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thebiglittlelibrary's Reviews (622)
3.5 ⭐ A story where Mr. Wrong Number turns into Mr. Right
Summary:
Olivia Marshall's life is a disaster. After discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her, she inadvertently burns down her apartment building in Chicago. Single and homeless, she moves back to Omaha and crashes with her brother and his stuck-up best friend who has picked on Olivia her entire life.
Things look up for Olivia when she receives a steamy text message from a random wrong number, which ends in some harmless flirting. But over the course of a few weeks, they continue to message back and forth and Olivia finds herself opening up to Mr. Wrong Number. There's freedom in anonymity. But what if this stranger isn't actually a stranger at all? What if he's your brother's best friend - the person you've hated for years - and your current roommate?
My Thoughts:
It's my first book by Lynn Painter and definitely won't be my last! I had a fun time reading this fast-paced, witty, and charming novel.
I loved the idea of getting a random text from a total stranger and hitting it off! We all know the risks involved with internet or virtual relationships - I mean who wants to be catfished? But how fun and even romantic would it be to meet your match this way. Almost seems like Fate. It's such a fun, bizarre concept that's the perfect set-up for a rom-com.
There were A LOT of moments that had me laughing out loud or smiling. Since their teenage years, Olivia and Colin have been dishing it out to each other. So expect hilarious banter between these two! Sometimes their responses were a bit immature, but when someone drives you crazy, you can't always keep it together. They really are the definition of a modern enemies-to-lovers story.
I actually like Olivia and Colin on the surface, but when I look a little deeper, there were some issues for me.
Olivia's unluckiness and clumsiness were a bit much and at times felt like an exaggeration to make her seem quirky. But really, she's a total mess and a terrible houseguest. It bothered me how she broke Colin's printer and spilled ink on the carpet but wasn't going to say anything, or how she tried to make him feel guilty for owning nice things. As if it's his fault he has nice things for her to break. This mentality worked for Olivia and Colin because of the nature of their relationship, but it was still rude behavior and made me dislike Olivia.
Colin was extremely generic. He's your typical rom-com male protagonist: a super sexy white guy with washboard abs. Colin of course also wears business suits because he works in finance and just so happens to also look like Ryan Gosling. There also wasn't any depth to his character. For example, I didn't understand who he really was or what he wanted. There were some issues with his family that are never really addressed but seem to play a big role in his development as a person. And then, there's his interest in Olivia. One moment he's not into her and then it's like a switch was flipped and he can't stop thinking about her. I would have liked to have understood him better on an emotional level.
Heads up: This story is full of sexual tension and steam, but nothing explicit. You never really know what you're going to get with a contemporary romance, but if you're looking for something a little more on the PG-13 side of things, this is it. This story gives you a little bit more than fade to black, where you are present during these moments but it's not graphic and the scene is basically over in 2-3 paragraphs.
While I liked the storyline, there were many mini-conflicts throughout this story that distracted from the main one: that Colin knew Olivia was Miss Misdial and didn't say anything. I don't want to be specific and spoil anything but from the drama with Olivia's new job to her relationship with Colin, there's a lot going on that made the storyline unnecessarily complicated. A lot of these conflicts seemed to be plot points used to further prove Olivia really is unlucky in all aspects of her life.
Overall, Mr. Wrong Number is a cute rom-com that will leave you smiling. If you love enemies-to-lovers, the brother's best friends trope, forced proximity, and slow-burn, you definitely should read this!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
Summary:
Olivia Marshall's life is a disaster. After discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her, she inadvertently burns down her apartment building in Chicago. Single and homeless, she moves back to Omaha and crashes with her brother and his stuck-up best friend who has picked on Olivia her entire life.
Things look up for Olivia when she receives a steamy text message from a random wrong number, which ends in some harmless flirting. But over the course of a few weeks, they continue to message back and forth and Olivia finds herself opening up to Mr. Wrong Number. There's freedom in anonymity. But what if this stranger isn't actually a stranger at all? What if he's your brother's best friend - the person you've hated for years - and your current roommate?
My Thoughts:
It's my first book by Lynn Painter and definitely won't be my last! I had a fun time reading this fast-paced, witty, and charming novel.
I loved the idea of getting a random text from a total stranger and hitting it off! We all know the risks involved with internet or virtual relationships - I mean who wants to be catfished? But how fun and even romantic would it be to meet your match this way. Almost seems like Fate. It's such a fun, bizarre concept that's the perfect set-up for a rom-com.
