Trigger Warnings: Substance abuse, cursing, alcohol/drinking, sex, NA meeting, past overdose, transphobia, abusive parent, antisemitism, drug use both on page and recounted, religious trauma, breaking sobriety/relapse, death of a parent, domestic violence

Representation: Pansexual, Transgender, Orthodox Jew, twins

A Shot in the Dark is an emotionally powerful romance novel about two people finding love after struggling with addiction--ultimately discovering what it means to be completely and unapologetically themselves.

Elisheva Cohen has just returned to Brooklyn after almost a decade. The wounds of abandoning the Orthodox community that raised her, then shunned her because of her substance abuse, are still painful. But when she gets an amazing opportunity to study photography with art legend Wyatt Cole, Ely is willing to take the leap.

On her first night back in town, Ely goes out to the infamous queer club Revel for a celebratory night of dancing. Ely is swept off her feet and into bed by a gorgeous man who looks like James Dean, but with a thick Carolina accent. The next morning, Ely wakes up alone and rushes off to attend her first photography class, reminiscing on the best one-night stand of her life. She doesn't even know his name. That is, until Wyatt Cole shows up for class--and Ely realizes that the man she just spent an intimate and steamy night with is her teacher.

Everyone in the art world is obsessed with Wyatt Cole. He's immensely talented and his notoriously reclusive personal life makes him all the more compelling. But there's a reason why his past is hard for him to publicize. After coming out as transgender, Wyatt was dishonorably discharged from the military and disowned by his family. From then on he committed to sobriety and channeled his pain into his flourishing art career. While Ely and Wyatt's relationship started out on a physical level, their similar struggles spark a much deeper connection. The chemistry is undeniable, but their new relationship as teacher and student means desperately wanting what they can't have.

This story is deeply romantic and hard to believe that it’s the author’s adult debut. She creates genuine characters and a beautiful love story. Despite being many years of both being sober, the cravings continue. The author handles addiction and relapse with such care and genuine reality. Both characters also yearn to be fully themselves despite both having muddy pasts, but that desire to be better reads so strongly on the page. I think it’s important to remember that while these characters deal real problems, they are in fact characters- meaning they may not depict the journey of all who have similar struggles or storylines. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and thought it made an excellent audiobook.

Gorgeous, emotional, touching, and so so so sweet. This is my first Victoria Lee book but I’m about to binge the rest of their books RIGHT NOW.

Brief Synopsis: When Ely is given the opportunity to study under Wyatt Cole, a well known photographer, she has to face the idea of returning to New York. She left New York more than half a decade ago after being shunned by her community and struggling with addiction along with the impacts of her addiction in her relationships. When she meets Wyatt Cole on her first day of classes, she is shocked to realize that Wyatt is the man she hooked up with the night previously after a night out with her new roommates. Now Ely is forced to navigate her feelings for her new professor, triggers that may jeopardize her sobriety, and her career as a multimedia artist.

Have you ever picked up a novel that all the makings of a great novel only to have it not translate as well on paper? That's what A Shot in the Dark was for me. I loved the themes that Victoria Lee brings up in the novel and I could absolutely agree with her need to highlight the high propensity for addiction, isolation, mental health concerns and loss of a community within the LGBTQ+ community. But, for some reason, all of these things translated as too much within the novel, and I think they lost their power along the way.

That being said, representation is SO FREAKIN' IMPORTANT! And to read a steamy romance between our pan FMC and our trans MMC was an absolute delight. I think my favorite part of this novel was not only the romance, but that the romance was steamy and was just like every other romance you read about in a hetero love story - which is exactly how it should be! Lee definitely has a talent for writing romance.

All that being said, while this novel didn't quite do it for me, I think it could be a novel that absolutely brings all of the things another reader is looking for. I think that Victoria Lee did a great job highlighting the risk for members of the LGBTQ+ and strict religious communities when they are not accepted and cared for as individuals. Lee also did a beautiful job of highlighting the importance of found family within the same situations. I will definitely be recommending this to anyone who is interested in reading novels with diverse characters and LGBTQ rep!

