Thank you to the publisher for my arc!

I absolutely loved this, I related a lot to the main character and adored the romance.

Title: A Shot In The Dark
Author: Victoria Lee
Summary: Elisheva Cohen has just returned to New York after almost a decade away. The wounds of her past haven’t fully healed, but four years of sobriety and a scholarship to study photography with art legend Wyatt Cole are signs of good things to come, right? They could be, as long as Ely resists self-sabotage. She’s lucky enough to hit it off with a handsome himbo her first night out in the city. But the morning after their mind-blowing hookup, reality comes knocking. When Wyatt Cole walks into the classroom, Ely realizes the man she just spent the night with, the man whose name she couldn’t hear over the loud club music, is her teacher.
Everyone in the art world is obsessed with Wyatt Cole. He’s immensely talented and his notoriously reclusive personal life makes him even more compelling. But behind closed doors, Wyatt’s past is a painful memory. After coming out as transgender, Wyatt was dishonorably discharged from the military and disowned by his family. Since these traumatic experiences, Wyatt has worked hard for his sobriety and his flourishing art career. He can’t risk it all for Ely, no matter how attracted to her he is or how bad he feels about insisting she drop his class in exchange for a strictly professional mentorship. Wyatt can help with her capstone photography project, but he cannot, under any circumstances, fall in love with her in the process.
Through the lens of her camera, Ely must confront the reason she left New York in the first place: the Orthodox community that raised her, then shunned her because of her substance abuse. Along the way, Wyatt’s walls begin to break down, and each artist fights for what’s right in front of them—a person who sees them for all that they are and a love that could mean more than they ever imagined possible.
Copy provided by @netgalley in exchange for honest review.
Likes: A beautiful exploration of religion, addiction, mental health, and loss of community.
#randomhousepublishing #AShotInTheDark #LGBTQIA #LGBTQ #queerromance #booksbooksbooks #NetGalley #LGBT #queerbookstagram #romance #fiction #recovery #religioustrauma

Lee’s latest novel takes us on a journey of two souls on a healing from their traumatic pasts. What starts off as a typical rom-com scenario quickly delves into a sadder, more emotional story. Ely and Wyatt, who want to be together but can’t, given their student-teacher relationship. Each one is a recovering addict that is still fighting their demons while also trying to heal from their traumatic pasts. Throughout the story, they are still pulled into each other’s orbits, ultimately forced or choosing to face their past. I appreciated the nuances in which Lee handled Ely's Jewish background and Wyatt’s childhood abuse. Readers may be expecting this to be a romance on the lighter side but despite the tough topics, Lee weaves a beautiful story.

This was such a cute book! I definitely enjoyed the story but the plot itself was a bit generic. It's definitely not a complaint as I like to be able to dive into a comfortable read that's easy and heart warming, but I don't think I was quite in the right mood for this. Did I love it? Absolutely! I just wished I had read it when I was in the mindset for a cheesy romance.

This story has layers! Good layers, but there’s a lot to unpack. The unexpected twist of Ely and Wyatt's connection adds a delightful element of suspense to the novel and kept me eagerly turning the pages to see how their relationship unfolds. Ultimately, this is a story of redemption, self acceptance, and human connection.

Sincere thanks to Random House Publishing - Ballantine & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest review.

A Shot in the Dark is a gripping and intense story about love and also a love story. We meet Eliot and Wyatt Cole, two people who are at the same University for two very different reasons. The book explores addiction, trust, vulnerability, religion and belonging. It’s impressive and thought provoking. I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC - A Shot in the Dark is out now!

I have loved every one of Victoria Lee's books and this adult romance debut had me screaming. With queer representation, I adored the way Lee balances emotional depth and development, topics of addiction and religion, as well as a tender romance. All in all, it feels deeply raw and honest. The moments we feel so close to breaking, question everything, and wonder what we need. Also what a phenomenal meet cute!

Thank you to Random House Ballantine, Netgalley, and Victoria Lee for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ely is returning to New York City from LA to pursue a summer course in photography where one of her favorite artists, Wyatt Cole, will be teaching. On her first night back she goes to a local queer nightclub and hooks up with a very hot stranger. However, when she gets to class the next morning the hot stranger ends up being her teacher Wyatt Cole.

Victoria Lee does a fantastic job at navigating substance abuse, death, lgbtqia+, Jewish-voices, one night stand turned forced proximity, forbidden romance. I really enjoyed reading this book and was rooting for Ely and Wyatt throughout the entire novel.

This one surprised me!

Summary
A Shot in the Dark is an emotionally powerful romance novel about two people, a transgender man and an ex-Orthodox woman, finding love after struggling with addiction--ultimately discovering what it means to be completely and unapologetically themselves.

Their love of art brings them together but life wants to keep them apart. This book delves into moral and emotional complexities -- how different people's journeys can look like and how those lives can intertwin and either make us better or hurt us. I was all in on Wyatt and Ely's journey and the fact that this all takes place in New York City made for a fun, emotional, and hopeful book.

