had earlier in the book or he would have had an internal monologue about earlier. While the characters didn't really acknowledge the elephant in the room - that they'd made this wager so he could date her sister - it made me uncomfortable during the growth of their relationship. With such a constrained timeline (2-3 weeks!), it felt a little rushed and if you don't like insta-lust, prepare yourself. The "wager" doesn't feel fully explored either - what has he done to prove there's magic other than to make her fall in love with him, which wasn't even his intention?

This book came so close to being fantastic for me, but there are a couple big misses for me: the timeline, not acknowledging the reason for the wager, and the resolution of the third-act breakup fell flat. I was left with a few more questions than answers. That said, it was hilarious and the characters really do have a bond that I was rooting for and loved to see brought to life.

Crystal Kaswell invites readers on a journey of love and discovery in "The Neighbor Wager," where the complexities of human attraction take center stage. As a devoted bookworm, I found myself drawn into the lives of River, Lexi, and Deanna, each navigating their own paths in the unpredictable landscape of romance.

Nostalgia and New Beginnings:
River's transformation from the nerdy boy next door to a tattooed heartthrob resonated deeply with my own memories of teenage crushes and the surprises of adulthood. Kaswell beautifully captures the bittersweet nostalgia of first love and the excitement of unexpected connections.

Friendship, Love, and Complications:
At the heart of the story lies a tangled web of emotions as River, Lexi, and Deanna navigate the complexities of friendship, attraction, and professional duty. As a fellow bookworm, I found myself rooting for each character as they grappled with their own desires and uncertainties.

The Science of Attraction:
Kaswell skillfully weaves together themes of love, compatibility, and self-discovery, inviting readers to ponder the intricacies of human relationships. Through the lens of Deanna's dating app experiment, we are reminded that love is not always straightforward and that true connections can be found in the most unexpected places.

A Heartfelt Exploration:
"The Neighbor Wager" is more than just a romance—it's a heartfelt exploration of the human heart and the journey to finding oneself amidst the complexities of love. As a bookworm who treasures stories that delve deep into the human experience, I found Kaswell's tale to be both relatable and thought-provoking.

In conclusion, "The Neighbor Wager" is a captivating read that celebrates the beauty of love in all its complexities. Crystal Kaswell's masterful storytelling and engaging characters make this book a must-read for any bookworm looking for a heartfelt romance with depth and substance. 📖💕

This book has an adorable cover. The content inside that adorable cover is another story. The book can be summarized as two rich California sisters make a dating app. One is pretty and blonde and the perfect woman and the other is sharp, severe, and loves programming and combat boots. Their formerly-nerdy-now-hot-with-tattoos neighbor has a crush on the perfect blonde one but makes a wager and hangs out with the brunette one. Take a wild guess to see what happens next. It’s two horny people hanging out and thinking about sex for 80% of the book and it just came off as spoiled rich people getting everything without much effort. There just wasn’t much depth even though both main characters had loss of their moms in their lives. I had much higher hopes but this fell flat. 1.5⭐️, 3🌶

Thanks to NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is my first Crystal Kaswell book and I really enjoyed it!
River and Deanna are awesome and have great chemistry. I became a bit bored at times of the internal monologue, but overall it was a fun, quick read. I really loved all the places and the characterisation of the Southern California society. Also, the spice was very nice and well written.

I enjoyed the Harrison Ford version of Sabrina so I assumed I would enjoy this gender-bending retelling as well. And I did. It was fun, it was spicy. It did have some cringey moments (ahem*Jake*ahem) and the plot all but disappeared in the middle of the story in favor of the spice.
But overall it was a quick, fun update to the original story that I binged in a single day. I will read more from this author.

