oddgirlsmedia's review
5.0
Anyone in the mood for farm fresh cheese and ice cream? I read Bet The Farm and now want to visit my local farmer’s market.
This book had a lot of highlights but let’s start with our main characters. Lauren, our real estate numbers guru has had a few months of bad luck, when a one-night stand with a woman at the bar seems to be turning things around. Enter Thea, who after a one-stand she would like to repeat has to return home to try and save her family’s farm, only to find out the woman sent to help sell off her legacy is a the one she can’t stop thinking about.
I really liked Lauren and Thea as a couple. They clicked right away and even though there were a few times I felt like banging Thea’s head against the wall I understood her love for family making her a little crazy. Lauren was my favorite, she was funny and light-hearted. Not as intense as her best friend Trina, but she never let anyone walk over her. They seemed to compliment each other.
Now let’s talk side characters, this book was full of them. I had read a review that the book featured too many sub-characters, for the record I don’t agree. I love when I get the chance to see previous couples popup in future books. Normally that means you get one couple mentioned or a single interaction but Bet The Farm gave me multiple characters from the Fiona Riley universe engaging. For me, an avid audiobook junkie, I really appreciated all the books being narrated by the same person. It felt like seeing old friends.
However if you haven’t read all of her other books, go do that now. For the purposes of this book, you need to know Shelly and Clair from Unlikely Match, and Hayley and Emerson from Media Darling. Also it would be good to know Lucinda and Samantha from Miss Match, they are mentioned but not seen.
This book had a lot of highlights but let’s start with our main characters. Lauren, our real estate numbers guru has had a few months of bad luck, when a one-night stand with a woman at the bar seems to be turning things around. Enter Thea, who after a one-stand she would like to repeat has to return home to try and save her family’s farm, only to find out the woman sent to help sell off her legacy is a the one she can’t stop thinking about.
I really liked Lauren and Thea as a couple. They clicked right away and even though there were a few times I felt like banging Thea’s head against the wall I understood her love for family making her a little crazy. Lauren was my favorite, she was funny and light-hearted. Not as intense as her best friend Trina, but she never let anyone walk over her. They seemed to compliment each other.
Now let’s talk side characters, this book was full of them. I had read a review that the book featured too many sub-characters, for the record I don’t agree. I love when I get the chance to see previous couples popup in future books. Normally that means you get one couple mentioned or a single interaction but Bet The Farm gave me multiple characters from the Fiona Riley universe engaging. For me, an avid audiobook junkie, I really appreciated all the books being narrated by the same person. It felt like seeing old friends.
However if you haven’t read all of her other books, go do that now. For the purposes of this book, you need to know Shelly and Clair from Unlikely Match, and Hayley and Emerson from Media Darling. Also it would be good to know Lucinda and Samantha from Miss Match, they are mentioned but not seen.
gloriamontagov's review against another edition
4.0
➥ 4 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
Buddy read with Amy
Lauren took Thea's jaw in her hand and pulled her close as she promised, "I am going to exhaust you tonight."
"Not if I exhaust you first." Thea eased out of Lauren's grasp, kissing her lightly. "Save some energy for after the game."
Lauren dragged her thumb across her bottom lip as she stepped back. "I will."
"Good luck," Thea said with a wave as Lauren turned towards the ball field.
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
Buddy read with Amy
roomforbooks's review
4.0
3.5
Rep: w|w, queer mc, lesbian mc, lesbian Vietnamese/Chinese American side character, nb trans side character, lesbian side characters, Indian American side character, Black side characters
First of all why cut half the sex scenes short??? Don’t be shy, give us a chapter-long sapphic sex scene, it’s good for a reader’s health. Second of all, why the long chapters? Totally bad for my health.
While the book had multiple (many really) steamy scenes, A LOT of sexy flirting (I’d say even too much) and little drama, it lacked something, though I’m not sure what it is.
Rep: w|w, queer mc, lesbian mc, lesbian Vietnamese/Chinese American side character, nb trans side character, lesbian side characters, Indian American side character, Black side characters
First of all why cut half the sex scenes short??? Don’t be shy, give us a chapter-long sapphic sex scene, it’s good for a reader’s health. Second of all, why the long chapters? Totally bad for my health.
