Review Detail

Betting on You is a fun, enemies-to-lovers romance from Lynn Painter. The story starts with a few bad run-ins that our main characters, Bailey and Charlie, had in past years to establish why they didn’t care for each other, but things are about to change now that they work together.
The banter and snark are spot on for an engaging read that makes the pages fly by. Charlie is more than the cynical jerk he appears to be, but it takes Bailey a while to learn that his defense mechanisms are strong from a stressful home life. Charlie is a character of contradictions because I enjoyed his playful attitude, snark, and suaveness but the hurt he causes with his hot and cold attitude and then bailing on her is not so cute.
Bailey’s conflict revolves around her parents' divorce and her mother’s new boyfriend, Scott. He is not her dad, and she is not ready to let him in and accept the changes the relationship will make to her life. Charlie knows all about that and will help her try to run the guy off. Enter going from coworkers to fake dating that crosses into real chemistry.
Bailey has a best friend and a close relationship with her mother but their characters stay flat throughout the book. She mentions how close she is with her mom but we don’t see that from their interactions. I would have expected her to have a heart-to-heart about her discomfort with Scott staying overnight and being around more often.
Overall, Betting on You is a fun rom-com with plenty of snark and chemistry. The heat between them is spicy and intense, making it best for older YA and mature readers, but the actual physicality sticks to kissing.