I am so so happy I read this book. It's different from my normal reads, but I think that's what I loved about it.

I think the best word I can pick to describe this book is "intoxicating" - I loved the forbidden aspect between Wyatt and Ely. The chemistry and tension between them was pouring off the pages in waves. Their shared struggles (and individual ones as well) forged such a strong connection. Their grief and trauma were tangible, but not used as a plot device. It was such a vital aspect to the story.

I loved that these struggles were so beautifully woven into a love story. It was really well balanced, for me. The writing kept me fully engaged and I really took my time reading this story because I didn't want to miss anything.

This is one of those books that I think everyone should read. On top of what I've already said, the LGTBQ+ representation is important.

Thank you so much to the author and netgalley for an arc of this story!

✨Book Review✨
A Shot In The Dark by Victoria Lee
3/5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: September 5th 2023

I feel like this book will be loved by many but something just didn’t do it for me and I’m not entirely sure why. I didn’t necessarily hate it but I also didn’t love it.

Maybe it was just the wrong time for me to read this book. Maybe I will try again a different time. But I would still be willing to read another title by this author.

Thank you to netgalley and Random House for this gifted eARC copy for my honest review!

I absolutely loved this book. I really connected with both of the main characters, Ely and Wyatt. I'm not generally a fan of teacher-student romances but I feel this book handled it with care. Ely and Wyatt definitely had chemistry. Both of the characters were flawed and had to face issues from their pasts. My only complaint is that most of the background characters were never explored. I would've loved to get to know Ely’s roommates but they rarely appeared. Overall, I really enjoyed reading.

I’m going to need EVERYONE to read this book like, immediately. If you love your romance with a healthy dose of heavier subjects and ones that don’t shy away from the grit and vulnerability of real-life relationships, this is for you. I loved A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee and was extremely eager to see how their writing transcribed into adult contemporary romance and man… I was not disappointed. This book is raw and vulnerable and and I genuinely couldn’t recommend it more.

A Shot in the Dark follows the story of Ely, new student at a prestigious NYC art school for photography, and Wyatt, professor at said school, as they navigate a one night stand that turns into more, While it’s definitely a romance with all its trappings, it’s a look into rediscovering what it means to be in community with one an other. I absolutely adored the emotional connection between the two characters and how thoughtfully Lee explored both of their identities— Wyatt as a transman estranged from his family and Ely as she reacquaints herself with the Chassidic Jewish community she left eight years prior. While both characters had life experiences the other couldn’t relate to, the kindness and care they showed each other as they healed was really one of the best parts of the book. While I’d definitely recommend checking TW, especially if you’re sensitive to depictions of addiction, I really couldn’t recommend this book more. It was such a wonderful read and I finished it with a tightness to my chest only the best stories can bring.

Also— the YEARNING. Immaculate. No notes.

Back in Brooklyn after a self exile of almost a decade, Ely Cohen is ready to start a new life. Renting a room with two artsy characters she met online, Ely will begin a prestigious summer photography program with none other than Wyatt Cole, an infamous yet reclusive artist. In honor of her first night back east her roomies take her dancing at a queer nightclub nearby. She proceeds to have a very hot one night stand with a gorgeous man, never even learning his name. When Ely arrives at class the next morning Mr. Hottie does too … as her teacher. Not a great start to Ely’s new life. Disowned years ago by her religious family, struggling to stay clean after years of drug addiction - Ely is good at one thing, photography. Wyatt quickly convinces Ely it would be unfair and unethical to remain her teacher but he can be her friend and mentor. Wyatt has his own complicated past after coming out as transgender and leaving behind everyone from his early life. As Ely flourishes with her art and faces the challenges of her religious background, she deeply questions her beliefs and ability to be loved. This author found a magical way to connect the reader deep into the lives of these multifaceted extremely likable characters. I found myself mesmerized by the powerful connection Ely and Wyatt experienced while facing challenges I knew little about. Highly recommend this well written and beautiful love story.

Once I started A Shot In The Dark I was completely consumed and couldn’t put it down. Victoria Lee’s storytelling is compelling and full of depth and heart. They balance the heavy themes of addiction and familial estrangement with humor, wit and hope. And they do so artfully and respectfully. It’s been a while since I was so fully absorbed by a book, by its characters, to the point that they no longer felt fictional.

I loved Ely & Wyatt as individuals and together. I loved the NYC setting. I loved the role of art. I absolutely loved the Jewish representation. Like Ely, I too have practiced varying levels of religious Judaism at different stages of my life. And the message that a Jew is a Jew, that you can forge your own relationship with G-d and find your own community, is beautiful.

Queer Adult contemporary romance between an artist and a photographer? Don't mind if I do. While it's a romance, there is a large and lively supporting cast in a way that reminded me a bit of Casey McQuiston side characters. They're not just there, they do exist beyond the narrative. The book is on the more emotional side of romance, as both characters are in recovery from addiction, and both of them have been kicked out by their families. I loved how they found support in each other without making each other into their sole support system - they also build other meaningful relationships on the way.

