This was a good hockey romance book. It dove deep into the characters and their flaws. It had fun romcom moments. It included LGBTQ+ characters and tackled mental health. The main characters had a lot of personal growth. I enjoyed the narrators of the audiobook. I think it was really well done.

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 an audio I 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 audio.

I enjoyed this audiobook. It was a quick, easy listen and I thought the narrators did a good job. 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 did enjoy the author's writing and plan to read/listen to more of her books.

I received this audio after the book was published so I did immersive reading! It was a delight! I also am a titkok fan of Lexi so it was fun to see her personality shine through, I wish more authors would be so active on social media! I will say it heightened my experience. I will say I did not feel an emotional connection between the characters, attraction yes, but I wish I could have felt deeper emotions. More tension & longing would have put this book in a top tier category for me!

I have been waiting to read this and I’m here to say it’s worth the wait! I loved this story and it was perfectly spicy. I loved that it was diverse. The plot was addicting and I didn’t want to stop listening.

Plus the narrators were perfect!

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for this arc!

I enjoyed listening to this book it's about a hockey romance. I liked having Jaylen's POV and hearing how he struggles with mental health and him coming to terms with it. Also, Lucy's struggle with family and learning that she deserves love was great! It was an easy listen it did get a little slow at time, but I enjoyed it.

I have never read anything by this author, but I will be looking out for other books they write in the future. I really enjoyed the story as well as the pacing of the story.

2.5 stars — and I’m rounding down because the audiobook made it worse
Huge thanks to Harlequin Audio for the ALC via NetGalley 💌

Premise? Ex-hockey golden boy Jaylen “JJ” Jones has one last shot at making it to the NHL, and he’s convinced a one-night stand with a grumpy, tattoo-loving stranger named Lucy is the reason for his sudden good luck. So… he pays her to keep texting him before games. She agrees (??) because she’s stuck in life and could use the money and tattoo practice. Obviously, they catch feels. Obviously, it gets messy.

Okay but… whew.
This book was like if you took all the popular tropes, shoved them in a blender, and forgot to season it.

Let’s get into it.

JJ = golden retriever energy but no spine.
Lucy = black cat but with the charm of a wet napkin.

This book should’ve been a whole vibe… but it was just... vibes-less.

The tropes were trooping but with no depth:
✧ Grumpy x sunshine
✧ He falls first
✧ Forced proximity
✧ Relationship of convenience
✧ Golden retriever hero x emotionally unavailable heroine
But it felt like ✨tropes for the sake of tropes✨ — no actual connection.

Lucy?? Girl was trying to be edgy but it came off more like “pick me but make it nihilist.” Her whole personality was “I have walls up” and “I do tattoos” and “I don’t do feelings”… okay? and???
JJ?? Bro needed a personality. Being nice isn’t a personality. He was just kinda… there. Like a walking therapy blanket. No tension. No fire. No real chemistry. I wanted to shake them both.

And let’s talk about the writing.
Y’all.
It felt like fanfic written during lunch break.
Tell, don’t show. Awkward dialogue. Way too much inner monologue and not enough actual relationship building.
Every scene was like: he says something → she rolls her eyes → they kiss → end scene. Repeat.

The audio??
The narration just made Lucy even more annoying and JJ even more bland. I ended up listening at 2x speed just to get through it.

There were moments where I smiled, sure. A couple decent lines, some good banter here and there. And the hockey stuff? Dead accurate. You can tell Lexi knows her game.
But a romance novel needs more than a strong slapshot. Give me the angst. The tension. The depth. Not just “you’re hot, let’s kiss” and a bunch of quirky side characters that feel like they were grown in a lab for TikTok approval.

In short:
Good hockey.
Flat romance.
Bland writing.
Forgettable characters.
Too many pop culture references.
And smut that read like IKEA instructions.

Wouldn’t reread. Wouldn’t recommend.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I love the story set up as an idea, I love the concept, and I love the pieces, but it does not seem to fit together. I feel like the book could have benefited from some development work to link the pieces together better. I also felt like there was a lot of being told what happened instead of being shown what happened.

There were some great pieces in the book, and I loved the accuracy and inclusion of hockey details. Part of the book they are in game seven of playoffs, and I read this as the record setting games sevens between the Avalanche and Stars and Blues and Jets happened, so that was really cool.

If she writes another book I will pick it up because I felt like this one had potential.

Shoot Your Shot is a cute, easy to read, hockey romance. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, though the first few chapters felt like a major slog to get through. I started and stopped this book several times before finally getting to the point where I was engrossed enough to finish. I did end up liking the book, but it felt a little off at points. It also gave me a little bit of anxiety as to how the main character was treated at some points.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I thoroughly appreciated this experience. It was distinctively quirky while addressing significant themes. The chemistry between the characters was invigorating, and I found their clumsy interactions delightful, often making me giggle. Lucy was an entertaining character with a personality I resonated with. Jayden a golden retriever, seemed like an ideal match for Lucy. Additionally, the audiobook served as an excellent remedy for my reading slump.

