I really enjoyed this book more than I initially thought I would. A cute little romance novel about black love (my fav) with the spice sprinkled in the second half of the book perfectly.

We’ve all thought about what life would be like if we won the lottery… this book brings those thoughts to life. I’ve literally now been thinking nonstop about what I’d do if i were Miri.

The author also goes beyond the how would you would spend the money. I loved that we saw the struggle of how winning can make you FEEL. Beyond the shock and excitement.

Before the lovey dicey stuff I also want to point out that I LOVED the village around Miri and Leo. They have some solid friends and I’m glad the story wasn’t about anyone trying to take advantage.

The ups and downs of Miri and Leo’s relationship was written in such a real way. There was more than one occasion in the book where I said, “book boyfriends don’t do this!!” But what I loved was that the feelings that came out in the deep moments and how they were expressed seemed like how they’d be expressed in real life. Like yea I was wrong but dammit you were wrong too. 👏🏿

Miri and Leo had to go through the ringer and I think the author did a good job of showing where they started, where they were, and the journey of how they’d end up. The dual POV was perfect and really made the story come together.

The spice was also so so good 🥵 not too spicy for those who don’t read it but just ride for those who like it in their books. I also wasn’t expecting any spice so that was a nice surprise 🤣

Overall I liked it! I didn’t zoom through but this was still one I have no complaints about after finishing. Well outside of saying damn Miri get out your head! 🤣 that’s it!


Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

Description

Miriam Butler’s life is going nowhere in the slowest, most excruciating way possible. Stuck in the same barely-paying job she’s had since she was sixteen and spending every night sleeping in the spare twin bed in her mother’s house, her existence might be hilarious if it wasn’t so bleak. One trip to her favorite corner store upends everything when she finds herself the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Unfortunately, not even life-altering roses come without their painful thorns. Hers just so happen to be in the form of an estranged husband who has the right to claim his share of her money.

It’s been eight years since Leo Vaughn has had a conversation with his wife. When she calls out of the blue, practically begging him to come back to Greenbelt, the last thing he expects her to tell him when he gets there is that she’s come into a whole heap of money. She offers him a life-changing proposition of his own. Take a lump sum, finally sign the divorce papers, and be done with her for good. Only, a forever without her is the last thing Leo wants. So he gives a proposition of his own. One that won’t cost her nearly as many millions, but will buy him the time to do the one thing he’s been hungry to do since he left -- win her back.

This was a more reality-based second chance romance than rom-com. In fact, I'd argue that there was nothing comedic about it. And that's ok, if that is what you prefer. There was a bit of steam and steam adjacent scenes to round out the reality of living hand to mouth in the South. If you play the numbers or you like your romance to be more realistic than fantasy, I would recommend giving it a chance.

Jodie Slaughter does it again! Last year I was fortunate enough to read her novel Bet On It and when I received the chance to read her newest novel Play To Win I was thrilled! The romance follows Miri and Leo, estranged childhood sweethearts. When Miri wins the lottery at the beginning of the book, her whole life turns upside down. How does one go from having nothing to being able to afford anything one’s heart could desire?

And what if, the only thing the heart desires the most, could not be bought with all the money in the world?

I was excited that the novel plays in the same town as Jodie’s other novel and that we got to revisit Aja and Hunter as well. Those two have stuck with me and I was so happy to read they are still going strong.

Miri and Leo are just as endearing, but I do believe that with a bit more communication between the characters (especially about what went wrong!) and a little bit more of their backstory, I would have been able to connect with them more.

The spice in this book is well written, just as expected.

All in all, I devoured this book and can’t wait for the next of Jodie's book. Hopefully it will be another intertwined stand-alone. I have grown to love all of Greenbelt's residents!

Play to Win is set to be released on July 11 and is bound to be the perfect beach read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

“Play to Win” by Jodie Slaughter stars Miriam Butler, a 20- something female stuck in Greenbelt, South Carolina, stuck in the same low-wage hourly job she’s had for over 10 years, and also stuck in her mother’s home on a small twin bed. But one day when Miri goes to the corner store to purchase her Mom’s Mega Millions ticket with her “lucky numbers”, Miri sees the jackpot is up to 220 million dollars. She decides maybe her Mom’s had the right idea and she should also choose some special, significant “lucky numbers” and purchase a ticket for herself. Sure enough, Miri does; and Miri wins. She wins big. She wins the 220 million dollar jackpot solo and has more money than she could have ever dreamed. Miri finds a financial advisor, but he should be someone from the old neighborhood, someone Miri and her Mom can trust; not an outsider. Miri may have felt stuck in her world, her neighborhood with her friends, but now that she has all of this money, she has even more problems and takes a lot of time to navigate them.

This entire set up to this rom/com is very interesting and has so much potential. But once Miri’s biggest problem enters the picture and I think it’s really going to spark, the story slows down for me. Miri has a husband; a childhood friend, who took off and left her eight years ago. But they are still married. They have had no contact whatsoever in these eight years. But Miri also has had no contact with his family, even though they still live in her neighborhood, a small 8 block radius. His sister accepted her like a sister and when her husband, Leo left, Miri turned her back on his family and all of those relationships, just as Leo also turned his back on his family. Miri calls him to come back since as her husband, he has a claim to the winnings. He mistakenly thinks she calls him back so they can be together. They try to work out their new situation and even though I generally like both Miri and Leo, I don’t like them together.

