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

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

Bet On It has to be one of my favorite romance reads! I loved how both of our main characters, Aja, deals with anxiety, and Walker deals with PTSD. Slaughter's description of how these manifest is right on point. I can relate so much to Aja and anyone who deals with anxiety can relate to her too. My favorite parts of the story were how the two characters had their own issues, but they were able to support each other while overcoming them on their own. I also loved how well they communicated with each other, and it was nice to see in a romance novel. The wholesome friends (yessss!!), I loved how they were surrounded by people who loved, supported, and accepted our main characters for who they were! The setting was everything, usually, I'm not a fan of a small-town setting but Slaughter made it work.

Now all I'm craving is a peach cobbler by the end of reading this, iykyk ;)

Rating: 4.5/5

Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter is billed as a steamy bingo romance. What's not to love about that? :)

The chemistry between Aja and Walker is sizzling, and it makes one want to try a game of bingo.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I really loved this book and recommended if you like Talia Hibbert and Tessa Bailey. It had plenty of spice and sweet moments with some deeper topics which I'd a great combination for me.

The bingo romance is SPICY. AS. HELL!!! I don't know how this is a debut novel, but I can't wait to read everything Jodie Slaughter releases. I've been recommending this book to friends all year!

I loved the concept of this book, Aja and her journey, and the mental health rep in this book. It was really hard to get past some of the more cringey moments in this book. My rating is lower because this is a romance, but the romance was not at all one of the best parts of the book and not in a good way. At some point in the book, I found it hard to keep picking it up because the pacing was so slow. It also bothered me that a book whose main plot is so based in bingo had things in the book that were not accurate to the actual game of bingo. However, if you want to read some mental health rep, be transported a small town, and love the power of friendships, this book is a good book to read to satisfy those cravings.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Aja is restarting her life in the small town of Greenbelt. She pushes herself out into the world, anxiety be damned, by attending weekly bingo with the senior citizens of the town. In addition to a kind, affirming view of mental health struggles (it's hard, therapy helps, empathy helps, but it's still really hard sometimes), the book addresses the struggle of making friends as an adult and the joyful friend crush when you find someone you hope to befriend who feels out of your league. Our love interest is Walker, a basic, cishet white boy with blond hair and a love for baseball. But the author doesn't stop with boring surface level, giving Walker layers and humanity. He struggles with PTSD from a childhood that asked too much of him. He has a loving and complicated relationship with the grandmother who raised him with acceptance but had little understanding of his trauma responses. And he doesn't want to be back in Greenbelt, the town that gossiped about him rather than supporting him while his dad lost his battle with addiction again and again.

Our romance is based on proximity, though it's not forced. Walker meets Aja at bingo when he arrives in Greenbelt to help his grandmother cope with recovery from an injury. There's a spark of attraction between them, a shared understanding built on Walker's empathetic reaction to Aja's panic attack in a Piggly Wiggly, and a desire for companionship in a town where neither feels connected. The developing relationship is up against the clock since Walker only intends to spend two months in Greenbelt. The town has too many unhappy memories for him to stick around, and Aja just moved here to escape the city. A future doesn't seem possible, so they try to limit their expectations with rules and parameters without giving up on time together-- playing bingo, going to a drive-in movie, or just hanging out at home.

One of my favorite moments is a class act epilogue that gives us the perfect scene to understand where our lovebirds' future is headed. It's not a generic proposal but a sweet slice-of-life. If you want a small town romance with modern sensibilities, a story that celebrates mental health progress while understanding the pitfalls, or two characters fighting their growing feelings because of life circumstances, this sweet, steamy romance might be up your alley. Thanks to SMP Romance for my copy to read and review!

Super cute story. A bit slow to get started but I appreciated the authors realistic portrayal of anxiety. As someone’s who’s never lived in the south, this book hits it on the nose when I think of southern charm and romance. A very cute romantic novel that’s easy to read.

As a lover of all things romance, 'Bet on It' is a delicious new take on the genre. The heat is just the right amount. Beyond that, this is a surprisingly earnest look at two people who are complete as individuals, and their journey to come together in the most compelling way.