Play to Win

Miri is struggling to make ends meet while living with her mother in the house she grew up in. One day she randomly decides to buy a lottery ticket and ends up winning over 200 million dollars. This seems like a miracle until she realizes that although she and her ex have been estranged for almost a decade, he still may be able to fight for half of her earnings...because they are still legally married. Miri and her ex, Leo, set up an agreement that she will give him money to fix up his aunt's house. But the other problem is, the house is in the same small town where Miri lives. This is the closest proximity the two have had in years, and they both begin to reevaluate if they are better apart or together. 

This is the second installment in Jodie Slaughter's series which follows friends in a small southern town. I enjoyed the first book, "Bet on It" that came out a year or two ago. So I went into this book with positive expectations. There was a lot that met them. Just as Slaughter included in the previous book, mental health and childhood circumstances played a significant part in this story. I appreciate that because all adults have to work through that to have a healthy relationship. It really added to the story to show Miri working through the emotional and mental ramifications of going from a low-income lifestyle to being a multi-millionaire. She went through so many phases of confusion, guilt, excitement, and much more. These factors do change the tone from a typical sunshine rom-com to a story that is closer to women's fiction, I don't mind that at all. But it is something to know before going into this one. 

The banter and general dialogue in this book seemed very realistic to me. I liked that the characters' dialogue was accurate for their age, upbringing, and humor. I felt like I was listening in on conversations between friends. 

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the side characters. It was cool to see a cameo of the couple from the first book. While I would have liked to see more scenes with the friend group, I did think they added a lot by giving Miri sound advice, even when she didn't want to hear it. Miri's mom was my favorite character though. She did a wonderful job of being a protective mom but also a loving one. She didn't let her pride take over when Miri wanted to spoil her and she told Leo exactly how she felt about his behavior. 

That brings me to who I struggled with in this book, which is mostly just one person: LEO. I wanted so badly to root for a second chance, childhood best friends romance, But Leo's behavior did not allow that. I can't say much about what irked me, as it would be a spoiler. But I will say that his reasoning for his part in their fallout did not seem like a good enough reason. Granted, I can not relate to him as I am not a man or husband. However, for the amount of time that he spent away from her and how passionate he was when he returned, the logic was not there for me. It was really hard for me to move past that, even with his attempts to earn back her trust and love. 

With that being said, I would still recommend this book to people who enjoy small-town romances and friends-to-lovers (to=enemies-to-lovers) books. I will be reading the next installment in this series and look forward to other work from this author too!

(Thank you to the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)