I am so glad I had the chance to read this early (apologies for a post pub date review, work was very busy the last two weeks). This is an important romance because it deftly brings in a range of experiences and identities to create an inclusive romance read that honors romance themes in a good way while bringing them into a broader range of identities and relationships .I really loved Ely's voice and how she talked about her struggles with substance use and how that related to her journey and her relationship with her Jewish Orthodox community.
What really stood out to me were themes about emotional connections and journeys and how much I was cheering on Ely and Wyatt together as a couple, I thought that had great chemistry, but also how much I was invested in them as individuals. I love a contemporary romance where I care as much for the characters as individuals as I do for their relationship.

A Shot in the Dark doesn't sit back to educate a reader about relationships and identity but instead allows a story to unfold in a way that allows a reader to understand the characters and their lives and feelings. The story is more about the emotional journey of Ely and Wyatt, which is important in understanding their relationship and to understand them as individuals. Reading about queer identities and relationships is valuable and I appreciated this truly engaging read.

NOTE: I also had a review audiobook copy from PRH Audio and the narration is great, I would recommend that option for audiobook fans, I appreciated the chance to listen to part of this book during a busy week when I needed an audiobook to help me escape.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victoria Lee, and Deli New York for giving the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for a review!

This book was definitely something different than what I thought it was going to be when first finding it. When I first read the synopsis, I was super excited to see that it was one of my favorite tropes: "I slept with this person I knew nothing about and now am walking into my class for the very first time and find out they're my professor". I am a sucker for these stories and always love the romance storyline that they typically follow. But this book wasn't really like that.

Ely moves back to NYC after spending quite a long time in LA after her family kicks her out of their Orthodox community. Her first real night back in town lands her at a gay club with her two new roommates. And that's where she finds the most beautiful, mysterious, alluring man she's ever seen... and obviously goes home with him. But when she wakes up in bed alone the next morning and has to subsequently rush to her first day of class, to her horror, she finds that hot, mystery, bar man is in fact Wyatt Cole, her new photography professor. And the only reason she really even came back to NYC in the first place.
Throughout the book, Wyatt is really struggling with being okay with having feelings for Ely because she's a student in his program (even though he does "kick her out" of the program and have her work with a. different photography professor instead of him) and so that creates a lot of back and forth between them and also a really slow burn.

I say that the books ends up not being what I thought it would be, not because the romance, but more because I think it's not a romance driven book. Sure, the two main characters are going back and forth with their feelings of love for one another, but to me, it was more a story about two people who really just needed that one person's presence to aid in their self growth. Ely finds that having Wyatt by her side gives her the extra push and strength she needed to come to terms with her past and her family, and to be okay with realizing the path of recovery is not always perfect.
And Wyatt found that having someone in his life like Ely, who has gone through somewhat similar life experiences, helps him feel comfortable with not pushing people away the moment they start to get close. Wyatt growing up with the father he did, who so publicly wanted nothing to do with his trans son, especially after he got discharged from the Marines, and a mother who did nothing to protect him, made it very difficult for Wyatt to accept people who accept him. So finding Ely who has gone through somewhat similar life experiences was something he really needed.

Being someone who is not a part of either one of the communities mentioned in this book, I had a really lovely time getting the little insight into a small piece of them. I really loved getting to hear Ely talk about her time in the Orthodox community, even though most of her commentary on it was about how she was high. But she really explained how wrong some stereotypes are, different traditions they have, how much she loved the holidays, and just the feeling of peace and love she felt going to her new friends house to celebrate was very comforting to read. And watching Wyatt's journey with his mother and brother was such an emotional aspect of this book. On one hand, it was so hard to hear that she just never went against his father and let her husband treat Wyatt the way he did was horrible. But then watching them create some sort of relationship was so nice because throughout the start of the book you can tell that Wyatt is sad that he doesn't have them in his life.

The romance aspect of this book was great, absolutely, but I liked it more for the individual growth each main character had wit the help of the found family and new community they created around them.

Ely returns to New York City years after she was kicked out of her Orthodox Jewish community for substance abuse. She comes back to the city four years sober to attend a summer course in photography taught by the legendary photographer, Wyatt Cole. On her first night back in the city, Ely goes to a local queer club with her new roommates and hooks up with a trans stranger who she soon learns is actually her teacher, Wyatt. He immediately sets strict boundaries to not compromise their student-teacher relationship or his hard-earned reputation. However, Eli and Wyatt soon learn they share much more than a one-night stand, but also their tangled family histories and struggles with drug addictions.
"A Shot in the Dark" is not a conventional romance and, frankly, I think it's a bit insulting to the story to attempt to bill it as one. It dwells on addiction and themes of religion, belonging and self-identity. Ely is an exceptionally well-developed character. However, the same cannot be said of Wyatt. The idea of Wyatt is so compelling, but he just doesn't get the characterization he deserves.
I also feel as though the plot moved a bit laterally without enough progress. Ely and Wyatt repeatedly do this dance of saying they can't be together only to keep texting and spending time together. This is the trend for the majority of the book before the scope of their relationship suddenly escalates very quickly.
Overall, this a 3.5 rounded down from me. I really enjoyed Victoria Lee's previous novel, "A Lesson in Darkness," and I admire how different "A Shot in the Dark" was from that. I look forward to reading whatever Lee does next.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Dell for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

My first book by Victoria Lee. This was such a beautiful love story involving lots of heavy topics. Addiction. Family acceptance. Forbidden love. The tension between these two was unbearable. This student-professor relationship is innocent yet captivating. The characters were beautifully flawed and it was fun to watching them grow into each other.

