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A review by themermaddie
Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter
3.0
3.5 stars
i rly enjoyed this!! there's a lot here that worked for me and some things that didn't, but overall liv and colin were cute and this was a small town mid-20s crisis romance which i enjoy greatly
things that worked for me! maybe it's just where i am in life rn lol but i liked liv's internal monologue about her own self doubt and not being "put together" like her peers, about feeling like a fuck up and having to lean on her family for support, etc. i thought they were both well fleshed out in their complexes and insecurities, and i liked that colin fell in love with her for her clumsiness, which is a point of embarrassment for (the people around) her. it was very sweet and i thought those were the moments that worked the best for showing why they were a Good Match Actually. aside from that, there's a nice slowburn build up to them actually getting together, and the sex scenes are steamy if not a little dramatic at times. their banter was fun and their texts were actually kinda cute.
the things that didn't work as much for me were mostly like, vibe dissonance. every now and then one of them would have a reaction that felt jarring and made it seem like they weren't a good fit. especially colin's early povs, you'd have scenes from his perspective and liv wasn't bratty, she was just an outright asshole. she pours half the bottle of his $400 tequila that he was gifted as a graduation present down the sink and HE'S the one who goes and grovels with an apology? tomato tomato tomato. or liv would jump to conclusions, blow up at colin and say some unnecessarily mean shit, and then freeze him out until she realised she was wrong. or colin would get (justifiably) angry at her but say the one wrong thing that would hurt her. they always seem to bounce back, but i wasn't a fan of these miscommunications. i love a good opposites attract trope as much as anyone, but some of the situations were goooofy, so much ghosting and cold shoulders and running away during a conversation; it's like, maybe you just shouldn't be together lol.
another thing is how much colin talked about olivia being "jack's little baby sister". like bro. it's weird when you think about her being a "little baby sister" this much and STILL go through with porking her anyway. i just think that if the emphasis had been more on "i cant do this because that's my best friends little sister" then it would've been less weird; don't get me wrong, he still does this anyway, i just think it could've used less of the "little baby sister" rhetoric. i wish there had been more trio interactions between jack colin and olivia; i would've loved more development between jack and olivia, given how many implications there are that jack is their mother's favourite child while olivia is the problem child. you'd think this bred resentment, or maybe it would stir up unfamiliar feelings in jack because he always gets his way and now he doesn't know how to act when his problem child sister snags his best friend. or maybe olivia doesn't know what to do with having the upper hand in their sibling dynamic, and maybe sleeping with colin gives her a little rush of triumph over jack for once, something to release her resentment. idk, i'm just spitballing ideas but i think even Something between the siblings would've been more interesting.
anyway despite all that, this was a fairly lighthearted identity trope romance (which was used well!) that's a quick fluffy steamy read. just don't think about it too hard and it's a fun read
i rly enjoyed this!! there's a lot here that worked for me and some things that didn't, but overall liv and colin were cute and this was a small town mid-20s crisis romance which i enjoy greatly
things that worked for me! maybe it's just where i am in life rn lol but i liked liv's internal monologue about her own self doubt and not being "put together" like her peers, about feeling like a fuck up and having to lean on her family for support, etc. i thought they were both well fleshed out in their complexes and insecurities, and i liked that colin fell in love with her for her clumsiness, which is a point of embarrassment for (the people around) her. it was very sweet and i thought those were the moments that worked the best for showing why they were a Good Match Actually. aside from that, there's a nice slowburn build up to them actually getting together, and the sex scenes are steamy if not a little dramatic at times. their banter was fun and their texts were actually kinda cute.
the things that didn't work as much for me were mostly like, vibe dissonance. every now and then one of them would have a reaction that felt jarring and made it seem like they weren't a good fit. especially colin's early povs, you'd have scenes from his perspective and liv wasn't bratty, she was just an outright asshole. she pours half the bottle of his $400 tequila that he was gifted as a graduation present down the sink and HE'S the one who goes and grovels with an apology? tomato tomato tomato. or liv would jump to conclusions, blow up at colin and say some unnecessarily mean shit, and then freeze him out until she realised she was wrong. or colin would get (justifiably) angry at her but say the one wrong thing that would hurt her. they always seem to bounce back, but i wasn't a fan of these miscommunications. i love a good opposites attract trope as much as anyone, but some of the situations were goooofy, so much ghosting and cold shoulders and running away during a conversation; it's like, maybe you just shouldn't be together lol.
another thing is how much colin talked about olivia being "jack's little baby sister". like bro. it's weird when you think about her being a "little baby sister" this much and STILL go through with porking her anyway. i just think that if the emphasis had been more on "i cant do this because that's my best friends little sister" then it would've been less weird; don't get me wrong, he still does this anyway, i just think it could've used less of the "little baby sister" rhetoric. i wish there had been more trio interactions between jack colin and olivia; i would've loved more development between jack and olivia, given how many implications there are that jack is their mother's favourite child while olivia is the problem child. you'd think this bred resentment, or maybe it would stir up unfamiliar feelings in jack because he always gets his way and now he doesn't know how to act when his problem child sister snags his best friend. or maybe olivia doesn't know what to do with having the upper hand in their sibling dynamic, and maybe sleeping with colin gives her a little rush of triumph over jack for once, something to release her resentment. idk, i'm just spitballing ideas but i think even Something between the siblings would've been more interesting.
anyway despite all that, this was a fairly lighthearted identity trope romance (which was used well!) that's a quick fluffy steamy read. just don't think about it too hard and it's a fun read