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A review by aemryreads
Betting On You by Lynn Painter
3.0
Blatant retelling of When Harry Met Sally with too many Taylor Swift references.
That being said… did I enjoy myself? Yeah. Yeah, I did.
Minor plagiarism aside, this novel was more enjoyable than any other works of Lynn Painter that I’ve indulged in. God, I hope that sentence made sense. Was it cheesy? Yeah definitely. Was there a whole job description for pages and pages just for it to have no relevance later because they end up working at a desk? Yeah, there was. Was it probably illogical and have plot points of fake dating that made no sense just for the hell of including fake dating? When is there ever a logical explanation for fake dating. Be real.
All of this was made acceptable by 1- the story pacing and 2- Charlie.
PACING: unlike Painter’s other novels, this one felt like things were progressing in a logical fashion. I get pretty upset when the romance is realized and acted on early on, and while there were obvious emotions early on, the real attraction between characters didn’t seem to come into play until around halfway through the book, which was great for me as a reader. I need me a slow burn.
CHARLIE: the most likable of Painter’s love interests undoubtedly. Sarcastic and funny on the outside, extremely loving and caring in the inside - textbook definition of a trope (me when I don’t know the definition of trope) (you get the point I was trying to make) but it’s fun to read so I don’t give a damn.
I had a complaint but I just forgot it. Give me a second.
Oh.
Lynn needs to get into the adult sphere. Because why am I reading about high schoolers? Okay, realizing this one is on me. However, Lynn has a great way of writing and it always gives me butterflies but at one point I was reading this and I was like oh hey so these guys are like not grown ups. AND ON TOP OF THIS, LYNN WRITES LIKE THEY ARE.
This is my complaint. Why write adult characters and be like “nah but they’re in high school”???? The characters in this book, while cheesy at times and prone to stupid jokes or nicknames or statements and actions in general, are overall too mature in their thoughts and actions to be in high school. This book would’ve been elevated if it had taken place in like their second year of college. BECAUSE ALSO WHY ARE THEY IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN WE DONT EVEN HAVE SCENES OR PLOT POINTS THAT HAVE TO WITH SCHOOLING??? It’ll be like “oh yeah Charlie is actually super smart” and then they play trivia to prove that point. Not once were the characters in school. SO JUST PUT THEM IN COLLEGE. PUT THEM IN COLLEGE.
I’m sure there’s plenty other things to nitpick about but I’ll leave it here because I need to go blow my nose.
Just know this book, while main thing several decent size faults, is a good, quick, enjoyable read.
Also shoutout to this book for marking me reaching my reading goal. 24 books for 2024.
Pray I can complete my 25 for 2025. Bye bye readers. (Nobody is reading this smh)
That being said… did I enjoy myself? Yeah. Yeah, I did.
Minor plagiarism aside, this novel was more enjoyable than any other works of Lynn Painter that I’ve indulged in. God, I hope that sentence made sense. Was it cheesy? Yeah definitely. Was there a whole job description for pages and pages just for it to have no relevance later because they end up working at a desk? Yeah, there was. Was it probably illogical and have plot points of fake dating that made no sense just for the hell of including fake dating? When is there ever a logical explanation for fake dating. Be real.
All of this was made acceptable by 1- the story pacing and 2- Charlie.
PACING: unlike Painter’s other novels, this one felt like things were progressing in a logical fashion. I get pretty upset when the romance is realized and acted on early on, and while there were obvious emotions early on, the real attraction between characters didn’t seem to come into play until around halfway through the book, which was great for me as a reader. I need me a slow burn.
CHARLIE: the most likable of Painter’s love interests undoubtedly. Sarcastic and funny on the outside, extremely loving and caring in the inside - textbook definition of a trope (me when I don’t know the definition of trope) (you get the point I was trying to make) but it’s fun to read so I don’t give a damn.
I had a complaint but I just forgot it. Give me a second.
Oh.
Lynn needs to get into the adult sphere. Because why am I reading about high schoolers? Okay, realizing this one is on me. However, Lynn has a great way of writing and it always gives me butterflies but at one point I was reading this and I was like oh hey so these guys are like not grown ups. AND ON TOP OF THIS, LYNN WRITES LIKE THEY ARE.
This is my complaint. Why write adult characters and be like “nah but they’re in high school”???? The characters in this book, while cheesy at times and prone to stupid jokes or nicknames or statements and actions in general, are overall too mature in their thoughts and actions to be in high school. This book would’ve been elevated if it had taken place in like their second year of college. BECAUSE ALSO WHY ARE THEY IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN WE DONT EVEN HAVE SCENES OR PLOT POINTS THAT HAVE TO WITH SCHOOLING??? It’ll be like “oh yeah Charlie is actually super smart” and then they play trivia to prove that point. Not once were the characters in school. SO JUST PUT THEM IN COLLEGE. PUT THEM IN COLLEGE.
I’m sure there’s plenty other things to nitpick about but I’ll leave it here because I need to go blow my nose.
Just know this book, while main thing several decent size faults, is a good, quick, enjoyable read.
Also shoutout to this book for marking me reaching my reading goal. 24 books for 2024.
Pray I can complete my 25 for 2025. Bye bye readers. (Nobody is reading this smh)