The Love Bet

The Love Bet by G. L. Tomas is your classic second chance trope. Luz and Evan were high school sweethearts that ended with a misunderstanding. Now years later, after an assignment Luz receives they end up at the same singles meeting and make the love bet. I had many ups and downs with this story. With Luz being such a strong feminist and having no qualms about telling you what she wants, I initially was all about the girl power, get it girl, Queen vibes! As the story progressed I became more annoyed that she was so self-absorbed and didn’t see what was right in front of her. I’m glad the author completely addressed this but it also caused me to have a hard time connecting with her again. I did appreciate the way the author addresses certain issues as well that will hopefully open up many people’s eyes. However, with this story based in 2020, they wouldn’t have gone to a concert and definitely wouldn’t have gone against so many mandates for the get togethers that are mentioned, so for continuity, that bugged me. Overall though, I did enjoy this book and am grateful the publisher provided me an ARC through NetGalley. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series!

I started this book a couple of days before Christmas and, while it took me about two chapters to get into it, once I did, it was easy to read. It is a classic second chance at romance story for Luz and Evan. The book addresses many relevant topics in contemporary society (such as colorism, racism, privilege, etc.), making the book fascinating and informative. I immensely enjoyed how rounded the characters were, especially Evan. Evan shows progress from when he was in high school, but his interests and personality also make him easy to like. Luz is a little harder to like as a character because of how she has been affected by past relationships and continues to let them affect her rekindled relationship with Evan. I think this is most frustrating to read because she is aware of the damage the previous relationships have caused, but instead of actively trying to change things, she almost uses it as an excuse. My only other issue is that the book is set in 2020 and has brief mentions of the pandemic but does not directly address it being over or any safety measures being taken. Holistically, the book is delightful, and I am very much looking forward to the next one!

I love a good second chance romance and I think that this definitely falls into this category. Luz and Evan were high school sweethearts, but after a misunderstanding, they split up. Since then, they've not been lucky in love and at 33 are still looking for the one. In Luz's case, she doesn't think that love is worth it and sticks to short term hookups and no-strings fun. When they meet again by chance at a speed dating event, it's clear that there is unfinished business between them and that they may actually stand a chance of being together properly this time.
I enjoyed the growing, or should I say rediscovered relationship between Luz and Evan. It is clear that they both still have feelings for one another from the moment that they meet. Luz is a complicated character that has been hurt by her past, but Evan has the ability to wait and care for her until she is ready to give him more.
There were a couple of things that I wasn't totally on board with in this book. Firstly, Evan seemed a little bit too perfect at times, I think that I would have liked to see him with a few more flaws, just to make him seem a little more real. Luz on the other hand is a little bit too selfish at times. We hear that she's had other relationships that have made her like this, but that's as far as it goes. Perhaps she doesn't need to disclose everything to Evan, but I think she might have come across a little less like a spoilt princess. She does seem to need to grow up a bit from time to time, but maybe that's just me being old.
This was an enjoyable and entertaining read and I couldn't help but want Luz and Evan to work out their issues and end up together ultimately. I don't like to give away spoilers, but this is a romance and I don't mind letting you know that I was happy with the conclusion when I reached the end. A good, solid, second chance romance.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Loved it!
Evan is a very sweet man - he listens and learns like no other. I really loved the communication between Evan and Luz. - this type of honest communication is hard to see in romance books and real life.
Luz was also super great at communication - she does have some underline issues but who doesn't

I have to say I was not up on the lingo within this story. I was lost a bit on the terms. The level of woke-ness went over my head a little but I appreciate keeping up with the times.

The sex scene was HOT! HOT! HOT! Amazing!

The one thing I didn't understand is the mention of Covid19 - the rest of the story didn't stay in line with quarantine, masks, sanitizing, or work from home changes so I didn't see the point of randomly one time mentioning it

Loved this novel overall

I got through this book in one day. I really loved at the beginning of the book there was a list of trigger warnings, that really helped me prepare my mindset. This book is about Luz a black dominican american woman and her high school sweetheart Evan an italian american. So many different important topics brought up throughout this book, but still was enjoyable. If. you are a fan of Rom-Com movies this book is perfect for you. I relate a lot to Luz coming from a black immigrant family myself. I found myself rooting for the characters in the book and even grew attached. Was so glad to see at the end there will be a part 2. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a romance book that has a little more.

