Betting on the Brainiac

About the Book:

Title: Betting on the Brainiac
Series: Betting on Love #3
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Release Date: May 1st, 2024
Genre: Romantic Comedy

I have twenty million reasons to marry the nerdiest coder in Austin for a year…

When my roommate bets that she can find me true love, it’s the easiest bet I’ll ever take. Her first pick is a software developer with a hoodie habit who thinks I’m a party girl airhead. Yeah, mark me safe from Ruby’s schemes.

But when she pitches a plan to let him work on his software in my empty night club during the day, I say yes. It’s easy cash for my secret passion project, plus Oliver is zero threat to my single status.

Except Oliver turns out to be funnier than I expect, and a better listener than I’m used to. It could be a problem–until a mysterious stranger crashes an exclusive masquerade party at the club. He knocks my stilettos off with the hottest kiss of my life, and I’m all in on the hunt for the identity of the man who made me go literally weak in the knees.

Oliver is forgotten until my mother descends from her ill-gotten mansion for her annual guilt-trip about “wasting my privilege.” But my trust fund will only hand her the reins to control me, and that’s a hard no.

Oliver comes up with a plan to unlock my enormous inheritance, balance my parents’ extremely bad karma, and make my passion project a reality…for the price of three million dollars. Oh, and marrying him for a year.

It’s almost worth it. If only he could find my kiss-and-run Romeo, I could be on the verge of everything I’ve ever wanted…

Book Review:

I really loved Madison, and her character arc. She was so interesting with lots of layers especially around her family past. I love how Jacobson writes flawed female characters who are genuinely trying to do the right thing but also learning what that right thing is. Madison was figuring herself and her family out. Thankfully, she had Oliver to help her.

Oliver was such a sweetheart! He was an interesting one because he seemed super quiet, but he had a ton of wit in him. He was falling hard for Madison, but he wasn’t about to settle for anything other than love. I loved seeing him and Madison grow closer together, and their banter was hilarious. They were both so quick witted, and their conversations always made me smile. I really liked how they became friends first.

As always, the roommates are crazy but so much fun! The whole apartment complex is hilarious, and we get to see more of Josh and Joey in this book which I loved. And some hints of a future HEA for Ruby. 

I loved this book so much! It made me laugh out loud a couple of times, and I couldn’t put it down. While Madison and Oliver’s romance is fast, it doesn’t feel rushed at all. This is a closed door rom com with innuendos, a toxic family relationship, and a club scene. I would recommend it for older teens and up. It’s part of a series, but it can be read standalone.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, I was not required to write a positive review.