POC lead who is plus size, Count me in. It was so nice to see someone who is real and relatable. I instantly fell in love with these characters. Swoon it was so funny and sweet.

If you're skeptical about how fun a BINGO night can be... this was definitely not boring. This was a cute story full of lots of sexual tension & restraint. We also stan a book with content warnings up-front. I appreciated how Jodie showcased anxiety and panic attacks and how they can differ from person to person – I thought the communication between the main characters and the struggles they both faced was great to read, and of course, I'll be looking for book reviews from OwnVoices readers.

Overall, a sexy book about love, friendship, and most-definitely for fans of open door romances.

4.25 stars rounded up to 5.

Yeah, comparing a woman to a burger is a no for me. DNF. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up
Aja Owens originally from DC moved to Greenbelt, NC for the small quiet town. Quiet being good for her anxiety. One night at the Piggly Wiggly in the freezer section she has a panic attack. She tries to calm herself with her head against the freezer door. When a male stranger comes up beside her and stands with her.
Walker Abbott is a sports journalist who lives in Charleston. He comes to Greenbelt the town he despises to help his Grandma who fell and broke both of her arms. She enlists "Wally" to help her with Bingo.

That's where he meets Aja again.

I really liked the anxiety/PTSD representation. The romance was good but I didn't love the book. I had a hard time liking the characters and getting hooked into their stories. I may just be in the wrong headspace for this book. 🤷

I finished Bet on It in late July and I absolutely adored it. For me, this is one of those books that just had the vibe. Jodie’s writing was beautiful, flowed well and was perfectly descriptive for me. I can picture fictional Greenbelt, SC as if I’ve actually visited and spent time there. The small town summer settings were immaculate. It was funny, swoony, steamy and yet didn’t shy away from the heavier topics. The entire cast of characters were flawed in very real and believable ways. Mental illness is depicted with such care and respect. I’m purposely not going into the plot much, as to not spoil anything. 

This was easily one of my top reads of the year and I wish more people were talking about it. I also just have to mention that it opens with one of my very favorite meet cute locations (that I don’t see enough of) in a grocery store 😍  

What you can expect:
-Black woman + white man, both cishet
-excellent fat rep
-excellent disability rep
 (They both have anxiety)
-a bingo-based sex pact
-nicknames
-“let’s just get it out of our systems”
-horny for peach cobbler
-low country, summertime small town SC vibes
-the cutest “this is not a date” dates
-a quirky grandparent
-excellent found family
-both MCs are already in therapy
-fairly low relationship angst

CW: on page panic attacks, description of past childhood trauma & neglect by parents suffering with substance abuse, description of past childhood bullying via gossip, anxiety & PTSD, explicit on page sex, on page alcohol consumption

This was a DNF for me. While there was promise about 50 pages in it felt very repetitive and limited. The concept is fun and cut but also too weighed down for me.

DNF for now: I listened to the audio version, and the narrator's voice was nice, but her performance was sooooooooo slow. I tried adjusting to different speeds, and couldn't settle on a speed that I could comprehend that also didn't make me incredibly impatient to keep things moving. And when the narrator voiced the hero, it was just all wrong - definitely didn't depict the kind of guy that's described in the text. So, unfortunately, I could never get invested in the story because I was so distracted by the audio performance. I did like some of the themes that were explored, and this had the potential to be an intelligent, spicy read, but my distraction made this very easy to put down. I would definitely check out the story again in the future, but I wouldn't revisit the audio. So, I'll likely go back to the text once I've distanced myself enough from this frustrating experience.

I tried to like this but the book was so cringey. I don’t buy the connection between the characters other than that they both have mental health struggles. I DNF about 40% in. The dialogue was awful and the sex? Just…no.


I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

This story kept me interested from beginning to end. It had me reminiscing about a college fling who was a country white boy. It’s a cute story following POVs from each character, Aja and Walker. As they struggled being millennials navigating mental health and anxiety. it’s setting is place in a small town in South Carolina and it just tugged on my heartstrings just a tad bit. This story had me laughing out loud, tearing up and ready to slap some sense into Walker! I can relate to Aja moving to a different place for her peace of mind and trying to get herself out there to meet new people. Walker is having to come back to a town he loathes to take care of his grandmother only to meet Aja this time formally. This story is cute that now I want some peach cobbler.

I recommend reading it! The spice was there. It wasn’t too much or too little just right.

this was so cute! i really loved the treatment of mental health and how it is more than just the stereotypical attributes that a lot of romances seem to use as a plot mechanism. it was steamy, sensual and heartfelt and i really wish i could know these characters in person because they are just wonderful to love

Bet On It tells the story of Walker and Aja, who come together to develop a friendship and help each other cope with their everyday mental health struggles. Their mutual attraction leads them to make a bet to avoid catching feelings. Walker is determined to go back to his real life after his grandmother is healed because Greenbelt is the last place he wants to be. Aja has just moved to Greenbelt in order to take control of her anxiety and live her life.
I loved the mental health representation in this book. I loved that Walker was allowed to express and work through his emotions. In today’s society, we see so many instances and ideas of toxic masculinity, where men are taught to be strong and not to feel and express their emotions, much less entertain the idea of therapy. I love how this book dispels that notion and rewrote those misconceptions. We get to see Walker talk about his feelings, go to therapy, and have strong bonds with people where he is allowed to discuss and feel his emotions without being made to feel less. This was one of the most emotionally mature and aware books that I’ve ever read. I appreciate that the characters were allowed to own and work through their emotions. I love that we got to see the everyday realness of dealing with mental health struggles. I saw so much of myself in Aja. As someone who struggles with anxiety, it was so thrilling to see it represented in such a relatable and validating way.
I have to say though, for all the emotional awareness and maturity, I would’ve definitely let Walker grovel more than he did at the end.
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley, for an eARC of this book for my honest opinion.

