The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number #2)

Holy HOT tamales - that was some spicy fun!!

I loved Lynn Painter’s book Mr. Wrong Number last year. That delightful one revolved around Olivia Marshall finding love after she texted a wrong number and fate intervened. Well in this next book in the series, it’s her brother Jack’s turn to find love, and once again, fate may have something to say!

After breaking up with his girlfriend and having an ill-advised drunken hookup with a cute, spunky redheaded bartender named Hallie at his sister’s wedding, Olivia signs Jack up on a dating app hoping he’ll find true love.  Hallie has also been dumped by her long-time love, Ben, and she and Jack decide that rather than diving deeper into a purely sexual relationship with each other, they’ll just be friends and be each others’ wingmen on dates as they both search for “The One”. They even make a bet with each other to see who will find love first.

There’s one teeny, tiny problem.  After weeks of fun and flirtatious texts and calls, one or both of them just might have some actual real feelings growing, and neither of them is prepared to risk their friendship to find out.  When they have to pose as boyfriend and girlfriend at Hallie’s sister’s wedding for the benefit of her family, it’s not the alcohol that’s blurring the lines this time!

Jack and Hallie may be my new favorite rom-com couple. Their banter is laugh out loud funny, their friendship is charming and sweet, and their chemistry is *ooo la la!*. Seriously, you could fry an egg on these pages.  I had so much fun with them as they navigated their messy feelings.

My one and only complaint is that the plot followed the expected course with the miscommunication/non-communication trope and requisite last minute crisis. I really wish that wasn’t a predictable part of EVERY.SINGLE.ROM-COM.EVER. Despite this, I loved the story overall, and I thought this was even better than the first book in the series!

I highly recommend both books in the Mr. Wrong Number series if you like witty, sarcastic humor, romance with some extra spice, and a light, fun time. I’ll be eagerly waiting for Book #3! 

★★★★ ½

Thanks to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley, and author Lynn Painter for this ARC to review honestly. It’s due to be published on March 14, 2023.