🎧 The Love Wager by Lynn Painter @LAPainter @kdimerc @ZacharyWebber @BerkleyRomance @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooks

Posted March 30, 2023 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review / 18 Comments

Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


🎧 The Love Wager by Lynn Painter @LAPainter  @kdimerc @ZacharyWebber @BerkleyRomance @PRHAudio #LoveAudiobooksThe Love Wager by Lynn Painter
Narrator: Kristen DiMercurio, Zachary Webber
Series: Mr. Wrong Number #2
Published by Berkley, Penguin Audio on March 14, 2023
Genres: Romantic Comedy
Length: 7 hours, 1 minute
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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four-flames
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

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.

The Love Wager starts with a wedding.  I didn’t realize it until much later in the book, but it’s the couple from the first book Mr. Wrong Number, Olivia and Colin.   They are barely mentioned as this book is about Olivia’s brother Jack.

I really enjoyed the humor in Mr. Wrong Number so I was excited to read The Love Wager. It doesn’t disappoint.  There are many, many hilarious moments.  Other than the beginning, there are so many great times as Jack and Hallie get to know each other. Since as friends they are discussing, and sometimes commiserating, about their dates from the app, they are in a supportive friendship rather than truly adversarial.  They do make a bet about who will find true love first. Neither seems truly competitive about it and it comes up in teasing ways.

Jack is a really good guy who has never really been in love. He hadn’t even considered its importance until he goes to his uncle’s funeral.  He really enjoyed his uncle, who always seemed to have lots of friends, ladies and love.  But there is hardly anyone at the funeral besides a few family members.  So the footloose and fancy free with lots of ladies is no longer as appealing.  Jack tries to find someone but is just going through the motions.

Then he meets Hallie twice in one week.  She’s smart and sassy and fun.  Her self esteem took a bit of a hit when she was dumped by a long time live-in boyfriend.  She’s suffering over the upcoming wedding of her perfect sister where the ex will be a groomsmen.

So after some time, Jack has figured out he has feelings for Hallie so he agrees to go with her to the wedding and be her fake boyfriend.  They enjoy this time so much but they don’t want to loses their friendship by admitting they want more.  Grrr  I hurt for both of them in this.  Hallie realizes her feelings for Jack too.  I loved how the ex saw her in a new light.

So I felt bad for Jack struggling to understand and express his feelings. I imagine it was easy for him to find women to date and he hurt a few, but I don’t see him as being dishonest with them. But he’s clearly out of his depth when he has fallen for Hallie.  I thought she was a little hard on him though they got there in the end. I loved them together and the humor was amazing.

Narration:

I was comfortable with the narration.  I don’t believe I have heard these narrators previously.  I enjoyed Webber’s deep voice for Jack and the sassy wit portrayed by DiMercurio for Hallie.  Each of them does the chapters of that character’s point of view.  DiMercurio seems to have more chapters and she does a great job with both voices.  I like Webber’s tones for Jack but his Hallie is just not the same as DiMercurio and her Hallie is awesome.  Overall, I appreciated the great emotional expression in the performances.  I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE

 

About Lynn Painter

Lynn Painter is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who writes romantic comedies for both teens and adults. She lives in Nebraska with her husband and pack of wild children, and when she isn’t reading or writing, odds are good she’s guzzling energy drinks and watching rom-coms.

Rating Breakdown
Plot
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Writing
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Characters
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Narration (Audio)
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Overall: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted March 30, 2023 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review / 18 Comments


18 responses to “🎧 The Love Wager by Lynn Painter