Review: I really wanted to like this one more!
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 16, 2013
I picked up Betting on You when I wanted something light and fun. Even better, it was free on Amazon. Although this book started off that way, and I loved the Georgia setting, it didn't end up having the emotional impact on me that I wanted.1) I thought that Lark forgave Mason way too easily in the beginning. He was gone for over 4 years without ever contacting her, and though she puts up what looks like a good resistance at first, she completely forgives him in 4 days. I will give Lark props for an inventive idea to make him understand how much he hurt her. But still, it was way too soon for me to trust him, or feel like I could believe their romance after that point. Lark also doesn't really ask Mason any hard questions or seek to get to know him deeper after he was gone so long. She forgave him on the most basic explanations. After she was destroyed when he left, I'd think she'd need a lot more time and effort to be won back. That said, I still liked Mason and I wasn't really worried about whether he would hurt her again (being inside of his head too helped). Even so, I was still angry at him when Lark was ready to start back where they left off. Eventually I did get over this and was fairly successful in getting back into the romance.2) That is until about halfway through we get a chapter/interlude from another character and learn that there is possibly some secret that Mason hasn’t told Lark about, however, we're not told the nature of this secret. Then in the very next chapter the book shifts back to Mason/Lark and a huge important moment of intimacy and bonding for them. Instead of enjoying this part I felt uncomfortable and skimmed the whole thing, because of this looming secret. Emotionally, it did not work for me to be able to connect to their relationship, when I knew there was still something big between them, even if they didn’t know it yet. For me, the previous chapter needed to be removed entirely, or placed after this one for this book to work. Honestly, that interlude pretty much ruined the whole emotional impact of the story for me. I have some friends who read this book and weren’t as bothered by this as I was, but I very much considered DNFing after this point. Especially, because I was already on shaky ground due to the quick reconciliation in the beginning of the book.3) Eventually we find out what the secret is and of course it’s a huge deal and causes major tension. Only, I didn’t think it should have been as big a deal as Lark thought it was, especially after Lark was able to so easily forgive Mason in the beginning of the book. I get that it was a wakeup call that maybe Lark did have some unresolved issues with Mason that she let go too easily before. But the extent to which she takes her reaction, just made me frustrated with her.Betting on You is a contemporary romance and the ending was satisfying, but as a whole, the book was too frustrating for me to be able to really enjoy it. That said, I am interested in Aria and Nash’s story, which was teased in this one, enough that I may give this author another chance.