A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee was such a great queer romance and I enjoyed every single page of this book. I will be recommending this book to everyone who's looking for a well written and emotionally driven queer romance.

This pitch-perfect queer NYC romance between a trans man and a pan, ex-Orthodox Jewish woman exceeded all my expectations!!

A one-night stand turned forced proximity/forbidden romance between an Art photography Professor and his up and coming student had soo much chemistry and all the feels!! I loved both the MCs as they grapple with family trauma and past addictions (both are recovering addicts).

Excellent on audio and perfect for fans of books like Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly or Bellies by Nicola Divan. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review! I am excited to read whatever this author writes next!!!

3.75 stars

Ely has returned to New York City after four years of sobriety. She's gotten into a prestigious summer art program, and one of her favorite photographers, the mysterious Wyatt Cole, is teaching her class. The night before classes she goes out to a club with her new roommates and has instant chemistry with a stranger. Never quite getting his name, the two have a fantastic (read: steamy) night together. Only when Ely gets to class the next morning, it turns out that the man from the night before was indeed her professor for the summer and her idol: Wyatt Cole.

A Shot in the Dark surprised me with its depth of characters and themes. Both Ely and Wyatt have come to sobriety for different reasons, and it's a big reason the two grow so close together. Ely doesn't know exactly where she fits any longer with her Jewish community, and over the course of the book will explore her Jewish identity and how that fits in her life in the present. Wyatt, a transgender man, is estranged from his family after he was kicked out of the Marines for his identity, and after his (abusive) father couldn't accept him. I found both Ely and Wyatt to be really strong characters, and their personal stories were very compelling. When Ely and Wyatt are together, their chemistry leaps off the page and is electric, and I only wish there was more of it in the book! The plot really focused on each of their personal journies more, rather than the budding romance between them. That being said, I enjoyed reading this book, and I'm definitely going to check out other books by the author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fairly short book and it still felt like the author did a great job building complexity into both of the main characters. A Shot in the Dark has a bit of trauma and religion, with a little more than a hint of romance. There are a couple of spicy scenes, but the book isn’t lovey dovey, which is expected given the description.

Would recommend!

I have had the wonderful honor of getting an ARC (advance copy) of “A Shot in The Dark” by the wonderful @sosaidvictoria !! (and a thank you to @randomhouse as well) And I’m not 100% the best with words, so I opted to make fanart in turn for such an amazing book about queer joy, love, and growth. After spending a full day with these characters (I read veeery fast) I found myself absolutely absorbed into such a painfully realistic (and relatable) story about finding love after leaving some of our darkest places. Victoria is an artist in the way these characters are carefully written, giving them their own flaws, which feel like something straight out of a testimonial. I felt a strong connection to Wyatt’s struggle (trans solidarity baby!!) and to see it so respected and treated with care in a book literally brought tears to my eyes. I seriously recommend this book to anybody who wants to read a damn good book about queer love, it’s something in its own league for sure! All that aside, let’s get to the fanart!

This is actually inspired by one of Wyatt’s multimedia works described in the book as “a massive black-and-white print of two lovers, hands entwined and legs entangled, the canvas embroidered with jewel-colored thread that twisted into vines and flowers binding them together” and instead of nameless lovers, it is quite literally Ely and Wyatt themselves! I really wanted to use this piece to highlight the line that immediately followed from Ely, “The only thing I want in life is to make someone else feel like this.” And so she did. It’s pretty simple, but I just really wanted to capture the raw vulnerability in their intimacy because of their rough backgrounds. But even with their pasts they managed to bloom (haha get it, the flowers…) into something absolutely beautiful!

My first trans romance and I loved it. The depth of the characters made the story feel so real. They are dealing with real world problems - LGBTQ bias, religion questions, and addiction. Really enjoyed and highly recommend people read outside the typical male/female romance,

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

With several friends who are fans of romance, I thought I'd give an adult romance a shot. I was lucky to find one involving FtM transgender and cisgender female leads as the main romance. I loved this part of it. It was also interesting to learn more about the sect of Judaism Ely used to practice as I don't know much about it (though I knew the community was large in New York). This was more literary fiction with a couple romance scenes peppered in, which were great. I think I was under the impression it would be more genrified. It was not exactly my style (which I wasn't sure it would be), but was certainly still an interesting read with organic charcters, if not a bit of cheesy dialogue.

I was so invested in this story and was truly enjoying it, but the fact that this author will spell out GD, but then when she actually is mentioning God she would spell it G-D bothered me so bad. I DNF'D around 23-25%.

This book is….fine. It will work for many, but it did not work for me.

It bills itself as a romance, but when you’re a chronic romance reader like me and have read thousands of these things, I can easily tell the pacing here is off and it doesn’t hit the usual beats expected in the genre. This happens sometimes when a book is trying to be nOt LiKe OtHeR rOmAnCeS, something we sometimes see in trad pub romances that lean into lit fic so that the book will be taken more seriously. But if I wanted lit fic, I’d read lit fic, and not a poorly structured romance book, you know what I mean?

