What a fun romcom! I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect light read that I needed and I will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

My Thoughts

Miriam Butler, Miri to friends and family, winner of 22 million and change has been scrambling for money her whole life and now she has it is not sure what to do with it for her own sake but has no problem sharing with others at all.

Having gone from almost rags to riches from one day to the next is not the worse thing to happen to anyone but for Miri it comes a close second to the day 8 years prior when her husband Leonard, Leo for short, walked out without telling her his reasons or contacting her since.

8 years is a long time and yet for them both it seems like yesterday when they see one another again when Leo responds to Miri’s unexpected summons.

The small town of Greenbelt, South Carolina is one where living day-to-day and hand-to-mouth is common for people of their acquaintance, both friends and family as well.

This is much more than a tale of sudden overwhelming wealth changing things for the better for Miri and her Mama Ms. Patrice.

Rather it has many facets to it from new opportunities to second chance for Leo and Miri to name a few important ones.

Whether the pair grab their second chance or not is a good question so to get answer you have to read book to know for sure, and I suggest you do.

Other important questions are raised and answered quite nicely by stories end and after having read this passionate look into the ins and outs of these fictional characters lives I am fully satisfied with their portrayal as living breathing people and its positive outcome for not only certain main characters but town of Greenbelt as well.

I still don’t want to play the lottery but this showed why certain people do and glad it worked for Miri.
[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Jodie Slaughter's latest novel, Play to Win, is a delightful second chance romantic comedy that will leave readers with a smile on their face. The story follows Miriam Butler, a young woman stuck in a dead-end job and living in her Moms’ spare bedroom. When she unexpectedly wins the lottery, her life takes an unexpected turn. She reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Leo, and the two embark on a journey of self-discovery and love.
The characters are well-developed and the plot is engaging. The dialogue is witty and the romance is sweet. Slaughter does a great job of exploring the complexities of relationships and the power of second chances. Play to Win is a charming and heartwarming story that will leave readers feeling hopeful and inspired.

This one was a toss up, and I had a hard time deciding how I felt about it. I think I'm sitting at a 3.5. It started out strong, but it just lost something along the way for me. I didn't really get the chance to truly connect with the characters, and it felt like there was so much thrown into the storyline in the middle to end.

This was supposed to be a second chance romance, but it had no build up. No angst. No real emotion. They spent so many years away from each other and then they go from one extreme of barely talking to each other-to the next extreme of oh my gosh put your big D in me. It just wasn't there for me. I wanted to feel their pain and their longing for one another but I don't think that part of the story was developed well enough.

I was gifted this book in exchange for my honest opinion through NetGalley and I truly appreciate the opportunity to read and review this ahead of time!

Content Warnings: Sexual content, abandonment, loss of parents, anxiety, depression, and feelings of inadequacy. Mention of infidelity.

***I received an ARC, ahead of release, through Netgalley***

I was so curious how this story was going to go...I mean married but estranged for 8 years?! There was no way to know how it was going to play out...

I mean childhood friends to lovers then estranged 8 years...into a second chance romance...this was such an interesting concept and I love how Jodie played it out.

Both Mira and Leo have to do a lot of self evaluation and have some really difficult conversations with each other. Both felt that they were individually responsible for Leo leaving which caused them both to face years of feeling inadequate and depressed about the relationship.

Overall I really enjoyed the story and was happy to see how it ended. 💜

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very easy book to read but I definitely didn't love it. It feels like nothing really happened for a good portion of the book. And what did happen just kind of kept happening for the bulk of the plot. Just felt like something was missing or something else really needed to happen.

I did find the premise of the book really interesting though. I did also like seeing how even though you might win the lottery it doesn't mean that everything else in your life all of a sudden becomes easy or magically happier.

Great, quick read. Engaging writing and characters! I love the relationship arc and humor. Recommend.

I sadly had to DNF this one at the 40% mark. It just wasn’t doing it for me. I was bored and it just was not for me. I really wanted to love this book

Miri’s life has been nothing remarkable up to now. Her husband left years ago and now she is living in her mother’s house, working a low-paying job going nowhere.

You would think winning the lottery would change all of that, but it comes with a new set of problems. Is the missing husband entitled to some of the money? I can tell you my answer would have been no. But she is better than I am and calls him.

Leo is shocked at first but comes up with a much better idea than splitting the winnings. Will they get a second chance at love? Maybe.

I struggled through the first half of this one. The second half redeemed the book.