3.75 stars

2.5 out of 5 stars

I wish I had enjoyed this book more than I did. I believe this book looked super promising but it ended up falling flat for me. I did thoroughly enjoy River’s character. I did have a bit of a hard time with some of the emotionally heavy parts of the book. It wasn’t something that I expected. I appreciated the motives each character presented to the table even if they didn’t make sense to me. I am hopeful that I enjoy other books by this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for a copy of this book. This isn’t the first book I’ve read from this author. However, it was my least favorite. I found myself reading the book just to finish it. I did enjoy some parts of the book mainly when the 2 main characters get together but that was the only enjoyable moment for me. I also don’t think the title of the book matched the storyline of the book.

This writing style in this book is intense and deeply emotional. It doesn’t have the light-hearted sensibility I expected from the cover.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this book.

Fell in love with the characters River! He tweaked my interest from the start. Deanna and Lexi were interesting ad well.

I enjoyed the story, but fount in progressed a bit slowly and would have enjoyed a bit more action and controversy

Overall a good book.

This is a totally generic rom-com — not that there’s anything wrong with that. It is absolutely marketed as a gender bent Sabrina and I can see it. The sisters having each dated the MMC comes off a little weird to me and maybe it’s just that it is not my cup of tea, but it made me lose interest a little bit.

With the sisters, Deanna and Lexi, producing a dating app. While the proof is well showcased through Lexi’s relationship with Jake, we all find out that sometimes the thing you need is not what you expected as she decides to play the field.

I did enjoy the whole wager to prove that love is not logarithmic in nature, and the banter was on point. The chemistry is there between them and the forced proximity had me delighted. The ending was still satisfying and well deserved!


Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Crystal Kaswell for the eARC!

Overall, this was a cute read, and I enjoyed the overall premise. While I loved the relationships we were able to see begin, grow, or develop deeper between Lexi and Jake, Lexi and Deanna, and River and Deanna, I somehow found it hard to connect to the characters individually. While I found myself rooting for our sisters to understand each other more, and Deanna to stop thinking so logically, I wasn't personally invested in their HEA as individuals as much as I was in their partnerships.

I found the exploration and discovery of what love truly is and how it can look different for each person to be beautiful and think it provided an opportunity for readers whether they are in happy and fulfilling relationships or still looking for their person to connect. Deanna and River's time spent exploring and discovering each other was also, on point. ;)

I found myself really bored with this book. It just seemed like a very generic romance book that wasn't well thought out. Did not seem very original. I found myself not caring about the characters.

Fun read! Deanna and Lexi have both never trusted in love and yet they create a compatibility dating app. You can’t find love through algo, or maybe you can? Deanna being let down from all the men she has liked in the past wanting her shiny sister. River gets thrown into the mix and sometimes what you think you want is the opposite of what you need! I liked how they both helped open each other’s eyes a little for the better. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC I’m voluntarily leaving this review

The Neighbor Wager is marketed as a gender-swap Sabrina, and it does have the bones. The next door neighbor (River) pines for the gorgeous Lexi his whole life, until older sister Deanna hijacks him. Lexi and Deanna are starting up a dating app and want to prove the matching works. They can best showcase the results by Lexi's current six-month long relationship with Jake, the guy she was matched with. But Lexi is a bit of a player and she doesn't accept her fate. To regain her freedom, she takes a break from the relationship to play the field, setting River in her sites. Deanna, knowing her sister truly loves Jake, sets about keeping River out of sight, out of mind. In order to buy some time, she makes a wager with River. He gets three weeks to prove to her that love is magic, not science, and if he fails, Deanna will get out of his way with Lexi. Cue: three weeks of banter, deep conversation, philosophizing about art, love, music, science, and a whole lot of banging. This is a really quick read with a very satisfying conclusion.

Unfortunately this book really wasn't for me: despite liking the description, the premise was flimsy and I couldn't get on with the main characters at all. Their motivations seemed shallow and unrealistic, not to mention repeated again and again and... I ended up skimming through in the hope it would improve, but it was an effort.

Thank you to the author Crystal Kaswell, publishers Amara and Entangled Publishing, and NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE NEIGHBOR WAGER. All views are mine.

