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Things get textual when a steamy message from a random wrong number turns into an anonymous relationship in this hilarious rom-com by Lynn Painter. Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall...or maybe she's just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a "What are you wearing?" text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing.... Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend's annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she's turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He's sure he can keep his distance, until the moment he discovers she's the irresistible Miss Misdial he's been sort of sexting for weeks—and now he has to decide whether to turn the heat up or ghost her before things get messy.
Things get textual when a steamy message from a random wrong number turns into an anonymous relationship in this hilarious rom-com by Lynn Painter. Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall...or maybe she's just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a "What are you wearing?" text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing.... Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend's annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she's turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He's sure he can keep his distance, until the moment he discovers she's the irresistible Miss Misdial he's been sort of sexting for weeks—and now he has to decide whether to turn the heat up or ghost her before things get messy.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the cover
1
Olivia
It started the night after I burned down my building.
I was sitting on top of the fancy granite island in my brother's kitchen, inhaling a bag of his pretzels while systematically knocking back the bottles of Stella that'd been in his fridge. And no, I didn't have a drinking problem. I had a life problem. As in, my life sucked and I needed to fall into a coma variety of sleep if I were going to have any shot at formulating a plan for my future when I woke up.
Jack had agreed (after much begging) to let me stay with him for a month-enough time to get a job and find my own place-as long as I agreed to be on my best behavior and stay out of his roommate's way. He seemed a little too old to have a roommate, if you asked me, but who was I to judge?
Big brother had given me a hug and a key and left me for fifty-cent wing night at Billy's Bar, so I was home alone and bawling to Adele on his Alexa. It was already woe-is-me music, but when she started crooning about a fire starting in her heart, it made me think about the fire that started on my deck, and I totally lost it.
I was full-on ugly crying when my phone buzzed and halted the meltdown. A number I didn't know texted:
So tell me exactly what you're wearing.
A pervy wrong number? I wiped my nose and typed: Your mom's wedding dress and her favorite thong.
No more than five seconds went by before Mr. Wrong Number texted: Um, what?
I texted: Seriously, babe, I thought you'd think it's hot.
Mr. Wrong Number: "Babe"? Wtf?
That actually made me snort out a tiny laugh, the thought of some dude getting cold-showered via text. It was super weird that babe was where he was getting tripped up, as opposed to the monstrosity of an oedipal-lingerie suggestion, but he'd also used the tired what are you wearing line, so who could really say about a guy like that?
I texted: Would you prefer something less mommish?
Mr. Wrong Number: Oh, no-it sounds totally hot. You cool with me rocking cargo shorts, socks with sandals, and your dad's jockstrap?
That made me smile in the midst of my full-on life collapse and resultant crying binge.
Me: I'm so turned on right now. Please tell me you'll whisper dad jokes in my ear while we bonk.
Mr. Wrong Number: Yeah, baby jokes and weather anecdotes come fully loaded. And bonk is the sexiest word in the English language, btw.
Me: Agreed.
Mr. Wrong Number: I texted the wrong number, didn't I?
Me: Yeah, you did.
I hiccuped-the beer was finally kicking in-and decided to give the guy a break. I texted: But go get after it, bud. Land that bonk.
Mr. Wrong Number: This is the weirdest text exchange I've ever had.
Me: Same. Good luck and good night.
Mr. Wrong Number: Thanks for the support, and good night to you, as well.
Once the Stella started making me tired, I decided to shower-bye-bye, smoky hair-and go to bed. I dug through my duffel for clothes, but then I remembered-duh-the fire. All I had were the clothes thatÕd been in the bottom of my gym locker and some rando mismatched separates thatÕd fallen onto the floorboards of my back seat on multiple laundry days. I found a Cookie Monster pajama top, but discovered I didnÕt actually own a single bottom; no pajama bottoms, no jeans, no shorts-the only pants I owned now were the stinky gym shorts currently covering my ass.
Was not owning pants my rock bottom?
Thank God I had clean underwear. I had one pair of neon-yellow boy shorts that said Eat the Rich across the back, and their presence in my life kept me...
Reviews-
December 6, 2021 Painter’s cute adult debut (after the YA novel Better Than the Movies) features a couple whose chemistry via text message complicates their IRL relationship. Through a comedy of errors, Olivia Marshall loses her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment all in one day. She moves in with her brother until she can get back on her feet—but this means putting up with his dickish (and scorching hot) roommate, Colin Beck. Meanwhile, she finds work writing a parenting column for the local newspaper, having failed to correct her editor’s assumption that she has children of her own. When Olivia receives a suggestive text from an unknown number, she quickly sets the sender straight—but their immediate witty rapport means neither wants to stop texting. Soon she’s exchanging daily messages with “Mr. Wrong Number.” While their texts lean flirtatious, she’s happy to stick to an on-screen relationship with her anonymous confidant. Then Colin accidentally sees a text on Olivia’s phone—and he’s shocked to discover that she is his own “Miss Misdial.” He decides to ghost her instead of complicating their relationship—but Olivia doesn’t give up so easily. Olivia’s over-the-top clumsiness feels like a relic of rom-coms past, but her chemistry with Colin sings. This is sure to charm. Agent: Kim Lionetti; Bookends Literary.
January 1, 2022 A mistakenly sent text message leads to romantic complications for a woman and her brother's best friend. Where Olivia Marshall goes, bad luck tends to follow. But even a lifetime of mishaps and faux pas can't prepare her for the disaster she's gotten herself into. First, she loses her job, and her boyfriend, Eli, dumps her for the co-worker Olivia introduced him to. Then, while drunkenly burning Eli's old love letters, she accidentally sets fire to her apartment building. Now unemployed, single, and homeless, she's forced to crash with her brother and his roommate, Colin Beck. Ever since they were kids, Colin has treated Olivia like a total screw-up, his best friend's annoying little sister he loved to verbally spar with but never took seriously. But he's also handsome, successful, and smart, and Olivia would be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. Meanwhile, her texting relationship with Mr. Wrong Number, an anonymous man who accidentally sent her a saucy message, has grown from lighthearted banter to what might be a real connection. The only problem? Colin is Mr. Wrong Number. When he finds out Olivia's the woman he's dubbed Miss Misdial, he decides to ghost her before she can find out. But while Mr. Wrong Number can keep Miss Misdial at arm's length, Colin is having a hard time ignoring his growing interest in Olivia. Romance lovers will fall for the flirty banter and physical connection between Olivia and Colin, but the book has flaws. Several sources of tension--especially Olivia's new job as a mommy columnist, for which she must lie about her childless status to her editor--come to a head early at the expense of a propulsive plot, while other conflicts are too easily and unrealistically resolved. A flawed but entertaining rom-com.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 1, 2022
Olivia Marshall returns home to Omaha after accidentally setting her Chicago apartment building on fire. Her brother had offered to let her stay with him, but he neglected to mention that he's renting a room from Colin Beck. Handsome, rich, unbearably obnoxious Colin Beck. Olivia is feeling pretty down when she gets a wrong-number text and starts communicating with the stranger on the other end, a stranger who seems to understand her better than anyone in her "real" life. Their conversation gets increasingly flirty and they're both dancing around the idea of meeting in person until Colin sees Olivia's phone screen, figures out that they're each other's mystery misdial, and cuts off contact to avoid embarrassing her when she realizes Colin knows all her secrets. Painter (Better Than the Movies) overdoes the klutzy-but-intrepid heroine trope by a factor of 10--at one point, Olivia repairs a broken heel with chewing gum on the way to a job interview--and the banter, both on the phone and in person, is lackluster. VERDICT An optional purchase.--Stephanie Klose
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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