Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter is her latest rom-com as a winning lottery ticket becomes a life changing event and a second chance at love. Miriam “Miri” Butler has been stuck in a low wage job and living with her mother in a house that is barely standing. However, her life is about to change when a last minute decision is about to change her life forever. She buys a lotto ticket and discovers the next morning that she is the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Miri soon realizes that her sudden bed of roses has a few thorns as she discovers her estranged husband has a right to some of the winnings. After eight years of silence, Leo Vaughn finds himself coming home to Greenbelt at Miri’s request. When she offers his own life changing amount with one caveat: a divorce. He realizes that he doesn’t want to lose her forever.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Slaughter’s debut novel Bet on It and when the chance came to read her new novel, I jumped at the chance. Set in the same small town, Play to Win is a story of life-changing events and a second chance at love. Miri is determined to keep her windfall as secret as possible but as the residents notice the subtle changes in her spending, the rumors begin to fly. This story moved a bit too slowly for me and I was confused about what caused the estrangement between Miri and Leo. However, the sparks definitely flew when they were together! While I did not enjoy Play to Win as much as I enjoyed Bet On it, I enjoyed revisiting Greenbelt and its residents. I enjoyed seeing the rekindling of Miri and Leo’s relationship. It was a wonderful second chance romance. Overall, I enjoyed their story and recommend Play to Win.

Play to Win will be available in July 11, 2023 in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

I really enjoyed the last book by Jodie Slaughter, Bet on It, and was really excited for this new book. Play to Win follows one of Aja's close friends that we met briefly in Bet on It, Miriam. Miri has been poor her whole life. Counting pennies, working multiple jobs, living at home, the whole nine yards. But when Miri buys a lottery ticket on a whim her whole world is completely turned upside-down.

I was really excited for this book, but sadly I did not enjoy it near as much as I enjoyed Bet on It. There just seemed to be a lot of the same arguments af misunderstandings, it got very tiring after a while. I also had a tougher time liking the 2 MC's, they just kept going in circles around each other, it made me dizzy reading it. The resolution also felt rushed and sort of out of left field with how quickly it happened. I liked the little time jumps and was happy for them, but I was also happy to just be finishing the book.

Overall, it wasn't my favorite book, but I do still see myself picking up future Jodie Slaughter books. I have a hunch that it's Jade's turn for some romance next!

I really enjoyed Jodie Slaughter’s previous book, but unfortunately this book was not as enthralling. While I appreciated the blue collar/working poor representation, money was like 75% of the plot, and that kind of irked me.

This was a second chance romance I could NOT get behind. Regardless of his intentions and reasonings, Leo LEFT Miri without so much as an explanation and I couldn’t sit by and watch them fall together again.

Generally, while the writing was fantastic and the spice well done, the story was rather slow, and I felt like nothing of importance really happened until about 50% in and even then the majority of the story was filled with other characters.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin. All opinions are my own.

Let me start off the back and say PTW was an "it's not you, it's me" thing. The book was okay, but not enough to make me want to shout it out to the public. I thought there would be more to the story. I thought there would be petty, but there wasn't. I would've been okay if I saw the guy ACTUALLY trying to win the girl back. All this man did was follow her around like a puppy.

I chose to use the audiobook avenue for this read, and the voice actress (Lacy Laurel) didn't impress me either. Her inflections seemed grander with a mix of a southern accent, and it just didn't do it for me. If my math is correct, the main characters in this story should have been in their 30s, and Laurel made them sound older. It also doesn't help that the cover artist also made the couple look older.

The characters were meh to me. I don't have an opinion about any of them, or the story for that matter. It just wasn't my tea. Overall I rated this book 3-stars. I appreciate the black rep of second chance romance, but that's about all that does for me.

2.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book more. I felt like there was not enough substance for me to root for the MCs second chance romance. I understand that they were high school sweethearts, but I did not feel like deep connection with them. I think it would have been different if they would have been flashbacks of the years they were together/married to see the progression as to where they are now. There was so much time where they weren’t together, and I felt like it was hard to wrap my head around that I didn’t see more of them having conversations with one another about how their marriage crumbled and how it hurt the other.