Their communication style is abrupt and filled with oddly placed “F@“ bombs. I can’t cheer them on as a couple. They just don’t seem like a good match. This is the disappointing part of the story. I do however, enjoy the scenes with Miri and her friends so much more. They offer a lot of comedic relief. I even like Leo’s interactions with his sister and nephews. They appear genuine. But together, I just lose interest in Miri and Leo.

It’s a good story for a rom/ com, but not the main characters’ relationship. I give it 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Jodie Slaughter for providing me with this Advanced Reader’s Copy.

A quick read that is quite interesting. I’m honestly not sure how to rate this book! It’s a solid read and an interesting take on life with a sudden change. It’s a love story of self and others. I actually liked the male lead the most because he read more sincere than the others. And I’m sure that was not the goal! But I was rooting for him the entire time!

As a first-time reader of Jodie Slaughter's work, I picked up Play to Win with high hopes for a promising second chance romance. However, as the story progressed, I found it difficult to root for the two main characters, Miri and Leo, to end up together. Their backgrounds and experiences made it hard for me to believe that a reconciliation was the best thing for them.

In fact, when their reunion was sparked by a lottery win, I couldn't help but feel a bit cynical about the whole thing. It seemed like a flimsy foundation for a relationship (particularly for Leo as I'd want to see more change and growth vs. newfound wealth), and I found myself wishing I could tell Miri to find someone else. The lack of chemistry between the characters made it even harder to want them to get back together.

Despite my issues with the plot, I appreciated Jodie Slaughter's writing style. She is a gifted storyteller, and I can see why so many people enjoy her work. However, in this case, the difficulty of seeing Miri and Leo reconcile missed the mark for me.

Overall, while I wouldn't say that Play to Win was my favorite romance novel, I am still interested in reading more of Jodie Slaughter's work. I'm curious to see what other stories she has to offer and how they compare to this one.

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advance Reader Copy of this book!

Wow this was a spicy book. I liked Miri and how she was true to herself throughout. I liked her family and Leo's family.
A good read about family and love. And how even if you gain some money, it's not always what makes the world go round.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

Miri lives in a small town with her mother and works multiple jobs to keep the lights on. She has been estranged from her husband, Leo, for eight years after he walked out on her. Miri's life is about to change because she won 220 million dollars from the lottery. Her lawyer advises that she contact Leo to determine how much of his winnings he wants. After reaching, Leo, Miri discovers that the only thing Leo wants is his wife back.

The book addressed separation, therapy, mental health, sexuality, and gender roles well. It was great to have Leo pinning for Miri throughout the book, and I enjoyed both of their characters. I also loved that Miri had a supportive parent who wanted the best for her, and both Miri and Leo had strong friend groups they could rely on. This representation is so important.

My only issue was that the ending felt rushed, and I wished we could have spent more time with them while they worked through their relationship. Overall, I see myself coming back to this story again.

We've all fantasized about getting a second chance, or about winning the lottery. For Miriam Butler, she gets both the lottery win and a second chance with her first love, Leo Vaughn.

Miriam and Leo got married young in a rush of heady optimism about the future. When reality hit, it hit them hard. Now, several years later, Leo has come back to their hometown of Greenbelt, South Carolina to... well he's not quite sure what he's going to do, but he certainly has some choices to make.

This was an interesting look at what happens after a big life changing moment like a lottery win. It also explores some themes of adulthood in a frank way. Like, what happens when it turns out you aren't who even *you* think you are. When a choice has a ripple effect through the rest of your life.

Both Miriam and Leo go through some really difficult character growth throughout the story. I enjoyed getting a bird's eye view of each of them as they navigated their way through it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Play to Win by Jodie slaughter. All opinions are my own.

This book had me so emotional!! It starts by introducing Miri, a 32 year old who lives with her mother in her childhood home, barely making ends meet. When buying her mothers routine lottery ticket, she randomly decides to get herself one and then wins $220 million dollars!! Thats all great until her lawyer shares that her estranged husband (who walked out on her 8 years ago) could technically sue her for half of it. Miri calls him to come home and finally sign the divorce papers, but he has other plans to win her back.

This second chance romance was so cute, I loved all the scenes were they reminisced on their childhoods and how they grew up together. This is the first book I've read from this author but I'll definitely be checking out their other books. Couldn't recommend this enough!!

this is my second non-indie book by Ms slaughter that I've read. This one, I def enjoyed more than the bingo-themed one.

Miri is a women in her 20s, barely making it by, when she goes to the corner store to buy a lottery ticket for her mother. Miri personally never plays the lottery, but decides to play just the one time, and it’s her lucky break. Overnight she went from not being able to pay her bills, to winning two hundred and twenty million dollars! Miri consults with a financial advisor, who informs her that she must contact her husband about the money. Miri and Leo are still technically married, but have been estranged for more than eight years.