The Love Bet is a steamy OwnVoices romance about former high school sweethearts Luz and Evan. I loved that the novel’s main characters were (mostly) level headed and very mature. They clearly have baggage, both from their time together and their years apart. Reading their romance was like finishing the last helping of a delicious pie - satisfying and sweet.
Luz’s background is also heavily influenced by her experience as a Black Dominican woman. I like that the authors included all of the ways in which anti-Blackness and colorism affects her life both inside and outside her community, as well as her relationship with Evan. Evan was also so sweet and willing to learn. Though I felt some parts of her family dynamic were told rather than shown, I thought it brought depth to the story and was very interesting to read as an African American woman. I appreciated that Luz was so aware of colorism within her community and worked hard to call it out when she saw it in her life, but also talked about the danger of internalizing that kind of rhetoric. Self-love for the win!
Additionally, this story is told in dual timelines: there’s the timeline when they were high school sweethearts and the present day. I was surprised to be equally invested in both timelines. Usually I find myself more interested in one timeline, but I think there’s a freshness to both. You can definitely see how these characters have changed over time and it bleeds into the writing. I thought it was really well done. However, I do think that structure-wise, I would have rather have the first half be Luz and Evan’s time in HS and then the second half is the present. Because most of what happens in their past is spoiled early into the book, when we finally get to that part it lacks emotional punch. Regardless, I did still like it and loved the sex positive bits (in both timelines!).
The Love Bet is steamy when it needs to be, smart all the time, and delightfully engaging. A second chance romance I rooted for from the very beginning!

This is the first G.L. Tomas book I've read and I was really excited to pick it up and overall it was a very enjoyable contemporary romance.

Luz is the Sex and Relationships director of a contemporary women's magazine and she loves her job. At 32 years old, she's done and seen it all in the name of her work, and is happy to skip over love and enjoy sex, but the Valentine's issue of her magazine is a big deal and this year she's found herself taking on a challenge she doesn't believe can succeed: can she fall in love by the third screw? Enter Evan, a boyfriend from her past, who unintentionally crosses her path at a speed dating event, who's determined to prove her wrong and make her fall in love.

First up, I want to highlight how much I loved both Luz and Evan as characters. Luz is a strong, independent woman who's fought for her career and the right to be respected. She doesn't take anyone's crap and calls them out on it when it happens, which is how she ended up in a relationship with Evan to begin with. They met in high school when she was assigned to help him, then a basketball jock in need of raising some of his grades. Initially Evan is a product of toxic masculinity culture, but Luz constantly challenges his believes and comments as Evan learns from this, apologies and grows as a human being - and adult Evan has continued to grow and be aware of the way his words and actions affect others. They had a nasty break-up in high school and haven't seen each other for years until their paths cross. Evan's never fall out of love with Luz and he is determined to show her how good they are together. The biggest struggle they have continuously throughout the story is miscommunication (not uncommon in romance) but they both grow as they begin to learn how they affect each other.

There was also an awesome set of side-characters - Evan coaches basketball and the boys he trains appear in a handful of scenes and are delightful. Yes, they serve to show how Evan has grown as an adult and recognised the need to accept, and teach others how to accept, differences, but it was done in a really respectful way. I especially liked one scene when the boys meet Luz and are disrespectful and Evan uses it as a teachable moment and talks to them about respecting women. Similarly, there's a hilarious scene when teenage Evan is looking up porn online and has a totally unexpected conversation with his Italian mother that had me laughing out loud.

This book tackles a lot of heavy topics (see trigger warnings at the top of the page) but what does come up constantly is how Luz handles colourism and Anti-Blackism, both within the wider community, but also within her family. Luz is a Black Latina from the Dominican Republic and that comes with its own set of challenges just within the family group. Being so removed from that cultural group, there were plenty of times when I was looking up information while reading to build and support my own knowledge while reading.

This story was told in flashbacks to Luz and Evan's teenage years as well as in the present day when they meet as adults. Initially we start by alternating past-Luz, present-Luz, past-Evan, present-Evan and then it switches up a bit more  as you get further into the story. While I found this interesting initially, as the past and present storylines parallel and give us insight into both characters, at times it felt like jumping back into the past actually slowed the story down. The pacing didn't always feel quite right.

I wished there had been a little bit more included about Luz's article that she was writing - the challenge of falling in love by the third time she had sex with someone. It's the catalyst for the story at the beginning, but it felt like it lost some momentum until you hit the epilogue and we get a brief overview of how the article turned out. For something that was the reason that Luz and Evan got back together for, it would have been nice to see the progress of the article. That said, we do see all the dates and there are plenty of fun and steamy scenes throughout.

I will at some point need to check out more work by G.L. Tomas.