The hockey details were great, but the romance and prose couldn't light the lamp of this hockey romance. The rookie mistake of telling instead of showing slowed the pace of this story. It's possible that my expectations, based on the author's BookTok experience and blurbs from all-star hockey romance writers Rachel Reid and Lauren Blakely, were too high for a debut author.

🏒SHOOT YOUR SHOT🏒
🔸LEXI LAFLEUR BROWN

this book is complete and utter perfection. I could not read it fast enough. Lucy is a bad-ass tattoo artist with a wild track record of exes and a cat with perfectly timed cock blocking skills who literally crashes into beautiful Chicago hockey boy Jaylen in all his buff and bronze glory. Jaylen insists that shes his lucky charm, much to her dismay and while she does everything to fight it, eventually even she cant deny what they have. From the very beginning, their banter is absolutely hilarious and relatable. They have to be one of my favorite book couples, if not my absolute favorite. With Lucy's gay barista and lesbian farmer friends, Jaylen and his hockey-heads realize how much they love hockey, the arts and most of all each other. "Lucy, Is mars in gatorade..? What possible effects does this have on my game?" "the universe has bigger issues than your lack of knowledge of astrology".
Written by a hockey girl with the help of her hockey player hubby, everything about this book is a master piece!
#Netgalley #Shootyourshot #Hockeyromance

2.5 stars rounded up

I was expecting WAY worse based on everything but besides absolutely failing to live up to the gift to hockey romance Lexi claimed this book would be it was short and readable enough. Girl loves her similes though this book had at least 500 of them. And the hockey was accurate I suppose but who cares plenty of books get the hockey accurate enough for a romance! there needs to be more than accurate hockey and jokes told in similes to be a compelling story. And when you critique hockey romance books on your tiktok then declare you will do it better like lexi did you gotta actually deliver the goods like lexi did not

This one fell flat for me & I DNF’d it. I didn’t really connect with either of the MCs enough to keep reading.

This was cute but overall not necessarily remarkable. I enjoyed the setting and the side characters, but thought the main characters needed a bit more development.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled from the beginning with this book due to a specific scene. The female main character isn't interested in the male main character, and he follows her from one bar to another to convince her to interact with him. Now, in the book, this ends up fine. However, in real life, that is terrifying behavior!

Other than that, it was a pretty fun chaotic hockey boy and artistic girl romance. I do love artistic characters and the descriptions of what they create, but I wasn't able to move past that first meeting.

I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Who else is in their hockey romance era? Because I definitely am—and that’s what had me picking this one up. Sadly, it fell a little flat for me. The chemistry between the main characters felt more like a friendly scrimmage than a full-on power play. I found myself skimming, hoping for that spark to hit... but it never quite made it to the net.

That said, not every story will be a hat trick for everyone. If you’re into a slower, more subtle burn or just love a hockey setting, this might still skate into skate into your heart.

Shoot your Shot was a wonderful reading experience. These characters are written like actual people. I was able to slip right into the story and fall in love with the characters. I absolutely love Lucy and was able to identify with her chaios. Her arc in this book had so much growth and I loved celebrating her successes. Knowing the superstitious nature of athletes made this book even more real. I really felt like this could have been a true story. I can't wait to read more from Lexi

This is your average hockey romance book, there's tension, a golden retriever hockey player, and black cat artist. It was a fine book but didn't really stand out to me, I didn't feel the chemistry between Jaylen and Lucy, she was too grumpy for me and shut Jaylen down so hard in the beginning and he was too much of a pushover for my liking. The whole thing just felt forced and didn't flow naturally.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

For reference, I am a gigantic hockey fan (I still watch playoffs when my teams aren't playing), and I am a hockey romance connisseur. AND, I approach these two things (the sport and the books) as somewhat separate entitities - sometimes actual hockey talk can get in the way of the romance, and romance isn't present in actual hockey. But...it IS nice to have an FMC who isn't cookie cutter, and feels slightly less cliche. At the same time, I found the FMC to be a little exhausting in the beginning, but I gave her time to grow, which I'm glad I did!

I appreciate that the spice shows up early in the book, and I really liked Jaylen. Sometimes the writing felt stilted - show, don't tell. Instead of "I feel a pit of guilt sink into my stomach...", use "A pit of guilt sunk into my stomach..."

I think this was a great debut novel, and I can't wait to see Lexi's writing continue to grow.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I first became familiar with Lexi LaFleur Brown a few years ago on TikTok, as she talked about her past experiences with hockey, both playing it herself and being married to a retired NHL player.