The writing is easy to read and flows well. The audio was exceptional. I loved the characters so much.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a book about queer love, being messy, and defining yourself. Lee's books have been a hit or miss for me, but i did enjoy this book, and while there were moments here and there where i didn't vibe with the characters or the writing style, i still enjoyed this work.

A truly stunning novel. Sometimes a book comes along at exactly the right time and this was one of those. It reminded me both why I create and how I want to live.

A Shot in the Dark is a contemporary queer romance about finding yourself and some major growth.
I went in blind and I think that made the story that much better.
4.5 stars rounded up!

-dual pov
-jewish rep
-queer rep (pan/trans)
-one night stand
-forbidden romance (professor/student)
-personal growth
-addiction recovery (and relapse)
-flawed and in depth characters

This is a story about growth, healing, and love. It was sooooo good. In the beginning I was expecting more of a rom-com vibe just based on how the start of the book played out, and I was (pleasantly) surprised to learn that this book offers so much more and handles many heavier themes such as grief, trauma, addiction, and faith and discusses them all with grace and beauty. I totally recommend this book!!! So good.

I liked the Jewish rep in the book, and the sense that the author cared deeply about the subjects the author was writing about. I liked that the author clearly has familiarity with NYC, and the brisk pace of the writing

I’m sitting here humming “Moon River” as I start this review, because I’m thinking of Ely and Wyatt as the two drifters who are off to see the world and there’s such a lot of world to see. These two people who are so similar in many ways and yet have a large gulf between them, adrift in life and moored in their mutual, chosen loneliness. Two miserable dinghy-people, just bailing water out as fast as they take it on.

This book could’ve turned out so badly. A nudge one way and it comes out saccharine. A nudge the other way it comes out too pessimistic. Somehow, Victoria Lee kept it steadily walking that earnest and vulnerable line, where she opens up her characters for us and we fall in love with them and watch as they each fall apart and put each other back together, over and over again. This story is sensual, sweet, and optimistic (without coming across as so sunny you’d think Pollyanna was turning the pages for you).

In most romances, I don’t so much get on board for genuine, heartfelt happiness. For some reason, when it comes to LGBTQ romances, that’s all I want for them. I want all the genuine happiness. Maybe it’s a reflection of how many unhappy endings LGBTQ people (especially transgender) get in real life and how much that upsets me. Maybe since I’m LGBTQ and I have a LGBTQ child I just want to see the LGBTQ people in romance novels end up happy because I didn’t and I want better for my own kid someday. This book genuinely moved me. The way Wyatt and Ely propped each other up even when they weren’t romantically involved, the way they supported each other in their sobriety, and the way they were so reverential with one another’s bodies when they were together was an honest show of how much it meant to them to shed every layer and be bare before one another in every way. To drop every veil and reveal everything, including every insecurity and every scar.

Now, I’m new to Victoria Lee’s work, but not only did she show off some serious research chops in this book, but she also brought beautiful prose and excellent dialogue skills to the table. Her characters jumped off the page and added just enough background color and noise that they never took away from our two main protagonists–they just garnished them the right amount.

I loved that this book ended happily, but not with a tidy little bow. Because life is messy. We don’t always get everything we want. But what matters is that we keep trying and holding onto the ones we love. This book definitely conveys that.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Contemporary Romance/Kindle Unlimited/LGBTQ Fiction/LGBTQ Friendly/LGBTQ Romance/Literary Fiction/Steamy Romance

I am beginning to think Victoria Lee's writing just isn't for me. I adored their original duology, The Fever King and The Electric Heir, so much. But I've struggled with their latest two books including A Shot in the Dark. I do have an audiobook of this one so I may attempt it again at some point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for providing me with a review copy.

I was excited about reading this book as it was unlike any of the other books I have read before. However, I felt as though the storylines and topics in the book were each their own and weren't cohesive to the story as a whole, leaving me feeling discombobulated.

- A SHOT IN THE DARK is a book that blends a romcom premise with the heavy internal exploration of a literary fiction novel.
- I don't always enjoy a novel as plotless as this one, but I found Ely and Wyatt to be such magnetic characters and I flew right through it.
- This book is so queer and so messy. It's also loving and thoughtful, and hopeful without promising that everything will work out perfectly.

This was such an honest view on addiction and finding love in loss and growth. I will devour anything Victoria lee writes though.

There was a lot going on in this book, and I appreciated some of the deeper storylines, but it unfortunately just wasn’t for me. I can appreciate this story for what it was and what it said, but it just wasn’t the book for me.