I requested this book from NetGalley specifically because of its Anxiety and Complex PTSD representation. On those fronts this book worked aces for me. The internal lives of Jodie Slaughter’s characters worked exceedingly well for me as a reader. I thought it was very thoughtful about the way mental health struggles were portrayed as part of the overall story, and as a driving factor in that story.

Because it is a driving factor, the leads could understand that part of each other's experience and be supportive of each other. But let’s back up, the book opens with our heroine, Aja Owens, meeting a handsome stranger in the grocery store while having a panic attack and he stays with her until it passes. They go their separate ways, Aja not even sure she would recognize him again, until he turns up at her weekly bingo night - he's the grandson of her best bingo buddy. Walker Abbott is in town only to help his grandmother during her recovery from two broken arms, and he wants to be gone as soon as possible, as his hometown is full of judgement and the development of his PTSD and anxiety. But he finds Aja Owens irresistibly beautiful, they understand each other but know that any relationship that might strike up would be over in a matter of weeks as Walker is leaving and Aja is staying in the place that is feeling like home, finally, away from big city pressures.

The pair are swoon worthy. But… I’m rating this one three stars, not four and that’s because while lots of it worked for me, there were some things that didn’t. There was a certain amount of expectations problem, the book was heavier than I expected based on the blurb and cover. I also wished there were more quiet moments of seeing them fall in love, more lighthearted moments, and more time spent in this sweet small town, I wanted more of the side characters and charm to help balance the tone and move the plot more naturally.

I love that this book features both a plus size MC, and anxiety rep! Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this novel!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

3.5⭐️
Went in with zero exceptions just because I hadn’t had the greatest luck with ARCs lately but this one genuinely surprised me! It was also duo perspective which is an added bonus!

Our main character, Aja, deals with really bad mental health. She decides to leave busy Washington, DC and move to the small town of Greenbelt, SC in hopes to find some stability (and some good bingo lol). Let’s just say Bingo isn’t the only thing she falls in love with. Aja is a pretty likable and relatable MC. The other characters were good but nothing memorable. I honestly was not a fan of Walker at first. I just didn’t like his vibe or the way he spoke at times. But he eventually grew on me or just developed as a character who knows🤷🏻‍♀️
The way the author touched on both characters mental health was very well done. Didn’t feel forced, or cringy. It felt real and very relatable, especially for people with mental health. The level of spiciness in this book had me shook! Like okayyy little miss Aja! 👀🔥🥵 I was honestly taken aback with her gutsiness considering how bad her anxiety could get. But I was here for it! 👏🏻
I do suggest checking out any possible TW before reading.


Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this digital copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly? It was meh? I feel bad saying that, but it was definitely not a bingo for me!

There were some pros; I loved the anxiety/PTSD rep, plus size rep; it was nice and steamy, and Walker loved to eat which is always a pro. But really, that was about it for me. Nothing happened in the book? Like there was nothing really driving the plot, the "why can't we be together" really just didn't make sense or work for me; the bet was unnecessary but it was the only source of tension, and the story just fell flat. It's one of those books where you're left wondering what the point was, and it fell sadly very short for me and I'm pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to this one!

I definitely recommend checking out the content warnings before picking this one up!

A modern and sweet small town romance with true mental health rep and body positivity! Walker is returning to his hometown to help his recovering grandmother after escaping due to childhood trauma. Meanwhile, Aja has just begun to settle in the small town to escape the hustle and bustle of a bigger city.

I enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters but felt their relationship escalated too quickly and a bit impractically, almost forced due to their mental states. The story also included a few steamy scenes, which I felt were well written. This was my first novel by Jodie Slaughter and while I really enjoyed the various elements the story encompasses, it was just too slow for me.

-understanding
-small town setting
-childhood trauma
-mental health rep
-forgiveness & growth
-bingo theme
-new friendships

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, this book was waaaay more “spicy” than I normally prefer but the rest of the story was so fun that I really didn’t mind. It worked. Aja & Walker are such interesting characters and the way they are making life work despite dealing with mental illness makes for a great read. It was frustrating that they were trying so hard not to be in a relationship but should have been all along. I also appreciated that Aja found such good girlfriends and those relationships were highlighted.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this book. It was great!

Oh gosh! This book made me giggle, swoon, and blush. I thought the plot was great and the story moved along at a good pace. There were moments in this book that felt a bit bland but overall, this was a easy romance read for sure!

I adored this book! It was so cute, it was so real. I felt Aja's anxiety, her introvertedness. I loved her. The whole Bingo thing was so much fun. My only disappointment was that Walker's port wine stain is not shown on the book cover. I feel like since it's even in the book, specifically pointed out, it should be represented on the cover. It's just a birthmark. But it's noticeable to Aja. But I loved this book and I look forward to more contemporary romance from Jodie Slaughter!

I think I would've enjoyed this more if I had read it rather than listening to the audiobook (which I got from my library). I wasn't a huge fan of the fact that both protagonists had similar issues, which made it seem monotonous at times. It just felt like they were both leading up to separate breakdowns with their emotions, which I wasn't particularly looking forward to. But I did listen to the audiobook, so I have to mention I wasn't quite sure what the narrator was going for in terms of the hero's voice. I didn't initially realize he was white. I think her Southern accent was just a deeper version of the heroine's voice, which was incredibly off-putting.

Overall, I did enjoy the romance, but the story was just okay. It didn't leave a lasting impression unfortunately.