3.5

Betting on You

Lynn Painter
Book
June
2023

Review:

Very cute book. I loved the characters and the setting. My only issue with it was the fact that they referenced multiple times that the main character looked better with straight hair. It made it seem like all girls have to straighten their hair to look pretty, which is really not true. It actually kinda made me annoyed because without that totally unnecessary plot line, the book would have been perfect. As a person with curly hair, I hate it when books do that. It is also rooted in racism, which is not a good look for a romance author. I am wondering whether others with notice that. I guess I will have to wait until November to see.

Trigger Warnings:
strained parent relationships, cheating (side characters), theme surrounding being a child of divorce

Synopsis From Book:

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?
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