I enjoyed this hockey romance set in Nova Scotia I haven't read many books set in Canada and it makes sense that we finally get a hockey one set there. I'm normally not a fan of second chance romances and I don't read many M/M romances. But I'm a sucker for the whole two idiots in love.

This was a very emotional second chance story about two former NHL players, now in their early 40s, who used to be teammates, best friends, and roommates, and would hook up sometimes. Riley knew he was gay and was in love with Adam, whereas as Adam remained in denial about what his feelings and experiences meant, and hurt Riley multiple times because of it before they didn't see each other for 12 years.

He married a woman, had kids, and only just retired from hockey recently. Riley left the sport at 29 needing help with mental health and addiction, neither of which were supported in the league or discussed at the time. He went back to his small Nova Scotia town, figured out his stuff, and built a quiet life for himself and his dog Lucky with family nearby. But now his dad has died, which has thrown him for a loop, and amidst his already deep sorrow and grief, Adam shows up for the funeral wanting to talk.

The men spend an initially fraught week together working through their emotions, finally coming clean about things (including Adam's divorce), and trying to avoid their attraction, at first. It's a slow burn, but feelings are still there too and what they end up with is beautiful and joyful, even with Adam's trip home to Toronto looming.

I really liked this book, it got me in my feelings as a queer person and someone who loves second chance romances. It didn't blow me away as something I'd want to scream about from roof tops but I think that's mostly due to its more somber, serious tone. It was a bit confusing at times whose POV we were in since it switches mid chapter sometimes and was in 3rd person without name labels for the sections, but there's a chance that's just an ARC formatting issue so I don't hold that against it. After all, it still had me captivated enough to stay up into the night to finish it, and that says a lot.

Thank you to Harlequin Books for the arc!

•second chance queer hockey romance
•MCs in their 40's
•small town Nova Scotia
•CW: grief, loss of a parent, mental health (depression and emotional regulation disorder with flare up on page)
•Release date: Mar 4/25

After moving back to Avery River, Riley hoped to leave his broken heart and hockey career behind him. But when tragedy brings his ex-teammate Shep back into his life, old wounds reopen and undeniable chemistry remains years later. I love a small-town second-chance romance and this one certainly delivered.

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a second chance story about two previous best friends who haven’t spoken in 12 years reunited after the (off page) death of a beloved parent. I loved the Nova Scotia setting and their happily ever after in the epilogue.

After moving back to his hometown ten years ago, Riley Tuck thought he had left his major league hockey career—and his broken heart—far behind. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, it brings ex-teammate and former best friend with benefits Adam Sheppard back into his life.

Coming to the small town of Avery River, Nova Scotia, might have been a mistake. Adam’s not sure he’ll ever win back Riley’s trust after the way they left things—and the attention he’s getting as a huge hockey star isn’t exactly helping. Yet the chemistry that crackles between them is undeniable, even now. As Adam helps Riley navigate his grief, long-buried feelings start to resurface. But they’ll have to square off with their complicated past if they’re going to have a real shot at a new beginning.

Ugh. I had to force myself through this, and I don't think I would have finished it, if it wasn't an ARC. I am torn on this one. I hated Adam. Did he redeem himself? There are behaviors and ways you treat a person that I consider unacceptable, and he crossed that line. But I also believe that people can grow and change. Which side are you on? Half of me gives this book 5⭐ for making me believe he redeemed himself, and half of me gives it 1⭐ for fooling everyone into thinking he did. Which side will you fall on? 3.5⭐ rounded up, because any book that makes me so conflicted is making me think and will stick with me for a long time!

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

I cannot, in good faith, recommend this book. The character Adam feels so insufferably irredeemable that reading his journey to a happy ending feels not only infuriating, but a complete waste of time. Riley deserves better. Riley deserves a second book where he ditches this absolute loser and finds himself someone worthy of his love and attentions.