The premise of Play to Win is what first caught my attention. As someone who grew up poor, with a dad dedicated to buying lottery tickets in the hopes that one could change our entire reality for the better, I understand where Miri and her mom are coming from. But while millions of people lose each day, Miri has the good fortune to win… big! As in, 220-million-dollars-big. And while such a huge amount of money will certainly improve the lives of herself and those close to her, it can also bring undesired people out of the woodworks. In this case, it’s her long-lost husband. But Miri actually calls Leo before he has any idea that she’s won, and he doesn’t want much. She offers him money in exchange for a long-overdue divorce. He tentatively agrees, but what what Leo really wants is to regain Miri’s trust and love.

Early on, I loved the writing style in Play to Win. It has beautiful and heartfelt prose, but it also feels like real people living real lives. Miri’s character shined through right away: She’s self-assured and hard-working, but a bit beaten down by how life has treated her. Once we meet Leo, he’s also likable, despite his cowardly way of leaving Miri years before.

This is one of the more realistic second-chance romances I’ve read. By that I mean that both characters are complex, having their desires as well as their reservations. They want to be together again (perhaps to different degrees), yet hesitate for reasons that are fully valid. Moreover, their reunion takes places over time—a few months—which feels important for the nature of their relationship. It’s not instant, and it shouldn’t be!

Although the lottery winnings are central to the story, the new riches don’t really arise too much during Play to Win. (At least, not until the end.) These characters live in an economically depressed area, have lived a life of hard work and little pay, and won’t change their mindsets around money right away. The value and discussion of money play a major role in the book, and I very much appreciated that theme. With my personal background, it felt authentic and relatable.

Mental health and sexuality, family and friendship, and community are all recurring themes in Play to Win, and combined with the heartwarming romance, it makes for a book that feels completely satisfying.

Play to Win is sweet and real, with characters you can root for and a premise the feels surprisingly authentic despite the odds ever against us in the actual lottery. If you enjoyed Kennedy Ryan’s Before I Let Go or Sharon C. Cooper’s Business Not As Usual, this is a romance you’ll surely love, too. I’ll be reading more from Jodie Slaughter soon… probably starting with Bet on It, since it exists within the same world as Play to Win!

Play to Win by Jodie Slaughter is the story of Miriam who wins the lottery and Leo her estranged husband. This second chance romance has some good moments and I appreciated the real sense of time and place for folks who are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. I enjoyed this book and the journey of Miriam and Leo.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like Miri and Leo’s journey but to me, this isn’t a rom-com. I don’t think I ever laughed during this story. Miri feels stuck and then life throws her a huge curve ball when she wins the Mega lottery. Suddenly, scrimping and saving isn’t needed since she has more money than she really knows what to do with it. Getting this win fall means she needs to reach out to her estranged husband to include him in the process. Leo frustrated me. He loves Miri and felt inadequate as a husband so he left her but he never changes his direction. When he comes back at her request, he is still broke and struggling, not able to provide for his wife like he believes he should. Now, these two love each other and that is captivating. They fell in love as kids and still have that love for each other. But getting married as teenagers might not have been the best decision. As these two work to find a new path together now that they are older, we get to experience how they reignite this love and passion for each other. I appreciated the struggle Miri faced when suddenly money wasn’t a worry. Her whole life, she’s had to work multiple jobs and pinch the pennies to make ends meet. Changing this viewpoint or approach wasn’t easy and to me was very real and honest. Overall, I enjoyed this book but to me, not a romantic comedy. The issues that they faced were serious and challenging which were handled thoughtfully showing all the ways that life is full of ups and downs. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.

Thank you to the author, Jodie Slaughter, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on July 11, 2023.

The first half of the book was about Miri trying to figure out her life now that she has won the lottery which I didn’t mind at first. As it kept going though I was getting bored of the repetitiveness of that situation.

