This book really surprised me! I will absolutely be picking up more books from Gia de Cadenet. Mo and Jess were well-rounded characters who embraced their struggles/challenges. It may have taken Jess longer, but she got there in the end and that was really lovely to see. With the added fun of a Renn Faire and lots of interesting side characters. I would read a whole series just about Mo's family and/or the other teachers at the school. Really a lovely book with a lot of real things people deal with and overcome.

I really liked the premise of this book but something about it fell flat for me. I liked both of the characters and how they communicated, but it at times felt so super intense? There were a lot of big feelings processed in this book and some plot lines felt like they were left kinda unresolved. And while Jess and Mo do communicate well, it just didn't feel like a way people actually do communicate? Like no two people are ever that good about talking about uncomfortable things all the time. The Ren Faire plot was super fun though!

This was one of the sweetest books I have had the pleasure of reading in 2025.

I think that Jess and MO balanced each other out so well and truly were what the other needed in a partner to help them grow into better people. I loved the exploration of HSP for Mo and how he got to learn that it wasn't weird as he convinced himself and Jess was there to love him, not in spite of but partially because of. He was such a sweetie pie, I adored him and his little shy mannerisms.

Jess's exploration of grief, especially in the manifestation of it as physical pain, was very REAL. I appreciated how her journey was handled with care but still felt raw as you read her feelings about losing someone so special to her. I love how in tune with her Mo was and how he helped her realize she was hurting herself more than healing herself.

The little tiny gestures from both of them were so CARING and so SWEET I could not get enough of them. The Ren Faire bringing them together was so fun and I loved the inclusion of their unique hobbys!

There are definitely some great things about this book (I read an ARC). MMC is neurodivergent and the FMC is struggling with grief. And they are both gangpressed into being in a Renn fair. (I love a good Renn Fair). But somehow it didn't quite connect with me. I am not a huge fan of the "two people who like each other date", for me it misses a certain spark. I have no doubt that there are folks that will love love love this book. I thought the writing was top notch. It just missed me.

oh, this book was too cute, and to have some characters that are very sensitive and amazing people was even better. Jess just lost her sister and while dealing with that loss, she also must deal being in a new town and starting a new job. But during that she meets Mo, and it wasn’t all that sweet, it was pretty bad ass and funny. Mo is an awesome single dad who is highlight sensitive and when they finally get to know each other I loved how Jess was understanding and was the only one who took the time to actually get to KNOW him and actually SEEs him. Jess is a no nonsense type of woman and she lets it be known that she likes him and wants him, and also I love a book where both of the MC show so much growth, and being the SAP that I am, I love me a good happy ending

3⭐️ Loss of a loved one, single parent, neurodivergent MMC, blacksmithing, archery, a little forced proximity, and instant connection are some of the things you can read in Give Me a Shot. I enjoyed the openness Jess works through in the loss of her sister. Expressing grief can be such a struggle, but when you find the right person to talk to it can be so healing. Completely understand Mo’s struggle with social interactions. His being an extreme sensitivity would be so hard to handle on a regular basis.

Thank you to @netgalley, Random House Publishing, and the author for the advanced reader edition.

I enjoyed this read and finished it in three sittings! This is the first book I’ve read where one of the main characters was neurodivergent and that was a pleasant surprise. It emphasized how people who are neurodivergent come in all shapes in sizes and sometimes we should be open and accepting. Both Jess and Mo were complicated characters and I enjoyed their backstories. I did feel that their romance moved a little quickly or maybe some of it was left out but overall I enjoyed the read and would be interested in reading more from Gia De Cadenet!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a fairly cute book. I just couldn't find myself connecting with the characters. I am slightly dissappointed because I enjoyed Gia's last book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From grief over the loss of a close family member to heightened sensory awareness and more, Give Me a Shot goes beyond a light-hearted romance. The characters and the author’s interpretations felt unique for the often cliche romance genre, which I appreciated. There is a heavier and more vulnerable theme throughout, but these sensitive topics were handled thoughtfully.