Riley & Adam
Rating: 3.4⭐

- Former Hockey Teammates
- Hurt/Comfort
- Coming Out
- Friends to Lovers to Strangers to Lovers
- Second Chance
- Small Town
- 12yrs Separation
- Found Family
- Based in Canada

Overall, the book was okay. Any of the current timeline chapters were what I liked most, especially learning about Riley's small town, family and found family. There really wasn't any hockey in this hockey book, just flashbacks to when they played together, if they were watching it on TV, or Adam's injuries. Riley is dealing with the grief of losing his father and taking over the family business, when Adam comes crashing back into his life. That's a lot to deal with at one time. The book is very character driven and emotions are aplenty with these two.

The flashback chapters are what kept throwing me out of the story because I just hate Adam and can't forgive him. I understand their relationship and connection but I could not get past the multitude of things he did or said. If it was just the one thing that caused the separation of their friendship then okay fine, but it was SO MANY THINGS! Having him weasel his way back into Riley's good graces just seemed like a black mark on Riley and his progress over the years.

Content Warnings (may contain spoilers):
- Graphic sexual content between consenting adults
- Explicit language
- Mentions of hockey injury and recovery
- Mentions of parental death by heart attack
- Mentions of excessive alcohol consumption
- Mentions of depression and anxiety
- Mentions of therapy and treatment
- Infidelity
- Internal Homophobia
- Homophobic fans comments
- Dealing with grief

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Verse: Yes
HEA: Yes
POV: Dual
Breakup: They weren't dating when they separated
Cheat: Yes, Adam cheated on his wife with Riley
OM/OW Drama: Yes, Adam would sleep with women after an encounter with Riley. Then he became and dad and got married.
Ages: 40's

4.5 ⭐️

Another heartwarming, emotional love story from Rachel Reid.

As usual I absolutely adored both of the main characters, Riley & Adam. Reid does such a good job creating 3 dimensional characters that you fall in love with.

It was refreshing to read a romance book about people who are more middle aged than in their 20s. 2nd chances are so important and the perspective of being married to a woman and then divorcing is one often not explored as much. The love all the secondary characters had for Riles & Shep was lovely to see.

The topic of grief is such a universal topic and I felt she did a create job exploring all the different aspects and journeys people go through.

This book had me yearning for a small time rural life making jams and gardening.

SO GOOD. Another perfect book from Rachel Reid.
- I loved both main characters
- all the secondary characters too
- so many other things that are my personal favs: ugh so much pining!, beachy vibes, gardening, beautiful house vibes, loving family, found queer family, a sweet dog, and HOCKEY obvs (though there’s a lot less on ice hockey time than her other books)
- the second chance romance is really well done; I love it when an author can achieve that tricky balance between changed characters falling for the new people they are in the present but the original love from the past is still there
- this is a slow burn and maybe not as hot as some of Reid’s other books, but it’s still plenty spicy, and the flashbacks give some heat that helps counterbalance the slower pace of the romance in the present
- one character is grieving over losing a parent for most of the book, and Reid handles this with care but doesn’t shy away from it either
- both characters are working through a lot of regrets and I liked how the book makes you think about regret, learning from it, not erasing it, but also finding a way through it
- I also appreciated the mental health rep
- There’s a really hard earned and very satisfying HEA that happens throughout the book, not just at the end

Just an all-around amazing book; all the stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Riley is going through the worst day of his life. His father’s funeral is the last place he expected to see his ex-teammate and ex-best friend, Adam. Adam worries he made a mistake coming to the funeral, but he wants to apologize for how he left things all those years ago. Initially, Riley does not want him around, but Adam keeps showing up and reminding him of the good times. Not only that, the chemistry is still intense between the two of them. Riley needs to decide if he can move on from the pain of the past or if he will carry it with him forever.

The grief in this book is raw and real. Riley is grieving the loss of his father, and the author managed to convey this through the pages. Initially, I didn’t think I agreed with the romance. I disliked Adam, especially once we learned what he had done. As we progressed through the story, I started to like him. He cared so much for Riley, and we learned that Riley crushed Adam in his way. I loved the parts of the present where Adam showed up for Riley and was there to hold him, feed him and make him laugh when things felt hard. It was those kind, tender moments that stood out for me. Though Adam redeemed himself, it took some time for both the reader and Riley to come to terms with it.

