Betting on You

Gr 9 Up–Seventeen-year-old Bailey meets Charlie, “Mister Nothing,” for the third time during training for her new job. She did not get a good vibe from him three years earlier when she was just starting high school, and she is not interested in getting to know him now. Unfortunately for her, they end up working together at the front desk of hotel waterpark Planet Funnn and getting to know each other is inevitable. They begin to bond over their parents’ divorces as well as dealing with their mothers’ new boyfriends, until a trip to Colorado from their home in Nebraska changes the course of everything. Their relationship flip flops from co-workers to friends to a possible romantic connection. In typical rom-com fashion, there are besties who offer advice, suggestions of fake dating, and exes who muddy the waters. The story is told from multiple points of view. Emotions for both main characters ricochet and are inconsistent with their personalities, making some of their actions unbelievable. Strong language is peppered throughout, which seems at odds with the tame romance.