This is my first Riley book. I've heard her name for years and even picked this book up as an ARC last year but kept passing it by on my ereader in favor of something else that piqued my interest a bit more. I've been on a romance kick lately and Beginner's Bet finally grabbed me.

I was pretty sure this was going to be a 4 - 5 star review for me but as I got to the last quarter or so, a few things got in the way. The sheer perfectness of Ellison got to be too much. I mean, really, she's perfect: gorgeous, super rich, charming, generous, devoted, and a knight in shining armor for Katie. Katie is pretty awesome, too. I won't go into spoilers but Katie stopped being pretty awesome in order to create the drama in the story. Suddenly and without much thought, it seems. And the resolution was just too easy.

This is a longish book for romance and there was a lot of time given to family issues, work stuff, reflecting on just how rich Ellison is, and how poor - and plagued by bad luck - Katie is. What there wasn't much of was discussion between the protagonists about the future. Which struck me as very odd since one of them was actively trying to have a baby. You know, a pretty huge thing. The very thing that broke up her marriage.

I don't know... Maybe I'm being too hard on the way these things were handled. I really loved the beginning of the book so I was extra disappointed when it all seemed to unravel for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. ( )