One of the things I liked is that this book featured 40-something people finding themselves and each other after a long time apart. These two men had lived so much of their lives, but at the same time, they started living when they came together. I also loved the small town Nova Scotian community and all the people who supported Riley.

I thought this was a great second-chance romance. I felt connected to Adam and Riley and loved that they did the work to move forward in a relationship. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Romance for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

Heat Factor: I felt like it was an extremely slow burn, but that’s because I was focused on the present—they actually do have a couple moments in the flashbacks, though
Character Chemistry: “How are they going to fix this decades old mess?” energy
Plot: Adam decides the right time to try to repair his relationship with Riley is at Riley’s dad’s funeral, and after a very rough start, it turns out he’s right because Riley needs closure and new friendship in several different ways
Overall: Somehow this book exemplifies both why I am extremely leery of second chances and why they can hit really well

I have reached the conclusion that there is something about Rachel Reid’s voice that just works for me. And so, even though we’re dealing with a second chance that has flashback chapters, I found myself so happily reading.

"Adam was standing by the stove, wearing an apron and stirring something in Riley’s largest pot. Fresh parsley was chopped on a small wooden cutting board, and, most startlingly, there was a large bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table, arranged in one of Riley’s vintage green glass vases.
"“Hi,” Adam said, smiling shyly.
"It was probably a symptom of Riley’s age, or maybe the fact that he was, at his core, a deeply boring man, but he realized in that moment that he was looking at his ultimate fantasy."

What a perfect illustration of both what is happening and an entirely relatable sentiment in four sentences, right? And there are so many of those little moments, where the very humanity of mixed feelings or self-deception shines through in what amounts to a bunch of asides that ultimately make the book.

Anyway, I wasn’t sold on this romance at the beginning. Adam made some choices that most people would find next to impossible to come back from, and the prospect of Riley reasonably forgiving Adam enough not only to get past the old history but to choose Adam as his forever person? That’s a pretty big hurdle to overcome, especially when we’re looking at a matter of days, rather than years, to achieve it. But then Riley absolutely crushed Adam, too, just in a different way.

The story is this: Adam and Riley were inseparable best friends and roommates who had amazing chemistry on the ice. And, as it so happened, off the ice. But, being gay in hockey in the early aughts was a non-starter, so when they got physical with each other three years into their friendship, Adam excused it as drunk bros blowing off steam. Riley, on the other hand, knew he was gay all along, but he wasn’t about to upset the status quo either, so he put up with a lot just to keep Adam. A lot, up to and including being Adam’s best friend and uncle to Adam’s kids after Adam got married. By the time Riley finally ran (and basically ghosted Adam), their relationship had been messy as hell for almost a decade, and neither man had handled himself well at all. (Shocking for a couple of twenty-year-old men reared in the pinnacle of toxic masculinity culture, I know.)

So, the story picks up when both Adam and Riley are over forty. They’ve had a lot of time to grow up and, you know, “to thine own self be true” kind of stuff. They’re also still carrying a torch for each other. Adam for the man who got away because he was too stupid to be brave, and Riley, pissed at himself for being unable to let go and move on. And really, for all an outsider looking in might be like, “Dude don’t! What are you doooooooing?!” the choice is ultimately for the people actually in the relationship to make. What they’re willing to hold on to or let go of as they go through the trifecta of seeing their partner, choosing their partner, and being someone their partner can rely on is a deeply personal choice and usually has little to do with psychology best practices because people are human, and humans are imperfect beings. Reid captures that really well, I think. They have to get all that hurt out, but they also have to let it go, and there was no clear moment in the story when it went from “Adam better grovel until his knees give out” to “Adam is the one person Riley should never let go of.” The transition occurred so naturally that I have no idea when I went from one thought to the other for these two.