Thank you so much to Ballantine, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for providing advanced copies of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I absolutely adore Victoria Lee's writing. So when I saw they were releasing not only their adult debut, but a romance, it immediately jumped to my most anticipated list.

In the end, this book was really difficult for me to rate. Because I think it is a stunning, emotional, exceptionally well written contemporary with so many timely and important themes. And if I had gone into this with the right expectations for a deep contemporary, I think this is something I would have been raving about.

But I went into this through the lens of a romance and was left wanting more from the romance portion.

So I have 2 warring feelings over this book.

Which leads me to my main takeaway for this book - go into this expecting a contemporary with a romantic subplot and I can pretty much guarantee you'll fall in love.

This follows 2 main characters who have a clandestine meet cute at a queer club on the heroine's first night back in New York. And after a mind blowing one night together, they learn that the hero is supposed to be the heroine's teacher for a summer photography program. Throwing a seemingly insurmountable power imbalance in the mix.

There was SO MUCH to love about this book. The discussions of addiction were powerful and heartbreaking. The way Lee explored not only the personal toll it took, but the way it affects relationships was amazing.

They really put you into the head and life of these characters so you were able to not only see how and why they got to where they were, but the emotional impact it had on everyone. And made you empathize with not only the main characters, but the family and friends that were affect as well.

And Victoria Lee is officially on my list of favorite author's who write about gender and sexuality. There is a constant discussion in the community about who "has the right" to tell certain stories. And while I 100% believe that authors can write outside their own experiences, there is something extra special about reading own voices experiences.

The way gender is handled in here blew me away. And not only the discussions and conversations had, but the word and writing choices that were made - they knew exactly what details to give and not give that felt real, authentic, and confirming.

On top of all of that, the way religion played into this story was one of the rare exceptions to my rule of not loving religious themes. Because it played perfectly into the heroine's journey.

All of this to say, that the actual plot and themes of this book are perfection.

But again, I went into this with the lens of a romance, and that portion just didn't deliver as much as I was expecting.

These 2 have palpable chemistry from the very beginning. Their first meeting (and STEAMY night together) was electric. But the romantic conflict felt murky as best.

I'm always here for a forbidden, star crossed lovers, we can't be together romance. But I felt like this one had a pretty simple solution, that they even worked out, pretty early on. But then the hero kept insisting it was an issue.

Which made the entire conflict feel self inflicted. Which is totally fair. But became quite repetitive.

And the final grovel was just too underwhelming. I needed him to GROVEL. And instead it was a simple apology and immediate forgiveness. I needed the drama. Especially after the emotional rollercoaster he put her through.

In the end, I LOVED the plot and themes. And I think going into this with the lens of this being an emotional and personal journey during a potentially triggering return home, will leave you falling in love with this story and characters.

AND - I highly recommend the audiobook! The narrator is also Jewish and there is a lot of Hebrew and Yiddish throughout the book. I know I personally love getting to hear the story and languages as intended (and not in my terrible Midwestern accent).

This was such a solid adult romance. For most of the book however it felt like more of a coming of age for two very messy adults (which I’m not complying about). Wyatt and Ely were flawed and messy and very lovable.
I found so many parts of myself in Ely and I loved her. Struggling with relationships, substance abuse and finding your place in your religion. I won’t speak on the Jewish rep as I’m not Jewish myself but it was wonderful to read about the beauty she found in her religion and putting herself back into those places again.
Give me more romances with trans MCs there simply aren’t enough! I loved that the author didn’t try to make Wyatt a big tall beefing man cake. She gave us a regular, wonderful, mess of a man. Go into this knowing it’s not a romcom but still a story that very much needed to be told!

