Really challenging to read and made it through only a half dozen chapters as the repetition of major plot motivations was so frequent that it felt either really poorly edited or that the author assumed readers to have no memory whatsoever. Incredibly tiresome heroine as well, pick me energy top to bottom, and not someone I could ever see myself enjoying reading about.

Lexi LaFleur Brown’s debut novel, Shoot Your Shot, delivers an irresistible mix of hockey, humor, and steamy romance that will have readers hooked from the first page. This enemies-to-lovers, superstitious romance is equal parts heartwarming and sizzling, with a cast of characters that feel instantly relatable and engaging.

Jaylen “JJ” Jones’s career is on the line, and in his desperation to turn his luck around, he strikes an unlikely deal with Lucy Ross, a talented but struggling tattoo artist. After a steamy one-night stand, JJ believes that Lucy is his good-luck charm, and he convinces her to send him good luck texts before each game in exchange for tattooing practice to help boost her portfolio. It’s a quirky, fun setup that quickly becomes the perfect backdrop for a steamy slow-burn romance.

Brown does an excellent job balancing the playful banter between the two leads with deeper emotional layers. Jaylen, superstitious and desperate to salvage his hockey career, and Lucy, determined to prove herself in a competitive and male-dominated field, both bring personal baggage and insecurities to the table. What starts as a mutually beneficial agreement blossoms into an undeniable connection—one that both are reluctant to acknowledge, especially given their past experiences with love and relationships.

The chemistry between JJ and Lucy is palpable, and their relationship unfolds in a way that feels both natural and steamy. The tension is built expertly, and their emotional growth is intertwined with their physical attraction, making for a deeply satisfying journey.

While the premise might seem like standard sports romance fare, Brown injects enough humor, wit, and emotional depth to make it stand out. The book leans into its steamy moments without ever losing sight of the vulnerability and real-life complications that often come with romance. Lucy’s journey toward self-acceptance and Jaylen’s growth as a person beyond his career make for a compelling read that is more than just a traditional sports romance.

In addition to the romance, the secondary characters are also well-drawn, adding humor and emotional resonance to the story. Lucy’s relationships with her friends and her aspirations as a tattoo artist create a layered narrative that will resonate with anyone who has struggled with finding balance between ambition and personal life.

Shoot Your Shot is a fun, steamy, and heartfelt debut that offers both romance fans and sports enthusiasts a story that’s impossible to put down. Lexi LaFleur Brown has set a high bar with this one, and readers will be eagerly awaiting her next book.

This was an okay debut, but I think I went into it with my expectations too high. I felt like it was trying so hard to be self aware that it fell off the deep end into near satire. Every gay character felt like a caricature of harmful stereotypes, and not in a tongue-in-cheek way. The writing style was frustrating in that Lexi would start showing us something about her characters only to go off on an internal monologue that bordered on a lecture about whatever she wanted readers to understand, rather than trusting us to extrapolate that information for ourselves. I wanted more from this.

This was a really cute and fun quick read. The main characters were entertaining and loved the way they would lean on each other. I can actually picture this in my mind as a cute rom com movie with the main girl being more grungy then I feel was pictured in the book. they met at an off chance and then their relationship grew. I loved it.

I believe this was an excellent debut novel. The luck charm element of the plot was unexpected, which was well-executed (credit to the author). I appreciate that, despite Jaylen and Lucy being complete opposites when viewed from the outside, they are actually very similar once you look beyond the physical characteristics. This is what is most significant. She may not conform to the stereotypical image of a WAG, and he may appear to have everything, but what matters is what lies within.
The author has a clear understanding of the sport and integrates it seamlessly into the story. It is not merely a love story with hockey as a background; it is an integral part of the narrative.
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

🏒My rating: 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

It did take a while to get into this one because there was the slow burn into their friendship, and then eventually a relationship which was achingly built up. Jaylen and Lucy were very complex characters, so in that way they were very realistic and had quite a few bumps in the road to get over before we started seeing the sparks of love in them. The love we got in this story was not only for each other, but the importance of self love and reflection, which really is a driving point in the story that actually got me.

It was that last 40% of the book where it hooks you, and it feels more like a rom com with the will they won’t they feel to it. I just adored Jaylen at the end of the book because he really healed himself with the help of Lucy, and he did the same for her. The relationship was not as deep as I was expecting to get, but I’m happy to say that the end of the book really changed my love for them as a couple once they gave into their feelings for the other. This was not an easy and fluffy read to get through, but it was rough and emotional rollercoaster that I ended up happy to be on. The ending was sweet, refreshing, and perfect for who Jaylen and Lucy really were at their core. Quirky and finally content with their lives

I tried reading this a few times, but it just wasn’t for me. I don’t know what it was but I didn’t like it at all. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Super late giving this but it took me some time to read. I did not like this. Within the first few pages the character was immediately not like other girls and it rubbed me the wrong way. The amount of self insert was just icky and tbh the characters had no chemistry. My other issue was the queer rep. It felt forced and awkward. I don’t recommend this book at all

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from netgalley. When I started this book it really set the scene which I couldn’t picture it going anywhere. I’m really glad I hung in there. The plot was so enjoyable as were the characters. It was a fun, quick read.

Thank you for the advanced copy. I love Lexi and was so excited to read her book. It’s clear she knows a lot about hockey and made sure to include realistic moments within the book. Characters were a bit annoying in some moments.

