A steamy romance between a mixed race couple. A story that brings to light the subject of anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD. However, there was not much depth to the characters - I somehow wanted more. This was an okay read for me.

"Bet on It" is a charming romantic novel that will leave readers feeling warm and fuzzy. The story centers around Aja Owens, a woman who encounters the man of her dreams while having a panic attack in the frozen foods section of the Piggly Wiggly. The man, Walker Abbott, has just returned to Greenbelt, South Carolina after more than a decade away, and is counting down the days until his grandmother's health improves so he can return to his real life. Aja and Walker make a hastily made bingo-based sex pact to keep their feelings in check, but their emotions have other plans.

Jodie Slaughter's writing style is engaging and keeps readers invested in the story. The characters are well-developed, and readers will find themselves rooting for Aja and Walker to overcome the obstacles in their way. The story's pacing is steady, with just the right amount of tension and humor to keep readers engaged. The bingo-themed aspect of the novel adds a fun and unique twist to the romance genre.

Overall, "Bet on It" is a sweet and enjoyable romance novel that will leave readers feeling happy and satisfied. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light and entertaining read.

This is a sexy and charming novel that also addresses mental health issues with a caring touch. I really enjoyed the romance between Aja and Walker and loved how the author seamlessly wove in Aja’s backstory. I haven’t read this author before but will definitely be looking at more from Jodie Slaughter. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy.

I appreciate the special attention to mental health and not having the protagonists be cookie-cutter perfectionists. That being said, there was very little to draw me into this romance and be heavily invested in this couple. Decent book, but just not one that stood out to me. 3 star ⭐️ rating.

Aja meets Walker when she’s in the middle of a panic attack in the grocery store. Walker helps her through her attack. She doesn’t know yet that she will soon run into him again. The two begin a friendship and set up an agreement on how they want their relationship to be. The story has a serious side where the characters deal with their emotional sides, but there’s also some humor, and some spicy romance.

considered dnf’ing but i did appreciate the mental health representation!! i wish i felt the connection a little bit more. maybe this one just wasn’t for me!

I'm actually exhausted by the volume of books that are writers writing about writers. This is a 3rd round purchase for most libraries.

A steamy romance with wonderful mental health representation. Loved the side characters and am really excited for the authors next book!

Super cute and a fun read. Loved how it explored anxiety and tramua but still wasn't too heavy of a read for those who might just be looking for a rom com.

Such a cute read! Love Walker and AJ and their love story and especially loved that there was love for a plus sized heroine

I really wanted to like this book but there was just something missing abut the story line. There was a point where I just wanted to finish the book ( I cant seem to DNF a book, but this is one of the books where i considered it )..
I thought that the book was going to be a light quick read but it tries to weave in some darker topics.
One thing I could not get into was the bingo thing, like usually when you make some sort of bet/pact its because you know there is a possibility that you will win.... but here for all they know they would never win. It did seem a bit of low stakes. I found their relationship to be a bit forced so it made no difference to me if they ended up together or not so them being in love just did not make sense to me. The steamy parts were just not doing it for me but I think it was also because i was expecting more of a love story and the development of the relationship. it felt like it was trying a bit too much to be super steamy specially when I consider how they both have anxiety and how they describe themselves, it made it a bit unbelievable that they would be so vocal and up to doin the stuff that they did. I also have to ad that hot tamale being their favorite candy is disappointing to me an I will forever judge a person real or fictional that says they like them.
I did like that they tried to talk about mental health and include it in a romance since I don't usually see that.

I’ve had this book in my TBR pile for so long and when I finally picked it up, I definitely wish I had done so sooner.

It’s a sweet read that has a ton of mental health representation in it (mainly PTSD and anxiety) which is portrayed in a very realistic way. While it is a rom-com, this is also a story about overcoming obstacles and loving yourself no matter where you are. Aja is doing everything she can to get over her fear of social situations and build relationships in a new city (so relatable) while Walker is struggling to come to terms with his community and their view of him. I loved everything about this book - from the body positivity and great character development to the small-town story and the bingo theme. It was such a fun read!