There was an uneven feeling to the plot and pacing that never really sat right with me as I was reading it. The romance felt like it happens so suddenly, and much of their relationship development happens off page. I also was disappointed with the small sprinkle of actual Ren Faire content we got. It felt sort of shoved in at the end. I rarely say this, but I feel like an extra few chapters could have helped round out the story a bit.

I found out part of the way through reading that while this is a standalone book, the author has written two other books which feature two the MMC’s brothers. As a completionist when it comes to reading interconnected standalones, I wish I had known so I could have read those prior, but still was able to enjoy the book and didn’t feel like I was missing out.

3.5 rounded up. This was a super sweet story and I loved the neurodivergent representation, especially since I didn’t know much about HSP. I also really thought the depiction of grief and complex family dynamics was well done. Some of the banter just didn’t work for me and I think the Ren Faire felt a little uneven/disjointed so that contributed to my rating, plus I wanted a bit more dimension from the side characters. Overall though this was a quick, enjoyable read and I was rooting for Mo and Jess! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a swoony, highly emotional roller coaster of a love story featuring a neurodivergent Blacksmith MMC, Mo and Jessica, a female archer who is struggling to grieve her younger sister's violent death.

Mo and Jessica find themselves working together to save the Michigan Folk school they both love and the more time they spend together, the more their feelings for one another grow. I really loved getting to know Mo as a character who struggles with being a Highly Sensitive Person - he physically absorbs the feelings of those around him and finds it extremely draining. I've never come across a character quite like Mo and it was so refreshing to learn more about his type of neurodivergence!

Jessica herself is finding it hard to work through her grief and the pain over her sister's death is manifesting itself through bodily physical pain that doctors can't find the cause of. With help from both her friends and Mo, Jessica learns to let go of her anger and give into her grief in a cathartic and healing way.

Great on audio narrated by Natalie Naudus and Ryan Lee Dunlop, this is sure to be a standout for me this year and I would recommend it for fans of Cara Bastone's Promise me sunshine. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

Thank you to Dell for this advanced gifted copy!

Gia De Cadenet writes male MCs like no other. Maybe it’s because all of the men I’ve met from her are brothers but these three, Khalil (Getting His Game Back) and Karim (Not the Plan) and now Mo are deeply emotional men with women who have to slow down to enjoy them. And once those women get on the ride, they cannot get off.

Mo and Jess meet on opposite sides of her crossbow. She’s cleaning out the apartment of her recently departed sister and finds a large man in a leather apron washing his hands. She finds this grounds for aiming a crossbow at him while he explains that he’s a blacksmith with permission to be there. They do eventually work it out long enough to separate until they are drawn back together.

Jess is a champion archer and part of her settling into Detroit involves finding a place to practice. She ends up at the Michigan Folk School, where Mo just so happens to teach blacksmithing. Pretty soon they get looped into a scheme to save the Folk School after they lost their benefactor.

However, the scheme to save the school isn’t the most interesting part and it’s barely the key to their love story. The two of them and specifically how they care for one another in the quiet moments is what makes this story sing.

Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) which is a new to me form of neurodivergence. I really appreciate the care the author gave in explaining HSPs and how external stimuli affects Mo. He comes across as grumpy or sullen when in actuality he feels every emotion around him and internalizes it. When Jess clocks his emotionality within minutes of their second meeting, Mo breaks down and explains it all to her in more words than he normally uses in a month. Then she researches it, takes notes, and studies them before their next meeting.

In the meantime, Jess is reeling from the passing of her sister after a long life of suppressing her feelings. Her grief is manifesting as physical pain that she tries to ignore to no avail.

I find it ironic that they have opposite methods of approaching emotions but feel like puzzle pieces of one another. I love how they care for one another and how we get to feel the emotions they are feeling, or fighting, at the moment.

If you’re looking for something that will hit you in your chest for 300+ pages, this is your next read.