Wow. Intense. A Shot in the Dark deals with so many complex issues and tying them together is the struggle with addiction. This dark beast dominates the lives of both of the main characters and it made me cry at times. Victoria Lee doesn’t shy away from the temptation, the lure, the fall, and the destruction. Climbing out of a pit of darkness doesn’t automatically turn on the light and Lee does a beautiful job of illustrating this in their depiction of Ely.

There is humor among the struggle. The comedic moments come in the romance between Ely and Wyatt. I love their chemistry both between the sheets and in the dark room. Their connection jumps off the page and latches onto your heart. Well…they definitely hooked me and wouldn’t let go.

Lee gives us religious struggle, family drama, facing the past, and sharing that past with your present and future. These topics are not easy, but Lee makes it easy to go down and want more. I love this story. A Shot in the Dark is a must read for me.

I really enjoyed this for so many reasons. <3

For starters, I loved the conversations about what it means to be an artist and to make art. Specifically, what it means to mine personal experiences (and often trauma) for some higher artistic purpose, and how fucking hard that is to be that honest with yourself and open yourself up to other people like that. It was really cool that both main characters were so passionate about what they did, I love how much they connected over that shared passion.

Stories about addiction are also near and dear to me on a personal level, and while that aspect of the book was so heartbreaking, at the same time it was done so well in that it wasn’t just genuine and real, but encouraging and even hopeful at the same time.

I really enjoyed the dual-POV and thought that it brought more depth to the scenes than a single POV book would have. And while I liked both characters, I really fucking loved Ely and saw so much of myself in her. (Read: She is the badass I wish I was.)

And aside from what personally resonated with me, I also really enjoyed learning more about the different aspects of Jewish culture and the trans experience. It’s so cool when an author writes a book that *only* they could have written, and it feels like that’s what Victoria Lee has achieved here.

The negatives I have with this book are super small: At times the pacing was off, certain plot points didn’t quite hit, and the dialogue wasn’t always my favorite, but overall I’m so grateful this book exists, it’s so incredibly unique and I really encourage everyone to give it a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! A Shot In The Dark is out now.

I am so glad I had the chance to read this early (apologies for a post pub date review, work was very busy the last two weeks). This is an important romance because it deftly brings in a range of experiences and identities to create an inclusive romance read that honors romance themes in a good way while bringing them into a broader range of identities and relationships .I really loved Ely's voice and how she talked about her struggles with substance use and how that related to her journey and her relationship with her Jewish Orthodox community.
What really stood out to me were themes about emotional connections and journeys and how much I was cheering on Ely and Wyatt together as a couple, I thought that had great chemistry, but also how much I was invested in them as individuals. I love a contemporary romance where I care as much for the characters as individuals as I do for their relationship.

A Shot in the Dark doesn't sit back to educate a reader about relationships and identity but instead allows a story to unfold in a way that allows a reader to understand the characters and their lives and feelings. The story is more about the emotional journey of Ely and Wyatt, which is important in understanding their relationship and to understand them as individuals. Reading about queer identities and relationships is valuable and I appreciated this truly engaging read.

NOTE: I also had a review audiobook copy from PRH Audio and the narration is great, I would recommend that option for audiobook fans, I appreciated the chance to listen to part of this book during a busy week when I needed an audiobook to help me escape.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victoria Lee, and Deli New York for giving the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for a review!

This book was definitely something different than what I thought it was going to be when first finding it. When I first read the synopsis, I was super excited to see that it was one of my favorite tropes: "I slept with this person I knew nothing about and now am walking into my class for the very first time and find out they're my professor". I am a sucker for these stories and always love the romance storyline that they typically follow. But this book wasn't really like that.

Ely moves back to NYC after spending quite a long time in LA after her family kicks her out of their Orthodox community. Her first real night back in town lands her at a gay club with her two new roommates. And that's where she finds the most beautiful, mysterious, alluring man she's ever seen... and obviously goes home with him. But when she wakes up in bed alone the next morning and has to subsequently rush to her first day of class, to her horror, she finds that hot, mystery, bar man is in fact Wyatt Cole, her new photography professor. And the only reason she really even came back to NYC in the first place.
Throughout the book, Wyatt is really struggling with being okay with having feelings for Ely because she's a student in his program (even though he does "kick her out" of the program and have her work with a. different photography professor instead of him) and so that creates a lot of back and forth between them and also a really slow burn.

