Aja and Walker are goals.

Bet on It was such a beautiful and spicy af romcom with plus size and mental illness rep. I loved seeing myself in Aja. She was so relatable. I also really loved that Walker was portrayed with mental illness because we don't get male perspectives on this often. Both were so healthy for one another it was beyond cute!

This is definitely a quick read you are going to devour!

Two anxious small-towners connect to create a frenetic atmosphere in BET ON IT by Jodie Slaughter.

I liked the mental health rep in this book. It felt authentic and was used as a fragment of both of the characters' personalities rather than used as a plot device.

The plot device -bingo and a very sexy bet, made the tension high and risks even higher.

There is a lot of sex in this book. More sex than romance. More sex than relationship. More than anything else. Some of the language was cringey or superfluous, especially in audiobook format.

Otherwise, I thought this made for a steamy-flash in the pan, summer read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, and St Martins Press for the advanced copies!

Bet on it…⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgallery and MacMillian Audio for an ARC for a honest review. All my opinions are my own.

With the synposis, I was not expected what I got from this book, but that's a great thing. A romance that started in a Bingo Hall? That is strange, and I knew I wanted to read it.

Aja and Walker are fleshed out characters. I really liked how the mental illnesses they had (social anxiety and PTSD) was handled. It was gentle, and kind, and aware. Appreciated that.

I enjoyed having Angela as the narrator, but having her with the Walker chapters, threw me off. I also wasnt 100% sure all the time on which one had which chapter as it got kinda messy in the middle, and at the end.

Overall, their friendship turning into a relationship was fun, and the sex scenes were hot. I really liked how outside of their lust, they also got to know one another, and learned more about each other.

It was a fun audiobook to read, and I am glad I was able to read it, but it will be a book I will mostly likely forget in a few months.

I guess my favorite romances revolve around mental health issues (see also Weather Girl). Although this book deals with difficult topics, it’s still very sexy. Who knew bingo could be so much fun? The romance sizzles but there’s also well-rounded side characters and relationships between Aja and some new friends she makes and Walker and his family that add depth and give it heart.

Bet on It is a cute contemporary romance that tackles mental illness. It centers around our main characters, Aja and Walker, who deal with anxiety and PTSD. I love how the author handles mental health, and it's so important to see it positively portrayed in literature. I found both Aja's and Walker's stories relatable and heartbreaking and their chemistry was good. I hope to see more books like this in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bet on It was a wonderful exploration of mental illness, but I was ultimately bored with all of it.

While in the frozen food section at a local grocery store, Aja found herself trying to calm down from a panic attack minutes from the store’s closing. A helpful stranger approached her and offered to help which made Aja both thankful and horrified. Days later while at Wednesday bingo, Aja was surprised to see that her helpful stranger, Walker Abbott, was the grandson of the nice woman she sat next to every week. Walker was clear that he had no intention of staying in town longer than he had to, but he and Aja kept finding themselves drawn to each other. A pact to win at least one game of bingo brought them closer together, and they ultimately found comfort in the other.

This was my first Jodie Slaughter book and her gentleness while writing about mental illness was appreciated. She’s skilled in bringing up tough conversations and can write some incredibly sexy scenes, but I never connected with Aja and Walker as a couple, which dampened my reading experience. Aja and Walker’s relationship was soft and realistic and I liked how Slaughter navigated it, but their instalust connection made it hard for me to understand the characters before they completely gave in to their attraction to each other. Readers who don’t mind a bit of instalust will have better luck with this one.

I enjoyed Angel Pean’s portrayal of Aja, but her performance as Walker took me out of the story a bit. I’m hesitant to recommend this to audiobook newbies, but it is worth a listen for anyone else who enjoys audiobooks.

Bet on It had some precious moments as Aja and Walker navigated friendship and families; however, this is a story that I’ll inevitably forget.

Bet On It is a cute contemporary romance about two people with anxiety and panic attacks that become friends and something more. But it’s complicated. And a good part of the story takes place playing bingo with a lot of people 30+ years their senior.

