“I didn’t think he really saw me, but after today I know he’s looking at the ugly parts and not past them.”

The first half of this book was slow and I was having a hard time connecting to the characters. I kept thinking to myself 'I couldn't possibly relate less'. I also found their banter to be a little cringy, but I could see how some people might enjoy that. You know that one friend that shares way too much about themselves... that was their banter. At one point they try to tell each other the cringiest things about themselves in an attempt to scare each other off, or lay all their cards on the table. He admits to pissing the bed when he gets too drunk and she's like "what man doesn't"... Girl hell no.

At about half-way, that feeling started to change. The MMC's guilt over losing his friend and not being there for him, the FMC's self-sabotaging behavior and need for approval from her father... I felt personally victimized by this book. But my FAVORITE part? Discovering the author loosely based this book on herself and her NHL husband. I couldn't tell you how much of her own life she put into this book, other than their names and styles seem similar, and her husband is #23 and the MMC's is #13... but I imagined this book being a love letter to her own relationship which made me like it more.

Tropes: hockey romance | black cat x golden retriever | opposites attract | bisexual FMC | mental health awareness

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This was entertaining enough but I wanted more from almost every aspect of the book. More romance, more hockey, more of the friend group. It felt very surface level and like the author could have gone a little deeper. The mental health rep was very well done though and both narrators were great.

I honestly thought this was so interesting. I am in love with Hockey related books. I loved the way this book was written the author did a great job writing this. I would definitely recommend this book to my hockey loving friends. This was amazing to listen to and even better to read!

Jayden Jones is a struggling hockey player desperate to get his game back. Lucy is trying to make it as a tattoo artist. They meet and have a one night stand, while Jayden is in Seattle. He ends up staying for the season and their paths keep crossing. It was a cute story. Hockey fans will enjoy it, there is a lot of good hockey talk.

I did not like Lucy, which made it hard for me to really enjoy this book. In contrast to her insecurity, Jayden was almost too perfect. His EQ was off the charts, even for someone struggling with his own mental health. I appreciate that they helped each other grow.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrators did a great job. Thank you to NetGallery for the ARC and to Lexi for writing this fun sports romance!

I've got a new favorite recommendation for the hockey romances lovers! I'm a sucker for a book with black cat/golden retriever and grumpyxsunshine energy, and Lucy and Jalen had both! Lucy is a prickly aspiring tattoo artist, and Jalen is a hockey player who has had some bad luck. They bump into each other at a bar and end up stealing a sign together, which leads Jalen to believe Lucy is his new goof luck charm. I loved the progression of their relationship, and I thought the mental health rep (anxiety and panic attacks) were written with a lot of care and very well done. I will definitely be checking out more books by Lexi, and I'm hoping Jalen's teammates get their own books!

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin Audio, for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

What to expect:
-hockey romance
-he falls first
-grumpyxsunshine
-black Cat FMC/golden retriever MMC
-mental health rep
-bisexual FMC

4.5 / 5

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC.

The story follows the MMC named JJ, who is hockey player who has ben in a low point in his career and the FMC, named Lucy who isn't happy with where her career as a tattoo artist is at either. After running into each other a few times JJ think she could be his good luck charm because he seems to play better after seeing her.

I did like how this felt a little different from other Hockey romances I've read. Also, the good luck charm plot was cuter than I expected. My main issue was that a few points in the story it felt a bit slow.

Shoot Your Shot by Lexi LaFleur Brown | Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Roque

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for providing me with an advanced listener copy of this book.

As a huge fan of hockey romances, I was excited to read Shoot Your Shot, especially given Lexi LaFleur Brown’s background in the sport. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me.

The writing style felt juvenile and leaned heavily on clichés, making it difficult to stay engaged. The characters came across as a checklist of traits rather than fully developed individuals, and the narrative didn’t flow as smoothly as I had hoped. However, the hockey content was excellent—Lexi’s expertise in the sport was evident and provided some of the book’s strongest moments.

The highlight of my experience was the dual narration. Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Roque did a fantastic job bringing the story to life, adding depth and emotion where the writing lacked.

Overall, while I appreciate what this book aimed to achieve, it ultimately didn’t deliver for me.

I’m such a sucker for a hockey romance and this hit the spot! A love story between a bi FMC with strong black cat energy and a black hockey player working through his mental health. The representation never felt forced and the romance was well developed. It’s impossible not to cheer for them.

Kristen DiMercurio and Jamal Roque did an outstanding job bringing the audio to life!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry, but I had to DNF at the 15% mark. The writing was very juvenile, and it felt more reminiscent of a Wattpad book written by a teenager than a traditionally published book. Sorry if that's harsh, but that's just my honest opinion.

This was a fun debut hockey romance. The story starts with a one night stand that turns into a lucky superstition romance. Lucy and Jaylen are a lot of fun together.

I really liked Jaylen as a character and his growth in the story. He falls for Lucy first and I adored his attitude about her.

Lucy was a bit tougher to love for me. For such a tough cookie, she was way too dormant when it came to her career which is so far from her personality. I also didn't really buy that a hockey club would hire a tattoo artist to do a mural which is so far fetched.

Overall, it was fun and entertaining. Kristen DiMercuri and Jamal Roque did a good job with the narration.

Thank you @htp_hive @harlequin_audio for a copy of this.

I absolutely loved the narrators for this book! They perfectly captured how I thought these characters would speak. The side character voices were also exactly what I needed them to be to keep me in the story! This book was absolutely everything I wanted in a hockey romance and I loved everything about it!

