I don’t know that I would have even requested this one had Tess not ( loudly ) sung the praises of the author’s debut novel ‘Better Than the Movies’, but I’m so glad I did. confession: I have not read "Better than Before" yet and reading it may change some of my opinions but that is yet to be decided. Swoon-worthy rom-com in the vein of She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You follows a teen girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a bet while working at a waterpark.

SPOILERS AHEAD - WARNING❗️❗️❗️ Also: Why did Aaron take Nekesa back if Bailey never took Zach back for DOING THE SAME THING?

I loved the beginning and the focus on divorced child syndrome and how kids feel in these situations as well as how it influences the mistrust kids have in the future. our characters, two children of divorce who each can think of no fate worse than their respective single parents finding happiness, have a combination enemies to lovers / fake dating / grumpy sunshine / friends to lovers / academic rivals thing going on. I loved every page honestly, and am wondering why on earth I haven’t read a Lynn Painter book before.

but there's no driving force behind that love; what activities did they do together that made bailey dream of a fifty shades of gray-esque nighttime routine with him? This is just the 2nd piece of Lynn Painter’s work that I have read, I didn’t exactly love this one, but I’m definitely looking into reading more from Lynn Painter.I did think that their relationship was missing something as I read through the book, which is weird because this author has always delivered on relationships for me in the past. What did his having a daughter my age have to do with the fact that I wasn’t wearing pants—or a bra—in front of him in our kitchen? when scott showed up at the pizza place when bailey and her mom were having a girls' night to PROPOSE, i nearly lost my shit because the timing could not have been worse; the one day it's just bailey and her mom? I wished Charlie had a lil bit of bigger chapters because the angst from this chapters made me feel so much. her internal conflict with her parents’ divorce and her mom’s new boyfriend were well done and i liked how everything wrapped up in that regard.

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. after i'd finished licking my wounds, which is a disgusting expression, i decided to get back out there. it was so out of touch for bailey to just place a bet that her best friend would get with a guy, and not let nekesa know so she could avoid a big conflict with her boyfriend. In the beginning I loved the hints but after a while I got annoyed AND THIS IS COMING FROM A SWIFTY!I didn't like the decisions some of the characters made and I didn't like the miscommunication near the end of the book.