The Love Wager by Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Pub Date: 3/14/2023

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the free copy and PRH Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

GoodReads Synopsis: Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult.

She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs into the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she’d snuck out of.

Through the app, and after the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.

Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.

Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off.

As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

Review: The Love Wager is the second book in the Mr. Wrong Number series which can be read as a standalone. This book features Jack (Olivia’s older brother) and his love interest, Hallie (the wedding bartender). Hallie Piper tries to become an adult after leaving a hotel room, and while looking for love on a dating app, she finds Jack, the guy whose room she left. They agree not to pursue each other romantically but become partners in their quest to find true love, often meeting for tacos after their dates. However, things get complicated when they make a bet to find true love first and pretend to be a couple at a wedding. The Love Wager features friends-to-lovers and fake dating tropes. I love the way that Lynn Painter successfully develops the growing friendship between Jack and Hallie with delightful texting banter and sizzling chemistry. The narrators chosen for the audiobook were perfect and kept me engaged in the story. This book is an entertaining, lighthearted, and enjoyable read. I can’t wait to read more from Lynn Painter!