Opening Quote: It’s all there, in her blue eyes. That’s her gift, really. When she looks at you, you feel like the most important person in the world. How could anyone resist that feeling? Loc.612

Great romantic tension! I liked the main characters in this book, Lexi and Deanna, who are sisters. This also ended up making me disconnect, as I don't really like shared sister trope or sisters sharing a lover trope. I wasn't expecting this, and I kept trying to pick up the feeling of tge book again. But, it's okay, just wasn't for me!

The science of attraction is getting seriously tested…

Meet River. He used to be the nerd next door…only now he’s all grown up, got a sleeve of tattoos, and women seem to like him. A lot.

Even Lexi, the girl of River’s teenaged dreams, all bubbly sweetness—never noticed him. Until now.

There’s only one problem. They’re not meant for each other.

Now it’s up to Deanna, the super pragmatic, algorithm-fueled brains behind the new dating app Meetcute to make sure they realize it.
River might be certain he knows true love when he sees it, but Deanna knows differently, and the future of her company is riding on it. All she has to do is prove to him that what he’s feeling for Lexi isn’t love. Not even close.

…even if it means making him fall for Deanna, instead.

Challenge accepted.

– close proximity
– second chances
– why choose?

Oof this is a tough one to review. I loved the idea of the book but this one just didn't hit it for me!

I struggled with a few things about this book:
- I didn't particularly like either of the FMCs. They both had some pretty toxic traits and were generally hot messes - and not in a good way
- Oh, River. Jumping from one sister to another? Not cool bro
- Lexi dumping her first serious boyfriend just to sleep with the hot neighbour? Eeek!

I kept hoping it would gel for me but this one wasn't for me

If you loved Tessa Bailey's 'It Happened One Summer' - you'll probably love this!! Two wealthy sisters are striking out on their own to create an app that helps people find real love, but they need one thing: to show that it actually works!! In walks River.. the boy from their childhood who loved one sister and is somewhat chastised by the other.

But who's really a right fit for River? The girl he always dreamed about... or the girl that no one seems to notice when the bright blonde sister is around...?

THOUGHTS:
- I'm not a huge fan of either female main character in this book. I feel like both sisters have toxic personality traits, and they both have feelings for a guy they definitely shouldn't. Not to mention, they both seem really vapid. Even the 'smart' sister seems just to be a hot mess.
- Also.. the justification for why the one sister doesn't want a committed relationship just seems really off. Losing a parent doesn't seem to be a reason to want to cut everyone off.
- The guy River... idk. How do you jump from one sister to another...?
- The premise of the story is really cute, but overall - I'm not a fan of the poor little rich girl vibes. Again, though, if you're okay with that? You'll be hooked for a quick and easy read.

NOTES:
- Friends/enemies to lovers
- 🌶️/5

**Thank you to Entangled & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

Thanks Entangled for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read and review. All comments are my own.

Honestly at this point I’m not sure what to say. I loved the idea of this book and thought it would be fun but there was just a lot wrong.

The whole plot of the book was a wager and the book literally mentioned the wager once and that was it. The book literally had nothing to do with the wager.

This book also was kind of icky. For Lexi to dump the guy she’s been with 6 months just to sleep with the hot neighbor was just gross in my opinion. Also Deena setting aside her sister’s feelings and try to make her be with someone all so her app will get invested was gross too. Don’t get me started on River. He was literally obsessed with Lexi and then all of a sudden sleeping with her sister???

Idk, I don’t think this book was for me. Maybe others will enjoy it.

Finding characters that resonate with my own experiences and offer valuable lessons is a treasured aspect of reading for me. This connection unfolded beautifully in this book, particularly with the striking similarities between Deanna and myself. Reading her story felt like a reflection of my own, albeit without the California backdrop I once yearned for in my younger years.

River's attempts to guide Deanna away from overly relying on logic resonated with me. Witnessing Deanna's growth and self-awareness towards the end instilled a sense of hope, even if it was through a fictional character. The book's unexpected spice level added a delightful surprise, striking a perfect balance. While thoroughly enjoyable, I suggest a clearer indication of time passage in the Epilogue to enhance the book's conclusion.