While the book had multiple (many really) steamy scenes, A LOT of sexy flirting (I’d say even too much) and little drama, it lacked something, though I’m not sure what it is.
barbrokatrin's review
3.0
Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
This was cute. It wasn't a deep and mind-blowing read but something nice to spend a few hours reading. Havsnt read the first Bet book and you can easily read this on uts own. I did love the throw back connection to Hayley and Emerson from "Media Darling"
This was cute. It wasn't a deep and mind-blowing read but something nice to spend a few hours reading. Havsnt read the first Bet book and you can easily read this on uts own. I did love the throw back connection to Hayley and Emerson from "Media Darling"
patricia71's review
4.0
I was leaning between 3 and 4 stars, because I didn’t feel this book/story as I do with all but 1 of Fiona Riley’s books. This story line didn’t mesmerize me like she always does. I also found out (reason for spoiler notification) that I don’t like ‘the sexual attraction and having hot sex before they get to know each other’ bit. So overall 3,5 stars but to good for 3 stars.
khieeae's review
4.0
4 stars!
This book is the second book in a series following ‘Bet against me’ and can be read as a stand alone.
We meet Lauren, who some of you may remember as the best friend to Trina in Bet Against Me, and Thea who hook up at a bar in what was supposed to be a one night stand but then Lauren is brought in to consult on Thea’s family land that Thea does not want to sell even though her mother is absolutely exhausted.
I absolutely love Fiona Riley books, they’re good casual reads. In fact one of my favorite books is the second book in her Perfect Match series called Unlikely Match. Imagine how excited I was seeing the two main characters from that book make minor appearances in this one.
They weren’t the only ones however, we see small cameos from Riley’s other characters such as Kendall and Trina (the first book of this series) and Hayley and Emerson from her book ‘Media Darling’.
The cameos were delightful but added to a book that I felt was saturated with characters. I think with the exclusion of at least two newly introduced or cameo characters could’ve left room for more build up in Lauren and Thea’s relationship. There was barely any romantic aspect to it which made it hard for me to like their conclusion, the book focused more on their sexual relationship and that made it iffy to imagine them actually being happy long term after the ‘honeymoon phase’. The I love you’s were a bit rushed as well.
Regardless the book was good, lovely humor, likable characters and definitely chemistry between the characters but the ending is where it went a bit down for me.
Like it was a bit unrealistic for everything to work out the way it did in such a coincidental way. Also the sentimental value of the farm wasn’t really acknowledged, it seemed more like Thea wanting everything to work out how she wanted it making me disappointed at her character’s development.
After the way she treated Lauren her getting exactly what she wanted felt very unsatisfactory. Acceptance was definitely something I wanted to see her go through. While from Lauren I would’ve liked more personality.
So I do recommend this book because as I said it’s funny, sexy and if you like Fiona Riley books this has appearances from some of your favorite characters.
We did see a lot of Ellison in this book and I have an inkling I’m gonna love her story!
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in return for an honest review!
This book is the second book in a series following ‘Bet against me’ and can be read as a stand alone.
We meet Lauren, who some of you may remember as the best friend to Trina in Bet Against Me, and Thea who hook up at a bar in what was supposed to be a one night stand but then Lauren is brought in to consult on Thea’s family land that Thea does not want to sell even though her mother is absolutely exhausted.
I absolutely love Fiona Riley books, they’re good casual reads. In fact one of my favorite books is the second book in her Perfect Match series called Unlikely Match. Imagine how excited I was seeing the two main characters from that book make minor appearances in this one.
They weren’t the only ones however, we see small cameos from Riley’s other characters such as Kendall and Trina (the first book of this series) and Hayley and Emerson from her book ‘Media Darling’.
The cameos were delightful but added to a book that I felt was saturated with characters. I think with the exclusion of at least two newly introduced or cameo characters could’ve left room for more build up in Lauren and Thea’s relationship. There was barely any romantic aspect to it which made it hard for me to like their conclusion, the book focused more on their sexual relationship and that made it iffy to imagine them actually being happy long term after the ‘honeymoon phase’. The I love you’s were a bit rushed as well.
Regardless the book was good, lovely humor, likable characters and definitely chemistry between the characters but the ending is where it went a bit down for me.
Like it was a bit unrealistic for everything to work out the way it did in such a coincidental way. Also the sentimental value of the farm wasn’t really acknowledged, it seemed more like Thea wanting everything to work out how she wanted it making me disappointed at her character’s development.
After the way she treated Lauren her getting exactly what she wanted felt very unsatisfactory. Acceptance was definitely something I wanted to see her go through. While from Lauren I would’ve liked more personality.
So I do recommend this book because as I said it’s funny, sexy and if you like Fiona Riley books this has appearances from some of your favorite characters.
We did see a lot of Ellison in this book and I have an inkling I’m gonna love her story!
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in return for an honest review!
sherpawhale's review
4.0
I enjoyed this one more than I thought (which I'll get into in a minute), but not quite as much as the previous entry.
I still don't enjoy real estate and only "valuing" property in terms of developing it, but Riley did a good job in humanizing it a bit more through Lauren's eyes.
