Bet With A Billionaire* by Hope Thorn starts with an enticing premise—an artist and a billionaire bound by a fake engagement—but struggles to deliver the emotional depth and originality needed to elevate it beyond a predictable romance.

Ivy, the struggling artist, is a sympathetic protagonist with dreams and vulnerabilities that make her relatable. Her initial connection with billionaire Jasper Frost has potential, but their relationship often feels rushed and lacking the nuanced development needed to make their chemistry believable. While the high-society backdrop adds glitz and drama, it sometimes overshadows the emotional stakes of their relationship.

Jasper, the archetypal billionaire playboy, fits neatly into the trope but lacks the complexity to make him memorable. His motivations for the fake engagement—a bet among friends—feel shallow, and while there are glimpses of vulnerability, they’re not explored deeply enough to create a compelling arc.

The central conflict—whether Ivy will settle for the security of a false relationship or risk it all for real love—has potential, but the stakes often feel contrived. The resolution comes across as overly tidy, leaving little room for the characters to grapple with the real consequences of their choices.

That said, Thorn’s writing shines in its descriptions of Ivy’s artistic process and the glamorous settings, adding texture to an otherwise formulaic narrative. The book also offers a few genuinely sweet moments that hint at what could have been a more impactful story.

Ultimately, *Bet With A Billionaire* is a quick and mildly entertaining read for fans of marriage-of-convenience romances, but it doesn’t break new ground in the genre. The lack of emotional depth and character development makes it hard to fully invest in Ivy and Jasper’s journey.

A bit of romance does not do anyone any harm. Bet With A Billionaire is very nice read that has everything that one would look for in such books. It does not disappoint in any area. Bet With A Billionaire was a very good read.

Was an ok book... Though I felt like it was missing something I just don't know what.. I was really hoping to give this more stars

This story had potential, but the writing was not there. It was almost like a jumbled mess that the author would randomly go from one scene to another with extremely brief explanations. We needed more explanations and more scenes that helped the plot progress instead of guessing what happened between different scenes. Additionally having the male love interest perspective would have improved the story too. The idea of the story was something I was interested in but the presentation lacked.

This book was kind of mhe for me. I never really felt like the title fit with the story line and it made some things about the story feel out of place. I almost feel like I was reading a different story that what was described.

Bet with a Billionaire (Marriage of Convenience)
2.5 Stars 

This book definitely had potential but just fell flat for me. I didn't feel an emotional connection to our main characters. They are not as well fleshed out, and there are big plot holes I couldn't overlook. I wasn't impressed. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Books Go Social, for providing me with an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This book definitely had potential but wasn’t that great to me. It wasn’t terrible either, but I just wanted something more. I didn’t really like any of the people in the book and it may have just been because the story was so short that characters weren’t completely fleshed out. The spicy scenes start off good and then cue to the aftermath, which was fine but could have been better. Everything is very fast paced with this couple except the communication and acknowledgement of feelings.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book had so much potential. It can be more polished and be more executed. I did not enjoy reading this book because I felt like there's so much missing in this book, there are more missing details that needs to be put but nowhere to be found. And also, the spice was cringey (I'm sorry).

However, it kinda helped me get out of a slump so I guess my time wasn't wasted.

Ivy has been offered to do the murals of a playboy billionaire Jasper Frost and in an attempt to help him with investors, she agrees to be his fake fiance only when his grandfather finds out about this he demands Jasper get married or else he would be cut off financially.

This was a well written book. Jasper is used to having what he wants, makes a bet with his friends and sets out to win. He begins to have feelings for Ivy but is not truthful and ultimately it leads to the demise of the relationship. His family gets involved and she is able to forge ahead without Jasper. Good character development. Interesting plot.

Major plot holes, all telling and no showing, writing was patchy and all was rushed. The relationship wasn’t believable at all.

