The Love Wager

By: Lynn Painter

Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio, Zachary Webber

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Wrong Number.

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 onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

After agreeing they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie realize they’re each other’s perfect wing-person in their 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 both struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

©2023 Lynn Painter (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Painter follows up Mr. Wrong Number with an equally cute friends to lovers romance...Their equally filthy sense of humor makes their connection feel real and their game of constant one-upmanship is a lot of fun. Painter’s fans won’t be disappointed."—Publishers Weekly

"A fun, flirty, and timely read from Painter (Mr. Wrong Number), with likable characters to boot.”—Library Journal

“Lynn Painter (Mr. Wrong Number) provides the perfect rom-com escape in The Love Wager, a trope-driven romance that will remind readers, as they laugh themselves to tears, why they love the genre.”—Shelf Awareness

Zachary Webber….my favorite!

I listened to this book because of Zachary Webber. I had no idea what it was about and I was so pleasantly surprised! I loved it!!

More Mr Webber

Loved the narration. The story was super cute, a bit predictable but that’s ok, loved it.

cute rom-com

Light and easy rom-com with minimal angst and conflict. Love Zachary Webber and the friendship & banter between the main characters.

Good, cute, not amazing.

If I were 24 I would be giving this read all of the stars. I’m twice that so a little jaded. It’s slow in the middle and I don’t understand the inability to express your feelings…. Other than the obvious prolong the book. It’s a cute listen. Great narration.

So cute!

Hallie is so easy to like and I love just about anything Zach Webber narrates. Fast paced story that sweet and steamy.

Cute !

Loved the story but would have liked a little more at the end. This is the second book of Lynn Painters I have listened to and the end seems a little short. More of the epilogue would be nice. I did laugh out loud, causing my husband to wonder what the heck i was listening to … Cute with some sexy thrown in !

Fun Book!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I have not found a Lynn Painter book that I haven't loved. The narrators really brought the characters to life, which made the well written banter shine. I was so invested in this story, I even yelled at some characters, like I was part of the story.

Loved it!!

I think this one is my third favorite from Lynn Painter, behind ‘Better Than the Movies’ & ‘The Do-Over’. At least so far. I love Hallie, she is funny and independent. I personally think this book is better than it’s predecessor, ‘Mr. Wrong Number’.

Very enjoyable!

Wish this had been delivered with the readers voicing the appropriate gender characters rather than entire chapters read from a particular perspective. Though this clearly took the author’s intent into account, it was rather jarring for the first hours of the book.

Best book of the year so fair!!

This book is a light hard super funny and very well written if you need a good book to read I would 100% recommend this one!!