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A review by dorisede
The Love Wager by Lynn Painter
2.0
I have had this book on my want to read shelf since last year, so you can't imagine my disappointment that I had to rate it two stars after waiting for so long.
The book started off so great, Hallie and Jack had a natural chemistry. However, I lost it when Hallie met Alex and everything was going well and Jack all of sudden, got jealous ( Jack and Hallie were still just friends ) and his dumb sister Olivia from the last book advised him to sabotage the relationship. I was so sure he won't listen to that dumb advice but apparently I had too much in faith in him. His stupidity would have been excusable if it happened once but he tried to sabotage them three times. First, he showed up when he was specifically asked by her not show up because Alex was going to be there with her. Secondly, he cancelled the dinner reservation Alex made for him and Hallie. How can you claim to love someone and think that causing them that kind of embarrassment is the right to do?
And, thirdly, when he heard Alex going on and on about fate bringing him Hallie together, he told him about the love wager to cast a doubt in their relationship and of course, Alex feels used and breaks up with Hallie. Jack was there with Hallie when she was crying about the breakup with Alex, and he never thought to mention that he might have caused the breakup, instead, he swoops in to offer to be her fake boyfriend for her sister's wedding that she was supposed to attend with Alex. I found it impossible to root for Jack after that, because he's clearly very emotionally manipulative.
I don't know why the author had to make Jack result to these silly antics, anybody could see that Jack and Hallie was going to end up together, why not the let the relationship between Alex and Hallie die a natural death. Of course, when Hallie finds out about Jack's emotional manipulation towards the end of the book, she breaks up with him and then proceeds to get back together with him after he's says I love you. And the worse part, they never talk about the reason why they broke up in the first place, the start of a very healthy relationship. So, you can be sure that Jack will be back to his manipulative ways if he feels threatened by anyone in her life in the future.
So, yes two stars from me because Jack was a piece of shit.
The book started off so great, Hallie and Jack had a natural chemistry. However, I lost it when Hallie met Alex and everything was going well and Jack all of sudden, got jealous ( Jack and Hallie were still just friends ) and his dumb sister Olivia from the last book advised him to sabotage the relationship. I was so sure he won't listen to that dumb advice but apparently I had too much in faith in him. His stupidity would have been excusable if it happened once but he tried to sabotage them three times. First, he showed up when he was specifically asked by her not show up because Alex was going to be there with her. Secondly, he cancelled the dinner reservation Alex made for him and Hallie. How can you claim to love someone and think that causing them that kind of embarrassment is the right to do?
And, thirdly, when he heard Alex going on and on about fate bringing him Hallie together, he told him about the love wager to cast a doubt in their relationship and of course, Alex feels used and breaks up with Hallie. Jack was there with Hallie when she was crying about the breakup with Alex, and he never thought to mention that he might have caused the breakup, instead, he swoops in to offer to be her fake boyfriend for her sister's wedding that she was supposed to attend with Alex. I found it impossible to root for Jack after that, because he's clearly very emotionally manipulative.
I don't know why the author had to make Jack result to these silly antics, anybody could see that Jack and Hallie was going to end up together, why not the let the relationship between Alex and Hallie die a natural death. Of course, when Hallie finds out about Jack's emotional manipulation towards the end of the book, she breaks up with him and then proceeds to get back together with him after he's says I love you. And the worse part, they never talk about the reason why they broke up in the first place, the start of a very healthy relationship. So, you can be sure that Jack will be back to his manipulative ways if he feels threatened by anyone in her life in the future.
So, yes two stars from me because Jack was a piece of shit.