Blurb: Jasmine Allen has many vices. Rahul Khan has just one: her.
For the last seven years, Rahul’s been Jasmine’s closest friend. Sure, he’s strong, sexy, and deliciously stern—but she doesn’t care about that. She certainly isn’t tempted by his wicked smile or his genuine sweetness. She can’t be. Because everything Jas touches turns to dust.
Rahul disagrees. Seven years ago, Jasmine touched him, and he’s still standing—still standing, and still hopelessly in love. When disaster drives Jasmine into his spare bedroom, Rahul prepares for a month of painful proximity to the woman he secretly wants.
But when he realises that Jasmine just might want him, too… all bets are off.
She’s wild. She’s reckless. She doesn’t know how to love, and she doesn’t intend to learn.
But she’s also his. And in this game of desire, Rahul’s playing to win.
Wanna Bet? is a steamy, standalone, BWAM romance. Warning: this book is 75,000 words of extreme pleasure, with NO cliffhangers, NO cheating, and a guaranteed HEA. Enjoy responsibly!
***Please be aware: this story contains themes of parental neglect and abandonment, parental death, and alcohol dependence that could trigger certain audiences.***
~Review~
I was so thrilled to get an ARC of Talia Hibbert’s latest release and DAMN Talia just gets better and better with each book. Holy hell I loved this. No surprise there but what surprised me was how much I absolutely adored Rahul, mostly because while I usually love both MCs I tend to just fall so hard for the heroine but damn Rahul just took me all the way out!
Talia brings the goodness because first of all that cover tho??? And second of all she’s given us an interracial romance between a black heroine and a Muslim/Hindu hero. Liiiiike your fave could never!
I adored that dude so muuuch. He is so soft and yet hellooo so bossy in the bedroom ayyyyee 😉 But for real, Rahul is all about control. He slicks back his hair to control his curls, he has his specific routine with his gym time and his clean eating and work but his best friend Jasmine is the one thing that basically throws him. He’s been in love with her for seven years!!
I loved their first meeting. The raindrop game was so fun and cute and the whole betting thing became part of their friendship. So yeah hence the title, but of course you gotta read to really see how the betting fits in 🙂
Right so here’s this guy super about control who has literally sort of been hanging on by a thread because of how he feels about his bestie Jasmine. He adores her so damn much and after one night where they have sex he promises they can still be friends. So he’s feeling the feels and Jasmine does feel them too but she’s so much better at hiding them, keeping everything casual.
Jasmine, man i loved her. She’s a complex individual, as is Rahul and I liked her so much. I always love Talia’s heroines because they have flaws and vulnerabilities and their own brand of strengths too. And what particularly stood out to me was how Talia always gives us heroines with body types that are so under repped in romance. We get fat heroine’s, heroine’s with stretch marks and dimples in their thighs and bellies. and their Love Interest worships every damn inch of them without it coming off as fetish-y (is that a word???) yesss!! Jas has small breasts and big hips and thigh dimples and whenever we’re in Rahul’s POV we are never in doubt about how much he’s attracted to her, in awe of her, just freaking adores every inch of Jasmine.
And we got forced proximity in this here book (a fave trope!) Jasmine and Rahul are now living together, after a mishap at Jasmine’s apartment where her room got flooded which of course gives all sorts of opportunities for delicious tension. And Talia does that so very well. There are so many emotionally charged scenes that just left me whispering: well damn.
Let me repeat Rahul being bossy nearly ended me. The kissing scenes are beautifully done as are the sex scenes. Like…steamy and packed with emotions.
Another thing that stood out for me was how they resolve their conflict. They take some time apart, to really assess themselves. Not that they change for the other person but realize, for themselves, that certain behaviours they might need some help with. It’s hard to realize truths about yourself but these characters do.
I can gush about this book forever. I highlighted so many great scenes and conversations. The way the book is set up, it goes from past events to present. And the ten months ago chapter was just heartbreaking *cries* my precious Rahul, i wanted to hug him so much.
Now let me sob because Rahul Khan doesnt really exist (damn you Taliaaaaa!!) and then shout at everyone to go buy this book and read it and alsoooo just go sign up for Talia’s newsletter because this one was released early to her subscribers and really was the best gift EVER!!
~Rating~
