This review was also posted on Goodreads at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4493813747

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

OH MY GOSH! THIS BOOK HAS MY HEART! Im obsessed with Walker and Aja. Walker is the sweetest southern boy working through his trauma & recovery while helping out his loved ones & Aja is a plus size, POC girl working through her anxieties in a new city.

Im in love with how this book mentions and displays Aja is a plus size woman but it is treated as if it is normal and not a big deal that she is plus sized and it shows that she deserves just as much to given equal treatment. This is by far one of my favourite times I have found a plus size representation in a book!

Through the plot I loved how it's showing both main characters working through their mental illnesses and having therapists help them be able to grow as a person and grow to the stages they are at the end of the book where they pushed through their struggles to get out of their comfort zone. Although it was unfortunate of the main conflict being due to a trauma response, I am glad to see they have worked through it while being very understanding. I think this book is one of my favourite books ever for mental health and plus size representation and I believe for those 2 reasons alone, everyone should read this NA romance.

Bet On It is the story of Aja and Walker, two people who share some of the same mental health issues that allow them to understand each other a bit better than others in their pasts. Each of them has their own struggles, but they take comfort in and enjoy each other so much that just being friends is not an option. There are some steamy sex scenes that might be a bit too much for some readers, and some of the character's issues may come with triggers. Otherwise, Bet On It is a fun, quick read.

Aja Owens has just moved from Washington, D.C. to Greenbelt, a small town in South Carolina, trying her best to make new friends despite her anxiety disorder. Those efforts have led her to the local bingo parlor and meeting her bingo friend, an elderly lady named Mrs. May. Shopping in the local Piggly Wiggly one day, Aja suffers an anxiety attack and stands stock still in front of the freezer section waiting for it to pass. Another shopper, Walker Abbott, who Aja does not know recognizes the situation as he, too suffers from anxiety issues and offers to help. Mortified, Aja manages a few minutes of conversation and leaves the store. Unbeknownst to Aja, Walker Abbott is Mrs. May’s grandson, in town to help his grandmother who has just broken both her wrists and, of course, Mrs. May drags him to bingo night. Sparks fly between the two and romance blossoms, albeit an unwelcome one, that both Aja and Walker are bent on ignoring.

Jodie Slaughter has written an enjoyable and steamy romance that fans of this genre will certainly appreciate. While she describes both characters’ struggles with their anxiety disorders in a manner that enables the reader to clearly understand their emotional state, her overuse (in my opinion) of the F-word ruined the book for me. She has a better command of the English language than this.

What a wonderful book! I love that I am starting to read more and more books with romance and mental health topics. This is a beautiful trend that we need. This was such a cute book and I loved every minute of it! Read it! Now!

I really liked the premise of this book and I felt like the mental health representation was important. It had just enough spice to be considered a romance but to me felt like it was more about mental health than love.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Aja was okay and I was rooting for her, but way Walker spoke drove me up a wall. The random trauma the author threw at him so he could relate to Aja I guess? seemed gratuitous. And the ~sexual chemistry ~ the author tried for was too forced.

What a. Fun sweet and steamy read. I read it so fast but i enjoyed the story about overcoming anxiety to find love. Really relatable

I can’t remember the last time a book resonated with me the way this one did. Yes, this was a romance, but it was also a book about overcoming obstacles and loving yourself. The main characters both struggle with their mental health and are drawn to each other because they honestly see each other’s struggles. The openness between them as they work to improve their own lives is what makes this such a believable love story. I saw so much of myself in Aja that I felt at times this book was about me, but she’s also my hero for getting out of her comfort zone and working to build relationships, friendships as well as a romantic relationship. Add a love of Bingo, which speaks to my old soul, and I had an amazing time reading this! I can’t wait to see what else Jodie Slaughter publishes! Oh, and the editor made this a 5 star for me, because it was almost grammatically perfect!

As a person who struggles with generalized anxiety disorder, I loved and appreciated the understanding within the pages of this book. I was hooked within the first 3 pages. The story unfolded slowly, and the only drama came from just the healing journeys each of the main characters went on.

