Aja moves to a small town due to her anxiety issues and on her weekly Bingo night meets Ms. May's grandson, Wally. Only she had met him before when she was having a panic attack in the Piggly Wiggly. This is labeled as a romance but honestly I didn't feel it. I didn't really connect with the characters. They seemed kind of awkward and instead of meaningful conversations for the most part it was just lusting after his broad shoulders and her big behind. By the time I got to the end I just didn't care. I wasn't feeling it.

I'm giving it 3 stars rounded up from 2.5.

Also this is definitely not a closed door romance. This one is definitely open door and all the windows too.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I feel like it could be better advertised for what it is which isn't as cute and fluffy as it seems

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

As someone with an anxiety disorder, I would like to start by saying that this book was very well done. Both Aja and Walker learn about themselves and their own strength. They were both so understanding and open with one another, even when it hurt, and I appreciated that. It was refreshing to not have to watch characters deal with the daily things like being shamed by those around them or being told it's all in their heads. I loved the way that they grew and healed and didn't give up parts of themselves to do it.

I really loved their romance and thought it was adorable and sexy at the same time. The whole bingo concept was the cutest, and I loved the way it played into their relationship. There was so much gentleness between them and I loved the way they fit so perfectly together.

I also really enjoyed the plus sized representation and the way that nothing was ever really said about Aja other than how gorgeous she was. She was such a powerful character and her confidence even in the midst of her anxiety was so inspirational. I loved that every part of her was so authentically her and that she never shied away from any of it.

If you're a romcom fan, check this one out! I *bet* you'll fall in love!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jodie Slaughter and St Martin’s Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Such a quick and easy read that really shows different aspects of mental health issues and how each person deals with them so uniquely. I really loved the characters and I found I didn’t want to stop reading.

This book is probably the most serious contemporary romance I've read. The anxiety representation is spot on. A lot of real-life stuff in this one. The timeline was all kinds of fucked up. Like it literally didn't make sense sometimes. The ending was extremely rushed.

3.5 stars

Really enjoyable! I loved the grandparents and the bingo hall setting too! I thought that their relationship was really well written

I enjoyed this book but also felt a little hoodwinked. I was expecting a light rom com and got a fairly spicy yet also spicy take that missed the rom com part. There were glimpses of humour, yes, but I was left struggling with what their relationship was based on. (Lust? Similar trauma? Any connection beyond that at all?) The sexy scenes were sexy. The representation and inclusion of mental health issues are important. It wasn't a poorly written book, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

There were some great moments in this book! I liked the characters and the 'meet cute' and overall i am glad i read it. I did find, especially towards the end we were 'telling not showing' in the internal monologues of both the main characters, which did take me out of it a bit. All in all a good spicy read (as long as you don't mind nicknames . . . :) ) Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings for this book include mentions of anxiety, drug abuse and child endangerment. Unfortunately, I was unaware of these when I first requested this book. I was also a little misled by the cover as it seemed to indicate it would be more of a light-hearted romantic comedy.

Instead, it included important representation but very heavy material. I was also turned off of this book by Walker's POV - some of his internal language felt off-putting to me. Unfortunately, I DNF'd this book at the beginning of Chapter 4. Although this work was not a good fit for me, I think others may really enjoy this work.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so cute, and was such a fun read, I highly recommend! The plot kept me hooked in, and the banter between the characters was so entertaining. All the characters were so well developed. I love this book so much, 5/5 stars!

Bonding at bingo night leads to happily ever after in Jodie Slaughter's Bet on It, a small-town romance that blends the sultry and sweet. Black social media manager Aja Owens has moved to Greenbelt, S.C., for her mental health and is a regular at the local bingo hall, but she hasn't yet made the kind of close friends she'd hoped for. White journalist Walker Abbott has just arrived back in his hometown to help his grandmother, Aja's favorite bingo buddy, after an injury. Aja is in the middle of a panic attack in a grocery store when she first meets Walker, who is familiar with the symptoms from his own experience. He decides to sit and wait it out with her. When they next see each other at bingo, sparks fly.