Miri contacts Leo, and offers him a payment of the money, in exchange for a divorce. Leo absolutely does not want a divorce, and decides that this new contact between them is his chance to win Miri back.

I appreciated the diversity represented in Play To Win. Miri is a bisexual black woman, and her actions and motives are highly driven by those two qualities. There is a lot of discussion regarding race and systemic racism, wealth inadequacy, and gender norms throughout the book. For a romantic comedy, I found there to be lots of depth and thought-provoking topics.

Where the novel missed for me was regarding the chemistry between Leo and Miri. I personally never felt love between them, only lust. And boy was there a LOT of passion and lust! Seriously, if you want some spice, this is it! I wish there had been more discussion regarding why their relationship fell apart eight years prior. The reasoning we received felt inadequate, and I needed more time to be spent on that topic, and to find out what motives led to the relationship break.

Read this if you love:
💕Strong female MC
🖤POC representation
🌈Bisexual representation
🌶Lots of spice
❤️Second chance romance

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Miri doesn't play the lottery but the one time she does she wins two hundred and fifty million! Talk about luck! The only problem, she's still technically married and her estranged husband is technically entitled to part of her winnings. This was such a cute second chance romcom and I couldn't get enough! The humor, the angst, and the spice was so good. Even though Leo wasn't the ideal husband in the beginning, he grew into a whole man and my heart was swooning. I really enjoyed the writing style and I am looking forward to reading more from Jodie Slaughter in the future!

I enjoyed this somewhat steamy, romance set in the south. It had a fun cast of characters, history, relationships and second chances. I was excited about the premise of this book with the lottery and forced reconciliation. Overall it just didn’t come through with everything I was hoping. We never got to fully understand why the relationship was broken or what had transpired in the years since. Even the reconciliation was less than fully fleshed out. It was missing that angst and spark I was looking for. Mostly an enjoyable read though. Feels like it could be a series. I would be interested in reading more about these characters!

I loved Aja & Walker’s story and was eager to dive into Play to Win, especially because the premise sounded so interesting!

Eight years ago Leo and Miri’s fledgling marriage ended with a bang, leaving them with long years of no contact and more than enough bitterness to live off of. Now, Leo is still working the same dead end jobs a few hours away and Miri has just won the lottery. At the advice of her financial adviser, Miri contacts Leo in the hopes of gaining the long awaited divorce to keep a lawsuit off her doorstep. Only, the divorce might not be as easy for either of them as she thinks…

Jodie Slaughter writes really easy to get into, funny and endearing romances, and Play to Win was no different. I loved the tight knit community and really enjoyed Miri’s closeness with her friends and mom especially. She was unapologetically herself, fiercely independent and smart with her decision making— all factors I love in an MC. Leo was sweet and doting, and while I found his “old fashioned” views to be a bit irritating and not quite warranting their separation, I did grow to like him as a love interest.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but didn’t really buy the estrangement or the reconciliation. I felt like we weren’t really shown much emotional depth between the two characters outside of their mutual lust. I’m not the biggest fan of second chance romances without flashback scenes, so found it somewhat difficult to be fully onboard with their reconciliation, especially because Leo’s reason for leaving felt very superficial to me. It was an enjoyable, easy read but overall I was expecting more based on the premise. I’d still recommend it to fans of Jodie Slaughter and second chance romances, but it wouldn’t be one of my favorites!

3/5 ☆

This was okay. The plot initially pulled me in with Miri, our main FMC, winning the lottery. The catcher: her estranged husband she hasn't talked to in eight years that she has for a divorce from. I'm a sucker for marriage in trouble books so this seemed right up my alley.

This was just a bit too slow for me. Nothing really happens between Miri and Leo until around the 50% mark and even after that for another 10%, its all just filler with other characters. I was really focused on Miri and Leo, but we don't get that until around the last 30%. I will say that the writing was done well and the spice was fantastic!

Play to Win had an appealing storyline: lottery winner has chance to turn her life around materially while exploring the possibility of rekindling a past love. Unfortunately, the characters weren’t very interesting and I failed to see why they were so attractive to each other. I stopped reading about half way through.

Thank you so much for netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC.

What would you do when you win a one in two hundred and two point five million chance? That’s exactly what happened in this scenario.

The story surrounds itself around the life of Miri and Leo. They are a marriage couple that has been separated for eight years but they never have gotten a divorce. A twist of faith comes around and they have to figure out if they still love each other.

I highly recommend Play to win. I enjoyed it so much. And I can’t wait for more Jodie Slaughter books.

I’m a sucker for second chance romance! This was a light and fun read! Highly recommend as a summer rom com! Spot on humor and on brand for cute romance.

Money doesn’t solve all your problems. That’s what Miri discovers after she wins the lottery and has to deal with her estranged (not-quite-ex) husband, Leo. As Miri has to decide what she wants for her future, she has to look and see what from her past she wants to take with her. Will that be Leo or will she leave him in the past just like he left her?

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others!