Both characters were well developed and their daily lives living with mental illness was well explained. I personally deal with anxiety and PTSD and it was amazing to see that represented in a book. And showing that people with severe anxiety can have social lives and fall in love. The town was also memorable and well described. I enjoyed listening to it on audiobook.

Yes, Bet On It is classified as a romance, but it’s way more than “just” a romance. The two main characters, Aja and Walker, are in their late 20s and have been dealing with some serious mental health issues. Far from a “meet cute”, they have a “meet caring”, when Walker comes across Aja in the middle of a panic/anxiety episode in the local supermarket. Author Jodie Slaughter even puts a content warning right at the start: mental illness, panic attacks, drug abuse, and child endangerment. One additional note re the content - there are several very spicy, explicit scenes, as well as strong language. So if those things bother you, this book would not be for you.

That being said, I mostly liked the book and really enjoyed Aja, Walker, and Grandma May. Aja is plus-sized and is confident about her body, which was refreshing. It was also refreshing that Walker enjoyed Aja the way she was and didn’t need her to change anything at all. The scenes at the community Bingo games were great. I wanted more Bingo and less sexual talk.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook is narrated by Angel Pean, a new-to-me narrator. Her voice for Aja was fine, but I didn’t care for her voice for Walker. She also narrated really slowly. So I’d probably rate the audiobook one less star for that and for my not liking having to listen to the explicit scenes.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook and to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Bet on It is a steamy, open door romance with a lot of depth. I normally do not gravitate toward romance that is quite this open door, but still enjoyed this one. More than anything what I appreciated was seeing both the leads continue to work through their individual trauma through therapy, medicine, and help from each other. I am for any book that works to de-stigmatize anxiety and trauma and recovery. That said there are definite trigger warnings, including anxiety and panic attacks, child neglect, substance abuse, and PTSD. I was pleased to see that the author included content warnings at the beginning of the book. I would recommend this book to fans of Talia Hibbert's Brown sisters series and Helen Hoang's Kiss Quotient. The narrator, Angel Pean was a new narrator to me, but did an excellent job.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The narrator spoke way too slow, I had the speed set to 3x (the highest netgalley can do) and she still sounded slow. There was a need for two narrators, you have two main characters, theyre different genders and races, yet the narrator didn't change voice at all, nor did the author do a good job of changing the thought process of the characters, I rarely knew which POV I was listening to.

The story overall was basically just sex, the bingo and mental illness was barely discussed. It was 90% sex/lust, and may even 10% of "plot" but I use that term loosely.

The cover for Bet On It is what first caught my eye – it just looked super cute and what I was looking for in a great summertime read! This was my very first Jodie Slaughter romance and I was truly impressed at the depth and care given to bringing to life Aja and Walker challenges with experiencing and living with anxiety and PTSD while also longing for more... Slaughter takes you on a journey that opens your eyes to the silent struggles anyone can suffer with anxiety and childhood PTSD leaving me feeling very protective of Aja and Walker as they take baby steps towards falling in love. 3.5 stars!

This was also my first time hearing an audiobook performance by Angel Pean who has a fresh young voice with just the right amount of southern drawl to take you on the journey this book offers. Now, I would not say this is a lighthearted Rom-Com. It is quite a bit more serious than that in nature, but the characters are heartwarming and very sweet.

At the start of the novel (as well as with the audiobook) we are given an awareness to the possible trigger warnings presented throughout the book.

Ugh. I’m struggling with a review for this because I think lots of people will like this but I am not really one who did. The idea of the bet that they’ll be together if either of the main characters gets a Bingo, which is what the title is based on was such a minor part of the story that it was almost thrown in at the end just to make the title make sense.
The characters both struggled with mental health issues and anxiety, which was great to see as they worked through some of their issues both separate and together but their behavior oftentimes didn’t match up with what they seemed to struggle with. And while I’m at it, I felt like their chemistry was forced and the description of their sex was over the top detailed and so surface level they didn’t seem to have feelings for each other, 5th were both just needing sex and the other was the closest option.
I didn’t love the writing style but I could have maybe got past it if the narrator wasn’t so rough. Her voice for the main male character was absolutely brutal and sounded so stereotypical that it made me want to roll my eyes at points.
I’m going to wrap it up with that. There was just too many things that didn’t work for me, but that’s my own opinion and I’m sure others will disagree.
Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