I say that the books ends up not being what I thought it would be, not because the romance, but more because I think it's not a romance driven book. Sure, the two main characters are going back and forth with their feelings of love for one another, but to me, it was more a story about two people who really just needed that one person's presence to aid in their self growth. Ely finds that having Wyatt by her side gives her the extra push and strength she needed to come to terms with her past and her family, and to be okay with realizing the path of recovery is not always perfect.
And Wyatt found that having someone in his life like Ely, who has gone through somewhat similar life experiences, helps him feel comfortable with not pushing people away the moment they start to get close. Wyatt growing up with the father he did, who so publicly wanted nothing to do with his trans son, especially after he got discharged from the Marines, and a mother who did nothing to protect him, made it very difficult for Wyatt to accept people who accept him. So finding Ely who has gone through somewhat similar life experiences was something he really needed.

Being someone who is not a part of either one of the communities mentioned in this book, I had a really lovely time getting the little insight into a small piece of them. I really loved getting to hear Ely talk about her time in the Orthodox community, even though most of her commentary on it was about how she was high. But she really explained how wrong some stereotypes are, different traditions they have, how much she loved the holidays, and just the feeling of peace and love she felt going to her new friends house to celebrate was very comforting to read. And watching Wyatt's journey with his mother and brother was such an emotional aspect of this book. On one hand, it was so hard to hear that she just never went against his father and let her husband treat Wyatt the way he did was horrible. But then watching them create some sort of relationship was so nice because throughout the start of the book you can tell that Wyatt is sad that he doesn't have them in his life.

The romance aspect of this book was great, absolutely, but I liked it more for the individual growth each main character had wit the help of the found family and new community they created around them.

Ely returns to New York City years after she was kicked out of her Orthodox Jewish community for substance abuse. She comes back to the city four years sober to attend a summer course in photography taught by the legendary photographer, Wyatt Cole. On her first night back in the city, Ely goes to a local queer club with her new roommates and hooks up with a trans stranger who she soon learns is actually her teacher, Wyatt. He immediately sets strict boundaries to not compromise their student-teacher relationship or his hard-earned reputation. However, Eli and Wyatt soon learn they share much more than a one-night stand, but also their tangled family histories and struggles with drug addictions.
"A Shot in the Dark" is not a conventional romance and, frankly, I think it's a bit insulting to the story to attempt to bill it as one. It dwells on addiction and themes of religion, belonging and self-identity. Ely is an exceptionally well-developed character. However, the same cannot be said of Wyatt. The idea of Wyatt is so compelling, but he just doesn't get the characterization he deserves.
I also feel as though the plot moved a bit laterally without enough progress. Ely and Wyatt repeatedly do this dance of saying they can't be together only to keep texting and spending time together. This is the trend for the majority of the book before the scope of their relationship suddenly escalates very quickly.
Overall, this a 3.5 rounded down from me. I really enjoyed Victoria Lee's previous novel, "A Lesson in Darkness," and I admire how different "A Shot in the Dark" was from that. I look forward to reading whatever Lee does next.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Dell for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

My first book by Victoria Lee. This was such a beautiful love story involving lots of heavy topics. Addiction. Family acceptance. Forbidden love. The tension between these two was unbearable. This student-professor relationship is innocent yet captivating. The characters were beautifully flawed and it was fun to watching them grow into each other.

The writing is easy to read and flows well. The audio was exceptional. I loved the characters so much.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a book about queer love, being messy, and defining yourself. Lee's books have been a hit or miss for me, but i did enjoy this book, and while there were moments here and there where i didn't vibe with the characters or the writing style, i still enjoyed this work.

A truly stunning novel. Sometimes a book comes along at exactly the right time and this was one of those. It reminded me both why I create and how I want to live.