Shoot Your Shot follows Lucy, an aspiring tattoo artist, and Jaylen, a struggling NHL player, as their one night together turns into something more. Jaylen was cut from his team right before he met Lucy for the first time, but the morning after their night together, he signs a one-year contract, so of course, he is led to believe that Lucy is his good luck charm. Now he just has to convince her to play the part. Lucy knows that she jumps from one relationship to the next, so she is determined to put her career first going forward. The last thing she needs is Jaylen being relentless in his pursuit of her.

This was a quick and easy read, but I don’t know how much of it will stand out to me in a few months. The writing was simple and to the point, but the sex scenes were a bit awkward. I will say that the first introduction we get of Lucy makes her seem like the “I’m not like other girls” girl, a characterization that she would hate, but I did come to like her more and more as the book went on.

this is a big trope-fest, which is great if that's your thing! but for me, many of the tropes fell flat because there were so many that they couldn't really be fully explored. lucy and jaylen were both characters i cared about, but i wish that there was more of a believable connection between the two of them.

A debut romance novel written with wit, passion, and a winding path to a happy ending. Lucy is a guarded and creative artist who is on the way to reconnecting with her childhood passion for painting and drawing. Jaylen is a former NHL golden boy who is trying to bounce back from a disappointing season with grit and determination. These two opposites spend what’s supposed to be one night of freedom together before partying ways, only to find themselves showing up to work together everyday, and with Jayden convinced Lucy’s his lucky charm, their story is just beginning.

This book stood out from other hockey romance books due to the realism of the game. Now that I myself have become a hockey fan I really liked this aspect of it, and the author’s love for the game shines through. There were also some truly funny one-liners and quips that had me laughing along with the characters.

However I will say this book was VERY tropey which sometimes bordered on stereotypical and boring. For a debut this isn’t exactly surprising, but a little disappointing nonetheless. This played into the ending feeling too convenient, and like everything was all just too wrapped up in a bow at the end.

I don’t know if I’d reach for this author again, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I couldn’t get behind the FMC’s behavior.. she was a bit rude for no reason. It reminded me too much of Alexis’ behavior from Part Of Your World and I’m choosing myself so I’m going to DNF.

DNF’d at 54%

I REALLY tried to like this book. And I tried so hard to finish it… but the FMC is just so mean and annoying that it’s hard to get past it. I was very excited for this ARC bc I love hockey romances, but I think maybe my expectations were just too high for this one.

Shoot Your Shot was a bookI was looking forward to reading, especially as Lexi LaFleur Brown's husband is an NFL player. Yet, at around that 17% mark, I was cringing at the dialogue that was supposed to be "banter" and wasn't a fan of either character. I chose to "not finish" this book. There are a lot of hockey romances out there and this isn't one I'd suggest..

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy listen and I enjoyed the author's writing style. There was no really drama, everything was resolved relatively quickly except towards the end. I wasn't thrilled about how Lucy handled the situation but did remind myself that she's still relatively young and had never been in a serious relationship before. I do plan to read to more of the author's books.

This was everything I have wanted from a hockey romance.

On top of the more realistic hockey knowledge, there was also weird grand standing during play. I also loved both JJ and Lucy both as their own characters and together.

If this is how Lexi is going to continue to right her hockey romance, sign me up!

To be completely honest, I was unable to finish this book. I tried my hardest to enjoy it, and I usually love a good hockey romance, but I felt the overall romantic chemistry was lacking! As someone who considers herself pretty knowledgeable about hockey, the hockey terminology and aspects were actually pretty accurate! I would like to think this is because of Lexi's knowledge of the game itself through her personal life, so this was certainly a win in that department. But the main "romance" was hard for me to believe. Obviously, a one-night stand doesn't magically evolve into a relationship overnight (well, most don't). But, like other friends of mine who have read & reviewed this book, it felt very similar to a friends-with-benefits scenario than an actual couple.

So, overall, this book got the first part of a hockey romance, the hockey aspect, pretty well. It was the romance that was lacking/unbelievable. And again, something that doesn't work for me doesn't necessarily mean it won't work for others!

Because of my low score and the fact that I only got about 85% of the way through/DNFd, I did not choose to share my review on socials. I don't review books I DNF.

sooo amazing! I loved this book by someone with an actual hockey background and a background in being a dmc in a hockey romance story!