Thank you to HTP Books, HTP Hive, and Harlequin Audio for the free book and advanced listener copy. These opinions are my own.

This is an opposites attract hockey romance. Lucy is an aspiring tattoo artist who doesn't follow sports. Jaylen is a hockey player trying to get back to the potential he had as a rookie. He's really superstitious and decides chatting with Lucy is his good luck charm for playing well.

I really liked the funny snark from Lucy's POV. I appreciated the queer representation throughout the book. And I found the storyline with her father quite interesting. For Jaylen, I enjoyed seeing his striving and relationship with his teammates. But I wanted more from the romance between the two.

Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Roque narrated the audiobook. I would have preferred duet narration, as neither narrator did a great job matching the other character's voice.

3.5 stars rounded up

I wasn't sure about this hockey romance when I saw it on Netgalley, as I pretty much forgot I had a copy of this in my possession on my Kindle and remember that I had it when I received an email in my inbox stating that it was out and thanking me for reading and not to forget to post the reviews. So I decided to start reading it and I was glad that I did. I absolutely loved Lucy and JJ, they were perfect for each other and balanced each other out without even knowing what they were doing, even though their friends did. It was like that one fateful meeting at the club just perfectly aligned and fell into place turning into kismet.

Thank you NetGalley for ebook for the exchange for a review!

This was one of my most anticipated reads and love the author on socials. It was nice learning about different hockey terminology but that’s kind of it? The romance was alright.

I had a few problems with this title, but I did end up finishing it and thought the romance storyline resolved well.

My biggest problem was with the dialogue of this book. The characters felt more like caricatures of who they were supposed to be, and at times it felt like I was reading a quirky millennial standup set.

I also thought the pacing of the romance storyline was not enjoyable. It took a very long time for the characters to express interest in each other romantically, And even after they did, the FMC was still not under the impression that they were together for 65% of the book. I also thought that the breakup in the 85-90% range felt too outsized for that late in the book.

I was very excited for this title and will absolutely try again with this author’s next book as I enjoyed her voice, I just didn’t love some of the story and plot choices

The book is cute and I liked that it started out with him being interested and her not caring about him at all.

I didn’t feel super invested in the characters - Lucy gave up on her dreams after one bad night and I couldn’t really grasp what JJ’s deal was but once the story got going I became more interested into seeing how these two found their way back to each other.

The characters are a little two dimensional and the spice wasn’t all that spicy. It gained back a few points for me with the mental health representation. We could have used more Cooper!! And the epilogue was pretty great.

I have to say the reviews made me think this was going to be awful but I don’t think it was bad? The start was a bit rocky for me but I got into it quickly and found it easy to read. Was it the best book I’ve ever read? Absolutely not but it didn’t set out to be! I'd give it 3.5/5 stars.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing/Canary Street Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Overall, this story was meh. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrators. I had a difficult time liking the FMC. I found her to be annoying and whiny.

I was really hoping to finish this book before pub-day, but unfortunately came down with the flu and couldn't read more than a page or two before falling asleep or forgetting what I just read. That wasn't the book's fault though, so I gave it a second try after I fully recovered!

First of all, love the cover art. I am one to judge a book by its cover, and if I don't like the vibe the cover is giving, I just get disinterested. It's a character flaw of mine, but what can ya do?

The premise of the book was also super intriguing to me. Literally everything I know about hockey is from hockey romance novels, but I've learned that the players are crazy superstitious, so the whole ~be my good luck charm~ thing wasn't unpredictable, but I did like it better than some of the other hockey romance tropes out there.

The characters though... I did not love the FMC because she gave me some serious pick-me/I'm-not-like-other-girls girl vibes. The gay best friend seemed like he was just a stereotype rather than a fully developed character. Same with the lesbian character. The FMC's ex having a secret boyfriend the whole time she dated the FMC also seemed like the worst kind of bisexual stereotype. It was like the characters were developed by an AI chat bot that was asked to write stereotypical queer characters. I did, however, enjoy the golden retriever MMC falls for the prickly/hard to get FMC. I also thought the mental health aspects of the story were handled better than the queer aspects of the story.

Overall, I didn't hate it, but I was slightly disappointed by the execution. The idea of the book was great (5 stars) but the execution did quite meet my expectations.

I had high hopes for this one, but just couldnt get pulled in. It has potential and I think hockey romance readers would enjoy it. Do not let my mood reading bring you down.

all the hockey was great. lots of hockey terminology. the story was a bit lacking. black cat meets a golden retriever, who is diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks.

This romance debut, unfortunately, did not do it for me. There is so much "tell" over "show" happening to the point of exhaustion. The main characters have these repetitive internal monologues that contribute no depth and instead are simply reminders about something already mentioned 10 pages earlier. The main characters' respective drives and traumas are also introduced early on but in a way that feels "trauma dump"-esque. It takes so long to both get to a more in-depth and informed understanding of their experiences as well as for them to take action towards growth. This makes it difficult to both understand their motives as well as feel empathy about how their struggles influence struggle within their romantic relationship.

I'm optimistic for Lexi LaFleur Brown's future work, I can tell she wants to stuff her characters to the brim with heart and personality. I hope that as she explores her voice in this genre it becomes more focused.