A fun hockey romance to add to the list of other hockey romances out there. It's tough competition but this one is one I would recommend as a palette cleanser. I think Lexi was a breath of fresh air in her style of writing and her characters were something totally new to me. I enjoyed her pacing a lot. Narrated by completely new to me narrators but I did not mind them at all. I really enjoyed hearing new voices that allowed me to really let them belong to these characters.

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I don't usually read hockey romances but an IR romance written by a Hockey WAG peaked my interest. The pacing for the most part was good and I liked that although their relationship started as a one night stand it developed beyond the physical to the point where that wasn't a main focus. It took awhile for Lucy to open up but I liked that she and Jalen were able to be open and honest with each other.

With the amount of hockey romance out there, I’m not sure what compelled me to pick this one, but I’m glad I did! It was a cute story.

JJ’s hockey career is almost over when he has a one night thing with Lucy. He failed to secure a new contract with the Seattle Rainiers. But after his night with Lucy, things seems to turn around. He gets a call from his agent that someone on the team is hurt and they actually do want JJ. He plays that night and has one of his best games of his life. In fact every time he talks to Lucy, he plays amazing. Is Lucy his good luck charm?

Lucy is an aspiring tattoo artist who is looking for an apprenticeship. She agrees to keep in contact with JJ in exchange for some tattooing practice for her portfolio. They are kind of an opposites attract- he’s athletic and sport, she’s tatted and artsy. But they have a great connection. Lucy also turns her art career into painting murals at the Rainiers stadium.

There’s great representation in this book- JJ is a Black hockey player who went first in the NHL draft and has struggled with his mental health after his childhood friend turned to drugs and passes away. Lucy is bisexual and also has some issues with her alcoholic father, who ruined her art showcase in college and has caused her to turn away from her passion.

I liked JJ a lot- he’s open and honest and seems to really like Lucy, despite his lucky charm start. Lucy is very in her own head and picks fights with JJ that are one sided. This book has just the right amount of steam for me.

The author is a hockey player herself turned into a hockey influencer personality. This is her debut novel.

I loved the narrators!! They captured the characters' voices perfectly. The book 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.

What you get in Shoot Your Shot: Opposites attract, Sports romance, LGBTQ+, Dual POV romance. The hockey knowledge and references were the true shining star of this book for me. As a hockey fan, this was my absolute favorite part. The cast of the book is strong, funny, and diverse and I appreciate that both main characters undergo significant personal growth over the course of the book.
Unfortunately, I just felt like the chemistry between the main characters was lacking, which lost stars for me. Sure, I like them together, but it didn’t have that tension and spark that makes a romance stick out for me.
The narration for the audiobook was great. I love the dual POV narration and it included one of my favorite audiobook voices, so that was a definite hit for me.
This was good, but not great for me – enjoyable but lacking a spark.

This was fine but nothing special which was disappointing since I expected the author, who lives this life would have more.

I both read and listened to this book story wise it was a great debut novel. As an audiobook I loved that the voice actors matched the ethnicity of the characters. I wish this would have been a duet though as sometimes the voices took me out of the moment when they flipped into the other characters voices

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 really enjoyed the narrators of this audiobook. They kept me listening to the story. Overall, I felt like the FMC came across as whiny and I had trouble liking her character at all. This was a meh read.

This book just didn't pull me in, but it had potential. The narrators were ok, I don't think they were the issue. I think it was my mood reading just didn't click this time. Hockey romance fans would probably like it though, so don't let me stop you.

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.

audio: new to me narrators and I actually really enjoyed them. They gave this story more life.

If you’re looking for a funny, campy book that hits all the right notes, this one is for you. Would recommend for anyone who needs a palette cleanser and loves hockey.

This was a cute read and I enjoyed the dual narration. It was definitely black cat x golden retriever coded, and Lucy’s hard edges were derived from daddy issues. In her defense though, her dad really did suck, and was mainly out the picture. But she never got rid of that feeling of not being good enough until she really started working on herself towards the end.
Meanwhile Jaylen is very loving but also has his own issues, which he didn’t even realize. For example, he didn’t realize what he was having was panic attacks and depression and he needed therapy. But he did the work, and it also helped him on his hockey game.
It was a bit of forced proximity too, as after their initial fun night together, Lucy was only back in the picture because she needed to paint a mural at the arena. Then Jaylen would request a “fix” that was needed on the mural to keep her around. Then after that, he convinced her to stick around as his good luck charm. The ice around Lucy’s heart began to thaw, but once it was basically fully defrosted, she panicked.
She had some self reflecting to do— Jaylen loved her enough though to wait.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for the listen!