I was given an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A Shot in the Dark completely snuck up on me as one of my favorite books as of late. The story of Elisheva Cohen (yay - Jewish representation) who has left her Hasidic upbringing following a bout with addiction and her relationship with Wyatt, a transgender man who has been shunned by his own family following his transition. This book absolutely blew me away - it was an incredibly powerful read and the parallels between Ely and Wyatt's families were something that I had not previously considered.

Incredibly well written and a page turner of a novel, I highly recommend A Shot in the Dark.

Thank you to Random House for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

when it comes to reading anything with a romance, i've come to terms with the fact that what i really enjoy is reading about idiots. what i mean by this is i really enjoy reading about people who aren't necessarily good at what they do, but they try anyway. there's a kindness in these types of characters that make them so easy to root for because there is no grand expectation that everything is going to work out for them.

in a shot in the dark, we follow two recovering addicts as theirs lives intersect in a one night stand. however, it's more than that. there are lengthy discussions of what it means to be trans, what believing in a god entails, and so much more. although it didn't feel like any of lee's observations were revolutionary (it's probably just me because i've thought a lot about the role of religion in my own life in particular), their motif of comparison being the death of progress, no matter how simple that is, drew me into the story. with addiction especially, it's so easy to compare people's past as well as present that writing off one's own struggles are common, but it doesn't have to be that way. it doesn't have to be a lonely process. a shot in the dark in this way is less of a traditional romance and more of a literary contemporary fiction with romance.

Ely has been looking forward to studying photography under Wyatt Cole for a long time. She's even moved back to New York, which she's been dreading for ages, in order to do so. The only problem is that when she shows up to her first day of classes, it turns out he's the man she hooked up with the night before. He's worried about the power dynamics at play, so he has her drop the class, promising to work with her on-on-one. They both plan to keep things professional, but it's harder than they both anticipate.
While dealing with this hiccup, Ely is also navigating sobriety that's challenged by her home environment. And the thought of confronting her past--the reason she left New York eight years ago, the reason her family no longer speaks to her--makes her worried she'll relapse. And Wyatt, who is also in recovery, is there for her as she begins to explore her connection with Judaism--something she's missed, but been scared to engage with, for fear that it'll be too overwhelming.
A Shot in the Dark is a beautiful story about two people trying to hold onto their place in the world, and rediscover how they can find and accept love. It's sweet and achingly painful and a really frank look about how our mistakes--and the mistakes of others--do and don't define us.

Trigger warnings for substance abuse, death, transphobia, and parental abuse.

Happy Pub Day!

4.5/5

Victoria Lee quickly became an auto-buy for me after I read “A Lesson in Vengeance” so when I got a chance to read “A Shot in the Dark” early I RAN.

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. We don’t have a lot of books with trans and ex-orthodox Jewish MCs so reading this was (let’s be honest, unfortunately) a unique experience. There was also no deadnaming!! Which I was so happy about because I hateee when that’s used as a plot device.

Both Ely and Wyatt are the most loveable, albeit sometimes stubborn, characters I have ever come across. I was rooting for them the whole time even when the slow burn was eating me alive. And trust me, the slow burn is real once you get past the initial interaction. I will say, this is not the standard, Pretty Little Liars-type of teacher X student and I don’t recommend going into it thinking that because you will be disappointed.

Let’s talk about the art though. I love books that center around art and I really got a sense of both of their passions for photography. I think the way their past experiences with religion and substance abuse impacted their craft was beautifully written. We even see the side characters’ skills and passions for their chosen medium grow. My two favorite parts of the book were for sure the artistic expression and the found family.

I’d highly recommend the book to anyone and everyone but please read the trigger warnings first!!

(Review is published on my Instagram @readswithmila as of pud day 9/5/23)

Ohhhh this book. Just completely and devastatingly beautiful. Lee calls this “rom-angst” and it is the perfect description for this adult contemporary romance that just ripped my heart out. I’m completely in love with both Ely and Wyatt. My favorite romance books are about broken people who find each other and heal both separately and with each other and this one adds art and Jewish rep and it’s just like….was this made for me??

This book hooked me immediately- the meet cute turned one night stand is so incredibly hot and wonderful and then the immediate reveal that he’s her professor?? Say less

Elly’s struggle of using art to find a way back to discovering her Jewish roots after leaving her orthodox community and Wyatt’s own reckoning with his family after he was kicked out for being trans like…this is a masterpiece on chemistry and romance and angst and trauma and I cannot stop thinking about it

Both Ely and Wyatt are ex-addicts and I’ve just never read a book like this as the two of them fall in love while navigating their past trauma and the forbidden nature of their connection.

A masterpiece. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this stunning book early in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a beautiful picture of two people, each with their own past struggles and history, coming together and figuring out how to love each other through the mess of life. I really loved how real the characters felt, it is obvious that a lot of care was taken with fleshing out their backstories and personalities! The portrayal of addiction was raw and heartbreaking, but the book is ultimately hopeful. I also enjoyed the exploration of the main character's faith and the ways that her relationship with religion shifted throughout her life.