3.5⭐️

Purchased on a whim, Miri's winning lottery ticket gives her a new start and possibly a second chance at love with her childhood sweetheart.

I love marriage in trouble books, so Play to Win had my name written all over it. To say Miri and Leo's marriage is in peril is an understatement; it's almost past the life support stage. They maintain two separate lives in separate states. But they are still very much in love. There's a lot of heartbreak, longing, and frustration between them. Despite their troubles, their chemistry is 🔥.

Even though Leo abandoned the marriage, I still cheered for him to make things right with Miri. I assumed a grand gesture (or two) and major groveling would be involved. Well, I was wrong. I was looking for more growth by both Miri and Leo before they got back together. The book seems to skip over that part. 🫤

Play to Win is well written with a nuance portrayal of a relationship and flawed, relatable characters, but it was missing a central element of Miri and Leo’s story for me. I love the world that Jodie Slaughter has created in the small town of Greenbelt, SC, and I would definitely read more about the wonderful characters in this town.

I had previously read Jodie Slaughters Bet On It and quite enjoyed it. This one although set in the same town and with some recurring characters did not live up to the first . Fun story but the main characters lacked direction, I was never sure of their intentions. Sometimes you just need someone to really care about and I never got that feeling. Thank you netgalley and St Martins Press for the advanced read

This book made me wonder what would I do if I won the lottery and was suddenly filthy rich. All the money in the world and I wouldn’t know where to start. I loved this book because it really showed how money can’t fix all your problems. For Miri and Leo, money WAS a big issue. But it wasn’t the “main” problem because that’s not why their relationship went to hell. Sure, it’s a contributing factor ergo it was constantly used as an excuse (at least by Leo). I love a good groveling. Miri definitely forced Leo to grovel as much as both they could handle. I like how Leo knows his mistakes and even Miri. I like how they both admitted that if they want to continue their relationship, they need (professional) help. And especially, I love how they talked it out. Like how Miri didn’t give in easily to Leo’s charms and whatever. She really wanted him to know that he really hurt her and how not any money she won from the lottery or any house will fix their relationship.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There is quite honestly nothing I love more than a second chance, and I loved seeing Miri and Leo working through their stuff to finally come back together. I love this small southern town and the entire cast of characters. There was so much depth and heart. There was also so much inclusive representation and I loved to see it!

This book was fun and cute, and man was it steamy! I liked the premise, but would have liked to have seen more of the lottery winnings side. I found the reconnection love story very repetitive. Overall I enjoyed this, but not an all time fave.

Eight years is a seriously long time to not have contact with your spouse. If Miri hadn't won the lottery she probably wouldn't have contacted Leo at all. Money, or lack of it, was the very reason they split to begin with. So now that she has money, let's bring Leo back into her life and overhaul his personality to make him more likable/lovable. It didn't seem that Leo was all that far away from Miri so how did they not ever run into each other? He is still had family in their town. Did he just not visit? I think what made the story enjoyable was the narration by Lacy Laurel. She brought personality to the characters, especially Leo who came off as a deadbeat when first introduced into the storyline. I did like Miri though. She tried so hard to keep her winning under wraps and didn't let her sudden wealth change her. It could have been the time they spent together that made Miri and Leo fall back in love, but for me it was almost a little to late to try and resurrect their relationship.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

3.5 stars!

"Play to Win" by Jodie Slaughter is mostly a delight. It's a lovely, spicy story that feels authentic and has some good comedic elements. I enjoyed reading about Miriam (Miri) and Leo's second chance at love after an eight year hiatus from each other (that was instigated by Leo). To me, the motivation behind his wanting a separation was clear in the story, albeit one that necessitated another conversation to avoid any miscommunication. Unfortunately, that's not what happened, and Miri has been rightfully angry ever since. When she wins the lottery, she is encouraged to seek a divorce. Leo has other moves: winning Miri back after all these years. These characters feel lived-in and well written. I did wish there had been more time/pages for readers to deeply feel and connect to the rekindling of their relationship a little bit more. The spicy scenes are soooooo good. Jodie Slaughter sure knows how to light a fire in someone's belly because WHOA! This is just a fun piece of escapism that will make you long for the day when you'll win the lottery. I did find the middle to be a little slow moving. I could have used a bit more conflict (I pretty much always assumed Leo and Miri were going to work out their issues). Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed Lacy Laurel's audiobook narration. I do wish it had been a dual perspective audiobook narration, but Laurel does a good job differentiating between characters and bringing them to life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jodie Slaughter, and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

Thank you St. Martin’s for making this book available to read on NetGalley!

As a somewhat seasoned romance reader, I can definitively say marriage in crisis is my least favorite trope, especially in contemporary romances. Thankfully, Jodie Slaughter rose to the challenge and had me rooting for Miri and Leo.