For a second chance romance, that’s a difficult transition to achieve, and (for me) Reid succeeded here. There’s a lot of empathy without excusing past choices. That said, I alluded to what I like and don’t like about second chances, and what I don’t like is flashbacks. I almost never think they’re worthwhile. This book has a fair number of flashbacks that are very reasonably included to develop the emotional intimacy that is often lacking in second chance romances because it’s off page before the book even started. So, even though I don’t like them, I cannot deny that the flashbacks in this book absolutely do their intended job. Furthermore, I honestly cannot imagine how Reid could have possibly written the absolute gut punch of Riley telling Adam he loved him and Adam laughing it off when they were younger, without it being on page in the present moment. I gasped. It evoked a visceral response. But, from a narrative construction standpoint, that means that a fair chunk of text is focused on the past and not on the present second chance of the romance, so readers not into flashbacks who are not already Rachel Reid fans be advised.

For all that the action really happens over a matter of days, the feel of the story is that it’s a pretty slow burn. It’s so heavily focused on the emotional recovery from loss to a new normal that it can’t really feel like it’s moving quickly, or we’d have some cognitive dissonance about how fast switches flipped in the wake of tragedy. And yet, when I thought about it after I was done, I realized that everything happened really fast. This is helped by the fact that Adam and Riley do have a very intimate past relationship, and it probably would have gotten boring if it had been dragged out indefinitely instead of Adam having a limited stay in New Brunswick. It’s just a very emotional book. I didn’t even realize until I was two thirds through the book, thinking, “man this is a really slow burn” that the flashbacks had included sex. I just didn't even register it because that was then and not part of their current journey.

This book might be best suited to seasoned readers with some life experience who are comfortable sitting with some really big feelings. If that’s a draw for you, this is a great read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report (March 2025)

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC!

I do enjoy a good second-chance-romance but there are two main issues I see frequently pop up that do bother me, and which this book subverted beautifully.

Issue 1: “No one was in the wrong.” In some second-chance-romances, we find out that in the dissolution of the relationship the first time, no one was really in the wrong. It was a miscommunication, or a natural growing apart, or something. In The Shots You Take, there are very much people in the wrong in the ending of this relationship. Neither of them are entirely blameless, but there was certainly some very bad actions taken that lead to the end of this relationship and the book doesn’t shy away from the negative impacts that those choices had on the character in the interim between the end of the relationship and the reunion. When it comes to them talking about it again, as well, the characters feel the weight of their actions in a way that felt realistic, and it’s not simply brushed away.

Issue 2: “No one’s done the work.” Often, there is no reason why the romance would suddenly work this time around. If you’ve had an unsuccessful relationship with someone in the past, love simply isn’t enough – you have to have changed and grown in some way to make the relationship work. You need to be different people than you were back then, and that is very much the case here! Both characters have grown and change and one of them is even in therapy! From what we see throughout the story, there is very much a realistic chance of this relationship working out compared to what I see in other second-chance-romances.

Also, there’s a dog called Lucky in this book. What more can you ask for?

I was really looking forward to this book as I adore Rachel Reid, but I had to DNF it. Second-chance romance can be iffy for me, and I didn't like the way Adam behaved for two decades before he showed back up when Riley was emotionally vulnerable due to a loss.

I love Rachel Reid and how she writes complex characters which is present in this second chance romance of hockey players.

Adam and Riley were former hockey teammates moved on from each other. Adam decides to reappear in Riley's life during Riley's father's funeral service. I thought it was very selfish of Adam to try and rekindle old feelings out of the blue when Riley is hurting.

Adam was a tough character for me to like. He needed to do more to prove his love for Riley. His reason for not coming out sounded very selfish.

I started warning up to Adam a bit more on the second half of the story.

I thought Greg Boudreaux did a great job with the narration and bringing these two characters to life.

Thank you @harlequin_audio and publisher for a copy of the book.

The thing about Rachel Reid is she could write quite literally anything and I would gobble it up, and this second chance small town romance is no exception.

The Shots You Take is a little different than what she normally writes, both in terms of the characters age and their retirement from hockey. Even though I love her normal set up, this was new and exciting.

