The Bet (Bet, #1)

by Rachel Van Dyken

[Angie]

The Bet was very disappointing. It's chock full of awful people! How am I suppose to care about them falling love when I can't even stand them? It all starts with Travis and Jake as little boys and they bet who's going to marry Kacey. Jake and Kacey were best friends, while Travis picked on her relentlessly. Fast forward several years, and Kacey hates them both. Her and Jake had a falling out in college and Travis acts like she doesn't exist. Then Jake turns up and offers to pay off her student loans if she'll come back home with him pretending to be his fiance to make Grandma happy. Kacey can't say no to that.

Jake is seriously one of the absolute worst characters I have ever read and unfortunately he's one of the POV characters in The Bet. He is conceited and selfish and manipulative. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. I hated him! And not even in the love to hate kind of way. He's just horrible! Even his own family thinks so! I could not see how Kacey could put up with him. I also couldn't see how she got upset with him, when she knew it as all fake to begin with! Travis, who is the love interest, was frustrating as well. He's 23 and still picking on Kacey because he likes her! Grow up! And she acts like she's the victim, and he's so awful to her, but she gives it right back! She doesn't miss a moment to make fun of his stutter, which is just down right cruel.

The Bet was just an overall mess. There was no point to the fake engagement since everyone knew it was fake. Grandma was some kind of grand puppet master, and I think all of her meddling was suppose to be funny and heartwarming, but I didn't like her messing with everyone either. I never really got a sense of who Kacey and Travis were either. They were either being awful to each other, or ripping each other's clothes off. I guess I just didn't get the humor of this one and read it all as cruelty.

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