The romance lacked for me because for a second chance romance to hit I want to see flashbacks of them together/falling for each other, rather than then telling us what happened. Because of that I couldn’t really root for them. The MCs were getting on my nerves because they couldn’t have a mature conversation about what happened in the past, what’s going on now, and how they were moving forward. A lot of the book was the MCs talking to side characters about their issues instead of each other and book could’ve been 100 pages shorter if they had stopped running away when an honest conversation was happening.

Such a beautiful and wonderful love story. I just fell in love with the characters from the get go and they didn’t disappoint at all. The journey was laugh out loud and cry rivers of tears and that in my opinion is the basis or an amazing story.

This is my second read from Jodie Slaughter. Last year I picked up Bet on It, which wasn’t my favourite (was about a mixed race couple who met at bingo). I grabbed this one hoping it would be a better fit for me, being a black couple with one having won the lottery…

Married couple romances (marriage in crisis or married couples reuniting) is a trope that I generally avoid. It’s not interesting and the couple had their chance, breaking up for good reasons (usually they’re toxic and should not be together, no matter how the author writes it - just like in reality). I picked this one up because of the lottery winner aspect and missed the second chance married couple reunion/marriage in crisis aspect of the plot…

While I did like this one better than Bet on It, I still found myself hoping for more - more “what” exactly, I’m not totally sure, but I found myself wanting it when the book finished. The couple got back together and forgave past transgressions far too quickly and easily. If they were estranged for 8 years, no woman in her right mind would cave the way she did in this storyline.

3-stars. For both the writing and storyline. I wanted to like it so much more, but… alas.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, and this is my honest opinion.

DNF: I really wanted to like this book. It has my weakness, the marriage in crisis trope/second chance romance, but ultimately, it did not deliver. It was hard for me to root for the central couple, Miri and Leo. In order for the second chance trope to work, there needs to be a legitimate reason for the break AND an appropriate amount of groveling. I can't get over the fact that they were estranged for eight years (Leo left because they were poor), and he only comes back because Miri now has money (even if that's not the reason he stays with her/wants to be with her again). It was weird to me that Leo and Miri were still married to each other after being estranged for eight years. I also felt that the pacing was off, as it started very slow. However, Jodie Slaughter's writing itself was sharp and strong, so my disappointment in this book will not preclude me from reading her work in the future. This book just simply was not for me, but I can see why others might like it!

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

I thought that this book was very well written, and I enjoyed this authors previous book (Bet on It).

However, I went into this one blind and didn’t realize that it contained my most loathed troupe “second chance romance”. For this reason it was a DNF for me, due to the troupe although I still think that Jodie Slaughter is a great author.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

Extreme And Pervasive Racism Mars Otherwise Spectacular Second Chance Romance. Ok, white dude claiming racism on a book that features few white characters - none of whom are portrayed kindly, fwiw. So let me explain up front: My standard for detecting bigotry is to flip the demographics. If it would then be considered bigotry, then it is bigotry in the original form as well. Here, we have several characters both primary and secondary openly inquiring if a particular local small business is "black owned" or not, all throughout the text. Now, if a book that barely had any black characters had a bunch of white characters asking if a particular local small business was "white owned" or "straight white man" owned... there would be HELL to pay in certain segments of society. Thus, by the standard I stated above, the racism here is quite clear. As it happens frequently throughout the text - including the aforementioned extremely few white characters being portrayed as racist caricatures - it is also pervasive, though you'll either have to read the book yourself or take my word for that.

Beyond the racism though, this is truly a *spectacular* second chance tale. One that many, no matter their demographics, will deeply understand - particularly those who grew up in the lower echelons of wealth and/ or in the small town rural South, as I did. The motivations for all of our characters here... well, many of us have seen similar shit within our own families, if not directly within our own lives. So truly, kudos, Ms. Slaughter, for staying so *real* and yet also providing a few hours of solid escapism.

