I decided to write this book a 3.75 rounded up to a 4 star. As someone who is an avid hockey fan, I have felt hockey romances lacked the deep understanding of the sport and the intentionality of making the MMC a hockey player as opposed to any other sport. This book absolutely delivers on the hockey IQ and genuine struggles that a professional athlete could be facing amidst a developing romance. Unfortunately while there was the real world hockey application, this book isn't perfect in its other real world applications. Some of the dialogue feels stunted or well-written but not actually written in the way you would talk to someone face to face. The pacing of the book also felt a bit strange at times as there were big time jumps between months never addressed that made the timeline confusing. A personal nitpick is the 3rd act which fell victim to my least favorite trope and really took away from the soft romance that was developed throughout the rest of the story.
Overall, I want to congratulate Lexi on her debut novel and with some writing under her belt, I look forward to seeing what she does next.

I really enjoyed this debut novel By Lexi LaFleur Brown (who is hilarious on TikTok). The novel is about Jaylen who is an "out of luck" hockey player who may be past his prime and never play again. He goes out one night and meets Lucy, a feisty artist and the next day he gets a 1 year contract to play. Jaylen has a theory that Lucy is his lucky charm but he has to try and win her over for her to agree to play along.

4 stars. I thought it was so cute and well done. I read it in one day. Comes out March 11, 2025!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

This was a cute opposites attract romcom between an aspiring tattoo artist and an NHL player.
It took a bit of time for me to feel the chemistry with this couple, but it ended up being a fun low stakes story. I enjoyed the banter, humor, and vulnerability of the main characters.

My only gripe is the usage of the phrase "tattoo gun" instead of "tattoo machine." I don't know any professionals that call it a gun.

I had a hard time feeling the butterflies with this couple in the beginning but man did they grow on me! This was so fun to read, my only criticism (besides Lucy being incredibly daft at times) is the terrible fake NHL team names.

I was interested in Shoot Your Shot because of Lexi LaFleur Brown's unique position as a former NHL player's wife. I know I often see inaccuracies in my own profession so I thought she would have an interesting take. I think anyone who is a hockey fan will appreciate her detail in describing the sport. A lot went over my head someone who mainly reads hockey romance and does not watch the sport.

One difference I did notice was how Lexi wrote about the hockey community. Her version feels less idealized with our heroine Lucy feeling like she doesn't fit in and our hero feeling pressure given the lack of diversity. I did have some mixed feelings about a white woman writing an interracial romance but given that Lexi's husband is black I felt a bit more comfortable with it. I think each reader will have to decide for themselves how they feel about that.

I loved the inclusion of Jaylen's mental health struggles. I loved that Lucy was supportive but didn't solve the problem and encouraged Jaylen to get professional help. I will say Jaylen got better very quickly and hit less bumps in the road than many people struggling with similar issues. That can happen but I would say it's rare.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I can't wait to see what Lexi writes next! Fans of hockey romance should definitely give this one a try! Particularly if you are a fan who wants as much accuracy as possible.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of “Shoot Your Shot” in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy and Jaylen appear to be polar opposites, but they are polar opposites that you spend the entire book rooting for. The side characters are also well developed.

The story is a little disjointed in places. Sometimes it’s as if the author wants to say everything but then doesn’t follow through with it.

While I appreciate the accuracy, if you are a casual hockey romcom fan, some hockey logo and terms may go over your head.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

This book was cute. I love me a sports romcom and this one had great characters that I really enjoyed. The downside for me was that the story seemed a little clunky and disjointed at times, but overall it was still entertaining!
I will say, as a girl from Buffalo, it withered my heart a little to see the area referred to as “upstate NY” because we are western New York proud here, and it also threw me for a loop with their hockey team being called the “Buffalo Bisons” when we have a buffalo bisons team and it’s our local minor league baseball team 🤣 Overall, this was a fun read

“Shoot your Shot” follows Lucy, an aspiring tattoo apprentice, who meets Jaylen on a night out. The next day, Jaylen gets offered a one-year temporary contract. He, like many hockey players, is incredibly superstitious and once he gets it in his head that Lucy is the reason for his recent success, he won’t rest until she agrees to be his good luck charm.

Not only do I love hockey, but I also am a big fan of Lexi, so I was so excited to read her debut novel! One of my pet peeve’s in hockey romances is the incorrect details about the sport, so her knowledge of hockey really shines through. I loved the representation of queer characters and also how she explored mental health. Jaylen is refreshingly different from the stereotypical hockey romance male lead. Instead of suffering from toxic masculinity, he is vulnerable and willing to talk about his mental health struggles.

At some points, the pacing and the transitions were a bit off. I would have loved more development about their transition from friends to being a couple! Overall though, this is a cute and quick read. I’m looking forward to see what she writes next.

Thank you Netgalley, Harlequin, and Canary Street Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a super fun palette cleanser for me in between a lot of books. There was a lot of banter and sass and both MCs were very strong. I also think it was unique that it was a tattoo artist and hockey player and that the FMC was more the grump in a grumpy sunshine trope.

Full review on TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTY9vn31Y/

This is not by any means a perfectly written book but it IS a fun ride and what it misses in flow and structure it makes up for in charm and likability. Jaylen is an absolute delight, and it was really excellent to have so much casual queerness in this. It was also huge to have a hockey romance without inundating the book with misogyny so big shout out to Lexi for that! All in all, if you like the genre, you’ll like this book. I hope she writes more!