2 stars⭐️

I really wanted to like this book because it had a decent plot judging by it's description. Upon listening to it, this book felt very much like a wattpad story, and I wasn't really a fan of either of the main characters. In fact, the FMC felt like a bully at times, but I did admire her dedication to her career. One of the FMC's best friend made too many innuendos while the other best friend had a lot of unexplored potential as a character. Although the book did discuss his mental health journey, besides that the MMC felt like he lacked depth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the audiobook arc.

Shoot Your Shot was such a fun way to get lost in the hockey romance world! reverse grumpy sunshine was so much fun, and I love the creativity behind the artist FMC. Also loved that the POC MMC was very obvious in his tone and mannerisms, its not often written so well, and that was noticed right off the bat!

Their "accidental" one night stand that turned into forced proximity turned into he falls first... gave me everything I needed in a hockey romance.

Need a fun trip to the hockey rink with a spunky (hopeful) tattoo artist and a hockey player with just too much optimism?? You will love this one!

Also, the audio was AMAZING. I loved the way the narrators told this story, the casting was perfect!!

one of the best interracial hockey romances I have picked up!

First time reading a Book by this author, and it was cute! The way the Meet Cute happened without really happening, if you get my drift. I received the audiobook via Netgalley to listen to for my Honest opinion, and I can honestly say that I did love both narrators, Kristen DiMercurio; Jamal Roque are new to me narrators, and even though Jamal was way too enthusiastic for me in some parts but I loved it! And that epilogue was so fun! loved that even more as well!

I loved this audiobook! I enjoyed the dynamic between our two main characters and the situations they were both in. I liked how the comedy was woven into the book alongside the romance!

The female main character was awesome. I think she was written well a lot of people who struggle are really good about being able to help others but it takes longer to be able to fix their own issues. It’s nice to have a book where the male main character also have anxiety and panic attacks and using a huge platform to say hey look even the toughest looking of us can be affected. The story line was cute it was a breath of fresh air not to see the same type cast for the female main character. Her edgy more open vibe was endearing and made her a lot more relatable. I like the fact that they actually took time to figure out what they wanted she worked on her own self for two weeks before going back and he realized he was able to be his own positivity. The fact that it wasn’t a oh we are going to be married quickly made me happy too. I like the fact the relationship started out with faults rather than trying to only promote good things. I liked the narration for this audiobook the narrator really met the feel of this story and was good for it. It flowed well and I didn’t feel like I needed to listen to it at all faster rate.

For all romances that have a 3rd act break up (reviewed by me at least) are gonna have a lower rating than one that doesn’t. This one was especially heinous and ruined all the good parts I loved about this book especially when it happened at 90% through. I loved Bisexual rep that was in this book, like it wasn’t a huge focal point but so present and there enough to just ✨be✨. I loved the hockey aspect, the funny rocky start between this couple, and the setting in Seattle. Thank you Harelquin Audio for this ARC copy. #arc #hockeyromance

Disclaimer: I received this as an ALC in exchange for an honest review— thank you! 🤗

Hockey, accurate. Queer rep, got it. Mental health rep, got it.

I just found the FMC to be insufferable and kind of a pick-me? Lucy did soften up a bit after dating Jaylen, and the self-sabotage was real, but I think I was able to get over it by the end of the book. I did like how she was able to create a healthy boundaries for herself after Jaylen's article was released.

J, JJ, Jaylen... my dude is just so nice. Aside from being diagnosed with anxiety and depression, he was kind of too perfect? He didn't really have any other flaw. His mental health was worked on fairly quickly and then he was just hitting milestone after milestone.

As a couple, they were kind of opposites, which is why they worked. They shared some cute moments. And definitely some... <i>quirky</i> ones. Insert cat cleaning scene.

I would rate this a 2.5 stars if I could, only rounded up because I felt the narrators in the audiobook did a good job at capturing the personalities of each character. Lucy's narrator really got the attitude of the FMC and her friends down. Jaylen's narrator could hit the energetic parts and the more mellow dialogue.

Shoot your shot

Thank you NetGalley for an ALC in return for an honest review.

I was super excited to read this because hockey romance is my vibe. However, these characters didn’t do it for me. The story had the golden boy hockey player, artist girl, and tension; but the romance didn’t hit for me. The characters were lacking chemistry and I couldn’t picture them together, which then made it hard to follow them for the duration of the story.

I did appreciate the detail of the hockey aspect. Sometimes hockey romances stray from the game but I liked that there was information and knowledge of the sport in this story.

I didn’t love the writing style and found myself often confused as to what was happening. I’m not sure if it was because I was listening to it or because there were minor inconsistencies in the writing.

Overall, this wasn’t for me, but I am glad that I listened to it.