Ivy is a struggling artist, who is hired to complete a project for billionaire Jasper. Jasper asks Ivy for help in winning a bet with his friends, by faking they are engaged. Their relationship quickly unfolds through the course of the book.

Hope Thorn's writing was easy to fall into and had me enchanted. I read this book in one sitting and while it was short, I felt I knew the characters well and was invested in their relationship. The perks of it being a short book, was there was minimal fluff. Everything presented played a role in their character development. I do think it could benefit from some more meat, but overall if you are looking for a quick light read it is enjoyable!

Tropes:
Fake dating, fake fiancée, billionaire

This was a bit disappointing for me. I felt like it had the potential to be so much more than what was offered. The book just honestly feel flat for me, I felt like there could have been more content to further develop the storyline and the interactions between the characters. I also felt like there should have been more context throughout the entirety of the book itself, between the plot, characters, relationships etc.

2.5/5 stars

I liked the concept of the story, but more could’ve been made to bring out the best of it. It was too short for me. It should’ve been longer, because of the time span and the plot. It wasn’t very detailed and I needed some contemplation from the main character on some situations but it didn’t happen. The characters lacked some depth and development. The physical attraction between the main characters was okay, but the emotional connection felt rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

Bet with a millionaire
When I saw the cover and read the description it felt like love at first sight. I love a marriage of convenience trope.
When I read the first couple of pages I was interested in her backstory, but then it took a turn for the worst. She started with depth to her character to being shallow.

This story felt incomplete and the characters not fully invested. I didn’t understand her and Finn relationship. This story has potential to be a great book, but it definitely need more introduction to the characters without being unrealistic.

I voluntarily read this book as an ARC

Here we have Ivy. She is offered a great opportunity to paint murals in the penthouse of a billionaire playboy. That playboy is none other than Jasper Frost. Little does Ivy know that their encounter will ignite passion....and a deal. Jasper needs a fabricated romance and marriage. He brings Ivy in on it and they will find themselves battling over faking it and real emotions.

This had great bones as they say. I really enjoyed the setup and the characters. The execution? Eeeeeeeeee....I'm on the fence about that.

The lust was FOR SURE THERE *fans self*, however, the love? The friendship? Eeeeeeeee....I didn't feel it. Ivy and Jasper didn't spend any time with each other and their conversations lasted just minutes and then they were off to the races. To be honest I didn't buy their love even by the ending. Is book 2 going to be about them? That could change everything for me. They need more time with each other for love.

The ending was good! It felt...right.

All-in-all, I liked our characters and the bones of the story. It had some good characters, lots of smexy bits, a fun trope (I love me some fake love), and the setup was fun. However, we needed more to really fill this out. I am in a good mood and thanks to ending ending how it did...I'll give it a solid 3 stars.

Hello! Overall it was enjoyable but maybe the length of the book made everything go too fast for my liking. The characters felt one dimensional and I didn't understand the motivations of several of them. What happened to Clarice entirely?? Maybe there could have been a scene where Jasper writes her off. I didn't picture any woman with self respect acting the way Ivy acted, even if it was a fake marriage. The day time date? Why? Also he is a billionaire who suddenly has no money by the end of the book? That's not really how finance works. I had to make a lot of big stretches in order to piece together the plot. Overall could have been better with several rereads and edits.

What a cute story. I love how Ivy and Jasper met, with the added Finn triangle included.
The story was very easy to read and made me want to keep reading.
Although I love happy endings; I think the story finished too early as it left me feeling lacking.
Great book though. Maybe there will be a book 2 to continue the story of Jasper and Ivy

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. This book had so much potential. I felt it going in the right direction, but there was so much missing.

The vibes were all over the place, the sex was different from other books. Especially in the beginning, it felt a little weird and awkward at times.

I couldn’t relate to any character or get attached to any of them either. Ivy has such a free spirit, but something was off. Finn was… eeh. Jasper… also eeh. Or I’m just used to knowing both povs.