There were A LOT of moments that had me laughing out loud or smiling. Since their teenage years, Olivia and Colin have been dishing it out to each other. So expect hilarious banter between these two! Sometimes their responses were a bit immature, but when someone drives you crazy, you can't always keep it together. They really are the definition of a modern enemies-to-lovers story.
I actually like Olivia and Colin on the surface, but when I look a little deeper, there were some issues for me.
Olivia's unluckiness and clumsiness were a bit much and at times felt like an exaggeration to make her seem quirky. But really, she's a total mess and a terrible houseguest. It bothered me how she broke Colin's printer and spilled ink on the carpet but wasn't going to say anything, or how she tried to make him feel guilty for owning nice things. As if it's his fault he has nice things for her to break. This mentality worked for Olivia and Colin because of the nature of their relationship, but it was still rude behavior and made me dislike Olivia.
Colin was extremely generic. He's your typical rom-com male protagonist: a super sexy white guy with washboard abs. Colin of course also wears business suits because he works in finance and just so happens to also look like Ryan Gosling. There also wasn't any depth to his character. For example, I didn't understand who he really was or what he wanted. There were some issues with his family that are never really addressed but seem to play a big role in his development as a person. And then, there's his interest in Olivia. One moment he's not into her and then it's like a switch was flipped and he can't stop thinking about her. I would have liked to have understood him better on an emotional level.
Heads up: This story is full of sexual tension and steam, but nothing explicit. You never really know what you're going to get with a contemporary romance, but if you're looking for something a little more on the PG-13 side of things, this is it. This story gives you a little bit more than fade to black, where you are present during these moments but it's not graphic and the scene is basically over in 2-3 paragraphs.
While I liked the storyline, there were many mini-conflicts throughout this story that distracted from the main one: that Colin knew Olivia was Miss Misdial and didn't say anything. I don't want to be specific and spoil anything but from the drama with Olivia's new job to her relationship with Colin, there's a lot going on that made the storyline unnecessarily complicated. A lot of these conflicts seemed to be plot points used to further prove Olivia really is unlucky in all aspects of her life.
Overall, Mr. Wrong Number is a cute rom-com that will leave you smiling. If you love enemies-to-lovers, the brother's best friends trope, forced proximity, and slow-burn, you definitely should read this!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
4.25 ⭐️ Hilariously fun! An absolute joy to read!
"You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love you three times. Please tell me my hands are cold so we can get on with our lives already."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ sarcastic, hopeful bartender / tax accountant FMC
✨ charming, witty landscape architect MMC
✨ one-night stand to friends to lovers
✨ dating apps
✨ 'who can find love first' bet
✨ fake-dating (at the end)
✨ one-bed trope
✨ open door romance with minimum details
✨ snarky banter
✨ amazing flirting
✨ eventual jealousy
✨ omission of feelings
✨ love confessions in the rain 'The Notebook" and "Pride and Prejudice" style
✨ dual pov
I read Lynn Painter's Mr. Wrong Number and thought it was cute, but I wasn't necessarily eager to read this one until a friend of mine gushed about it, saying it is now her favorite contemporary romance! So I requested an ARC on NetGalley, and thank goodness I did because The Love Wager was an absolute freaking delight! You know a book's good when it makes you laugh out loud so many times and ultimately pulls you out of a reading slump. So if you're questioning if you should read it, this is your sign to do so!
My Thoughts:
I absolutely adore Jack and Hallie. Even though they are great characters on their own, I can't think about one without the other. Together, they just make sense. There is no Jack without Hallie and vice versa. They really do complement and complete each other. They see the other for exactly who they are, and not only do they accept the other's uniqueness, they love it. Jack and Hallie are the definition of soulmates, and I would die for them.
The one-night stand to friends to lovers romance. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how on Earth this was going to work, but Lynn Painter did it beautifully! Not only do these two have so much romantic chemistry, but it's made abundantly clear that their friendship is just a strong. Even though they had a one-night stand, they really were just pals after, and it was entirely believable in my opinion. It was fun watching them banter and develop a sweet friendship that turns into love.
Some of the best snarky and flirty banter. Seriously, I cannot tell you how many times I laughed out loud. Their text messages in particular were great! Here's an example:
Jack: Wow. He seems nice? Is that where the bar is set - at nice?
Hallie: What's wrong with nice?
Jack: Nothing. I mean, I'm sure you cannot LIVE without getting railed by a "nice" guy.