NetGalley/ July 11, 2023, RHPG-Del Rey

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before I start my review, I wanted to point out maybe two errors I noticed when I was reading. At the end of page 77 in chapter 9, Leo is saying that he helped out Quentin. I thought that Quentin says the next line, "was that you helping me or was that just you being a hater?" and then the next paragraph starts off with "Hater?" which would have been Leo, but then in the same paragraph it continues on as if it should be the same speaker, but it is clearly Quentin. I am not a master of English but I don't know if it was a mistake or if i am misinterpreting how it should be read.

The other error is at the end of page 138 in chapter 17, \\ "I'm sure she's all right, Jadey Wadey. That old bitch is too stubborn to die," Jade said. // I think that it was meant for Miri to say this line. I'm not too sure what the role of an ARC reader is, but I felt compelled to point these out if it wasn't already mentioned.

Now for the review:
I'll start with the positives. I love how the beginning of the book tied in perfectly with the ending. I love this plot, it was definitely interesting to see this perspective of winning the lottery. I completely understand Miri's POV, as a lot of the things that she went through could not be undone with money. Although I've never won the lottery, I know my parents are in a better financial position now than they were before but old habits die hard and we still act like there is no money to be spent. Play to Win had complex issues, and I'm glad that this book did not go in a linear route, but rather went back and forth. Miri had been through a lot and I'm glad she had her friends to bring out different perspectives to her newfound position. I loved to read about the overall technical stuff, like what Miri did with her money and how she wanted to buy her mother's property. I am an accounting student so hearing about these financial decisions was really satisfying in a way.

I loved the smut in this book, it was written so perfectly. I thought I knew smut but WOW this was another level.

Now, for the things that rubbed me the wrong way: Leo. Even in the end, I cannot find it in my heart to forgive him. If someone had done that to me, I don't think I could feel the same way as Miri. I still feel like he does not understand the weight of what he had done to her. How could you love someone that much, but it takes for HER to call YOU for you to do something about it? How could you claim something like that? And it's the way that he left because he didn't think he could provide for her, but <<spoiler>> at the end admit that he didn't even like the traditional idea to provide to being with <<spoiler>> so what? did he fucking leave for no reason then? And it still brings me to question, how would the circumstances have been if Miri had not won the lottery? would he still be in his own misery and think the same thing, that he needs to provide for his wife? Idfk, I think he makes my blood boil and I might be overly critical but I still do appreciate that he was shown to be a softer character, only wanting to be with Miri even during those 8 years apart.
Another thing: Thea was 10 years older but I cant believe she didn't understand Miri's POV and needed Miri to spell it out to her. Like, in general, who would want to talk to their ex's sister? OR that she thought Miri should come visit HER after Miri gave the money. Maybe she meant it in the sense of Miri being the one to present the money, then that would make more sense but idk. That part was iffy about her character.

The book is definitely more slow paced than i'm used to, but nonetheless pretty interesting plot. I love the way things go out in the end, and never have i ever read an epilogue like that! 🔥🔥

There were so many things in this book that I loved. As soon as I read Bet on It, I knew Miri and Leo’s story was one I needed to read asap. I loved how every relationship has meaning and the way the author expresses the love the characters have for each other. The writing simply flows like water down a river, how the slight banter most of the time expresses love and care. The characters are humble and sincere.

I also loved how the background characters have dimension and purpose. And I am saying this without meaning to sound or be creepy or a weirdo — I liked that HE was the virgin when they first got together and not her, something you don’t always see in books. There were so many the imperfectly perfect things here, such as how real yet so unrealistic this situation that brought them together is. I adored the SMUT here, so good! Last but not least, that they wanted to take that extra step to heal.

I adored Jodie's first book Bet on It & was super excited to check this out - it didn't quite live up to the first book however it was a very enjoyable, quick read.

Miriam plays 5 fateful numbers in the Mega Millions drawing - all important digits to her relationship with Leo, her first love & estranged husband - and defying all the odds, she is a winner. Things get messy when she's encouraged to reach out to Leo to finalize a divorce & settle her winnings.

Second chance and marriage in trouble isn't my favorite trope so I was a little skeptical going into it but I do really enjoy Jodie's writing and her characters. This just felt a little slow regarding the reconciliation between Miri & Leo but once things do really pick back up, things get nice & steamy! I wish some of this would have happened earlier rather than the final chapters & the epilogue.