A Shot in the Dark is a contemporary queer romance about finding yourself and some major growth.
I went in blind and I think that made the story that much better.
4.5 stars rounded up!

-dual pov
-jewish rep
-queer rep (pan/trans)
-one night stand
-forbidden romance (professor/student)
-personal growth
-addiction recovery (and relapse)
-flawed and in depth characters

This is a story about growth, healing, and love. It was sooooo good. In the beginning I was expecting more of a rom-com vibe just based on how the start of the book played out, and I was (pleasantly) surprised to learn that this book offers so much more and handles many heavier themes such as grief, trauma, addiction, and faith and discusses them all with grace and beauty. I totally recommend this book!!! So good.

I liked the Jewish rep in the book, and the sense that the author cared deeply about the subjects the author was writing about. I liked that the author clearly has familiarity with NYC, and the brisk pace of the writing

I’m sitting here humming “Moon River” as I start this review, because I’m thinking of Ely and Wyatt as the two drifters who are off to see the world and there’s such a lot of world to see. These two people who are so similar in many ways and yet have a large gulf between them, adrift in life and moored in their mutual, chosen loneliness. Two miserable dinghy-people, just bailing water out as fast as they take it on.

This book could’ve turned out so badly. A nudge one way and it comes out saccharine. A nudge the other way it comes out too pessimistic. Somehow, Victoria Lee kept it steadily walking that earnest and vulnerable line, where she opens up her characters for us and we fall in love with them and watch as they each fall apart and put each other back together, over and over again. This story is sensual, sweet, and optimistic (without coming across as so sunny you’d think Pollyanna was turning the pages for you).

In most romances, I don’t so much get on board for genuine, heartfelt happiness. For some reason, when it comes to LGBTQ romances, that’s all I want for them. I want all the genuine happiness. Maybe it’s a reflection of how many unhappy endings LGBTQ people (especially transgender) get in real life and how much that upsets me. Maybe since I’m LGBTQ and I have a LGBTQ child I just want to see the LGBTQ people in romance novels end up happy because I didn’t and I want better for my own kid someday. This book genuinely moved me. The way Wyatt and Ely propped each other up even when they weren’t romantically involved, the way they supported each other in their sobriety, and the way they were so reverential with one another’s bodies when they were together was an honest show of how much it meant to them to shed every layer and be bare before one another in every way. To drop every veil and reveal everything, including every insecurity and every scar.

Now, I’m new to Victoria Lee’s work, but not only did she show off some serious research chops in this book, but she also brought beautiful prose and excellent dialogue skills to the table. Her characters jumped off the page and added just enough background color and noise that they never took away from our two main protagonists–they just garnished them the right amount.

I loved that this book ended happily, but not with a tidy little bow. Because life is messy. We don’t always get everything we want. But what matters is that we keep trying and holding onto the ones we love. This book definitely conveys that.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Contemporary Romance/Kindle Unlimited/LGBTQ Fiction/LGBTQ Friendly/LGBTQ Romance/Literary Fiction/Steamy Romance

I am beginning to think Victoria Lee's writing just isn't for me. I adored their original duology, The Fever King and The Electric Heir, so much. But I've struggled with their latest two books including A Shot in the Dark. I do have an audiobook of this one so I may attempt it again at some point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for providing me with a review copy.

I was excited about reading this book as it was unlike any of the other books I have read before. However, I felt as though the storylines and topics in the book were each their own and weren't cohesive to the story as a whole, leaving me feeling discombobulated.

- A SHOT IN THE DARK is a book that blends a romcom premise with the heavy internal exploration of a literary fiction novel.
- I don't always enjoy a novel as plotless as this one, but I found Ely and Wyatt to be such magnetic characters and I flew right through it.
- This book is so queer and so messy. It's also loving and thoughtful, and hopeful without promising that everything will work out perfectly.

This was such an honest view on addiction and finding love in loss and growth. I will devour anything Victoria lee writes though.