On her first day at a new job, highschooler Bailey is surprised to discover that one of her new co-workers is Charlie, a stranger whom she has shared a few negative chance encounters with. Despite being total opposites, Bailey and Charlie end up becoming friendly and, after Charlie shares his belief that people of the opposite sex can’t stay friends, they make a bet about whether two of their fellow co-workers, who appear to be flirting even though one of them is already in a relationship, will be able to stay in the friend zone. Whilst trying to fight their own growing feelings towards each other, Bailey and Charlie decide to start fake dating to try to cause friction between Bailey’s mother and her mother’s new boyfriend (who happens to dislike Charlie). Bailey and Charlie, who are both familiar with divorce, must eventually decide whether to remain friendly co-workers or act on their romantic feelings towards each other and risk heartbreak.
Betting On You is a YA romantic comedy perfect for fans of books like Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter, or The Upside of Falling by Alex Light. Themes or topics present include life after divorce, dealing with change, anxiety, germaphobia, love and heartbreak, growing up, loneliness and isolation, family, and companionship.
Betting On You is a cute and cosy YA romance with some light spice and quite a few swoonworthy moments, including some adorably cute and swoony moments involving a rescue cat! This book was clearly written with Swifties in mind; not only was there a tonne of low-key Taylor Swift references there was also a love interest that is secretly a Swiftie and an impromptu sing-along to the 10-minute version of All Too Well. The plot of Betting On You has similar vibes and many of the same tropes as Painter’s beloved YA romance Better Than the Movies including enemies to friends to lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity. Throughout Betting On You, the main character, Bailey, deals with a lot of anxiety as a result of current and impending big changes in her life; I thought that this was very relatable and relevant as I feel like most people, including myself, have also had anxiety about a big change happening at some point in their lives.
On the downside, I wasn’t sure that all the backstory at the beginning of the novel, detailing Bailey’s first meetings with Charlie, was entirely necessary. This preamble also meant that it took longer to get to the main action of the book, which makes it harder for me to get invested in the plot. Even though both main characters were struggling with anxiety throughout the novel, it seemed like Charlie was the one who was constantly trying to ease Bailey’s anxieties while Charlie’s worries were almost ignored, which seemed unfair.
Even though Betting On You was hard to get into, I ended up finding it quite enjoyable and swoonworthy. I would highly recommend Betting On You to fans of YA romances, especially those with fake dating, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, and/ or forced proximity tropes.
Betting On You is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, of November 28th 2023.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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?
