Thoughtful and steamy — an extremely well-developed love story. An antidote to most romance novels. Clever with so much heart and feeling.

Victoria Lee's A Shot in the Dark is a powerful and emotionally resonant novel that delves into addiction, love, and redemption themes. The story follows Elisheva Cohen, a young woman who returns to New York City after years away to pursue her passion for photography. Their connection is undeniable when she meets Wyatt Cole, a renowned photographer. However, their budding relationship is complicated by Wyatt's past struggles with addiction and their teacher-student dynamic.

Lee's writing is both evocative and poignant, capturing the complexities of addiction and the struggles of finding love in the face of adversity. The characters are deeply flawed and relatable, making it easy to connect with their journeys. The novel explores themes such as forgiveness, second chances, and the power of human connection and is thought-provoking and heartwarming.

While the pacing may be slow in places, the overall experience is enriching. The book's ending is satisfying and leaves a lasting impression. A Shot in the Dark is a powerful and unforgettable read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

Victoria Lee does it again! A poignant, immersive queer romance that deals with trauma, addiction and recovery in a thoughtful, relatable way. I especially loved that the love interest is trans!

Ely is trying to rebuild her life after returning to New York after nearly a decade. But when her one-night stand turns out to be her photography teacher, Wyatt Cole, things quickly get messy. Ely’s journey to confront her past, along with Wyatt’s struggles with his own trauma, creates a narrative that’s raw, emotional, and just deeply human.

I really appreciated how the book handled heavy themes like sobriety, identity, and the lingering effects of trauma with care, while still delivering a compelling romance. That alone was enough to impress me. The connection between Wyatt and Ely felt real, with all the messiness that comes from two people who are still healing. Ely’s journey to face her past within the orthodox community adds another layer of depth to the story that kept me deeply invested.

While some of the pacing could have been a bit tighter, sure, A Shot In The Dark is an emotional read that dives into the complexities of love, redemption, and finding yourself when the world seems determined to hold you back. This is different than the average romance, something new and something complex to chew on. I'm so grateful to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this gem.

I had a hard time following along with this story and remaining interested. I thought it was a unique concept and it had a lot of great potential, just not my cup of tea.

What a great adult romantic debut from Victoria Lee!! I adored this book. Not always a fan of the teacher/student trope but I thought this was done well!!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

After being away from Brooklyn for almost ten years, Elisheva (Ely) Cohen, has returned to participate in a summer art program. She was tossed out of her Orthodox community after a stunning night in her teens. Now she is back and trying to put back the pieces after being 4 years clean and sober. She has an opportunity to be tutored by phenom photographer Wyatt Cole, and Ely is all for it.

After she meets her roommates, they convince her to go out and paint the town red before her first day in the art program. Ely meets a mysterious stranger and has a one-night stand. She knows it is the best night she will ever have and fantasizes about calling him later in the day, until she shows up to class. Her teacher, Wyatt Cole, is the one-night stand.

The book goes back and forth as they battle sobriety, the past, and how to proceed with the future.

I loved this! Victoria Lee is making her way to be an auto read author for me. This was a beautiful story of love, family, addiction, overcoming trauma, while featuring nyc as a character in itself. It was heartwarming and emotional and the characters were so lovable and well developed. I would definitely recommend. 4.25 stars!

This story centers around Ely, a young woman, formerly very much enmeshed in the Orthodox Jew community, who is now attending a prestigious art school to study photography. The night before, she hooks up with an irresistible man who turns out to be one of her professors. Their chemistry and their commonalities are undeniable. I also really enjoyed learning about the different facets of Judaism, delving deeply into the historically steeped traditions, often involving a plethora of amazing food.

The only other book I've read that featured a trans character was Detransition, Baby, which may have been too heavy-handed a story for me to start with. In this book, Wyatt is introduced early on as a trans man, but it is a facet of his identity similar to any other characteristic he possesses. The unique issues which trans people face are addressed in a very natural and normalized way, which I really appreciated.

Sadly not for me. The writing is good, and if you're looking for a darker, slower-paced romance featuring trans rep/recovering addicts/ex-orthodox/teacher-student pairings, then this book will absolutely work for you. If you like more lighthearted banter, queer joy, or emotional but still hopeful romance type stories, you might struggle with this, as I did. It's possible I didn't give it enough of a chance, since I stopped about 200 pages in.

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I give this book a 5-star review because it was such a refreshing romance book. I loved reading a romance that featured a trans man and appreciated the amount that it was mentioned/part of the story. This was the first romance I've read with a transgender person as the main romantic pairing and the story was very approachable. The dual POV between the main characters was great.

This book also dealt with addiction and recovery at a deeper level than I expected and I appreciated the author's note about content warnings related to this.

📖My Thoughts📖

I am feeling pretty emotional after this one. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book (nonfiction or fiction) that portrayed the challenges and self doubt that recovering addicts are constantly faced with. This was something I found myself loving and hating simultaneously. I really appreciated being able to observe the two main characters grow and face the challenges and struggles that go hand and hand with recovery. I felt really connected to the characters in a manner that I felt a sense of pride watching them conquer and prevail the hurdles they were facing, as well as their ability to persevere and reach out for help when needed. That’s such a hard thing to do whether you’re a recovering addict or not. I think the author did a great job drawing in their audience allowing them to get the full picture of what life looks like for someone navigating their path to sobriety. While there were a lot of serious triggering factors presented throughout the book, there were some endearing elements that made for an overall enjoyable experience.
Thank you Netgalley, Victoria Lee and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved this adult romance from Victoria Lee. The sex scenes were spicy, and the emotions - in the relationship and out - were deep.

I don't tend to read anything outside of the young adult genre but I really enjoyed this one. This book tackles topics such as addiction and religion which was something that stood out to me. I also liked getting to hear from both Wyatt and Ely's perspectives and learn more about their backgrounds.

I really enjoyed this one! The writing style wasn't what I expected by the synopsis, but I really liked it. It was such a great book with lots of diversity and tons of chemistry!

I just couldn't get into this one. The writing felt more YA than contemporary romance, and it just wasn't for me.

Really enjoyed this exploration of spirituality, queer love, and gender identity. The transmasc representation was thoughtfully written.

I loved this one. I enjoyed the diversity present in this novel and how it was so seamlessly integrated into the story.

I looooved this story!! This definitely touched a lot of heavy topics, but I thought it was well done. I didn't feel overwhelmed or that it pushed too much on the heavy side. I was rooting for the MCs and I thought their chemistry was great. I liked how nontraditional this romance story was and it was definitely a quick read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

A Shot in the Dark was one of the best contemporary adult romances I've read in a long time. While I love a light, fluffy romance, this book was much more grounded and dealt with a lot of heavier topics which helped add so much depth to the story and characters. I found myself rooting for not only Ely and Wyatt to fall in love, but also for them to each have their own personal growth and learn to love themselves more as well. As someone who has dealt with addiction first hand as well as with family members, I feel like the author handled these topics with so much honesty, grace, and empathy. I really appreciated that and it made this story so hopeful.

I can’t wait to read more books by Victoria Lee. They really blew me away with this book and I know I’ll definitely be picking up more books by them in the future.