A great combination of funny and emotional. I was rooting for both of them. I love the side characters and how fleshed out they were. I continue to be a fan of how Slaughter presents mental health.
I had to force myself to put this down really.

Okay so when i read "Wanna Bet?" it really struck me that neither Jodie Slaughter nor any of the editors had bothered to look into bingo at all. Just really basic things, absolutely wrong. But that couldn't be true for this too, right? Even if you somehow haven't played MegaMillions, you can do a 30 second google search to learn about it--or just make it a generic lottery game! Not MegaMillions!

Alas, i misgauged. Full of weird unforced errors. I am not, like, a gambling buff but it made it hard for me to follow in some ways because i kept getting pulled out of the book with ridiculous missteps. The romance was fine enough? I don't love a second chance romance but i DO love that Miri was absolutely unapologetic about how much sex--much of it kinky and queer--she had while separated from Leo. I don't really believe that people who just haven't spoken for 8 years would really consider themselves married still but i guess who knows? Anyway their relationship was fine, the side characters were fine, i didn't have anything to like make me put the book down, but my overall takeaway was a combo of "meh" and "google something next time or stop writing about gambling."

What would you do if you suddenly had more money than you could ever need? This is the question of this fun and surprisingly deep romcom. Miri, a struggling young woman in a rural southern town buys a lottery on a whim – and wins big! Now what?

First, she needs to get in touch with the estranged husband and get him to accept a settlement and a divorce. And also finally buy the broken rental house that her mother has lived in for years, and fix it up into a comfortable home for her. But things don’t go as planned. Leo, her husband, races back to town – but not to sign the papers. He wants to reconnect and convince Miri to give their marriage another chance. And the landlord won’t sell the rental house.

The second-chance love story is engaging and in some ways unique from other romcoms. But two other aspects of the story overshadowed that for me: the way this story included the issue of generational poverty and homeownership for a Black family was really interesting, and an honest exploration of the psychological struggles that often come with winning the lottery. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but these themes are what made the book for me.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 Second Chance Romance. Miri wins the lottery and believes it is in her best interest to seek out her estranged husband Leo and ask for a divorce. Leo left town eight years ago but comes running when Miri calls. I'm hesitant to fully cheer for Leo because how can you trust when someone leaves once that they wouldn't do it again. I like that seeking counseling was addressed even better would have been to see them participate in couples counseling. Leo has more direction in his life. Miri seemed to be adrift. Restoring a home would be couples goals.

When they say don't judge a book by it's cover? Heed the advice for this one. The cover is bright, colorful, and teases of romcom fun. I was expecting lighthearted banter, silly situations and some classic romance tropes. I did get the trope of former lovers reuniting and small town romance. But there was little lightheartedness and silliness I was hoping for from a book described as a sizzling rom-com. The emotions and speech of the characters is raw and felt very authentic, making you feel part of their world. It was hard emotionally as a reader - feelings of self-doubt, huge heartbreak that just won't let go, and Miri's stubbornness drove me up the wall. There were scenes of sizzle, in Leo and Miri's stolen moments. I wanted to like this one more than I did. The story was plausible, I just wish it was a little lighter.

I really liked the characters in this book. The main characters and the side characters. I loved how well I felt like I knew the side characters without it taking over the story. I didn’t love that it was 8 years between. I pretended like it was like 6 months or a year and it was easier to accept the outcome.

3.5 Stars. Miriam plays the lottery on a whim and finds herself the the sole winner of a $220M jackpot. Her financial advisor warns her that people will come out of the woodwork to claim a chunk of her money and she realizes that her estrange husband may be a problem. Leo returns to town at Miriam’s request and decides to take a small lump sum for his family and agrees to the divorce. Delays in the paperwork give Miriam and Leo time to spend more time together and rekindle their romance.

I know I’m selfish AF, but if I was married and won the lottery I would still divorce my estranged husband and insist on a prenup before reentering into a marriage. But my selfish and rational thinking is why I could never be the heroine of a romance. I really liked the premise of this story and really enjoyed the first and last quarters of the book. The middle half dragged for me and I found Miriam’s indecisiveness with every single thing to be repetitive and frustrating. I did enjoy the side characters and may have to go back and read Bet On It which I believe takes place in the same friend group. I liked the representation in the book, as in addition to race, there were a lot of different sexual orientations on the page. Overall it was a quick and enjoyable read, but not everything worked for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought that there were times when it was really slow and I thought the ending was very abrupt. I would have liked at least a couple more chapters before the epilogue but overall, it was a good read.