Adam and Riley caught my attention from the get go and kept it. They’re both complex characters going through a lot, and I loved watching them grow and come back together after such a long time. I was pretty firmly on Riley’s side at first, but Adam grew on me. He made his fair share of mistakes, but throughout the book he worked to earn Riley’s forgiveness.

I loved the ending and can’t wait for everyone to read this!

I think I'm actually incapable of taking more than a day to read any of Rachel Reid's romances. I always find myself picking them up at every spare moment, procrastinating from other things to read more, and staying up just to finish, and this was no exception. Riley and Adam's story grabbed me from the start, not letting go until the very end when you get to see how it all works out. I've learned I'm pretty picky about second-chance romances, but this is done so well, addressing the reasons why it didn't and couldn't have worked out in the past and how they've grown and what they both need from each other to be together now. I especially loved the subplot of Adam coming out later in life and it not invalidating his life or happiness with his ex-wife and kids or meaning he has to feel shame for not realizing sooner. It fits so well with how Riley as able to build community and that Adam could see that for himself.

There are a lot of themes of grief, mental health, and internalized homophobia, all of which I thought were handled well from both characters, and particularly from the view of professional athletes. I also really enjoyed getting to see two characters moving on to what's "next", knowing that 40 might be the end of a professional career, but not of their lives and dreams.

Rachel Reid can just have my whole heart at this point. She has such a talent for writing sad boy hockey players without it seeming formulaic. And "The Shots You Take" was a surprisingly beautiful departure from her usual.

Adam and Riley were once teammates, roommates, and friends-with-benefits - at least until Riley caught feelings and confessed. Adam panicked and brushed him off in a raging case of internalized homophobia, leading to almost two decades worth of distance and baggage between them. Except, on the day of the funeral for Riley's father, Adam shows back up in his life, recently retired and mostly aimless beyond the belief that he has to help Riley through his grief however he can. He's divorced, ready to come out, and desperate to repair the relationship with Riley in whatever way he'll take him. But, Riley has his own thriving life in the small Novia Scotia town of Avery River and two decades is a lot of distance considering how poorly things ended.

So, my first surprise in this book was how little hockey there actually was. We get a few flashbacks to Riley and Adam's days on the Toronto team, but otherwise hockey is on the backburner to the larger story of Riley's grief, Adam's attempts to discover himself, and the shared distance between them after so many years not speaking. And it's all set against the backdrop of a lovely small town in Novia Scotia, full of farmers markets and dumpy dive bars and a hard-won community of queer people that Riley has surrounded himself with. This book felt cozier than Reid's previous ones because of how self-contained it was. It is so heart-achingly great to follow these two as they try to figure out if they still mean anything to each other given their past, blending old and new grief together and creating something more beautiful because of it. Riley working through the loss of his father, and Adam trying to figure out his new place in a world where he doesn't play hockey. Every romantic or spicy scene felt earned.

Obviously at this point I'll read anything Rachel Reid comes up with, but this was such a nice little change up from her usual!

This is a small town second-chance romance full of Big Feelings between two very much grown men in their forties. I'd joked that Rachel Reid took the basic premise of Heated Rivalry (pro hockey players hooking up for years without emotional clarity), but made it even more heart wrenching with the estrangement and their reunion a DECADE PLUS later... and I was right!

When there's two decades of baggage between the heroes, shit's bound to get messy, and I love how Rachel Reid leaned into it with every flashback (she loves a flashback) that builds up the present-day scenes. Adam and Riley were friends, hockey teammates, and roommates who started hooking up. Both caught feelings. Riley admitted his, Adam denied everything and yes, internalized homophobia played a large role. That's a fairly simple summary, but reading it drawn out over the years and chapters is angsty in the best way.

When they reunite, Adam and Riley have gone through it all— careers ending, depression, kids, divorce, death. Interestingly, in the world of hockey, while Adam was something of a god while Riley was the burnout, now Adam retired and somewhat aimless, and still trying to figure out how to live as a gay man who's not quite out yet. Meanwhile, Riley is flourishing and has a queer community in his small town to surround himself with. But there's still so much unspoken feelings that need to be dealt with, and that's exactly what happens once Adam decides to stick around Riley's hometown in Nova Scotia after his dad's funeral. Most of the story takes place over a week, but the romance is very much a slow burn in the sense that it has been twenty years in the making.

