Review: The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken
The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken
The Bet is about a couple of childhood friends that are reunited under some interesting circumstances. Those circumstances just so happen to be self-made and take the lovely Kace on a frustrating journey with her old flame Jake Titus. Jake, who's takeover of the family business has made him into the most eligible billionaire bachelor, is used to control and thinks he can plan everyone's life around his. But Kace knows better and refuses to fall in the same old trap that she did when they were younger.
This isn't the first book that I have read by Van Dyken. Honestly, after reading Tear (A Seaside Novel) I was a little unsure if I'd like The Bet. I found Tear to be written in more of a pre-teen/teen fashion and I didn't think Rachel would have what it takes to write more in the YA category. I was pleasantly surprised with The Bet.
At first I wasn't sure that I would be too into a story about a love triangle between brothers. It's been overdone and I really don't care for a girl tramping around because she likes the looks of one guy but the personality of the other. I found this book to be enjoyably different in that aspect. It really wasn't so much of a love triangle as it was a story of a farce relationship and people that could read right through it all. It really was entertaining and the way it plays out is at a perfect pace. The characters aren't overly dramatic about situations (nothing makes be stall in a book quicker than an overly sensitive 20-something girl going on 14) and there's enough love/hate/comedy/sexual tension/rediscovery/life revelations to keep you turning the pages non-stop until you hit the end.
The setting of the book is mostly at the family's house, and has a familial setting throughout most of it. If you've ever seen the movie The Proposal - it has that type of a vibe and comedy factor mixed in. Grandma Nadine is great! And the family dynamic is very relatable (We all have crazy situations in the family ;) ).
If you're looking for a steamy read, this isn't really one of those. All though there are a few pretty hot scenes. Mostly it's a very romantic story about two people rediscovering each other. The building of the characters is well done. I will say that the title has nothing to really do with the book until the last page. Because of how I misinterpreted the title (and the book synopsis) I found myself asking "what bet?" throughout the book. I thought I was missing something for a while. It also had a couple of cliché elements that seem to happen in every book (a certain tragedy that seems to be the same life altering tragedy in every book these days).
Ratings:
Steam **
Characters ****
Writing Quality *****
Plot (Originality) ***
My rating:
Amazon: 4
Good Reads: 3.8
NFXWD9MSY75E
The Bet is about a couple of childhood friends that are reunited under some interesting circumstances. Those circumstances just so happen to be self-made and take the lovely Kace on a frustrating journey with her old flame Jake Titus. Jake, who's takeover of the family business has made him into the most eligible billionaire bachelor, is used to control and thinks he can plan everyone's life around his. But Kace knows better and refuses to fall in the same old trap that she did when they were younger.This isn't the first book that I have read by Van Dyken. Honestly, after reading Tear (A Seaside Novel) I was a little unsure if I'd like The Bet. I found Tear to be written in more of a pre-teen/teen fashion and I didn't think Rachel would have what it takes to write more in the YA category. I was pleasantly surprised with The Bet.
At first I wasn't sure that I would be too into a story about a love triangle between brothers. It's been overdone and I really don't care for a girl tramping around because she likes the looks of one guy but the personality of the other. I found this book to be enjoyably different in that aspect. It really wasn't so much of a love triangle as it was a story of a farce relationship and people that could read right through it all. It really was entertaining and the way it plays out is at a perfect pace. The characters aren't overly dramatic about situations (nothing makes be stall in a book quicker than an overly sensitive 20-something girl going on 14) and there's enough love/hate/comedy/sexual tension/rediscovery/life revelations to keep you turning the pages non-stop until you hit the end.
The setting of the book is mostly at the family's house, and has a familial setting throughout most of it. If you've ever seen the movie The Proposal - it has that type of a vibe and comedy factor mixed in. Grandma Nadine is great! And the family dynamic is very relatable (We all have crazy situations in the family ;) ).
If you're looking for a steamy read, this isn't really one of those. All though there are a few pretty hot scenes. Mostly it's a very romantic story about two people rediscovering each other. The building of the characters is well done. I will say that the title has nothing to really do with the book until the last page. Because of how I misinterpreted the title (and the book synopsis) I found myself asking "what bet?" throughout the book. I thought I was missing something for a while. It also had a couple of cliché elements that seem to happen in every book (a certain tragedy that seems to be the same life altering tragedy in every book these days).
Ratings:
Steam **
Characters ****
Writing Quality *****
Plot (Originality) ***
My rating:
Amazon: 4
Good Reads: 3.8
NFXWD9MSY75E
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