Title: Betting on You
Author: Lynn Painter
Genre: YA, contemporary romance
Publication date: November 28th 2023
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: eARC for review from publishers via Netgalley
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Synopsis: When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.
Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.
Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?
I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance, but books like the ones Lynn Painter writes are honestly making me realize that I may enjoy them more than I once thought.
I have now read all of this author's young adult books (her adult books are next on my list!) and I have very much enjoyed every single one of them! They are just so freaking cute! Lynn Painter’s writing makes me grin from ear to ear, even in public, like a crazy person. But I absolutely love it! 😆
Betting on You started very interesting because the two main characters, Bailey and Charlie, had two brief encounters over the span of two years. Right from the beginning, they did not get along well. Unfortunately for Bailey, things take an unexpected turn when, on her first day of work, she discovers that her old acquaintance Charlie (cynicism and all) is going to be her coworker! Ooof. But let me tell you, this new Charlie is
I mean, he's still a cynic, saying guys and girls can't be just friends, but not as much as he was when they first met two years ago. She is still cautious around him, which is fair—she's only ever known him as Cynic Charlie. However, now they are forced to work together and spend more time with each other. As a result, they have gotten to know each other better and it was SO cute!
Bailey starts to realize that maybe he isn't as big a jerk as she believed him to be. I'm not gonna lie, the way he was introduced in the very first scene of the book... That was not it. Lol. I was right there with Bailey 😂 But that changed pretty fast, for me at least. At 15% into the book I was like, "I love him already."
And that's because there was depth to the character, and there was this fun, sweeter side that Bailey got to see. It also helped that this book was dual POV so we got some Charlie chapters where we really got to know him and see why he did the things he did. I really loved those chapters!
One of my favorite things about Lynn Painter's books is the banter—it's always so fun! Plus, this book had ALL the tropes! It had this sort of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers situation which I enjoyed. And there was also some fake dating, which I'm always a fan of! And there was a little bit of a one-bed trope thing going on. This is YA so it wasn't spicy, if that's what you were wanting, but it was still very 😍 The fake dating bit in particular was my favorite.
One thing that is not my favorite about contemporary romances in general (and this might be one of the reasons why I don't read many of them in the first place now that I think about it), is the third-act conflict. I always hate them because they typically tend to be something dumb that can be resolved by communicating. It's so frustrating! This book suffered from that a little bit, but in this case it was mostly self-sabotage, which was almost as dumb and frustrating. And, I mean, I get it. It made sense for this character, but it was still annoying. Lol.
And the catalyst that incited this conflict? I saw it coming from miles away! As soon as this thing was mentioned I was like, "Yep, this is the thing that's gonna drive a wedge between Bailey and Charlie.” Unpredictable this book was not.
But all that being said, I really did enjoy this book! I cannot get over how freaking cute this was! It's no wonder why Lynn Painter quickly became a favorite author of mine! I loved the characters and the character development they went through. I was very pleased with Bailey's in particular. The thing that Bailey and Charlie bonded over was actually their parents being divorced. One big plot point of this book was Bailey's mom getting serious with her boyfriend and what that meant for her and her mom's relationship going forward. I really enjoyed exploring that and seeing Bailey grow as a person. And I kind of wish we'd had more insight into Charlie's home life as well. As I mentioned before, this book was dual POV, but we never really got to see much, if at all, of his home life, which was pretty complex as well. But he did have his own character growth in a different way, which I appreciated. I enjoyed getting to know the real him, and not just the cynical dickhead Bailey met at the airport all these years ago.
They were just so cute together—them reading together in the coffee shop was the cutest fucking thing I have ever read in my life!
The fun games they would play, their interactions, the banter, and the sweet and thoughtful things Charlie would do for Bailey—it was all just so good!
Now excuse me while I go devour more Lynn Painter books 😆
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊
Betting on You started very interesting because the two main characters, Bailey and Charlie, had two brief encounters over the span of two years. Right from the beginning, they did not get along well. Unfortunately for Bailey, things take an unexpected turn when, on her first day of work, she discovers that her old acquaintance Charlie (cynicism and all) is going to be her coworker! Ooof. But let me tell you, this new Charlie is
I mean, he's still a cynic, saying guys and girls can't be just friends, but not as much as he was when they first met two years ago. She is still cautious around him, which is fair—she's only ever known him as Cynic Charlie. However, now they are forced to work together and spend more time with each other. As a result, they have gotten to know each other better and it was SO cute!
Bailey starts to realize that maybe he isn't as big a jerk as she believed him to be. I'm not gonna lie, the way he was introduced in the very first scene of the book... That was not it. Lol. I was right there with Bailey 😂 But that changed pretty fast, for me at least. At 15% into the book I was like, "I love him already."
And that's because there was depth to the character, and there was this fun, sweeter side that Bailey got to see. It also helped that this book was dual POV so we got some Charlie chapters where we really got to know him and see why he did the things he did. I really loved those chapters!
One of my favorite things about Lynn Painter's books is the banter—it's always so fun! Plus, this book had ALL the tropes! It had this sort of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers situation which I enjoyed. And there was also some fake dating, which I'm always a fan of! And there was a little bit of a one-bed trope thing going on. This is YA so it wasn't spicy, if that's what you were wanting, but it was still very 😍 The fake dating bit in particular was my favorite.
One thing that is not my favorite about contemporary romances in general (and this might be one of the reasons why I don't read many of them in the first place now that I think about it), is the third-act conflict. I always hate them because they typically tend to be something dumb that can be resolved by communicating. It's so frustrating! This book suffered from that a little bit, but in this case it was mostly self-sabotage, which was almost as dumb and frustrating. And, I mean, I get it. It made sense for this character, but it was still annoying. Lol.
And the catalyst that incited this conflict? I saw it coming from miles away! As soon as this thing was mentioned I was like, "Yep, this is the thing that's gonna drive a wedge between Bailey and Charlie.” Unpredictable this book was not.
But all that being said, I really did enjoy this book! I cannot get over how freaking cute this was! It's no wonder why Lynn Painter quickly became a favorite author of mine! I loved the characters and the character development they went through. I was very pleased with Bailey's in particular. The thing that Bailey and Charlie bonded over was actually their parents being divorced. One big plot point of this book was Bailey's mom getting serious with her boyfriend and what that meant for her and her mom's relationship going forward. I really enjoyed exploring that and seeing Bailey grow as a person. And I kind of wish we'd had more insight into Charlie's home life as well. As I mentioned before, this book was dual POV, but we never really got to see much, if at all, of his home life, which was pretty complex as well. But he did have his own character growth in a different way, which I appreciated. I enjoyed getting to know the real him, and not just the cynical dickhead Bailey met at the airport all these years ago.
They were just so cute together—them reading together in the coffee shop was the cutest fucking thing I have ever read in my life!
The fun games they would play, their interactions, the banter, and the sweet and thoughtful things Charlie would do for Bailey—it was all just so good!
She might not love me back, she might love me for a while and then stop, but every minute that I had her was worth the fall that might (or perhaps might not) eventually come.
Now excuse me while I go devour more Lynn Painter books 😆
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