Lynn Painter's romantic comedy Mr. Wrong Number is perfect for readers looking for a semi-epistolary escape. Advice columnist Olivia Marshall isn't the average comedic-disaster heroine--she just accidentally burned down an entire apartment building after her boyfriend cheated on her. With only a gym bag and cell phone to her name, she leaves Chicago for her brother's apartment in her hometown of Omaha, Neb. When she arrives, however, she finds that her brother's irritating lifelong best friend, who owns the apartment, still lives there. The hits just keep coming, so when she engages in some surprisingly fun banter with a texter who has reached the wrong number, Olivia clings to this anonymous, no-pressure exchange like a lifeline.
Financial analyst Colin Beck has never allowed himself to consider his best friend's little sister anything more than an entertaining annoyance. But when he realizes that the woman that he's been sparking with in his apartment is the same woman who's been heating up his phone, he must decide how--or if--to come clean.
Painter (Better than the Movies) employs several classic rom-com staples: a best friend's sibling, a secret identity, an incredibly unlucky heroine, roommates and antagonists-turned-lovers, but the plot doesn't feel derivative. She cleverly subverts the trope of the clumsy heroine and, though the banter is charming and funny, the characters bond in a deeper way as well. Pair that with just enough steam and conflict, and readers have a rom-com sure to please--an especially good fit for fans of The Hating Game or television's The New Girl. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian and freelance reviewer