Miriam's life is stuck--she sleeps in a twin bed in her mother's rundown rental house. On a whim, Miriam decides to play the lottery at the corner store, and she wins several million dollars. After consulting an attorney, she learns that despite the fact that they have spent the last 8 years separated from each other, her estranged husband, Leo, is entitled to half of the winnings. In an effort to not lose half of her fortune to a man she hadn't spoken to in nearly a decade, Miriam calls and begs Leo to come to their small town. A proposal is made and divorce papers are drawn up, but Miriam isn't the only one looking to win. Leo realizes that he still loves Miriam and intends to win her back!

Who doesn't love a second-chance romance?! This book was a little slow to start, but I really enjoyed it overall.

4 out of 5 stars.

I received a free ARC from St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley; and I am voluntarily leaving an unbiased review.

A quick read with an interesting premise — though a bit unrealistic. It didn’t quite work for me but I can see why others would enjoy it.

Marriage is hard. Being married young is hard. Being married young and broke...well that is just hard times a thousand.

Jodie Slaughter does a wonderful job depicting true human emotions and the complexities of love and relationships. Miriam and Leo have been together since they were kids. They married young, and while they loved hard, they fought just as hard. When you are so young, it is hard to talk about things you need or bother you. People often choose to shut down or run away. This happens both in Miriam and Leo's case, she shuts down, he runs away.

When Miriam wins the lottery, she should be floating on cloud nine, without a care in the world. She can help her and her mom get out of the dilapidated house (run by a horrible landlord), help her friends/community, and overall just breathe. There is one small problem...she is still married, and Leo would get a bunch of her money if he found out. She reaches out to get him to divorce her, but can that happen? What about the love that is deeply rooted in them?

This is not your traditional romcom, as the topics it touches on some hard topics. I appreciated that though. While "fluffy" romances are a favorite of mine, I also love a love story that hits closer to reality.

Really cute second chance romance. I
Thought the dual POV worked well here and felt like the lottery aspect of the storyline added a unique quality and context to the story. Miri felt very relateable and her struggles with navigating life, newfound wealth and feeling undeserving at times are all things many people struggle to navigate. Leo was great as the love interest here and his commitment to getting Miri back shined through and I was definitely rooting for it.

The spice here was really good, whew!
My only complaint is I wanted more of Leo and Miri being together.

All and all a very unique and low stakes romance read

Thank you St. Martin's Press for a copy of Play to Win!

"Miriam Butler’s life is going nowhere in the slowest, most excruciating way possible. Stuck in the same barely-paying job she’s had since she was sixteen and spending every night sleeping in the spare twin bed in her mother’s house, her existence might be hilarious if it wasn’t so bleak. One trip to her favorite corner store upends everything when she finds herself the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Unfortunately, not even life-altering roses come without their painful thorns. Hers just so happen to be in the form of an estranged husband who has the right to claim his share of her money."

This was a fun, light read! I love it when romance also has great secondary relationships - like the MC has great friendships, parent-child relationships, etc. I did like the MC's other relationships more lol and I ended up not caring much about the MMC lol. This was quick and easy and got me fantasizing about winning the lottery!

This is an entertaining romance set in the same town as Bet on It. When Miriam wins the lottery, she ends up in an interesting situation with her estranged husband. It's an interesting second-chance romance with colorful and enjoyable characters.

The heat was sweltering in the little house, the box fan doing next to nothing to cool the place down. She fanned herself as she watched the local news station on the television and listened to her momma hum as she stirred something simmering on the stove. She gripped a paper in her hands and watched a woman on the screen call out random numbers… and then her world turned upside down.

Play to Win is a second chance romance following Miri who has just won the lottery and has no idea what to do with herself. The last thing she expects is for the love of her life to walk back into her life.

This was a cute romance and I was glad to have dual POV between Miri and Leo to get both of their perspectives. It was fun to see them reconnect, but also see how they grappled with the past and worked to move forward. I haven’t read a second chance romance between a married couple, so that was a nice change.

If you’re a fan of second chance romances then check out this book!

Do you ever fantasize about winning the lottery even though you never buy a ticket?

Or is it just me?

In Play to Win, Miriam's life is changed when she wins the Mega Millions. Suddenly she sees a way out of the life she has been living in her hometown where she is barely making ends meet and sharing a rundown rental house with her mom. There is only one problem... there is someone who might be able to claim half of her money and she hasn't seen him in 8 years. So Miriam finds herself calling up her estranged husband Leo and asking him to come back to town. When he arrives she offers him a deal. She will give him one large lump sum of money if he agrees to sign the divorce papers, but Leo makes a counteroffer because he isn't ready to let go of their marriage and has a plan to win Miriam back.

This was the first book I've read by Jodie Slaughter and the premise sounded fun and promising. I love a second chance romance, especially stories that features reconciled marriages. Unfortunately, this book wasn't it for me. I found the pace to be pretty slow until the end and I just wasn't feeling Miriam and Leo. 8 years have gone by since he walked out and I don't feel a big enough connection is revealed to help Miriam get past that hurt, despite his attempts to reconcile. They have an intense physical attraction, but I couldn't buy into a deep emotional one.

