I enjoyed this book! I love a good slow burn romance, especially when you can feel the chemistry between the characters! Loved how the author touched on the mental health aspects of the characters. Was a cute and easy read!

This was an easy read but I wish it had more depth and was less trope-y. Each queer character including Lucy seemed to be a caricature of their sexuality personified. Some of the hockey terms that weren't explained went over my head and there was much more telling than showing throughout the book. Lucy was a very unlikeable main character and she didn't seem to have many redeeming qualities at all. I did love how supportive she was with Jaylen through his mental health struggles and how willing he was to let her be there for him during that time. Overall it was an okay book but didn't blow me away like I was expecting. I'm curious to see if Lexi LaFleur Brown will grow as an author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the review copy of this audiobook.

I loved the relationship between JJ and Lucy. But, this one fell a little short for me. I just couldn't connect to the characters. However, I would give this author another chance.

Unfortunately I DNF’d @ 44% i just couldn’t get into the story. I had a hard time connecting with both for storyline and the characters. I know there are readers who will love this book, but it’s not for me. Doesn’t mean I won’t read more of her books. The writing is there I just didn’t love the story as a whole

I really enjoyed the narrators for this book. They saved the story for me. I did find this book to be entertaining and had some really cute and funny parts but it did fall flat for me in places. Although I loved both main characters I did find that they did not have much chemistry together.

Overall this book was fun just not memorable to me but I would give this author another chance!

Thank you for this opportunity!

I read this book when it first came out after one of my hockey loving friends said this was the only hockey romance she would read. While I was relieved that it wasn't heavy on the hockey, I loved the non-traditional grumpy, bisexual, chronic "dater," black cat FMC. She's an aspiring tattoo artist, but really she's an artist and watching the smoke build between her and JJ was addicting. Lucy has great friends, but really thrives with the love-hate evolution of her relationship with JJ. The spice is great.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio and Net Galley for the audiobook.

The book is ok, the story is not that deep and I'm meh about the character. The banter and conflict felt kinda forced. Sadly I don't remember any of the side characters. The introduction of a fur baby was not needed. I do love the cover. I didn't listen to the whole book in one sitting, so I forgot the bases of the story is JJ forcing interaction because of his superstitious.

Not my cup of tea. I really wanted to like this because I love hockey romances. But this did not hit the mark for me.

This isn’t a bad book, but I didn’t feel a connection between the characters. They did have good character growth, but I wish there was more romance and less hockey information. I feel like I listened to a timeline of someone’s relationship and not a love story.

This is a heartwarming story of “when you know, you know”. The journey to complete strangers to friends to lovers was so sweet. We must protect JJ at all costs. I loved seeing both JJ and Lucy finding themselves and healing together (and maybe each other 🥹).

Jaylen “JJ” Jones is an NFL hockey player who is unsure where he would be playing. Lucy Ross is an aspiring artist who feels that she is stuck. After meeting Lucy, JJ's luck changed, and the "logic" theory is that Lucy is his good luck charm. JJ and Lucy agree on a good luck text in exchange for tattooing practice for Lucy’s portfolio

Overall, I enjoyed the audiobook. At times, the story felt weighed down with unnecessary details. Other times, I felt that the pacing of the story was off. I am so glad I was listening to the audiobook. As someone who is a hockey romance fan, I felt that there was too much hockey in it. Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Roque did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life. The narrators enhanced my reading experience.

This was a mess.

DNF @49% after the FMC gives the MMC a tattoo, as a shop assistant hoping someday to become an apprentice and it being the first tattoo she's ever given. No other artists around, at night when the shop is closed. Having no tattooing experience, just having "a ton" of tattoos and being a former painter. Tattooing on skin is not the same medium as painting on paper?? hello??

Already was not loving the book but that's the final nail in the coffin lol

This has:
- Grumpy bi FMC x golden retriever straight MMC
- FMC is an assistant at a tattoo shop x NHL player MMC
- One night stand to forced close proximity
- Random plot arc of FMC needing to do a mural at the hockey rink - how this got booked, the world will never know.
- Queer friend group that falls into all the 'insert stereotype for identity' realm, that is more cringe than tongue in cheek. (lesbian friend being a uhaul girl moving super fast, cheating bisexual ex, FMC is a self described slutty bi, gay friend is just the 'yas queen' super loud gay best friend who talks sex life details with her.) I like when an author plays into stereotypes in a fun and nuanced way, this felt clunky and awkward any time a 'queer friend' showed up on page.
- Sex scenes are lackluster. Not the end of the world but there's a lot of "he sucked her clit. she came. he thrust. she came. it was amazing" meh writing.
- The FMC is a certified cool girl, who is grumpy and not NLOG and is super cool and tattooed and did we mention she is cool?
- Telling rather than telling writing style, which isn't my thing.

Not even the narration could entice me to finish this one.