A big strength of the book is how Miri deals with how Leo is back in her life, which is because while they haven’t interacted in 8 years since he walked out, she has won the lottery and has to figure out how to divorce him so he has no legitimate claim to her millions. I believed she was lost both in terms of how to deal with Leo back in her life as well as how to deal with losing the excuse of “if I won the lottery, then I’d do such and such.” It’s always refreshing to have a female MC to root for who does not have it all figured out.

With Leo, I’m not quite sure he was fully redeemed from walking out on Miri with minimal explanation, but once it was clear his main goal was to truly return home I was rooting for him by himself in addition to him and Miri.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ for making me believe in one of my least favorite tropes 🫶

This was a fun story and I really found myself rooting for Miri & Leo. It was fun that the characters from Bet on It made appearances. This book was too spicy for my taste but I was enjoying the story so much that I kept going. Sometimes I felt like things were added to make it more “spicy” & it just felt kind of vulgar instead of adding to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book.

An enjoyable second chance romance. It let us all imagine what we would do if we won the lottery. I liked Miriam. She is a strong heroine. Leo and Miriam really are suited for each other. I was rooting for them to find a way to work their way back together. The story was emotional, and I found the ending both fitting and satisfying. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was my first book by Jodie Slaughter and I think it was a solid book. This second-chance romance was fun and halerious at times. It was a bit slow for my liking. I found it to be repetitive when Leo or Miri expressed their feelings in over and over again just rephrasing the statement. I would have liked there to be more depth to Leo and Miri as individuals and it would of been amazing to have had past and present chapters for us to live what they lived through at the beginning of their love story.

2.5⭐️ rounded up.
Thank you to St. Martin Griffen’s and Jodi Slaughter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid book, but not my favorite. I hard a hard time connecting to the FMC and didn’t feel like there was enough groveling for me for a second chance romance. I just needed a little more development from the MC’s individually as well as together. I enjoyed the pacing of the book and found the writing easy to read.

This was my first book by Jodie Slaughter and I thought it was a cute second-chance plot with a fun lottery winnings added premise. Miri and Leo’s relationship lacked depth and moved a bit too slow for me to really love their story. I wish I had more of them in the first half so that I see them grow throughout. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy!

Title: Play to Win
Author: Jodie Slaughter
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Play to Win" by Jodie Slaughter

My Sentiments:

"Play to Win" was an excellent second-chance romance featuring Miri and Leo. However, Leo had left her some 8 years ago... why was that? Did the money that Miri had won in the Lottery bring him back? Couldn't they have tried harder to work things out even though they were young? So, Leo returns...will they be able to work it all out after the money has been given out? The supporting characters, especially Mama Patrice and Leo's sister, Thea, were very well-developed.

To get the most out of this emotional read, you must pick it up to see how the author brings it out to the reader. Ultimately, the story will turn out well for both main characters.

Thanks again, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley, for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to love this book more than I did. I felt like the love interest wasn't clear at first and I wasn't sure this was a romance. There were aspects I enjoyed but it's not one of my favorites.

I wanted to love this, but it just wasn’t for me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️🌶️

After winning a life-changing amount in the lottery, Miri is stuck with contacting her estranged husband (for 8 years!), Leo.
She asks him to come back to their hometown, and he’s expecting for them to try again in their relationship - but Miri is asking for a divorce.
Leo agrees, with some conditions, that give him the time to try to win her back.

This second chance romance was sweet, and I liked how the female characters were so confident, especially with their sexuality.
I couldn’t relate to either character very much, which is why this book wasn’t really for me.

I tandem read ebook/audiobook, and would have preferred 2 narrators (male and female for the different POVs). Lacy Laurel did do a great job at capturing the vibe of the characters though!

What you’ll find in Play to Win:
⭐️ Second chance
⭐️ Curvy heroine
⭐️ Poverty to lottery winner
⭐️ BIPOC characters
⭐️ LGBTQ+ rep
⭐️ Dual POV/3rd person

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

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

This story follow Miriam Butler and her estranged husband Leo Vaughn. Miriam wins the Mega Millions Lottery and reaches out to her ex Leo after learning he may be entitled to some of the money since they have yet to be divorced. Miriam is offering a little payout to go ahead a finally get their divorce finalized while Leo is plotting on rekindling things with his wife.