While others may claim that the motivations for the separation were "unclear"... no, they weren't. You just may never have been close to a similar point in your own life, and may not have felt just how close you yourself could have been to making such a boneheaded decision. Even in my professional adult life - not just my initial years in the trailer park - ... I've been closer to this than most ever realized, and I remember *that* as much as I do my trailer park years, really moreso.

Now, a word for the "sweet" and/ or "clean" crowd that wants anything beyond a peck on the cheek to be completely off screen or at least "behind closed doors"... yeah... apparently Ms. Slaughter doesn't know how to write that kind of tale, at least not based on the now two books (after Bet On It) I've read from her. Instead, as with Bet On It, this is active, in your face (literally, in the case of the characters' faces ;) ) damn near erotica level sex. So if Ron White / Wanda Sykes type comedy isn't your thing... you might want to avoid this one, as this gets *so much worse*.

Another thing to like here, and that I mentioned in Bet On It as well, is just how *normal* Ms. Slaughter shows modern Southern living to be, here including even up to casual acceptance of GSM (Gay and Sexual Minorities, a truly inclusive term that doesn't need constant modifications ever few years) / "LGBT+" people and even couples. While so many tales try to show some level of hostility or animus to such people or any other divergence from lily white WASPy types, Ms. Slaughter's small town embrace of these characters of some of their own shows the modern South I too grew up in quite realistically and quite well, and for that she is to be commended.

Finally, again, if you can get past the blatant and pervasive racism (or perhaps if you even agree with it), and if you don't mind the damn near erotica level sex scenes... this really is quite a strong tale and quite well told, given the above caveats. Very much recommended.

This romance was heavier than what I typically gravitate toward but nonetheless enjoyable! Miri and Leo's relationship was handled with so much care by the author. Seeing their relationship gradually grow was delightful to read. There were also many moments Miri's and Leo's respective friends and family that were very heartwarming.

This was very good! I thought it was a really cute idea, and I'm really loving the second chance romance trope. The couple was nice together, but the pacing took a while for me to get used to as it was slow, which caused me to get distracted a lot. But overall, it was a cute read for the summer!

4.5 ⭐️

I was so excited when I saw this pop up on NetGalley because I LOVED ‘Bet On It’, Slaughters prior romance book, and this one lived up to the anticipation! If you enjoyed Bet on it then I would especially recommend reading this new book!

Slaughters writing style is very distinctive; from the general voice in the writing to the way the love interests truly adore their women to the love and friendship portrayed between characters. One of my favourite things is how the love interests truly worship the ground these girls walk on, despite Leo being misguided often he truly loves everything about Miri and even though they weren’t talking he carried their marriage certificate around for 8 YEARS!!!!

Although I believe this is being marketed as a stand alone it is in the same ‘universe’ as bet on it so they could be read as interconnected standalones, I will say however that I think I enjoyed Bet on It a bit more

This was a really fun (and emotional) second chance romance between two exes, and I especially liked her friendships and how they played a role. It had me laughing out loud and feeling all the feels!

As much as I loved the relationship between the main character, Miri, and her mom and the ones between her and her friends, I could not get behind the romance. I was hoping we’d get a good reason for him leaving her 8 years ago and never getting back in touch, but we definitely did not and when I read the reason why he left? He should have stayed his ass in Florida. I would have given him the papers immediately to sign and that’s that. No way in hell. We keep being told that they love each other and never got over one another but it mostly just boiled down to continued attraction. He never works through his issues with trying to live up to the patriarchal ideal, to which he frequently laments about not being able to take care of her and earn the money and she can stay home and house wife. We get a small discussion but I am not convinced he has worked through that mindset in any way. I just think Leo really needed to step up on the groveling. He got off very easy and at one point SHE apologizes to him for leaving him in the lurch after he sprang a huge discussion on her in the middle of a store?? No way. The sex scenes were well written, but the romance just did not work for me. I really do like reading about the friend group though! I would be willing to try the next book this author writes. She definitely does a good job writing personal growth journeys.

First read from this author, will definitely look for more from her.
Delightful, bit steamy second chance romance.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for eARC