My only negative critique is that I wasn't in love with the way the last chunk of the book evolved. I'm glad Walker and his Dad had their talk, but I would have loved more depth and emotion and drama to showcase why Aja and Walker are who they are. We saw alot of their present, but not a lot of their past. I think it would have helped connect even more to their characters.

Gosh, this. This was EVERYTHING I could want in a romance book. It did a fantastic job working through anxiety disorder and how it effects each person differently and how each person has to deal with it differently. I teared up, I laughed out loud and there were a few points I wanted to scream get it together. I feel like the H should have Groveled a little more but it was still a good notion. 5⭐

This was such a fun , sweet and steamy story! Don’t let the cover full you it’s very steamy! I love the relationship between the two main characters and I also love how this book spoke about mental health. I would recommend this book and will definitely read more by this author.

Bet on it is a contemporary romance between our main characters Aja Owens and Walker Abbot and takes place in Greenbelt, SC. Aja is newer to town and stays to herself outside of the weekly bingo game with the elderly in town. Ms. May is Aja’s bingo friend, and after an accident has left her with 2 broken arms, she drags her hot grandson Walker to play her cards. Unfortunately, the first time the two met, Aja was having a panic attack at the Piggy Wiggly.

This book goes from Piggly Wiggly panic attack encounter to friends to bingo sex pact to lovers, say that five times fast! Jodie Slaughter can write some Grade A sexual tension and her sex scenes are STEAMY! I also loved that this has dual POV, it’s my favorite way for a romance to be written. There’s also great fat rep in this book, good consent, and I really enjoyed the side characters. Some of my favorite scenes were of Aja and her new girlfriends, I found that those side characters had some of the most personality of any character in the book. I would very much be interested in reading one of their stories in the future.

Both of our main characters have anxiety – generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD respectively. While I haven’t suffered from anxiety attacks to this extreme, it felt like the author took great care and did a lot of research on the topic. There are additional content warnings for past drug addiction and child neglect to be aware of too. Having characters struggling with mental health throughout a romance novel may not be for everyone, and especially will not be for you if you’re looking for something light. But if you are looking for a romance with some heavier themes I think you’ll like this.

I’m bringing this down to 3.5ish stars because at times I wanted more from the characters outside of their anxiety, so they felt a little flat at times. Some of my misgivings are overlooked at times if I have nostalgia relating to aspects of the story like where it takes place, and a certain event it includes. I don’t personally have that connection, but I think people who grew up in this part of the US will feel seen and get some warm and fuzzies.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised how quick I was sucked into this book! I find myself being in a book reading slump after reading a good book (I had just finished A Flicker in the Dark), but I was able to jump right back in with this one.

Bet On It was equal parts sweet, fun, inclusive, and very steamy! I mean - I know the illustrated covers make a lot of readers think that the story might not be as steamy as others that use live models.

I enjoyed how much attention was placed on mental health - most specifically anxiety. As someone who experiences anxiety, I appreciated that anxiety wasn't just mentioned, it was explained and was a consistent presence throughout the book. That, mixed in with the awesome chemistry between Aja and Walter made for such a fantastic story. It truly was such a great read!

What I most enjoyed about this book was how the two main characters were so caring and understanding about each other's mental health struggles. I am loving seeing all of the representation in books recently. Ajah and Walker are both upfront about their anxiety and PTSD respectively. Sadly, I did not feel as if they had other facets to their personalities. They were one dimensional which made it hard to feel any connection to them. I loved the idea of two characters seeing each others vulnerabilities and falling in love but I was mostly bored by this book. Nothing seems to happen as pages drag on. This one did not work for me,

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This contemporary romance novel was a fun one for me. It has lots of great representation that I liked a lot.(Black heroine, biracial couple, plus-size, mental health) While I write this, I am waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars. It was a good read but I had a little trouble getting into it. I liked both characters but had trouble connecting with the characters as a couple. The spice level was good and the bingo theme was very fun!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martins Press for a complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I always love a book that focuses on mental health and body positivity! This was a fun, steamy read! I will definitely be reading more by Jodie Slaughter