While I enjoyed Bet on It I didn’t get the same feels from this book. I felt like a lot of the couples issues were still unresolved. I just didn’t understand Folgers reason for the separation and just felt like there was a lot missing plot wise. The author does have a great writing style that did keep me engaged but the plot was meh to me. Overall 3.5/5

Thank you St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Heat Factor: Sometimes, you need to get down and dirty on top of the drier

Character Chemistry: Miri and Leo have a lot of baggage to unpack, that’s for sure

Plot: Miri wins the MegaMillions Jackpot—and gets in touch with her estranged husband to head him off from getting half the money

Overall: This book does some interesting things, but I wasn’t swooning

I guess this is *technically* a marriage in trouble romance, but since Miri and Leo haven’t spoken to—much less seen—each other for the past eight years, the vibe feels more like a second chance romance. Except with unsigned divorce papers floating around in the mix.

The big question for a second chance romance is: does it walk the line of having a break up that was severe enough that the protagonists needed to separate and grow, but not so severe that we think that these two should make a clean break of it. Erin and I had a whole argument about this trope and its execution a few years ago, for those who are interested. Now, in that discussion, most of the books we talked about included very dramatic break-ups the first time around. You know, characters running from the mob or faking their own deaths or dealing with family trauma. The usual. But Slaughter doesn’t go that route, but still absolutely succeeds in building a believable break-up that has space for the relationship to be prepared. Instead, Slaughter has Miri and Leo initially break up because of mundane, common, everyday struggles, due to a potent mix of poverty and toxic masculinity.

Let’s break this down, because it’s the part of the romance that I liked best. First, Slaughter handles the portrayal of poverty really well here. Worry about money is a constant throughout the book; even after Miri wins her cool many many millions of dollars, she can’t just suddenly kick the habit. In fact, now she has a new worry—how to properly manage all this money so that she can care for those she loves, treat herself to some nice things, and not end up broke in five years. But to bring this back to the break-up, when Leo and Miri were first married (at a very young age), they struggled to make ends meet. Naturally, this caused some stress on the relationship, but money problems alone weren’t enough. Enter toxic masculinity.

Now, Leo had some ideas about what he should be doing as Miri’s husband. He was supposed to provide for her. Full stop. So when he couldn’t magically pay all the bills doing odd jobs he felt like a failure—as a husband, and as a man. Obviously, Miri would be better off without him.

I felt like this backstory was such an interesting choice in a romance novel, because so much of the genre is wish fulfillment about cishet women finding rich cishet men to take care of them. And, look, it’s totally fine to have that kind of fantasy, but I also liked that Slaughter interrogated that fantasy and its potential impact on people and relationships. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we need all kinds of romance novels that fulfill all kinds of fantasies.)

I’ve spent a lot of time on the baggage that caused Miri and Leo to break up in the first place. That’s because the baggage between them takes up a lot of the space in this book. Miri is harboring some serious bad feelings toward Leo and his abrupt departure, so their interactions are a dance of three steps forward, two steps back, as they slowly work toward reconciliation. There are definitely some draggy moments, and Miri and Leo do have variations on the same fight. A rip-roaring fast-paced romance this is not. However, if you’re willing to sit with these characters, there are some lovely scenes of connection—between Miri and Leo, but also between our two leads and their friends and families.

A few bonus notes:

Leo is demisexual; I thought this was handled well, in that it was both explained clearly and impacted his characterization and his relationship with Miri
The banter between Miri and her friends is A+.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

After winning the lottery, Miri is forced to reconnect with her long lost husband. He abandoned her 8 years ago with little explanation but to protect her winnings she must face him again. Leo interprets Miri's phone call after all this time to mean she wants him back. He decides to spend as much time as he has to prove to Miri that he can be the husband she wanted.

I absolutely LOVED Jodie Slaughter's last book, Bet on It, so I was beyond excited to receive an arc of this story. It truly kills me that I didn't love this. However, it felt very tell and not show. We really didn't get much of the romance until 50% of the book and even then it was just lust. I never truly got to see why Miri and Leo should be together again. As the reader I never got to see the emotional connection between these to characters. I was just told they had one based on the author telling me they used to be connected before Leo left. And he was gone for 8 years! There should have been way more groveling and a much bigger emotional conversation where they let it all out. Something I loved about Bet on It was the conversations surrounding mental health and I felt disappointment in the mental health rep in this story. We see that Miri is struggling emotionally and she even considers going to therapy at asks Leo to do couples counseling with her. But we never see this. Not even a mention of a therapy appointment that happened off page. Which makes it even harder to believe they should be together when it seems neither of them have worked through their issues.

While this was disappointment and I probobably would not recommend it. I will still give this author another chance in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins publishing for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Jodie Slaughter does it again! This is second chance romance at its best. Just enough misunderstandings and miscommunication to be understandable and make the falling back in love magical. I loved Miri. I also really enjoy how Slaughter's characters are often gentle with each other, even when they're at odds. The two books I've read by Jodie Slaughter have both been very emotional with plenty of character introspection and growth.

It was also fun to have the setting in the same town as her previous novel 'Bet On It' and get a little update on Aja and some other side characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review