Hockey is my favorite sport, so I do tend to like hockey romances more than other sports. With the background Lexi LaFleur Brown has, I was very excited for this one.

Jaylen has been struggling and is fearful his hockey career is over. His play has been on a decline, and he said he is considered one of the biggest flops from the draft. After, in my opinion, a creepy encounter with Lucy, he then gets a break and is back on the team. Jaylen now sees Lucy as his good luck charm. I called out the encounter as creepy because while Jaylen was just being nice to Lucy at a bar, we get this from Lucy’s point of view, and she is skeptical of Jaylen. Jaylen then follows her to another bar. I understand he was being a good guy and just watching out for her, but this was their first meeting; it was a bit creepy.

Given the background of the author, I was expecting this to be more hockey-forward, but that was not the case. That’s not really a negative; it was just not what I was expecting. The relationship between Jaylen and Lucy is exactly what you would expect in a book like this. They both go through a lot of character growth, but Lucy is truly the star. It’s Lucy who makes this good book great.

If you like sports romances, then this should definitely be on your shortlist to check out.

Of course, thank you to the publishers and author for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

In terms of Hockey Romance books, this one didn’t disappoint. Following a night one stand where both parties fully intended to never see the other again, Jaylen and Lucy are both sorely mistaken when Jaylen gets a spot on the hockey team and Lucy ends up having to paint a mural for said hockey team. Which results in Jaylen being convinced that Lucy is his good luck charm and thus starting their mutually beneficial relationship of Lucy telling him good luck before each game and Jaylen helping Lucy with her tattoo apprenticeship.

This was a good quick read! The narrators did an amazing job bringing Lucy and Jaylen to life!

Audio 5 Stars
Book 4 Stars

Saw that most of the negative reviews discussed the writing but in audio none of that came through, it flowed well.

Loved both the voice actors
I already knew Kristen DiMercurio was amazing from the Bright Falls series that she narrates by Ashley Herring Blake. She was fantastic in this!

I had never heard Jamal Roque but he was great and hope he gets to narrate more in the future.

The overall story was classic contemporary sports romance. The one liners in this book spoke to my millennial heart and I lol’d several times throughout. I would definitely read other books by this author.

This was a cute debut! I was excited since it’s a hockey romance that it was written by a BookTok influencer/NHL Insider and the hockey details are so great. The audiobook was so easy to just inhale.
The FMC, Lucy, has black cat energy and I really enjoyed her artist story (painters and aspiring tattoo artist). Jaylen, the MMC, was good and had some parts that I loved (like him at the fundraiser), but I just didn’t gel as much with him, though I did like them as a couple. I wish the relationship between Lexi and Jaylen developed as much as their individual stories and growth did.
Thank you NetGalley and the authors for the advance audiobook! All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to love this book. A queer hockey romance with a bi FMC should have been right up my alley, but unfortunately, Shoot Your Shot just didn’t work for me.

The biggest issue was the writing style—it relied too much on telling instead of showing, making the story feel flat. The writing didn’t flow smoothly, and the characters felt more like a checklist of traits rather than fully developed people. The romance, which should have been the heart of the book, lacked the chemistry I was hoping for, and the intimacy scenes were awkward enough that I found myself skipping ahead.

I struggled to get through the ebook and ended up switching to the audiobook, which, thanks to the dual narration, was the best part of the experience. The narrators did their best to bring the story to life, and I credit them with getting me to the finish line.

Overall, while I appreciate what this book was trying to do, it just didn’t deliver for me. If you’re a die-hard fan of queer hockey romances, you might still want to give it a shot—but don’t be surprised if it misses the net.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Audio and Lexi LaFleur Brown for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is all you need to know:
-Hockey Romance / Black Hockey Player
-Black Cat FMC
-AMMAAAAAZZZZING mental health rep
-LGBTIAQ rep (did I do the right letters? not enough? too many? Either way there is a pride flag wrapped hockey stick on the cover so you get the drift.)
-3 spice peppers

I liked this book a lot and would absolutely read more from this author.

Dual POV narration was done well by both narrators.

Thanks to Harlequin Audio for this ALC!

There is so much to like about Shoot Your Shot - broody, hurt Lucy and sweet, sunshiny, healing Jaylen, the good luck charm premise, an artist finding her passion again, (did I mention Jaylen?), and a lot of depth to these characters/verisimilitude to their worlds. The LGBTQIA+ rep was also a welcome and casual addition that made the world feel more well-rounded. I thought there was a lot of charm and chemistry - overall, the book was really fun to read! And I loved the way Lexi LaFleur Brown used her own hockey knowledge to make things feel more real. The narrators captured Lucy and Jaylen really well and I thought their interpretation of the story added to the experience of reading it.

That said, there were a few things that didn't work for me - mostly, they were little writing things and a little bit of the pacing/development of the actual romance; I wanted to see more of their journey coming together. I felt like we got a lot about their individual growth and I missed some more description of the relationship growing. That said, I think this is worth picking up and I will definitely pick up whatever Lexi puts out next!

This was really cute! I really liked both Lucy & Jaylen individually and I think they complimented each other well! I especially loved the mental health rep and the queer rep in this! I got a little bored in the first quarter but once the plot really got going, I enjoyed it! I also really loved the narrators!!

You know I can't turn down a hockey romance! This book was a fun read with plenty of steamy chemistry and hilarious moments. Jaylen’s superstitions and Lucy’s no-nonsense attitude created the perfect balance of tension and humor. The plot is quirky and full of heart and I found the narration enjoyable. It’s the kind of fun, feel-good read that you devour in one sitting. Definitely worth a shot if you're into love stories with a twist and a dash of hockey!