Arc from Netgalley.

thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for the Audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ngl this is pretty mid. The narrators were both very good in their own respect I just didn't love them reading together. Idk I think the voices were so different in tone and range that didn't mesh completely for me.
Although the Lucy (FL) said like "I'm not your manic pixie dream girl" she most definitely was.
I will say I liked Lucy's story and background being SO queer, but to end up with a straight dude who know so little of the queer alt community is kinda disappointing and I know like it does happen in real life but also... no thank you.
JJ's (ML) story was fine, I think that it's great that he created a non-profit for his friend but with the everything that was going on with Lucy it felt small.
Also the beginning felt like that movie with Chris Pine and Lindsay Lohan, Just My Luck. Like the going back and forth with the idea of luck.
And for that reason 2.5/5 ⭐

A fun addition to the hockey player romance cannon…this one also includes some more serious topics like anxiety and depression, overcoming trauma from childhood and the mental health benefits of therapy and medication. Jallen is one of the few Black players in the NHL. He entered the league 5 or 6 years ago to great fanfare and high expectations. Unfortunately, performance pressures and the death of his childhood friend have left him being cut from the last team that’s interested in signing him…. Until he has a chance meeting with Lucy who becomes his “good luck” when he’s given a short term contract with the team that just cut him loose. Lucy has a lot of trust issues and a huge confidence deficit which has led to serial short term dating and her stopping being a talented painter and trying, in vane, to get an apprenticeship with a tattoo artist. This is the story of how these 2 people grow individually and together in a sexy and positive way.

Good story. The audio fell a little flat for me but I enjoyed it. The characters were sweet and their story was cute. This was my first experience from this author and I'm intrigued to read more.

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

This was a fun and quirky read, Lexi LaFleur Brown knows hockey and the hockey accuracy was such a refreshing change in the genre. Seeing Jaylen and Lucy lives intertwine while they both navigate challenging parts of their lives - his riding out a one year contract in the NHL and wondering what his future in the sport will hold and hers fighting for a tattoo apprenticeship when painting is her real passion - was so fun and interesting to hear unfold.

I really enjoyed the challenging relationships portrayed in this book and the dynamics were really well-written. The difficulties Lucy faces with her dad were really touchy and her surprise and appreciation for Jaylen standing up for her was amazing. I also loved Lucy’s support of Jaylen when he was dealing with anxiety. She didn’t judge him and was there when he needed her. The overall pacing was a little bit weird for me but it didn’t take me out of the story too much.

A great debut in my opinion and I look forward to seeing more from the author. The audiobook added a little extra fun and both narrators were great!

Thank you to Harlequin audio, Netgalley, and the author for the ALC!

Everyone loves a good hockey romance right? JJ is a hopeless romantic 💘

Jaylen “JJ” Jones’s hockey career is over. After not securing an NHL contract with the Seattle Rainiers, Jaylen decides to bid the city farewell with a final night of fun, blowing off steam with an anonymous one night stand. But when a last-minute roster spot opens up on the Rainiers, he connects his luck to the girl he spent the night with. Superstitious Jaylen is desperate to keep her around—his career depends on it.
Aspiring tattoo artist Lucy Ross isn’t so sure about the proposition to remain Jaylen’s lucky charm—she’s been called a lot of things in her life, but good luck has never been one of them. But stuck in a career slump, Lucy has everything to gain. Hoping for an apprenticeship hasn’t offered much stability, and Jaylen is willing to pay any price to get Lucy to agree…so maybe sending him a routine text message before each game won’t be too hard.
What starts as an agreement to trade favors—a good luck text in exchange for tattooing practice for Lucy’s portfolio—quickly turns into sizzling chemistry that’s too delicious to deny. But Lucy’s been in too many situationships to even think about getting attached again, and Jaylen is clearly only with Lucy as long as it’s helping his gameplay…
Neither of them expecting getting lucky could be so complicated.

Thanks to NetGalley & Harlequin Audio for the ALC of this book!

Shoot Your Shot
by Lexi LaFleur Brown
Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio; Jamal Roque
Publisher Harlequin Audio

If you looking for a cute hockey romance this is the book for you. It’s a quick read and you got to love the characters. This is a love story between a short, sassy tattoo artist, and a big old hockey player who is just so lovable.

This was a love hate read for me. I loved the premise of our FMC being the “lucky charm” and a one night stand turning into this almost fake dating kinda deal where he’s trying to win us over but the pacing felt off and times and it felt like the diversity was just a laundry list of stereotypes and ticking a box.

Fun and flirty, but lacking depth

Shoot Your Shot is a breezy, easy read with charming characters and plenty of playful banter. Lexi LaFleur Brown captures the energy of a modern romance well, and the chemistry between the leads is undeniably entertaining.

That said, the story often felt a bit surface-level. The character development could have gone deeper, and some emotional moments didn’t quite land. The plot also leaned heavily on familiar tropes without offering much of a fresh twist.

Still, if you're looking for a light, feel-good romance to breeze through in an afternoon, this might be a good pick. Just don’t expect it to linger with you long after you turn the last page.