This was a fun romance! I enjoyed the bingo aspect. Both characters were very engaging and I rooted for them throughout.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC!

Love love loved this book! Characters dealing with mental illness, love, sex and bingo…you can’t go wrong! This book was written so well, the author had great character building with characters that were likable. I loved how quick and fun of a read this was! Romantic and cute and exactly the perfect kind of rom-com for the summer it comes out!

I absolutely adored this book. I mean Jodie did so much right. From not having the narrative at all about Aja's weight. Loved. Having mental health and anxiety be the driving storyline. The good and the ugly of mental health and boundaries..adored.

Aja is the most understanding and unpretentious person ever. Walker has some baggage coming back into town and he knows he isn't staying for long.
Meanwhile, the chemistry between Aja and Walker is hard to resist and boy do they try.

The sex was amazing... Perfectly spicy. I hope this is a series and I can read more. Awesome. It's a yes for me!

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

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Diversity in relationships is so amazing to see in a curvy heroine was even better!

Both Aja and Walker suffer from PTSD: anxiety and panic attacks. They find each other, quite amusingly, at a Bingo Hall in Greenbelt SC that Aja and Walker’s grandmother frequent. Walker grew up in that town and it has traumatic memories for him: his father was a junkie and even when he moved in with his grandmother the townsfolk rejected him and made up rumors and so on about him. He hates the town but is there to care for his grandmother who has broken both arms. Aja has trauma of her own and has just moved to Greenbelt where she feels safe emotionally. But there is no stopping attraction and love.
The author warns that there will be mental health and child endangerment issues so that folks don’t stumble into the book and have difficulties. Even though it deals with such issues the book is not a downer. You grow to understand and love the characters. The plot and the outcome are beautiful. It is also nice to provide books for my patrons with inter-racial couples. Thank you author and publishers. I would recommend this book to my patrons.

What a lovely, thoughtful read! This book follows two characters, one with anxiety and one with complex PTSD from a childhood of neglect, in a small South Carolina town. It so vividly captures the small town atmosphere (in all its charms and hurts!) and the complicated nature of recovery from mental illess, while still having levity and lots of swoons. I loved watching them fall in love with each other and the realistic way they had to grapple with their own insecurities and flaws in the process. The bingo bet was so fun, and even though it seemed unlikely at first, what twenty-something has not deliberately made their love life harder for the sake of trying to keep someone at arm's length? A fun read that tackles some heavy topics with elegance.

I may be in the minority here, but I'm not a fan of this book. It seemed to drag on and a lot of it was repetitive. (I get that you have anxiety and you have PTSD, now move on.) It was very predictable also so I was just waiting to get to the end and what I knew was coming. 2-2.5 stars at best.

Aja was shopping when she had a panic attack. While resting her head on the freezer glass, trying to calm herself, Walker noticed her and the symptoms of the attack. He stood with her until she could exit the store. Aja wanted friends but could not get herself to go many places except for bingo on Wednesday nights. She always sat by Ms. May and felt relaxed. One night Ms. May introduces her to her grandson who is in town to take care of her after she broke both arms. Of course, he is the guy from the grocery store. Over time they begin to see each other and it seems they both have painful childhoods, PTSD, panic attacks and issues of trust. Walker has patience and understanding as they maneuver through the dating difficulties. The importance of friends who accept you as you are is utmost if you are going to have a social life at all. I liked these characters and feel that the reader gains insight into those who experience mental health issues.

This thoroughly southern story is pretty cute and has plenty to recommend it. I appreciated how many big issues it touched on. I am always intrigued to read about characters who suffer from anxiety as it’s something I deal with as well. I think it can provide a wonderful chance to shine a light on mental health awareness. Opening the book with a scene where we see Aja having a panic attack in a grocery store, and then Walker finding her and helping her, was a great way to show us who these people are and what they’re dealing with (while also being a very interesting way for them to meet).

While it was not my personal cup of tea (it was never able to really grab hold of me and get me as emotionally invested as I would have liked) I do think many readers will find it endearing and enjoyable.

