Mr. Wrong Number By Lynn Painter

Review by Veronica

“Well, good morning, sunshine.”

I froze at the sound and instantly felt like I was going to throw up.

Because Colin Beck, Jack’s best friend, was watching me toddle toward the kitchen. As if the universe hadn’t already beaten the living shit out of me, there he was, standing beside the fancy breakfast bar with his arms crossed, witnessing my walk of shame with an eyebrow raised in amusement. He was wearing his I’m-better-than-you smirk and dickish good looks while I traversed the apartment in underpants and a too-small shirt like some sort of Winnie-the-Pooh variety of dipshit.  

Mr. Wrong Number is a laugh-out-loud swoony-worthy rom-com.  

Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall…or maybe she’s just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a “What are you wearing?” text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing….

Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend’s annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she’s turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He’s sure he can keep his distance, until the moment he discovers she’s the irresistible Miss Misdial he’s been sort of sexting for weeks—and now he has to decide whether to turn the heat up or ghost her before things get messy.

I was so excited for this book to come out. Lynn’s other book, Better Than The Movies, was one of my favourite books that I read last year. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you do. Mr. Wrong Number is Lynn’s first adult rom-com, and she knocked this one out of the romance ballpark. If you are a fan of Christina Lauren’s style of novels, you will love this book. They both have very similar humour, sexiness, and fun, smart characters. 

I loved this story! The mysterious texting between Mr. Wrong Number and Miss. Misdial is witty and spicy, and it added a lot of fun and steam to the story. This book is told from Olivia and Colin’s perspective. I’m not always a fan of multi-POV narratives, but in this case, I loved it. Colin is this modern-day Mr. Darcy; he is aloof, standoffish, and of course, very sexy. Olivia has a hard time reading Colin’s moods or figuring out what he is thinking. Colin is a mystery to Olivia. If readers were relying solely on Olivia’s views of Colin, we wouldn’t have been able to appreciate how complex and rich his character is. It was also really enjoyable seeing what Colin’s thoughts are, especially when it comes to Olivia. 

Lynn has this magical talent of writing books that have me howling with laughter. Olivia’s character is just SO much fun, and her life is just one big hot mess. Not an ugly hot mess situation, but a fun “no way that couldn’t have that happened” situation. The things that happen to Olivia are just funny and out of this world. I think what I like most about Olivia is that she can laugh at her mishaps or misfortunes. She doesn’t let that stuff bring her down, and she doesn’t dwell on it; she carries on with her life. Olivia really embraces life to its fullest. I was nervous that Olivia’s character would change; I didn’t want to see her become a more serious, shall I say “grown-up” kind of character. I liked her for who she was. In my mind, I didn’t think she needed to change her personality or outlook on life. That’s why I was thankful that Lynn didn’t change her. She does grow when it comes to dealing with romantic relationships, but she didn’t change who she was for a man.

I adored the stuck together, sibling’s best friend approach to Colin and Olivia’s relationship. Colin doesn’t think much of Olivia and her life. He thinks she is flighty and flaky and he loves teasing/making fun of her because she is his best-friend’s younger sister. When Colin realizes that Olivia is Miss Misdial, he starts to realize that he has misjudged Olivia and begins to see her in a new light. These two are not fans of each other at the beginning. And because of that animosity, the banter between them was sharp and oh so funny. Because they are stuck together, the chemistry between them starts to spark, and that banter starts to turn into something steamier. Lynn did a great job building this sexual tension between them and had me staying up in the wee hours of the night because I couldn’t go to bed because wanted to see these two get together. There is just the right amount of spicy scenes in this book that will satisfy any rom-com fan. 

If you are looking for a rom-com that is light, funny, and oh so steamy, then you need to check out Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter.