I could not get into the audiobook version of this one unfortunately. The narration was very slow paced (even at 2x) and monotone. I do plan on giving this another try as a physical or ebook, there were parts that I enjoyed, though I could not finish it.

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook!! I really enjoyed this book! It just took me a little while to get into Aja and Walker‘s relationship, it was also pretty fast paced. I loved the bingo aspect and how Aja used that as a way to get herself out there. I struggle with social interactions so this book really inspired me!

Coming from someone who struggles with anxiety I would say this book handled anxiety pretty well. The ending was a little abrupt but the romance and humor was good and I really related to Aja and enjoyed reading about her growth.

I rate this 3.5. It doesn't have anything to do with the subject matter. It had too much spice for my liking.

This book deals with mental illness, which is pointed out at the beginning of the book. The two main characters are each working through their own mental illness throughout the story and it's what connects them. The author writes it in a way to help the reader better understand what the character is going through past and present.

Throughout the story we see how the characters have come to terms with their mental illness and how they are working through that with therapy or techniques. We read how the characters would normally act in settings such as big crowds and how they have learned to deal with these situations.

To me the author also displayed a sense of progression when it comes to how society see mental illness past and present. Walker's former classmates realize now that they were not there for him or didn't realize what he needed, but now they understand. The character's friends in this story recognize and check in with them making sure they are ok. Having this positive support in a story and mainly real life is crucial.

The narrator was good choice for Aja, but I didn't care for her as much for the Walker. The voice didn't fit what I thought he would sound like. Personal preference. Overall I did like the narrator though.

Bet on It is a great story. While it deals with heavy topics, it also shows how we can be there for our loved ones.

I listened to this as an audiobook at 1x to 1.75x speed.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Aja lives in Greenbelt, South Carolina where her best friend is Grandma Abbot, Gram, and she goes to play bingo. In the grocery store, she has a panic attack when Walker Abbot helps her. She later meets him again at bingo and finds out that he is Grams grandson who had moved away and has now come back to take care of her after her accident. There is undeniable chemistry between Walker and Aja, but neither want to get involved knowing that Walker is leaving Greenbelt soon. Once they acknowledge their sexual chemistry, they agree that the only time they can hook up is when one of them wins bingo. They are super competitive at bingo and when one of them does win, they are shocked at home much chemistry they really do have and that they want to continue what they have started.

This book was spiiiiicy. I listened to the audiobook version and was blushing while driving and scared that people could hear it from their car.

This was my first time reading anything by Jodie Slaughter and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I'm not typically one for romance novels, but this one sounded cute, so I figured I would give it a try. Angel Pean provided fantastic narration. Overall it was a cute story with some great representation and a quick read.

I wasn't completely sure what to expect when I started this book (audio) - I haven't read anything from Jodie Slaughter before, and I had seen this book all over the social media pages, so I definitely wanted to check it out for myself. It had a diverse couple (Big, beautiful black woman with a skinny white, southern guy), a bingo card, and from there, I wasn't really sure what the storyline was all about.

Aja (the narrator pronounced it Asia) first meets Walker when she's out at the Piggly Wiggly and a panic attack suddenly hits. He helps talk her down. She figures she will never see the gorgeous man again, until he shows up with her elderly bingo friend a couple days later. Turns out, he's the semi-estranged grandson, there to help out as she's broken both her arms and he needs to give her assistance while healing (so, he'll be around for quite a while!)... As time passes, the two form a bond over, you guessed it, anxiety, and a few other issues.

It's a nice story, but a little bit on the slower side. It's not that I didn't like it, I just found it a bit slow, and might have enjoyed it better if I had (gasp - I know, as a 95% audio listener, over eyeball reader!), read this one instead of listened to it. There was a single narrator for both characters, which definitely didn't fit with the story. Angel Pean did a fine job voicing a black woman originally from DC, but when she was also voicing a southern white man, it just did not do the job. It didn't fit in any way, shape or form, and was extremely distracting and took you right out of the story. This book needed 2 completely separate narrators for the 2 very different characters.

If this audio had the 2 narrators for each character, I believe I would have enjoyed the experience more overall, and been able to give a higher rating. Overall, I give Angel Pean a 4-star for her portions narrating Aja, but only a 2-star for the parts narrating Walker (did not fit this part of the book). The story itself is a 3.5. Rounded down to 3-stars because of the narration taking you out of the story when the voice just doesn't fit the character and is not right.

Overall, I would recommend this book to others who enjoy eyeball reading (not the audio), and like slow burn, diverse couple romances, and like some neurodiversity included (anxiety, PTSD, and are open to a lot of past/early life trauma being explored).

I received an advance listen and review copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

BET ON IT by Jodie Slaughter is a great romance!! I haven’t read an adult romance in a couple months and I enjoyed this one a lot! I really appreciated the sensitive content disclaimer at the start. This novel discusses mental illness, panic attacks, drug abuse and child endangerment. It’s about a woman, Aja, who moves to a new town and meets a new male friend, Walker, while having a panic attack in the Piggly Wiggly. I love how their second meeting was while playing bingo. I love playing bingo too! Hopefully I can play again soon!
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I loved how both main characters dealt with their own anxieties and they were quite cute together. I liked the friends to lovers trope and the southern charm of the South Carolina setting. It was nice that Aja was also finding friendships in her new town. I liked how her friends were all ages. I found this a really fun and warm hearted read. Angel Pean narrating the audiobook was so great! So glad I read this one!
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Thank you to SMP Romance and St. Martin’s Press for my advance readers’ edition and Macmillan Audio via NetGalley for my ALC!

I was so excited for this title. I do enjoy Jodie Slaughter’s stories.
Aja is in the middle of the Piggly Wiggly when she got had a panic attack. A random stranger comes up to her and calms her anxiety in a way that makes her able to get the anxiety under control and make her purchases. She does not get a good look at him.
Aja crippling anxiety presents challenges for her. She has a hard time with new people. It prompted her move moved from DC to a small town. In hopes that the small town will help her move in the world a bit easier. Her one friend in all of town is her bingo buddy Mae. Mae shows up to bingo with two broken arms and a hot grandson.
Aja feels the connection instantly. She also realizes the grandson is the one who helped her through her attack.
Walker hates returning to his home town. He knowns all the signs of anxiety when he sees it, he himself is coping with PTSD from his rocky childhood. His return has everything to do with his grandmother. He will do anything for his grandmother.
The friendship between Aja and Walker quickly changes for them. Walker has to face the fact he is falling for Aja. He is leaving soon. He is sure this will never work. But they truly have so much in common.
This was such a great story. It had some amazing rep for both Aja as a black, curvy girl and anxiety. Aja was such a great sassy character once she could open up. This has an insta-love vibe but it really is friends to lovers. There is a gentle almost sweet evolution to their relationship.
I listened to the audiobook and the pacing was a bit slow for me. I appreciated the own voice rep by the narrator. I typically listen to a story on 1x speed and on this one because of the slow hypnotizing fluidity of the story telling I had to bump it 1.75 speed to stay engaged with the audiobook. I think I would have enjoyed the story more had I eyeball read it.

I really enjoyed this book, it was quite sexy and fast paced, I loved the mental health representation, plus the FMC is a plus size POC woman comfortable in her body and loving it and it translates so well never being an issue for anyone, the MMC is completely attracted to her without being fetishizing and it was just really refreshing to see that.
I wish the ending had expanded a little more but that’s because I love the fluffy parts, I thought all the issues made sense and were resolved well

Read/Listen if you Like:
❤️ Romance
❤️ Mental Health Representation
❤️ Reading Diversely
❤️ Friends to Lovers
❤️ Small Town Vibes

Book Review:
The book opens with Aja having a panic attack in the frozen isle while just trying to get some groceries, Walker walks by and notices Aja struggling like he has, he came back and sat with her and supported her until she was ready to leave.

Aja had moved to small town life to help with the symptoms of her diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and really only socializes with playing Bingo, it just so happens that Walker is the estranged grandson of one of her Bingo friends.

With their combined awkwardness Aja and Walker start building a friendship as they work through personal demons stemming from why Aja moved to and why Walker left the small town of Greenbelt, SC. They start their friendship through meeting to play Bingo to allow Aja time to feel more safe for a higher level of interaction.

As they continue to play Bingo their relationship blooms and they start to fall for each other, but will the demons they both are trying to escape and mental health concerns they each have bring them together or pull them apart?

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this audiobook! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to listen to it in advance of its release!

I absolutely adored this book! I love how well balanced it was between being romantic and talking about more serious topics like mental health. The goodreads/amazon star ranking kind of stinks so I put this as a five star book, but my personal rating is a 4 - a 5 star book but I wouldn't read again.

Thank you to Jodie Slaughter, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook of Bet on It for me to listen to and review. What a unique story! I absolutely loved the reader of the story and how they added such personality to each character with the voice, attitude and tone used for each person. Slaughter did a wonderful, respectful job of showcasing main characters with anxiety and mental health struggles and their ability to manage and overcome these challenges. There were quite a few more f-bombs in the story than I was expecting, but it wouldn't have had the same emotion without them. There were many laugh-out-loud hilarious moments alongside plenty of family drama and sexual tension galore. Definitely a story that contemporary romance readers will love.

I think this was an overall okay read! I do like that they both bonded over shared mental issues through bingo and grew in their own way. I just feel like it fell flat for me because I just didn’t connect to the characters as much as I thought I would. So it was harder for me to get through this book. Doesn’t make it a bad book whatsoever I just was missing the connection with the characters. Definitely a cute summer read for sure. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

3.5🌟

I’ll be honest; I thought this would be a cute, breezy rom-com centered around Bingo. While Bingo is a game the main characters play, the real focus is mental health and trauma.

Aja is having a panic attack in the frozen food section of the Piggly Wiggly when a good-looking man comforts her and stays with her until she is calm enough to leave.

On Bingo night, Aja is surprised when her bingo bestie introduces the very same man who helped calm her as her grandson - Walker. He is in town to help his Gram while she recovers from a fall.

Aja and Walker discover they have more than Bingo in common. Walker has had a lot of trauma in his past and struggles with PTSD. There is a definite attraction between the two, but with issues to navigate around, they decide only to have sex if one of them wins at Bingo!

𝐁𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐭 is a slow-burn, steamy romance set in a fun bingo-loving southern town. I was not overly connected with these characters, although I did like Gram and some of the nosey townspeople. Yet, the heart of the story shines by how thoughtful and tender the author approaches anxiety, past traumas, and the need for support.

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this gifted ebook.

🎧 Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. As a person who has social anxiety, I can fully appreciate it in a book and love that it is normalized. The thing was that it just seemed like the focus on anxiety was greater than the character development and plot. The main characters were cute and basic romcom style, but there wasn’t enough substance behind them…they were just all about their anxiety. It felt like that was their only identifiable trait at times. Redeeming qualities are definitely the steamy encounters between MCs Aja (Pronounced Asia) and Walker, and the unconditional support they offer each other. My rating is ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I was able to listen to the audio book version of this and the narrator had a good pace and intonation throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC audiobook version of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I really enjoyed the narrator of Bet on It. I liked Aja and Walker together, but their relationship seemed mostly about the physical aspect. I liked the small town angle and the unique bingo element. I especially appreciated the anxiety/mental health representation and that we can have love stories where the couples’ mental health is diagnosed. I felt like Walker’s storyline was wrapped up a little quickly with his dad after avoiding it for so long. I absolutely loved the friends that Aja made and how supportive they were.

I really appreciated all of the mental health aspects of this book, as well as the curvy girl rep. I unfortunately did not enjoy the narrators on this one. I would give the story a 3-3.5, but (as much as I love audiobooks) this one is better read with the eyes than the ears.

Very fast paced. Liked the mental health representation. Some of the bingo numbers were wrong, unless you're playing UK Bingo, but then there wouldn't be numbers.
The sex scenes went to 500 very quickly and the MCs didn't seem like they were nearly 30.
Overall I was just waiting for the audiobook to be over. I wasn't really invested

I'm sorry to be giving this one just 3.5 stars because I truly wanted to like it due to the fact that it shows that even people with high anxiety and other mental health issues can find their people and love and happiness, but I never managed to connect with neither Aja nor Walker.
It could just be that I wasn't in the mood for a love story, semi-rom-com with such a downbeat backdrop because I do think that the writing is good.
Slaughter does a fantastic job of presenting what a person with extreme anxiety and PTSD can go through on a daily basis and just how hard seemingly simple things can seem. As much as I couldn't quite make myself care for the relationship between Aja and Walker, I did find myself caring for how they interacted with and navigated the rest of the world.
Narrator Angel Pean does a good job of setting the moods but I did have trouble figuring out who was speaking when a couple of times. Not enough for me to consider skipping the audio and sticking to the printed book, but I confess to having to rewind a couple of times to figure things out.
In the end, it wasn't for me despite my being 100% supportive of the story that Slaughter is trying to tell.

Happy thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's, and Macmillan Audio for the early read/listen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my copy of Bet on It.
Was this book five stars? Bingo, it definitely was. We follow Aja and Walker who has fate decided to be meant to be together. After meeting Walker, in the frozen aisle of a Piggly Wiggly while having a panic attack. That was only time, Aja thought she would run into the handsome beau until her ritually bingo night brings them together with the help of Walker's grandma's two broken arms.
I have never related more to a character in my life more than Aja Owens. I absolutely loved this book and was a great fun to listen too. As someone with anxiety, I felt it was portrayed realistically and handled with proper respect. I could not stop listening and found myself gasping for air and tearing up throughout the book. I
It has been one of my favorite reads of the year.