This book was absolutely adorable. It was a slower start for me but once I got to around 20% in, I was hooked. Jaylen was the ultimate book boyfriend. He cared for Lucy in the best ways. He let her pursue her dreams and didn’t hold her back. I loved that about him. The chemistry between these two main characters was everything. This was my first book by Lexi but definitely not my last. Highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced reader copy.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved Lucy and Jaylen’s story, and how they both grew throughout the story both individually and together. There were also so many great side characters in this story that I loved and would happily read their full stories if the author decided to go that route! I haven’t watched a lot of hockey, but I still enjoyed that aspect of the story as well. Overall, it was a fun rom-com that I’d recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book. I love myself a hockey romance but this book fell flat for me. I really wanted more from the main characters Lucy and Jaylen. I felt like their dialogue was very monotone and very choppy at times. The story line wasn’t anything new either. I felt like I’ve read the book before but with a dialogue I didn’t enjoy. As a queer person I loved the inclusion, but it didn’t feel genuine to me. A lot of queer stereotypes all put together made me roll my eyes. It was a decent book but I wouldn’t be interested in reading a second book if it’s going to be made into a series.

Lexi LaFleur Brown’s Shoot Your Shot is an enjoyable and light-hearted exploration of relationships, ambition, and self-discovery. The book has a conversational tone that makes it easy to dive into, and the author’s humor and honesty shine through in many moments.

The protagonist’s journey feels relatable—navigating love, career goals, and personal insecurities is something most readers will connect with. Brown does a great job of capturing those everyday struggles in a way that feels real and, at times, quite funny.

That said, while the book delivers a solid dose of entertainment and inspiration, I found myself wishing for a bit more depth in certain areas. Some characters felt underdeveloped, and a few plot points wrapped up too quickly, leaving me wanting a more thorough exploration of the themes.

Overall, Shoot Your Shot is a good pick if you’re looking for something light, fun, and motivating. It’s a breezy read that may leave you reflecting on your own ambitions—but don’t expect it to dig too deep.

3.5/5 Stars - Rounded up!

A hockey wife writing a hockey romance....say less! I cannot tell you how fast I ran to get a copy of this book. I stumbled onto Lexi LaFleur Brown on TikTok, where she sets the record straight about hockey wives.

Her first novel Shoot your Shot follows Lucy and Jaylen as they navigate their relationship. Lucy is an aspiring tattoo artist, hoping to score an apprentice job by working hard as an assistant. After a hard day she runs into Jaylen at a bar and try as she might to get him to leave her alone, he persists. They end up having a one-night stand and he is gone before she wakes up the next morning.

Jaylen started out his hockey career at the highest of highs but has been unable to keep it there. He is now without a contract and leaving to return to his hometown. He decides a one-night stand with the girl he cannot keep his eyes off of will not hurt anything. The next day he gets an offer of a one-year contract to stay and play for the Rainiers and Lucy is forced by her boss to paint a mural in their facilities. What follows is a journey from enemies to friends to lovers.

The first couple of chapters were slow for me and I wondered if I had made a huge mistake. Boy was I wrong. After those first chapters the book picked up and grabbed me by the throat and never let go. There was a lot of depth to both of these characters. They both had past trauma that they needed to overcome. The banter between these two was great! They had such chemistry from the start. Don't forget about the hockey!! So much hockey, we finally got a hockey romance that talked about the game. Such a breath of fresh air.

I thought this was a great debut novel. I would not be mad if I had to read books about some of the other characters here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. This is my very honest review.

I know Lexi LaFleur Brown from TikTok so I was super excited when I learned she was writing her own hockey romance. This was a good first novel. It’s was cute and funny and I liked both main characters. I found the story was paced well, amd kept me entertained. I did feel like the books could’ve benefitted from fleshing out the characters a bit more because the reader could’ve connected more. Overall I thought this book was cute and a fun take on a hockey romance with a unique FMC and an adorable MMC.

Many thanks to Halequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to get this ARC.

Overall, I thought this was a fun hockey romance, with a nice balance of humor (Lucy and Jaylen's first night together) and serious (Jaylen's mental health issues and Lucy's daddy issues). I can tell that in the real world, I would not be friends with Lucy, but she is still a likeable character. Jaylen is very earnest and determined, and I adore him. I really liked that he fell hard, instantly, and not just because she knocked him to the ground when they collided in a bar.

I know part of this book's shtick is that the author wanted to write an hockey romance, since she *knows* the NHL very well because her husband played in it. However, there were some things that made me go "hmmm...." One thing in particular that really took me out of the story was.... how do I word this to avoid spoiling? The charity work that Lucy encouraged Jaylen to do? Seemed like way too much distraction for a player at the end of the season and going into playoffs.

As for the relationship: I liked the two of them together a lot, especially at the beginning when Jaylen was trying to win Lucy over. They were both very supportive of each other in their career goals, mental health, and family issues. I do think the thing that Lucy hid was kinda shitty, but I'm ok with how it was resolved.

This is a cute hockey romance that was cliché in all of the best ways! I love the characters and seeing how much they changed throughout the story. Their interactions are so quirky and the cultural references throughout the book are spot on. Overall, I really enjoyed this book And hope to see more from this author soon!

Thank you NetGalley for this digital ARC!

3.5 ⭐️ This was a fun and cute debut novel! As a hockey fan I truly enjoyed the more realistic side of being a hockey player and the small glimpses of that world. With that said, you could tell this was the author’s first book and something’s needed to be a bit more polished. However, I’m always going to hype up a former MN Wild wife.

Learning this book was written by a former hockey WAG, I immediately wanted to read. Shoot Your Shot has a different feel than most hockey romances. I liked how Jaylen and Lucy's relationship develops from their lucky charm dynamic into something real and seeing this transition throughout the book made the storyline exciting. However, I felt the characters were a bit one-dimensional. I wish they could have been developed more outside of the romantic elements. Overall, I think this was a cute, quick hockey romance that will appeal to those who enjoy witty banter and sports romance stories.