Hallie: Eww can you explain the particulars of what getting "railed" entails? It sounds . . . torturous. Painful. I think you might be doing it wrong.
Jack: HAL.
Hallie: I'm mocking the terminology and THAT IS ALL.
The sex scenes may not be very descriptive, but they are still sexy. One of the things I didn't love about the first book was that these scenes were usually only two paragraphs long and extremely light on details. While they still aren't explicit, they are much longer and happen more often, so I was happy about that!
The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars for me is that I didn't 100% jive with the author's writing style. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I just sometimes had to pause midsentence to reread a sentence more than a handful of times, which disrupted the flow of the story for me. It could be because this was an ARC, so it wasn't fully edited either.
Overall, The Love Wager is a rom-com you should read if you're looking for something charming, comical, light-hearted, and romantic. I'll definitely be buying a copy for my library.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an e-ARC copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
"You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love you three times. Please tell me my hands are cold so we can get on with our lives already."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ sarcastic, hopeful bartender / tax accountant FMC
✨ charming, witty landscape architect MMC
✨ one-night stand to friends to lovers
✨ dating apps
✨ 'who can find love first' bet
✨ fake-dating (at the end)
✨ one-bed trope
✨ open door romance with minimum details
✨ snarky banter
✨ amazing flirting
✨ eventual jealousy
✨ omission of feelings
✨ love confessions in the rain 'The Notebook" and "Pride and Prejudice" style
✨ dual pov
I read Lynn Painter's Mr. Wrong Number and thought it was cute, but I wasn't necessarily eager to read this one until a friend of mine gushed about it, saying it is now her favorite contemporary romance! So I requested an ARC on NetGalley, and thank goodness I did because The Love Wager was an absolute freaking delight! You know a book's good when it makes you laugh out loud so many times and ultimately pulls you out of a reading slump. So if you're questioning if you should read it, this is your sign to do so!
My Thoughts:
I absolutely adore Jack and Hallie. Even though they are great characters on their own, I can't think about one without the other. Together, they just make sense. There is no Jack without Hallie and vice versa. They really do complement and complete each other. They see the other for exactly who they are, and not only do they accept the other's uniqueness, they love it. Jack and Hallie are the definition of soulmates, and I would die for them.
The one-night stand to friends to lovers romance. I'll admit, I wasn't sure how on Earth this was going to work, but Lynn Painter did it beautifully! Not only do these two have so much romantic chemistry, but it's made abundantly clear that their friendship is just a strong. Even though they had a one-night stand, they really were just pals after, and it was entirely believable in my opinion. It was fun watching them banter and develop a sweet friendship that turns into love.
Some of the best snarky and flirty banter. Seriously, I cannot tell you how many times I laughed out loud. Their text messages in particular were great! Here's an example:
Jack: Wow. He seems nice? Is that where the bar is set - at nice?
Hallie: What's wrong with nice?
Jack: Nothing. I mean, I'm sure you cannot LIVE without getting railed by a "nice" guy.
Hallie: Eww can you explain the particulars of what getting "railed" entails? It sounds . . . torturous. Painful. I think you might be doing it wrong.
Jack: HAL.
Hallie: I'm mocking the terminology and THAT IS ALL.
The sex scenes may not be very descriptive, but they are still sexy. One of the things I didn't love about the first book was that these scenes were usually only two paragraphs long and extremely light on details. While they still aren't explicit, they are much longer and happen more often, so I was happy about that!
The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars for me is that I didn't 100% jive with the author's writing style. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. I just sometimes had to pause midsentence to reread a sentence more than a handful of times, which disrupted the flow of the story for me. It could be because this was an ARC, so it wasn't fully edited either.
Overall, The Love Wager is a rom-com you should read if you're looking for something charming, comical, light-hearted, and romantic. I'll definitely be buying a copy for my library.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an e-ARC copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.
This is only meant for people with a partner who are struggling to find a balance with home responsibilities. I picked this up because some friends recently read this before they had their baby and found it useful for dividing up responsibilities.
If you’re arguing with your spouse because of home responsibilities, this would be a good book to read. However, my husband and I don’t, and already have a good system of ‘fair play’ integrated into our lives, so I didn’t really learn much. So, I ended up skipping some sections since it wasn’t applicable.
If you’re arguing with your spouse because of home responsibilities, this would be a good book to read. However, my husband and I don’t, and already have a good system of ‘fair play’ integrated into our lives, so I didn’t really learn much. So, I ended up skipping some sections since it wasn’t applicable.
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