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and Netgalley for this audio of shoot your shot. I thought this was a cute rom com sports romance. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I would recommend this on audio.

I read a lot of hockey romance. A lot. So when I say I wanted to love this book, I really did. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a miss. The chemistry wasn’t quite there for and the writing wasn’t to my taste. I just couldn’t connect with the characters like I hoped. A good reminder that not every book is for everyone and this was just not for me. I do think it will be a big hit with many. I also appreciate that the hockey elements were likely the most accurate I’ve read which was fun. I will definitely check out future titles from this author.

🎧 The narration was great and the main reason I continued to listen.

Shoot Your Shot is Lexi Lafleur Brown's debut sports romance novel, narrated by Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Rogue. I think the narrators did as best they could with an inconsistent book.

Lucy Ross works in a tattoo shop, hoping for an apprenticeship. Jaylen "JJ" Jones is an NHL player looking for a contract with a new team. After a one-night stand, their careers become intertwined. JJ thinks Lucy is his lucky charm, and they reach a business arrangement wherein she sends him a text message before his games in exchange for tattooing experience.

Lucy is a very relatable main character who hooked me right away, but as she evolves throughout the book, her sparkle dims. She starts off strong, just like the flow of the story, but some of the dialogue is stilted and the emotions feel a bit forced. There are lovely descriptions and the hockey knowledge is strong. It's clear the author knows the sport, but the romance portion of the book could have been smoother.

I almost didn't finish the book, but I kept hoping for it to end strong. In the end, it was a decent book, but the sexual chemistry just didn't feel as realistic as the hockey.

Professional hockey plays Jaylen Jones meets sassy, rough-around-the edges anonymous woman and has an amazing one-nigh stand on his last night before leaving town. When a spot becomes available on the team, Jaylen gets to stay in Seattle, and lo and behold, he runs into his lucky charm one-night stand Lucy. She is an artist turned aspiring tattoo artist with a boss from hell. When told to do a job outside her comfort zone, she meets Jaylen again. He is ecstatic to see her, as he needs her to be around him so his lucky streak stays alive. But feelings start to form, and with them complications.

This was my first Lexi LaFleur Brown book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A fun, well-written, and quick read, it ticked the sports romance, and romance in general, boxes. Great dialogue and emotions. I will be reading Brown again, for sure.

Sometimes, you need a hockey romance in your TBR. If that's what you're searching for: this will do nicely. Lucy is an apprentice tattoo artist who is pretty miserable for someone trying to fulfill their dream career ambitions. Jaylen didn't get the contract to the NHL team he wanted... so he's pretty down about it and reconsidering his career options. When their paths cross, they are both pretty salty and in it for nothing more than a one night dalliance with some who is a worse person banter. But in the morning, Jaylen's luck turns for the better... while Lucy's turns for the worse. After taking a hockey puck to the face, Lucy is faced with seeing Jaylen daily during her mural painting at the arena he practices at. Fate keeps bringing them together in ironic and often painful (to Lucy) ways. Will their weird luck dynamic be enough to build a relationship? Read on to find out!

What I liked: the banter between Lucy and Jaylen, the hockey

I had so much fun with Shoot Your Shot! Lucy was such a wonderfully messy and complicated FMC, and I loved how her bi rep was portrayed. Jaylen was more than just a hockey bro — his journey with depression and anxiety was heartfelt and so well done. Their connection was fantastic, and Lucy’s little found family added so much warmth. I listened to this one on audio, and the dual POV narration was excellent — a thoroughly enjoyable listen!

This was a high 3 star read for me. I loved the Black cat energy and the Hockey player trying to turn his career around. They worked but they also didn't. They started as a one night stand turned into friends but not by her choice he needed her for his good luck charm (athletes are VERY superstitious and if one thing changes for things to turn around they keep doing it.) To dating

Jaylen is starting over with a new team and he will only focus on hockey and turning everything around in his career. Lucy is a trying to start up her tattoo career and the person shes trying to get a apprenticeship with has very interest in helping her just using her to be her assistant at the shop. When she is forced to do a mural at the rink for the team she has to get back into her reg art and think is becoming a tattoo artist her path or getting back into painting is her real path.

They were 2 people who were just living not embracing what they could be in life.

Thank you Netgalley for this Audio-arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.