I also appreciate that since both MCs are in their forties and retired from hockey, you get this interesting, if not sad retrospective on homophobia and mental health struggles in the NHL, and its impact on players decades later.

The sex:

Sex-wise, this is something of a slow-burn. Unlike Heated Rivalry, the flashbacks aren't very explicit. BUT once these two start present-day, they can't be stopped, plus, Riley is a bit bossy in bed and Adam is so down for that.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5
Heat Level: 3.25/5
Pub Date: March 4th

generally good. i liked Riley's character a lot. Adam, on the other hand, was not my favorite at all, though he grew. i felt like we needed to see him grow more, though, maybe seeing the change with his ex or kids. 3.5, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

I requested this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. SPOILERS ahead

This story follows Riley (a forty-something professional hockey player who retired early due to mental health issues following his bff/friends with benefits rejecting him after post-big-game-win sex) and Adam (a forty something retired hockey player/super star, who really enjoyed fucking his bff Riley and was probably in love with him, but couldn't admit to himself that maybe, he might just be queer? So instead he marries a woman.) While Riley's father dies suddenly, Adam travels to small town Nova Scotia to attend the funeral and reconnect with Riley. (By this point Adam has realized that he's gay, is divorced, and was probably always in love with Riley and is a big dummy.)

STRENGTHS
- I did think the small town Nova Scotia vibes were great (if a little utopic with everyone being super queer-positive); I have in-laws in small town Nova Scotia and let's just say the queer-positive vibes are so not there IRL
- the spicy scenes were well written -- no extra arms, physically impossible positions, baseball-bat sized genitals AND everything that Adam and Riley do (from grinding on each other to oral sex to penetrative sex) is considered sex (which is actually kind of radical in books, even now. I read so many things where any non-penis-in-vagina sex isn't considered sex and the characters put A LOT of pressure on that penetrative sex as being the penultimate expression of adult love)

WEAKNESSES
- the writing is not great... it felt very clunky in places, the main characters felt tonally inconsistent at times
- the sudden death of Riley's dad and funeral being the reason that Adam comes back into Riley's life wasn't fun (like it wasn't escapist for me as someone who has lost a parental figure young ) and having a MC swallowed by grief over a parent, feeling the "wasted years" of them being apart because Adam wasn't ready to admit he was gay/in love with Riley gave the overall book a depressing vibe
- I also didn't love the pacing; we drag towards Adam and Riley getting together, Adam goes for his shoulder surgery and Riley flies to Toronto to take care of him establishing them as in a relationship then BAM epilogue, five years later, we're one year past their wedding anniversary (we didn't get to see a proposal or a wedding even) and we get a re-do of a flashback scene where they jerked each other off on the beach and swam in the ocean only now they are 40 and jerking each other off on a public beach and swimming naked; the whiplash of the ending after the slow burn of them getting together really didn't work for me

OPPORTUNITIES
- strong, queer-positive spicy scenes are great for a spicy romance author; I feel like the writing around the spicy scenes needs work (but given the girlies are flocking to smut for the spicy scenes, that aspect of the writing at least delivers? I've definitely read smut with great pacing, character development, world building, but the spicy scenes are awkward AF)

THREATS
- this is the first hockey romance I've read focusing on retired hockey players; I feel like we largely focus on young up-and-coming athletes in these stories, so it doesn't blend in as much (this is maybe a strength too?)
- on the flip side, there is something escapist and fantastic about watching a person 10 years younger than you winning at life, achieving their dreams and winning the love of their life (in ways that it probably didn't happen for a lot of us); this doesn't deliver that warm fuzzy feel that I want from a romance because it feels too real in that the men are "past their hockey prime", "late to the party" of getting married/starting a family, (or there is that feeling of "missing out" that I'm left with anyway based on how the character talk about themselves, their bodies, where they are at with their careers
- the logical ending based on the premise felt like a big "Whomp whomp!"