The romance between Lauren and Thea was fun to read, from a fun, flirtatious, sexy hookup to a business entanglement to a relationship. I like that the Big Fight happened a bit earlier and the makeup didn't revolve around the final climax of the story; a fate that I find all too frequent in romance novels.
Now for a personal gripe, which may or may not be something that bothers some, depending on where you live: what's with all these idyllic stories of country and farm living these past few years? Y'all ever been to a farm that wasn't straight out of Hollywood? It's tough, dirty work, often nasty, and farmers are often the biggest welfare recipients you can find, because the greed and broken promises of capitalism is too strong. Of course, that's just my *personal* opinion as someone who lives in a rural area and is bemused by all the drooling over the "get off the grid" dreams.
Anyway, that was a piece I felt Riley left a bit too unexplored. Thea's character obviously wasn't tied to farmwork because she'd lived in a city for 10 years and barely been home, but all of a sudden she thinks a genie is going to sprout from a cow's udders and grant them 3 wishes? Kidding about that part, Thea doesn't actually believe in a genie. But it's never fully explored beyond the fact that it's her childhood home being sold and all of the ensuing emotions that brings up.
And then, of course, the ending is just a little bit too neat and tidy. I won't get into the details for spoilers, but it did have me rolling my eyes a bit at the coincidence of it all. Yes, romance novels typically involve Happily Ever Afters, but I felt a dose of reality might have grounded everything enough to elevate this story to the next level.
Oh well! Fiona Riley clearly has a pretty firm mastery of the genre, and I pretty much consider everything of hers an auto-purchase now. I look forward to whatever she delights us with next.
I still don't enjoy real estate and only "valuing" property in terms of developing it, but Riley did a good job in humanizing it a bit more through Lauren's eyes.
The romance between Lauren and Thea was fun to read, from a fun, flirtatious, sexy hookup to a business entanglement to a relationship. I like that the Big Fight happened a bit earlier and the makeup didn't revolve around the final climax of the story; a fate that I find all too frequent in romance novels.
Now for a personal gripe, which may or may not be something that bothers some, depending on where you live: what's with all these idyllic stories of country and farm living these past few years? Y'all ever been to a farm that wasn't straight out of Hollywood? It's tough, dirty work, often nasty, and farmers are often the biggest welfare recipients you can find, because the greed and broken promises of capitalism is too strong. Of course, that's just my *personal* opinion as someone who lives in a rural area and is bemused by all the drooling over the "get off the grid" dreams.
Anyway, that was a piece I felt Riley left a bit too unexplored. Thea's character obviously wasn't tied to farmwork because she'd lived in a city for 10 years and barely been home, but all of a sudden she thinks a genie is going to sprout from a cow's udders and grant them 3 wishes? Kidding about that part, Thea doesn't actually believe in a genie. But it's never fully explored beyond the fact that it's her childhood home being sold and all of the ensuing emotions that brings up.
And then, of course, the ending is just a little bit too neat and tidy. I won't get into the details for spoilers, but it did have me rolling my eyes a bit at the coincidence of it all. Yes, romance novels typically involve Happily Ever Afters, but I felt a dose of reality might have grounded everything enough to elevate this story to the next level.
Oh well! Fiona Riley clearly has a pretty firm mastery of the genre, and I pretty much consider everything of hers an auto-purchase now. I look forward to whatever she delights us with next.
mjsam's review
4.0
ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is part of Riley’s “bet” series, and features characters from [b:Bet Against Me|51236417|Bet Against Me|Fiona Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581630634l/51236417._SY75_.jpg|75974284]. I liked this much more than the first one. This features Lauren, best friend and co-worker of Trina from book 1, Lauren is in a real estate slump and her boss Ellison gives her a task of trying to find a way to save the farm of some family friends. The other MC is Thea, whose family own said farm.
Thea and Lauren meet in a bar and have a one night stand type hook up, but really like each other, so intend to meet up again, neither realises that the other will be involved with the farm stuff, and so are surprised by this development. The blurb makes it sound like Lauren is some ruthless real estate shark out to sell Thea’s family farm at any cost, but it’s actually the opposite, she’s trying to figure out a way for them to at least be able to keep the farm.
Anyway, the two of them are super cute together and there’s lots of lovely banter, not just between the MCs but also between them and other characters. I loved all of the scenes with Thea and Lauren with Thea’s family, Thea’s best friend is also a hoot. Lauren and all of her co-workers were also a highlight, Trina from book 1 features fairly heavily, as do Ellison and Jax, but Kendall barely manages a cameo. The MCs from [b:Media Darling|42390225|Media Darling|Fiona Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539922055l/42390225._SY75_.jpg|66065257] also feature, and I knew how this would end the second they were mentioned. The book also features a fair amount of diversity, with POC and a trans character.
