Betting Hearts by Dee Tenorio

Bah, I've been so busy lately, it seems. But, as promised, here's my thoughts on Betting Hearts by Dee Tenorio:

He's never lost a bet in his life but she's playing for keeps!

Cassandra Bishop’s boyfriend is back. Only problem is…she doesn’t want anything to do with him. Or his new fiancée. What the confirmed tomboy would like is to wring his neck. She might have done it, too, if he hadn’t filled her in on the embarrassing truth that he'd left her at the altar because she wasn’t woman enough to satisfy him. Her pride nearly settled for punching him in the nose…until she thought of something better—proving him wrong.

High on Burke Hallifax’s list of cataclysmic nightmares is having to look at his best friend as a real female. But when her ex-fiancé makes his wedding a personal vendetta against Cass, Burke has no choice but to bet everything on her ability to out hot-girl the competition. Unfortunately, the entire town is betting as well—on whether Burke and Cass can pull off the makeover of the century…without losing their hearts in the process.

I really enjoyed this book. It has one of my favorite premises, the friends to lovers theme, and does it well. I liked Cass. She comes across as pretty real and I liked her relationship with Burke. They definitely are just friends as the book starts. It was great fun to see their perceptions of each other change and grow. I loved that at the end of the book, Cass is still Cass. She's changed, yes, but she has stayed true to who she is. And I love that Burke loves her for it. And the thoughts that run through Burke's head when he realizes he's becoming attracted to Cass are just wonderful.

I wondered if I felt the ex-fiance's actions were over the top, but they actually really worked for me. I'm sure we all have run across people who are just incredibly self-centered and vindictive. We'd like to think they don't exist, but they do. I mean, we wish TSTL women didn't exist, but really, they do. Sadly, they do.

There are plenty of funny scenes, as well as some hot ones. *sigh* I just really enjoyed reading this one. I'm definitely going to read more of Tenorio's stuff. You can buy it from Samhain here.