CW: Domestic violence (not between the main couple, mentioned)

This book was good.

I did enjoy these characters and this overall story, but I think this book just had a little too much going on at once. I also wish there would have been just a little bit more ren fair content as well. While I loved those aspects of this book it was overshadowed by how emotional and heavy this book was.

This book may have been just a me issue as well because I went into this book expecting a cute and funny rom-com, but this book was more of a heavy and emotional romance story without a whole lot of humor.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book. I may try re-reading this again in the future if I am feeling more in the mood for something heavy.

A blacksmith and an archer? Talk about your ren faire romance. This was sweet and a lot of fun in my opnion.

Triggers: DV (references to events), grief, loss,

This was such a wholesome book and heartwarming to read about 2 very guarded, but highly compassionate people find their person. Jess is grappling with loss of a sister that was taken in traumatic way. Mo is navigating life as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and raising his adorable daughter. Add baller ren skills (see: archery and black smithing) and a way to showcase them and love is the result. There is spice, but the plot is the heart of the story. Would recommend!

This is such a sweet book. I just wanted to give both of them a big hug the whole book. Jess is holding so much inside and I needed her to talk to someone about it. Mo is the perfect person for her. He is the cutest and wants to do everything he can for her. Jess is so attuned to his emotions and what he needs, he's never had someone like that before. I just really enjoyed this book.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't expecting much out of this book but I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was expecting a book with some animosity between two people with some archery and blacksmithing thrown in but instead got a book that deals with grief, learned about HSP (which I had never heard of), a very sweet romance with the archery and blacksmithing.

I also didn't realize that this is technically part of a series so I'm now considering reading more of this author's books since I enjoyed this one so much. Plus I get to see more of these brothers.

4.5 stars rounded up

A very sweet read. Mo is a good man, an incredible father who loves his daughter to the moon and back. He is neurodiverse and has created a lovely quiet structured life that works for him. Jess is trying to figure out how to move on with her life after the surprising death of her sister. She is emotionally stuck. The two meet under scary and somewhat funny circumstances. When they’re asked to help out to save a local school they work together neither is looking for anything other than saving the school. Maybe some ogling but Jess, but that is it! Really. It’s an easy gentle read of some will they, won't they and can they save the school and each other. I adore this author. She tackles some delicate topics in a kind, loving, educated manner in all of her books.

I wanted to like this story more. The heroine, Jess, has moved to Michigan where she has a job as a professor of feminist history at the University of Michigan. That’s a pretty prestigious position for a starting professor, but the author just gives her that job and doesn’t do much with it at all. Instead we get a lot of her grief over her younger sister’s death. She feels a lot of guilt because she thinks her brother-in-law was responsible for her sister’s death, but she doesn’t do anything about that except mope around and blame her parents for not doing anything to help her sister before it was too late. Her grief is so deep that she is suffering physically from it.

Mo, the hero, suffers from something I’d never heard of - Highly Sensitive Person. I went down an internet rabbit hole reading about this disorder. Mo is so highly empathetic that he suffers physically when he’s around too many people. Mo seems gruff and unfriendly, but he’s just protecting himself from too much human interaction. He actually is a sweetheart who just wants to help Jess. He appreciates that she’s sensitive enough to realize that he’s not just this gruff guy who does blacksmithing as a hobby.

She’s a former championship archer and they end up working together to help the Folk School where they both indulge in their hobbies by throwing a Renaissance Faire. They seem to become a couple quite easily. Earlier we learned that he hates for people to touch him, but he sure doesn’t mind Jess touching him.

I enjoyed the dueling POVs and seeing things from Mo’s side. He has a great relationship with his family and is willing to go to them for advice. She has a friend group who help her. I just felt that it all got wrapped up too easily.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This is a cute romance with a lot of emotional discussions. I appreciate the care and respect the author gave to these sensitive topics. There were some issues with the pacing which unfortunately lowered my rating.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.