Things I liked about the book:
* the mental health aspect and how it normalizes therapy
* the way racial and cultural differences were observed and discussed
* the acknowledgment of how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult (especially if you have anxiety)
* How much your childhood affects the rest of your adult life

And if you like the following, I think you’ll enjoy this book:

* Southern gentility
* Plentiful use of “y’all”
* Meddling grandmas
* Ornery elderly bingo players
* Emotionally healing peach cobbler

3.5 stars out of 5

*arc for an honest review*

i really loved this book but something i really look forward is the couples first kiss it’s supposed to be my favorite part and be able to remember it? but this i forgot about it in like two chapters and after their first kiss they had sex…like i also like it when they don’t rush i don’t know probably just me but overall i really loved it.

This was a fun read. Good characters and the author dealt with emotional issues with gentleness. I did cheer on Aja and Walker.
My first books by this author and it will not be my last.

Great premise and both Aja and Walker were great leads. I like the idea of the bingo pact, and that they both had anxiety issues to work through. But something was missing and I couldn't figure out what. It was a bit odd that they so easily talked to each other and physical intimacy wasn't a problem given how much anxiety they both had.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

A fun read perfect for Jasmine Gillory readers. Loved the small town setting and Aja and Walker. Their shared anxiety issues and how they managed them made this book a really good read. Fun and satisfying read.

3.5

cute! i liked how aja and walker complemented each other not only as a couple, but as people. i thought the bingo pact was kinda dumb but ok. spicy!

#netgalley

The premise was good but I found the execution lacking, could not keep focused. The plot centered around emotional disorders and while it was dealt with sensitively, I could not get into the story or even to care much about the characters. I skipped through several chapters just to get to the end.

The heroine has anxiety and the hero suffers from PTSD from his childhood. The hero has to come back home to help take care of his grandma. His grandma and the heroine are bingo buddies.

It was pretty easy for me to get into Bet On It. I liked the characters. Mental health was a big part of the book. It being talked about so much was helpful to get a deeper understanding of the characters. I do always enjoy when there is a special food that is important to the story. Peach cobbler was it. The bingo hall was like another character. There were a few moments I was like “Hurry up and get on with it. “ Overall, I enjoy it and was able to finish the story. Finishing books has been my struggle lately.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

Bet On It was a delightful book perfect for hopeless romantics. I loved the anxiety and PTSD representation and thought it was great. There were some lines that explained exactly how I felt into words. The main characters Aja and Walker are lovable people and really felt real. I've never read a romance story taken place in South Carolina or at a Bingo. This is one of those books you read and think about for a while after you finish. Fast paced and got me out of a reading slump.

I think I'm in the minority, but I didn't love this book. I love romance books, meet cutes, friends with benefits, etc. This book was just strange to me for some reason. I appreciate the realness of anxiety and PTSD as I think more books should mirror real life issues; however, I found it strange that the characters both had such anxiety but are able to be candid and intimate with each other almost right from the beginning.

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

Walker Abbott comes back to Greenbelt, SC for two things: to take care of his injured grandmother Ms. May and enjoy the perfect peach cobbler. When he takes Ms. May to her weekly bingo night and meets her bingo buddy, Aja Owens, you can bet that more action occurs between the two than just bingo playing!

I LOVED this book. The romance scenes are sweet, the spicy scenes are steamy, and touch on important topics such as mental health and coping. The way Jodie Slaughter writes really immerses the reader into the scene, and the conversations that take place feel so realistic that I could hear the characters talking.

If you’re a fan of romance, spice, and the friends-to-lovers trope, then you will enjoy Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter. I give it 5/5 stars overall and 2/5 on a spice scale. It will be published on July 12th 2022, and will be a hot summer read!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is such a cute and swoon-worthy romance! My only complaint about this book is how horny-energy the characters were. I realize that I normally read books set in metropolitan areas, so reading this story set in a small town in South Carolina, was such a nice departure from my normal books.

While I'm no expert in mental health issues, I feel like the author dealt with it really well in this book. From navigating anxiety to PTSD within the two characters, I felt Jodie did a really great job of incorporating them into the storyline.

The romance in this book was so soft, I just absolutely loved how Aja and Walker's relationship was developed. This book left me giggling and tearing up. While I do love a good smut scene, and trust me, this book had some good ones, the amount of times the MCs were just thinking about ripping each other's clothes off even in the very beginning when they first started interacting was a bit much for me. However, if you're really into a lusty and soft romance, this book is perfect!