There’s the usual break up, which frankly seemed forced and made Thea seem like an ass (Lauren was far more forgiving than I would have been) and this is resolved in a conveniently wrapped up ending that provided a somewhat unrealistic ‘everyone gets what they want’ HEA (I knocked a star off this because of Thea’s behaviour and the convenient ending). I enjoyed both MCs (except for Thea’s crap at the end) and the supporting characters were entertaining and helped flesh out the story. The MCs relationship unfolded nicely and I also liked that the characters had distinctive voices, which is something other authors miss when trying to make everyone seem fun and witty.
The third book is Ellison’s and I was a bit surprised that her love interest isn’t Faith, who appears in this book and there seemed to be some pretty heavy hinting around the two of them. Ellison was fun in both of the first two entries, so I look forward to reading her story. 4 stars.
This is part of Riley’s “bet” series, and features characters from [b:Bet Against Me|51236417|Bet Against Me|Fiona Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581630634l/51236417._SY75_.jpg|75974284]. I liked this much more than the first one. This features Lauren, best friend and co-worker of Trina from book 1, Lauren is in a real estate slump and her boss Ellison gives her a task of trying to find a way to save the farm of some family friends. The other MC is Thea, whose family own said farm.
Thea and Lauren meet in a bar and have a one night stand type hook up, but really like each other, so intend to meet up again, neither realises that the other will be involved with the farm stuff, and so are surprised by this development. The blurb makes it sound like Lauren is some ruthless real estate shark out to sell Thea’s family farm at any cost, but it’s actually the opposite, she’s trying to figure out a way for them to at least be able to keep the farm.
Anyway, the two of them are super cute together and there’s lots of lovely banter, not just between the MCs but also between them and other characters. I loved all of the scenes with Thea and Lauren with Thea’s family, Thea’s best friend is also a hoot. Lauren and all of her co-workers were also a highlight, Trina from book 1 features fairly heavily, as do Ellison and Jax, but Kendall barely manages a cameo. The MCs from [b:Media Darling|42390225|Media Darling|Fiona Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539922055l/42390225._SY75_.jpg|66065257] also feature, and I knew how this would end the second they were mentioned. The book also features a fair amount of diversity, with POC and a trans character.
There’s the usual break up, which frankly seemed forced and made Thea seem like an ass (Lauren was far more forgiving than I would have been) and this is resolved in a conveniently wrapped up ending that provided a somewhat unrealistic ‘everyone gets what they want’ HEA (I knocked a star off this because of Thea’s behaviour and the convenient ending). I enjoyed both MCs (except for Thea’s crap at the end) and the supporting characters were entertaining and helped flesh out the story. The MCs relationship unfolded nicely and I also liked that the characters had distinctive voices, which is something other authors miss when trying to make everyone seem fun and witty.
The third book is Ellison’s and I was a bit surprised that her love interest isn’t Faith, who appears in this book and there seemed to be some pretty heavy hinting around the two of them. Ellison was fun in both of the first two entries, so I look forward to reading her story. 4 stars.
brinley's review
4.0
This book was a super fun read! I'd requested it based off the first two lines of the blurb, so I had no idea what to expect. Despite that, I really enjoyed this.
I will admit that I had a ton of problems keeping the characters separate in my head. I'm not sure if it's because their voices sounded the same, or if I just wasn't paying enough attention. It was a fairly large character cast, which makes me feel slightly better about my problems.
I really liked the main romance in this one. I loved how there wasn't unnecessary angst, and the miscommunication trope wasn't used. Both of those drive me crazy, so it was super refreshing to read a book without them. I loved how Thea and Lauren communicated, and how they worked for the best for each other.
I'm not sure if I'll reread this one, but I still really enjoyed it. It was light and fluffy, and fit my mood perfectly. Id recommend it!
Thanks to Fiona Riley and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
I will admit that I had a ton of problems keeping the characters separate in my head. I'm not sure if it's because their voices sounded the same, or if I just wasn't paying enough attention. It was a fairly large character cast, which makes me feel slightly better about my problems.
I really liked the main romance in this one. I loved how there wasn't unnecessary angst, and the miscommunication trope wasn't used. Both of those drive me crazy, so it was super refreshing to read a book without them. I loved how Thea and Lauren communicated, and how they worked for the best for each other.
I'm not sure if I'll reread this one, but I still really enjoyed it. It was light and fluffy, and fit my mood perfectly. Id recommend it!
Thanks to Fiona Riley and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
More...