I will also say that this book is trying to do too much. There is that underdeveloped and off-paced romance threaded throughout, but this book is also trying to explore addiction and the repercussions of a strict religious upbringing.

As a person with addiction issues who knows other people with addiction issues, I can say that of course we are all different. So while some may find Ely and Wyatt’s experience with addiction relatable, it didn’t quite ring true for me, like the author was going through the motions of what she thinks these characters would feel without totally understanding how addiction works. I was also put off by how heavily AA and NA (and, by extension, the language common to those organizations) were featured in this book. While these organizations have worked for thousands, they are not the only path to recovery and sometimes not even the best path to recovery, and I am wary of media that implies that it is.

Finally, as an atheist, the intense focus on religion in this book was extremely off putting. More than that though, the author references very specific cultural norms and traditions and the language that accompanies them often without offering any explanation of them, thus relying on the reader to, I guess, perform a great deal of research in order to understand the nuances of the representation of religion in the book? Like I said, I’m an atheist. I’m not going to work overtime to research the details of any one religion. I quite literally do not care.

Finally, and this is tough to explain, but while reading this I had to wonder, is all representation good representation? As an agender person, I fall under the wider transgender umbrella. I feel strongly that we (trans people) have the right to exist in this world in peace just like anyone else. We have a right to live normal lives where an exploration and an understanding of our gender isn’t any one person’s constant focus. At the same time, I was pumped to read a romance featuring a trans character. But Wyatt felt so one dimensional to me. His transness and its significance to him did not imo play the major role in the story that I was expecting it to, hoping it would. It felt like one huge missed opportunity, and also felt more like, as one reviewer put it, ticking a box on the diversity checklist rather than anything real.

However, there will no doubt be people that this book resonates with. So, I guess, good luck to you, as this book is, after all….fine.

“Bad days always come. But we can try. We can fight for it”

Oh boy this book DESTROYED me and then gave me then healed something deep in me. It’s an emotional ride from start to finish!

This book follows Ely, who is an ex Orthodox Jew that got shunned from her community after struggling with drug addiction. She has now been clean for 4 years and is moving back to New York because she got accepted into a art program. An art program where she’d get to study under Wyatt Cole, a man she admires in the photography world. The night before she starts the program she ends up hooking up with a trans man that she met at a gay club. The next day she discovers that one night stand that could have been more is her new teacher Wyatt Cole.

This book deals heavily with drug addiction, recovery and it handled these heavy topics very well without ever shying away. It’s also just incredibly tender as we see Ely and Wyatt fall in love with each other while trying to still keep each other at arms distance. It so beautifully shows why both of these scarred and hurt characters are scared to open their hearts up to each other. Their romance is one will live with me for a while because it was so beautiful, tender and at times heartbreaking.

CW: drug abuse, relapse, overdose, abuse, transphobia and homophobia


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion

Wow! Just wow. This book is poignant and breathtaking. Ely and Wyatt’s imperfections make them two of the most realistic characters I have read in a long time. While their past leads them to believe they are broken tragic characters in their own life stories, they are anything but. I think this may wind up being my favorite book of the year and two of my favorite characters of all time.

Trigger warning for addiction recovery, overdose, and themes regarding religion

I've never read anything from Victoria Lee, but the concept of this book drew me in so deeply. The minute I started A SHOT IN THE DARK, I was addicted. And I don't use that word lightly, especially considering the subject matter of the book. I needed to know how everything was going to work out. The intersection between queerness and religion was handled really well in my opinion. There is a lot of nuance afforded to both sides and Orthodox Judaism is never portrayed as a "villain" but as how people use their beliefs to oppress others. I really can't express how much I loved this book and I cannot wait for other people to read this brilliant book!

Elisheva Cohen has come back to NYC after a decade away and 4 years of sobriety. She never intended to come return, but a prestigious art fellowship with the infamously reclusive Wyatt Cole was too good to pass up. In a Grey’s Anatomy-like twist, the rando dude she hooked up with at the bar the night before turns out to be none other than Professor Cole himself. Although he takes steps to create professional boundaries, he finds himself drawn to Ely. He has worked hard for his sobriety and notoriety, and he knows that he could lose it all. Is Ely worth the risk? For Ely, she’s just starting to build her reputation in the art world, and the last thing she needs is for her career to be over before it begins. On top of it all, she has to confront the reasons she left New York in the first place: the Orthodox community and her substance abuse.
This book had so many layers. It just kept getting better and better. The queer representation was excellent. Wyatt is transgender, and Lee did not shy away from discussing sex or identity. There were parts of the story that were frustrating to read. While it wasn’t exactly a “miscommunication trope,” it was lack of communication, which is just as frustrating. Just be adults and talk about it! This was a 4 star read for me. As for spice, I recall this being a bit more descriptive in a couple of scenes, so 3 peppers.