Mr. Wrong Number

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.

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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

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