The one thing I will never get over is how he didn’t even APOLOGIZE???

In all honesty, I considered DNF’ing this book multiple times. I really think I should have, but of course, I just wanted to see this romance play out. Ultimately, it just felt like trauma bonding.

Add in one too many peach cobbler monologues and this book just wasn’t for me and I had really wanted it to be.

I would still probably read the author’s next book though.

I really REALLY wanted to love this one... but I barely got halfway before I got the weirdest combination of both underwhelmed and overwhelmed.
I LOVE mental health representation. It is often one of the things I love the most about a book. But for some reason it was the reason I was turned off by this book. Aja and Walker's mental health struggles came off as a bit monotonous; which is not to say that it sounded false or ingenuine. From what the author posts on social media, Jodie Slaughter has her own struggles with mental health that she deals with in her own honest way. It's just the way that everything is described in the book lacks the creativity that's present in the rest of the book. I really can't explain it any better than that but I do want to emphasize that this is something that I felt a bit off about and may not be the case for others
Something about a Southern accent outside a ranch in a white man is also not something I found particularly appealing, but again that's just me being a bit nit-picky
I loved Aja and her struggles with coming out of her shell and being who she wanted to be, again and felt connected to her in a lot of ways.

I loved this book SO MUCH!!! First of all, the anxiety rep was just so well done. I just want to hug Walker and take all his pain away. And Aja! Watching her find the friendships that she had been so desperately craving was so beautiful to see.

The two of them together were so good as well. Their banter, they’re CHEMISTRY, I couldn’t stop reading once I started. We also love to see the well done fat rep! 👏 I can’t wait to read whatever comes next from Jodie!

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

I really liked this book! Such a cute read. The anxiety part truly was understandable as I have anxiety myself. The tone of this book was honestly unlike any other romance I've ever read. It somehow perfectly straddled the line of being sexy while also being quirkily cute but also being extremely heartfelt and emotional. While I will admit that this wasn't a perfect read for me, I will say that it kept my attention and made me feel connected to the characters.

This was my first read by the author
Hope you enjoy it.
And as always Happy Reading!

*Arc provided by Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.*

The premise of this sounded bizarre but possibly fun. A sex pact based off bingo results just sounded like a nice low stress read. Lots of fluff if you will. This book was not the light hearted fluffy romcom I thought. The two main characters both have severe trauma and anxiety that plays a major role in the book. The sex was graphic for a book with such a deceiving cover. I know sex pact is the plot but woah. The level to which things were described was a lot sometimes downright crude and uncomfortable to read. I saw more of a lust filled connection than love as well.

This book wasn’t bad just felt a bit deceptive. If you read romcoms the cartoon like cover gives a very PG-13 vibe while the blurb doesn’t really indicate how heavy the book is. I’m someone who picks up a book first because of the cover before going to the blurb. As a result, I just really couldn’t reset my brain once things started down that path.

This book was absolutely adorable. It has just the right balance of slow burn, character development, and spice!

Aja is new to a small, South Carolina town, when she has a panic attack in the freezer aisle of the grocery story. Mid attack, a stranger stand with her, offering an empathetic, familiar level of support. Before she can find out more, the encounter is over and Aja is left to continue her life. But when she arrives at bingo the next day, the stranger is there, playing alongside his grandmother, Aja's bingo partner, May. The chemistry between Aja and Walker is almost instantaneous. But will their individual baggage be too much for the both of them to carry?

Aja and Walker were real, wonderful characters. This author did a great job at representing mental health, specifically anxiety and PTSD, in ways that our society may not expect them to be. While this is primarily a romance, we get to watch Aja, Walker, and even some of the supporting characters grow. Definitely a steamy book that fans of Talia Hibbert will enjoy with great diversity representation.

A delightful book that is very enjoyable! A very well developed plot and a very good romance story. A quick and enjoyable read