The Booked Shelf is delighted to be highlighting an exclusive cover reveal for NYT & USA Today Bestselling author Lynn Painter whose known for her YA romcoms Better Than The Movies and The Do-Over. Well get ready because releasing in Fall 2023, is her newest YA novel Betting On You, which has been pitched as a spin on When Harry Met Sally (Painter’s homage to Nora Ephron).
Featuring dual POV, the “boy falls first” and fake dating it centers on Bailey whose newest job at a hotel waterpark reunites her with an old acquaintance turned co-worker Charlie. They met during a flight to Omaha the year prior after Bailey’s parent’s divorce. These two polar opposites look forward to hanging out and gossiping, especially about a pair who continuously flirt and cozy up to one another. This leads them to make a bet on whether the cozy couple will actually end up dating because they can never be “just friends” (Charlie) or whether that can be proven wrong (Bailey).
But as Charlie realizes he’s fallen for Bailey and developed a crush on her, what makes him even more terrified to admit his feelings is when they agree to a fake relationship in order to disrupt the pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her new boyfriend. And Bailey soon starts seeing him differently too…
Have the secrets and crushes complicated or doomed these polar opposites before they’ve even realized?
Now without further ado, the cover, illustrated by Liz Casal:
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?
Painter’s YA novels, especially Better Than The Movies, have garnered quite an audience via #Booktok with the #BetterThanTheMovies hashtag reaching 35.2 million views. Painter has also recently announced a BTTM sequel slated for Fall 2024!
Betting On You by Lynn Painter is set to be released November 28, 2023!
You can read more about it on Lynn’s website or add the novel to Goodreads:
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