I did enjoy the secondary characters and the friendships and family relationships featured, but it was a miss for the romance for me.

This was a cute story. A lot more women's fiction than romance to me. Besides when the spice hits 🥵, which honestly I could have done with out.

A light rom com that is a super quick read. It had its laugh out loud moments. Little spice but that's not a bad thing.

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

I looooved this book. Jodie is one of my auto-buy authors, and I love a second chance romance so much! I felt very connected to the characters and loved the plot and the pacing of this book.

After reading absolutely falling in love with Jodie Slaughter’s debut, I couldn’t WAIT for her second book, and it did not disappoint. This second chance, estranged marriage was PERFECT. The tension and undeniable chemistry between them had me on the edge of my sweet. The sweet moment mixed in with the gut wrenching heartbreak these two felt over each other, and the vulnerability they each had to open themselves up to for a chance at love, and hurt, once more was so soft and sweet. Slaughter is officially an autobuy author for me and I hope book 3 is another friend in this friend group, because I’m not ready to say goodbye to these characters and this town yet!

You would think winning the lottery would make anyone happy, right? Yeah, but for Miriram she doesn't know what to do, especially after having to contact now her estranged husband (yeah especially since she actually needs to divorce him so that he's not after her money. But for Leo her estranged husband of eight years, he want this opportunity to earn her trust and to show her that he is enough for her. You can tell the pain the breakup that they each went through and how the other people influenced them.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

One of the things I liked the most about Play to Win is that there is never really any doubt that these two fools are in love from day one, head over heels, no doubt about it. They need to do a lot of personal work to earn and win trust and also one of them wins the lottery which is kinda bonkers. But really, this is just a great story of two people who didn't know how to communicate, probably got married too young, and now have to find a way back to each other now that money issues are off the table.

I liked Leo and Miri and I liked how honest they were with themselves in their heads. I appreciate how they eventually got to being honest with each other outside their heads and how friends and family supported them along the way. It was a fun romance and I look forward to reading Slaughters other novels.

This was a fun quick rom com! After winning the lottery Miriam needs to contact her estranged husband of 8 years to finally get a divorce. Leo comes back into her life, but does she still want a divorce? Can they mend the last 8 years? I thought this second chance romance was ok. I wanted more as to why Leo left 8 years ago?? It just didn’t sit well with me. Sure they have chemistry and the bits of spice were good, but come on?? Who just forgets that he left you for 8 years?? And what a poor explanation 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review

This was one I was anticipating for a while. I’d heard people love the authors previous book. This one felt a little unbelievable for me, especially the getting back together after winning the lottery!

The MMC was not it….at all. He just want the money or what?
This book was just too slow for me.

Miriam Butler has been trying to make ends meet after her husband, Leo, left her 8 years ago. Then, one night she wins the lottery, and everything changes. The only loose end she has is Leo, who is back in town determined to rekindle their romance.

I read Bet On It by this author, and really enjoyed the writing style so I was excited to pick this one up. We even got little cameos from Walter and Aja in this which was fun. This was an interesting concept for a second chance romance... I do think she forgave Leo a bit to quickly for my liking though - I wanted to see GROVELING from his part. If my husband left me for 8 years, with no communication I would not even THINK about rekindling ANYTHING with that man. ESPECIALLY if he's only back AFTER I won the lottery... no mamn, I don't think so. I did like Miri though, I listened to this on audio, and do think the narrator did a great job with her character. There wasn't as much smut as I expected, and this was definitely a slow burn, but as I sad... she let him off to easy.

I would read Jodie Slaughter's grocery lists. She is just that talented. PLAY TO WIN is a fantastic sophomore novel, and as a reader who sometimes struggles with a second chance romance, I was completely invested in the story and rooting for Miriam and Leo and their happily ever after!

-second chance romance
-spicy after the 60% mark
-lottery ticket winner
-sweet mother/daughter dynamic
-bi fmc
-bland mmc
-no third act break up

This book was good! I didn't love Leo. I thought he was a really bland mmc and I don't like that he didn't really redeem himself in my opinion. I did like the over all story though of Miri winning the lottery. I thought that was a fun element! I would have loved for their to have been a bigger plot line w/ the money she won though :P

Overall I liked it!!! I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you St Martins Press for an arc of this book that came out in July and I've finally read it!!

I am a huge fan of Jodie Slaughter and her newest novel Play to Win is a sweet second chance romance that is relatable in some ways but also motivating and uplifting. It's well written and has a fun storyline!

Miriam has been stuck in a rut for a number of years, living at home with her parents in her bedroom from her youth. She is working the same job from her teen years and has little motivation for anything else. The reason, her ex-ish Leo. Well Miriam happens upon some money when she wins the lottery and hopes to use it to finally free herself of her situation.

Leo has other plans which involve getting back together with Miriam. Can Leo woo her, win her heart and convince Miriam that their love is true love? And to what impact does the money have for either of them?