I made it an hour after that, but as soon as they played “The Last Time,” I had to leave. The entire red rerelease reminded me of Charlie, and just hearing it made me think of pine trees and tree-climbing boys.
It’s a sure bet that you’ll fall for Bailey and Charlie.
When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.
Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.
Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?
Ok, Lynn’s books have been autobuys for me since her first YA release, Better than the Movies. Since then, I’ve been excited for every YA and adult romance she’s published. Bailey and Charlie may be my current new favourite Lynn Painter couple (I think I say that after every book). Betting on You is funny, and charming. It’s an early 2000s rom com with a dash of absurdity and a sprinkling of sweetness. There’s enough tartness that it’s not saccharine.
When Charlie and Bailey first meet, she’s going through one of the worst days of her life: her parents have divorced and she’s moving across the country to where her mom now lives. It’s not a meet cute, to say the least. Surprisingly, they end up living in the same town and keep running into each other over the years. When they suddenly end up working together, they find out that their first impressions of each other may not be the real them. However, Charlie has been using his snarky humour to deflect Bailey’s attention away from how much he really likes her. Throw in some teenage bets about friends and a fake dating plot to break up Bailey’s Mom and her new boyfriend, and there’s a lot of shenanigans.
Lynn pitched this as a YA When Harry Met Sally, and I get it, especially with Charlie not believing that men and women can be friends as well as some of the plot points that echo WHMS but in a modern, younger vibe. I love the exploration of men versus women and friends at that younger age because I think it’s something we all go through and think about. Can you really just be friends? Does someone always want something more?
I really loved Bailey and Charlie. Charlie holds himself back, and I think he comes across as a normal teenage boy a lot – they are goofy, serious, introspective and sometimes douchebags at different types sometimes all in the same hour. I really enjoyed getting to see both of their perspectives of situations because it really pushed both of their character development. Knowing how much Charlie liked Bailey all through the story really helped explain some of his actions. Bailey and Charlie are really sweet together. They’ve both had their hearts broken before and are cautious about getting hurt again. While they are both teens I loved how Lynn played with their maturity: sometimes they both seemed older than their age and sometimes younger, which I feel is really what the teenage years are about. There’s a lot of layers. I think both adults and teens will really love the characters and their growth and trials throughout the book. One reason they both sometimes are mature is because they both come from divorced families. The struggles and tensions they go through as part of the divorced kids club also helped explain both of their feelings, especially as their parents moved on and rebuilt their lives on their own.
I loved everything about Betting on You; it made me laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page. I loved all the Taylor Swift references as well as the very cute cats that featured in the story as well. Get yourself a copy of Betting on You and be ready to have any crack in your heart healed.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