As could be expected from a novel with a no-sex pact, Bet on It is steamy like a South Carolina evening, but Slaughter (White Whiskey Bargain) balances the heat with humor and compatibility and gives both characters arcs of their own. Aja decides to step out of her routine and makes some close friends. Reconciling with the grandmother who raised him, Walker faces his painful past and the townspeople who made him desperate to leave home. Mental health is an important part of each character's identity, and Slaughter doesn't pretend their struggles are cured by love. Instead, she shows two people supporting and loving the whole of each other. A fun romance with a big heart, Bet on It is a winner.

This was my first book by Jodie Slaughter. I really liked that she chose to highlight the struggles of having an anxiety disorder. Both Aja and Walker are dealing with this.
I had a hard time with feeling a connection between Aja and Walker, but truly enjoyed the personal emotional growth both characters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It was very cute however it wasn’t a book where I said wow! I must reread that. It was a one and done for me which is okay. I did like the ending a bit better

2.5 ⭐️

I wanted to love this but I couldn’t get that into it. I liked it and was invested enough to finish it - I liked both of the characters independently and empathized with them, but I didn’t think they had that much chemistry together. And that pact was … kinda lame. I mean bingo is kinda lame already, but in an endearing way!

I stuck with this, and I think the ending might have redeemed it a little? But this wasn’t really for me, unfortunately!

This was a really cute one! I really enjoyed the characters and the banter that they had with each other. A very well deserved HEA! I look forward to reading more from Jodie Slaughter in the future!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and audioARC of this!

This was so cute! I loved that both main characters struggled with anxiety and panic attacks, I feel like that’s not something I see in a lot of romances. The whole thing was sweet as peach cobbler start to finish.

Aja is new to a small town after escaping a busy life in DC. She meets Walker one night while having a panic attack at the Piggly Wiggly - a charming man who tries to help her. She sees him again when he accompanies Ms. May, her BINGO friend, to BINGO one Wednesday. Turns out Walker is Ms. May's grandson, in from Charleston to help Ms. May rest after a bad fall. Sparks fly between Aja and Walker, but will their differences (and mental health issues) keep them apart?

This book just fell flat for me. I did not feel the chemistry between Aja and Walker. I couldn't tell if Greenbelt was supposed to be charming or stifling. It was not terrible, but I could not get into it,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Aja Owens has moved to Greenbelt, South Carolina to try to deal with her anxiety. The first time she meets Walker Abbott, she is having a panic attack in the grocery. Then he shows up at her weekly bingo night, the grandson of her one friend in town, and she knows he’s going to be a problem. For Walker, the only two good things in Greenbelt are his grandma and the local diner’s peach cobbler. Back in town to help his grandma heal after more than a decade away, Walker finds a third thing to like about Greenbelt: Aja. Knowing that Walker is leaving in a month, will the two take a chance on love or protect their hearts?

I loved the rep of seeing a heroine and hero who both deal with anxiety, and the friendships Aja developed with some of the other women in town. I enjoyed the flirting between Aja and Walker, but so many of the things they did together made me cringe. I recommend the book for those who like spicy romance.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

I tried so hard to finish this but unfortunately I finally DNFed the book at around 50%. I feel like I’m pretty used to reading mediocre romantic comedies. However, I just felt zero chemistry and connection between our two main protagonists. Aja seems to be more interested in Walker as a person but whenever we were in Walker’s mind it was like he was obsessed with wanting to do sexual stuff with Aja. It was always about how turned on he was just being near her. At first, this added some nice anticipatory chemistry but it got old soon. It almost felt like that was all he was thinking about and it gave me the ick. Unfortunately this ended up being a disappointment and my only DNF of the year so far.

I did like Aja much better as a character and I appreciated the mental health inclusion.

I think I might be over standard adult contemporary romances. This just didn't work for me.

Part of that is probably because I hate bets in romances. And ya know, that was my dumb ass fault for not putting together that a book with "bet" in the title that was a romance would have romance related bets in it.

I also have some questions about the author's knowledge of how the game of BINGO works.