Book Review: The Bet (The Bet #1) by Rachel Van Dyken

The Bet
The Bet #1
By: Rachel Van Dyken
Published:  April 29, 2014
Publisher: Forever Romance
Source: Publisher
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"I have a proposition for you." Kacey should have run the minute those words left Seattle millionaire Jake Titus's mouth. It's been years since Kacey's seen her childhood friend Jake, but the minute Jake mentions his ill grandmother, Kacey is ready to do anything for the sweet old woman. And if that means pretending they're engaged for her sake-so be it. 

 But Kacey wasn't counting on Jake's older brother Travis still being there. She calls him "Satan" for a reason: she's never forgotten the way he teased and taunted her. Yet when they meet again, Travis's gorgeous smile is a direct hit to her heart . . . and Kacey's more confused than ever. As the days pass, only one thing starts to become alarmingly clear-she never should have accepted Jake's deal . . .

The Bet Series:

My Thoughts:

I have been wanting to read a book by Rachel Van Dyken for some time.  My co-blogger, Mikki, loves everything that she writes, and myself and Mikki have very similar reading tastes.  When I saw The Bet, and read the synopsis, my curiosity was piqued!  This book sounded like it was going to be great!  

The Bet is about Kacey, and brothers Jake and Travis.  Kacey and Jake have been best friends since they were young children.  They did everything together and were inseparable.  Both of their families were also extremely close and spent holidays and vacations together.  Travis had a crush on Kacey since he was a young boy, but never seemed to be able to get out from under the shadow of his younger and very charismatic brother, 

Jake.  Instead his attempts to get her attention backfired throughout the years and pitted Kacey and Travis against one another.

Years later, Jake asks Kacey for a favor.  He needs her to be his pretend fiancee and spend the weekend with his family.  He tells her that his grandmother, Nadine, is very ill, and he wants to make her feel better.  With reservations, Kacey agrees to the favor.  Unbeknownst to Kacey, Travis too will be spending the weekend with his family, and things are about to get a whole lot more messy and complicated...

I have mixed feelings about, The Bet.  The beginning of the story was excellent!  We learn a bit about Kacey, Jake, and Travis as they were growing up, and this part of the story hooked me, and fascinated me.  The middle of the story slowed down a whole lot, and fell a bit flat for me.  I felt like it was a bit stagnant, and the story wasn't moving forward a whole lot.  There was a lot of verbal foreplay and physical chemistry between Kacey and Travis.  Yet, it took a really long time for anything to come of it.  My favorite character was Grandma Nadine.  She added a lot of humor to the story, and made things a lot more interesting.  The ending of the story was also very good.  It was a great transition in to the second book in the series, The Wager.  

I downloaded the sample of The Wager, and I am thrilled to say that it looks like it's going to be a really good story!  I was already laughing at Grandma Nadine's antics, and this story already seemed to be going way faster for me than The Bet did.   

My Rating:

I give, The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken, 3.5 humorous, Grandma Nadine's Clever Antics, Flirty, and Fun Stars!  I'm looking forward to continuing this series, and reading, The Wager, which is Jake and Kacey's best friend, Char's story.  I can already tell it's going to be a really good one!!!  Char is a strong, independent, and assertive woman.  I can't wait to see her put womanizing, arrogant, workaholic Jake in his place!!! 

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About Rachel Van Dyken:

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. 

She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!

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