This is a sweet and STEAMY contemporary romance that also handles issues of mental health.
Aja has moved to Greenbelt, SC from D.C. for a slower pace of life and to help her deal with her anxiety and panic attacks. She meets Walker in the Piggly Wiggly as he notices she is having a panic attack and helps her through it. He also happens to be the grandson of her bingo partner, Ms. May, and has PTSD from a rough childhood.
They form a bingo sex pact and things get hot and heavy from there.
I liked how Slaughter incorporated both Aja's and Walker's anxiety/panic attack issues and their situations were very realistic. Aja's trying to not overthink everything and is even making new friends in Greenbelt.
I also liked that Aja is unapologetically fat and her weight is not even an issue.
A good read. Recommended for fans of Talia Hibbert.

4.5 stars! I really, really loved this one *dreamy sigh*

Definitely for you if you enjoy:
- Strangers to lovers
- Fat character who isn’t self deprecating
- Dual POV

tw: descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks, mentions of drug abuse

When Aja moves to Greenbelt for more quiet in her life and in her mind, she doesn’t expect to have a panic attack at the grocery store in front of a hot guy. She’s embarrassed and is trying to move on with her life but when she goes to the weekly bingo night, she finds that her favorite older bingo friend is walking in with the same hot guy who happens to be her grandson, Walker, who’s here to help take care of her while she recovers from a fall.

Walker is absolutely here only for his grandmother and is gonna book it back home when she feels better. He can’t stand Greenbelt, the bad memories, the rumors and the people who spread them. Dealing with the aftermath and his PTSD is hard enough but when he meets Aja, his life changes. When the sexual tension between them is too much, they decide on a bingo-based bet to sleeping together. They both know Walker will leave soon and it can’t mean more but when they spend more and more time together, it’s impossible not to think of some way it could maybe work for them both.

📚

Oh my gosh what a book!!! I really loved this one. It was sweet as much as it was serious. The main characters were so lovable, the supporting cast was so fun and the topics discussed were talked about with lots of care.

Aja and Walker were written so greatly. I love a fat character who just gets to be. No snide comments from people or the love interest, no self deprecating comments, no woe-is-me talk. Just a fat character existing and that made my heart soar! Walker was so southern in the way he was written and I felt all of it. The way both characters describe their anxiety to one another were with kindness and it was really nice to read that on that level of understanding. Usually it’s just one person having it and the love interest trying to understand or something. I appreciated that they both were able to understand one another.

The dialogue in this book was fun and I love a more dialogue heavy book. I also adored the supporting cast in this. They were all fun and supportive without being overbearing. It was just a perfect mix.

I think there was probably more complexities to dive into with both characters that would’ve made this a 5/5 for me but I still loved this one. Sometimes when I get ARCs, I don’t buy the physical books but I think with this one, I definitely definitely definitely will!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending this to me in exchange for a honest review.

•• Received a copy for review.**

I loved Aja & Walker. There were so many things that were relatable, specifically small towns and how they work. Walker’s experience was heartbreaking but so true of small towns. Everyone knows your business, and they never let you forget it. You pay for the sins of your family and they build boxes around who they decide you are and expect you stay in those walls.
I loved that they meet in a bingo hall. Another small town thing. It’s the place to be in some towns. Prior to casinos, it was the way to win some money while socializing.
Jodi Slaughter made this book the perfect balance between sweet, serious, and very sexy.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did…but I think it’s more of a personal preference for me rather than a fault with the author’s writing. The slow burn romance was amazing. The author let the sexual tension really build up over the whole book in a way that felt natural. I loved the amount of diverse characters and how vocal everyone was about their mental health and anxieties. Sometimes it’s hard to include these issues without coming off as preachy, but the author made it really natural. I also really liked all the side-characters, which is always important to me.

However, the banter between the two characters just felt…off to me. I can’t put my finger on why. There were sections that were just a hair to cheesy I guess? I wasn’t jarring but I just wasn’t into it. The plot line itself wast just okay. It was sort of high-stakes, but I had a really hard time getting invested in it.

Overall I liked the book a lot, it just didn’t have that extra thing that made me love the book.