Cute. Surprising. Heartbreaking. Romantic. 3/5

Bet on It was a surprisingly hard read for me for many reasons but the main one is that I was caught off guard by the serious notes the book took towards the middle. Due to the cover and the synopsis, I expected this book to be light, fluffy and superficial but it definitely was NOT. Mental reminder to never judge a book by it's cover!

This story is narrated in the POV of the two main characters: Aja, a young woman with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) that craves connection but struggles with managing her symptoms; and Walker, a man with a traumatic past that lives with PTSD and anger management difficulties. We meet these two at relatively stable points in their lives. Aja has her regular Bingo nights as a way to engage with the public, is in weekly therapy and is making active efforts to socialize. Walker lives out of town working a job he loves, is looking for a new therapist and has supportive friends. He is forced to return to his home town to take care of his sick granny even though he thoroughly despises the town and its people.

Now, this book starts off pretty calm and fluffy. You get your typical "boy meets girl" set up and it's enjoyable to go through the unfolding of these character's personalities. What I wasn't expecting is how deep it got in the middle of the story. It's an odd mix of sweet, tragic, steamy and frustrating. We start seeing the main characters for what they are, deeply hurt individuals in need of support, care and love. We are thrown into the trauma's of the past and begin to understand why the characters behave the way they do. I would say the author did her research on mental health diagnoses and their symptoms because as a therapist, these character's lives seemed eerily familiar to some of my patients' lives. Walker's story in particular was heartbreaking because as a reader you become frustrated with his behavior, but the author stayed true to the character's struggles by writing the story the way she did.

As a mental health professional I make it a mission to read books with characters that struggle with mental health illness so that I have a repertoire of recommendations for my patients and I will be adding this one to the list for sure.

Audio:
The narration of this book was not horrible but it could've used some improvement. I felt like both the male and female performers were a bit monotone and struggled to convey the emotions in the story. In some of the most intense moments the narration was so flat, I struggled to connect with the characters and had to go back and listen a few times.

Overall, this is a good story that deserves being read.

* I LOVED that trigger warnings were presented at beginning of this read. *

Asia and Walter meet as she is having an anxiety attack at the local Piggly Wiggly.. Little does she know, Walter is the grandson of a friend she plays bingo with. Walter's only in town to help his grandmother through her physical therapy then it's back to his safe place. Yet, sparks instantly fly for both of them... enough so that they make a pact. Each bingo game they win, sex will occur. What else could go wrong?

Jodie Slaughter crafts a dual point of view novel that touches heavily on anxiety and emotional attachment. However; this story went from insta love to omgosh just do it already. There were numerous mini plots thrown within that made the "bingo pact" seem lackluster and sometimes unnecessary. I enjoyed the premise of the story but wanted more of either a] Asia's and Walter's journey and no bingo or b] more bingo scenes and less character crafting.

I flipped back and forth between listening to the audio and reading on my Kindle. The narrators voice had a great tone for both characters and kept me invested throughout the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press romance and MacMillian audio for my arcs in exchange for my honest reviews. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Quick notes:
💜 alternating POVs
💜 spicy romance
💜 small town setting
💜 tackles mental health (anxiety)

I listened to the audiobook and really liked the narrator! I also LOVED that the content warnings were stated at the beginning of the book. I think more books should do this!

Okay I have to admit that I was not ready for how spicy this rom com was!! I think it was more descriptive than I was expecting, but I also should’ve realized that a book that has a sex pact (even a bingo-based one 😂) is going to have a lot of spice. This book also made me realize that spicy books on audio may not be for me.