I think fans of books like Talking at Night by Claire Daverley will enjoy this book. Thank you @netgalley for this free copy for review and thank you to @prhaudio for a complimentary listening copy. I listened and read and both formats worked for me.

This was such a unique premise and I really enjoyed this read. I want sure what to expect but I found that I really liked the dynamics.

I appreciated a lot about this romance, that it didn't shy away from difficult topics like addiction and conflict around one's religious upbringing. These journeys did overshadow the romance itself a little bit, which I wouldn't mind if I wasn't expecting more of a romance-y romance novel. Still, I would happily read another romance from this author, because I appreciate romances that are more about difficult people like Elisheva discovering they deserve love instead of romances that are more escapist and fantastical

This is not a book I'd normally pick up but the synopsis and the trans and Jewish rep had me wanting to give it a try. This one is a lot and not a light and fluffy read- both characters are recovering addicts, trauma and lots of emotion. In the end, it was a good story but it just wasn't for me.

I’m an avid romance reader and I have to say, calling this a romance feels reductive. I loved this novel from the moment I started. From just reading this one piece of her work, I can confidently say that Victoria Lee is a beautiful writer. Her descriptions and characters are captivating. There is so much happening in A Shot in the Dark, so much growth, development, so many stories, but it is all beautifully weaved into one single tale. The plot has no lulls and even with such a cliched meet-cute it is like nothing else I’ve read. I loved the exploration of orthodoxy and Judaism in general. It was treated with kindness and authenticity. As were issues of addiction, sexuality, friendships and family dynamics. I highly recommend picking this up, I did! I purchased my own copy halfway through reading the digital ARC.

I adore Victoria Lee's writing so much. It was an excellent book. Perhaps it wasn't quite as romantic as I had anticipated, or perhaps I'm just accustomed to lighthearted rom-coms, but I didn't mind. It is about friendship, difficulties, forgiving, self-love, and addiction; the latter is a major theme. I liked how the romance is there, but it's never the main focus. The complex and in-depth exploration of Ely and Wyatt's journeys and lives leaves no stone unturned. These people have messed up and done horrible, selfish things, but they are sometimes only demonized themselves. The themes and plot were AMAZING. You will fall in love with this story and its characters if you approach it through the perspective of an emotional and personal journey during a potentially upsetting return home.

This was a heartbreakingly beautiful romance! It's a bit on the darker side so CW: addiction, transphobia. I loved the connection between Ely & Wyatt. I'll be recommending this to my friends!

I think if you're wanting a heart wrenching, gut punching book, this is the one for you. I kind of expected it to be emotional just from reading some of Victoria Lee's other books, so I wasn't really surprised when it had some of that emotionally charged writing and deeply heavy characters who had a lot to deal with and whose experiences shaped them in such a huge way. This feels like some of Lee's best work and it's certainly my favorite of what they've published so far. It's a lovely story that will kinda rip your heart out in the best way.

After reading a brief description of this novel, I felt compelled to read it and I honestly can say I enjoyed what I read. At times the main characters were a roller coaster of emotions and I, at times, was frustrated with how they reacted to certain things but given their past and what they had to overcome, that made the story more depth. I only wish it was a bit longer but that doesn’t take away from the story at all. There is mention of substance abuse, emotional abuse and more but don’t let that stop you from enjoying this novel.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and this has been my honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to read this novel.

dnf’d! 😔

I have sat down multiple times to read this and each time, I just cannot get into it! I feel bad bc I loved the premise and all the angst of the description, but it was just not for me!

Maybe I’ll pick this one up sometime in the future but for right now Ike gonna have to rate it 1 star for it just not being for me right now.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read the book.

I’m not sure what I expected when I started this book but I was all the way pleased! The individual struggles of the main characters pulled at my heartstrings and the slow burn between them was just wonderful. It’s been about 2 weeks since I finished this book and I still have trouble putting into words how much I loved it.

Enjoyable at times, but didn’t quite leave a mark. As both a proud Jew and an ally of the LGBTQ community, I really loved the representation of both groups. It was fascinating to emerge myself in both worlds: of Chassidic Judaism and of the LGBTQ community. Between these two key topics as well as heavy substance abuse, family estrangement, and photography, there was a lot going on here, giving the story much complexity. To me, there may have been a bit too much going on. So much so that ideas and storylines weren’t fully flushed out by the end, seeming a bit rushed or unexplored. The characters were likable enough, but I didn’t especially connect with any of them. I did love their deep connection on many levels and how they were able to relate to each other’s unique experiences, bringing them closer together. While the first half was well written and flew by, there were pacing issues in the second half. The ending wrapped most things up, but it felt a bit anticlimactic and fell a little flat for me. An engaging read but unmemorable.

Thanks so much to Penguin Random House - Dell, Victoria Lee, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review!