Mr. Wrong Number

About the Mr. Wrong Number series

Lynn Painter's Mr. Wrong Number duology is the adult wing of her rom-com empire — the author better known to BookTok for the YA hit Better Than the Movies proves here that she is just as sharp writing grown-up chaos. The title book begins with a misdialed text: Olivia Marshall, freshly unemployed, freshly single, and freshly responsible for accidentally burning down her apartment building, sends a message to a wrong number and strikes up an anonymous, increasingly flirty correspondence. The stranger on the other end is Colin Beck — her older brother's best friend, her lifelong teasing nemesis, and, inconveniently, her new roommate. He figures out who she is long before she does, and the book wrings maximum comedy and tension from the gap between their in-person bickering and their late-night texting. The companion novel, The Love Wager, hands the spotlight to Jack Marshall's circle again: Hallie Piper and Jack meet at a wedding, reconnect on a dating app, and make a bet over who can find real love first — while obviously being each other's answer. A connected novella, Accidentally Amy, delivers a coffee-shop mix-up romance in the same Omaha universe. Painter's trademarks run throughout: laugh-out-loud banter, dual points of view, big embarrassing set pieces, and warm, low-angst endings.