I loved seeing the character development of Aja. She is a twenty-something with anxiety that recently moved to a small town in South Carolina. Her life is pretty boring and includes weeknight bingo games at the local bingo hall (where she’s the youngest person there by at least 30 years), but everything changes when she meets Walker. Over the course of the book, she becomes more confident and sure of herself, which I LOVED! I found myself loving Aja more than Walker, which is probably why didn’t like them as a couple overall.

I liked that this book tackled important issues like mental health and family, but mixed with a relationship that didn’t feel as believable made it fall a little flat for me. I couldn’t take the main characters’ dialogue seriously at times -
it often made me cringe.

At the end of the day, I think this book could be enjoyable for some, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this at about 40%, there was just nothing happening in this book, it was not keeping my attention at all.

Aja Owens moved to the small town on Greenbelt, South Carolina in an effort to help with her social anxiety and panic attacks. The first time she encounters the man of her dreams is when she is having a panic attack in the frozen foods section of the Piggly Wiggly. The second time she sees him is when her favorite bingo buddy is introducing him as her semi-estranged grandson. Walker Abbott has bad memories of growing up in Greenbelt and moved away as soon as he could. He has come back after more than ten years away to help his ailing grandmother. He is counting down the days until his grandmother heals and he can get back to his real life. Meeting AJA is a complication that he didn't expect. They are both attracted to each other. This is a fun rom com that a highly recommend.

This book was sweeter than a hot, fresh slice of peach cobbler! If you are looking for small town feels, friends to lovers, a healthy mental health representation, and meddling old ladies at bingo this book is for you!

This book starts with Aja have a panic attack in public and a kind voice comforts her during it. Aja does not do much in her free time, but she does love to go to bingo. After her panic attack, she goes to her normal bingo night and when her favorite bingo buddy comes in wearing casts, she is obviously very alarmed. To her surprise, her bingo buddy's grandson (walker) is that same kind voice who comforted her during the panic attack, and he is here to care for his grandma while she heals. The only problem is they have immediate chemistry, but he does not want anything to do with his hometown.

I loved this book so much! I love how it dealt with mental heath. The fact that Walker and Aja both had things they were actively dealing with and could be a support to each other was navigated so well. Jodie Slaughter really handled this topic in such a beautiful way. I really appreciate something so many of us deal with represented in a healthy way. Just because you are doing everything you need to to help your mental health doesn't make it disappear, but there is power in understanding yourself and accepting yourself how you are. That then makes room for you to understand others. I loved how Walker and Aja had different stories and backgrounds but still had the ability to understand and support each other. I also want to add that the steam in this book was HOT! I listed to this audio book. I am usually someone who is picky on the narrator of my audiobooks and I loved the narrator on this one! I highly recommend this read. ]

A hung thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book for my honest thoughts.

Very steamy! If you’re not into that, better read a sweet and clean romance instead. However, if you liked Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hilbert then I think you will like this. As for me, get me a sweet tea and turn on the ceiling fan.
Seriously, it was good, maybe a tad bit long and possibly a little to much explaining about anxiety for anyone who knows anything about it. Narration was also good.
Thanks to Netgalley.

This was a beautifully told story of mental health issues and how that might impact a relationship where both parties suffer from debilitating anxiety, panic attacks, childhood trauma, and ptsd.

Aha meets Walker in a Piggly Wiggly during a panic attack when he recognizes the symptoms in her. They bond over that and both feel a powerful attraction to one another. And eventually enter into a bingo sex pact.

I enjoyed this overall, it was largely character driven through the mental health struggles, almost exclusively so. So much of the lens was focused on that issue for both parts of the couple that any other aspect of the story was lost. It was beautifully done, but I can see this being a lot for someone to read who struggles with anxiety themselves. The overall tone of the book was really heavy, definitely at odds with the cover.

I think if you go into this knowing you are getting more of a story about 2 people struggling with mental health and trying to live and thrive both alone and together, rather than a straight up romance you'll enjoy this.

But it hit a bit too close to home for me and seeing such trauma under a microscope wasn't a great time.

The shining star however was that the heroine was plus sized and her beautiful body was wildly accepted and described here.

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, childhood abuse, parental addiction