Riley Tuck returned to his small town after his hockey career imploded and has found himself and peace for the most part. It isn't until his father passed away unexpectedly that he's faced with his greatest regret, Adam Sheppard. Adam knows showing up for Riley's dad's funeral is a risk but it's the only shot he may have to get back into Riley's life. To say their reunion is rocky is an understatement with Riley fighting any help Adam tries to offer. Old feelings are hard to ignore and Riley refuses to risk his heart again on the man who so carelessly threw it away before. But Adam feels he's a changed man and wants a chance to prove it.

I love Rachel Reid's books and appreciate that she keeps her characters flawed because that makes them human. That being said I think she made some plot choices that could have been different and made it so Adam's redemption was an uphill battle I’m not sure he won. Ignoring his disregard for his marriage and Riley's feelings made him hard to forgive. Riley was charmingly flawed and his openness about his sexuality in a small town and struggles with mental illness were a breath of fresh air.

3.5 stars for Adam’s rocky road to redemption and Riley.

The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid is a MM sports romance that was emotional, angsty, and heartwarming. Riley Tuck and Adam Sheppard met when they were starting out as hockey players in their early twenties and during a time that sports were not open about sexuality. Riley has always known who he is and what he wants. Adam, on the other hand, is drawn to Riley, but does not mean anything right? Only it was everything. Now decades later, Riley is grieving, lost and the last thing he expects is Adam back in his life.

Years ago, Riley went back home after heartbreak and spiraling and found his peace. It has been over a decade and now Adam is back. What does he want? I loved Riley. He struggled with so much but was determined to live his life. He was caring and sweet. Adam found himself knowing what he wants, but was it too late? Adam was confident, caring and protective. He was determined to be there for Riley at any cost.

Adam hurt Riley deeply in the past. It left a mark on Riley. We get their past in between their present and my heart broke for both of them. Now Riley is protecting his heart and Adam is handing his to Riley on a platter. I was pulled right in from the start and wanted to see how it would end.

Happy reading!

Uggggghhhhhh…why do I love stories that also make me so sad. This is Love, Rosie all over again (I adore that movie so so much). Only this time it’s two loveable retired hockey idiots who can’t get their shit together and waste 12 years when they could be in love and together and happy. I love how this was written. Once again, Rachel Reid has made magic and written characters that I adore, even if I wanna bop them on the head and yell at them. The grief is intense, the mental health struggles are real and the dog is adorable. I think mm hockey romance/smut is actually my whole personality now (I’m kidding but literally, Rachel Reid is perfection and I’m 8/8 for loving her books! That is all.

A book with characters in their 30s and 40s? Yes, please, sign me up!

Thank you to Carina Press for granting me an ARC.

This was a very emotional read, right from the start of the book. Riley suffers a huge loss, and his grief is palpable. His former boyfriend Adam, recently retired hockey star, showing up at the same time isn't welcome, and once I found out a bit of the background between Riley and Adam, I began to wonder how the author would give him a redemption arc. The way Adam treated Riley before he became Mr. Huge Hockey Star made me so mad, and I didn't really want Riley to give him another chance, now that Adam has finally seemed to have climbed out of his self-imposed closet.

Obviously, this being a romance, the two men do get together again, and though I would have liked to see a bit more groveling from Adam, I could also see that the feelings they had for each other never entirely died away, despite the years, the distance, and the hurt Adam caused.

Solid writing, with complex and multi-faceted characters made this book time well spent. And I'll forgive the author for making me spill a few tears in the beginning.

Would love to read more from Ms. Reid, for sure.

Wow, this book...

This was an amazing second chance romance set in a small coastal town in Nova Scotia. The heartbreak was intense, what brought them back together was painful, but when they finely found their way together it was perfection.
Flash backs set the scene for their budding romance and eventual heart break.
Adam and Riley grew up together playing hockey, friends first, but secret lovers followed. While Riley was always confident in who he was, Adam wasn't so.
Fast forward ten years later and we are now starting their love story.
The heartbreak, absolute anguish, that Riley went through was almost too much for me.
I was so invested in these two and was basically relieved when Riley finally gave Adam his second chance. Rachel Ried, you know what you are doing.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review

Such a fun and fast read that had me getting teary-eyed. The way grief is explored is wonderful. It's not just about the grief of death, but also about the grief of what could have been. Really enjoyed it.

pretty solid, I'm just not OBSESSED

likes:
- the reason for their initial falling out made actual sense
- older MMCs
- groveling & hurt/comfort
- mental health rep.
- i'm a sucker for hockey playerssssss

dislikes:
- not enough flashbacks
- sloooooooow burn
- don't know if I would've been able to forgive and forget that easily (more power to Riley)

I really enjoyed The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid, though it wasn't quite my favorite romance of the year. The story centers on Riley Tuck, who’s dealing with a personal tragedy when his ex-teammate and former best friend with benefits, Adam Sheppard, comes back into his life. The chemistry between them is intense, and I loved seeing how their past history played into their present dynamic.

Reid does a great job showing Riley’s grief and the slow process of rebuilding trust with Adam. The flashbacks to their earlier relationship were a nice touch and helped me understand their complicated connection better. That said, I found the pacing a bit slower than I anticipated, and some of the resolutions felt a little too neat for my taste.

Overall, it’s a solid and emotional read, with great characters and a slow burn romance, but it didn’t completely wow me. Still, definitely worth checking out if you like second-chance romances!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Romance for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Rchel Reid for an arc in exchange for honest review. I would give it a 3.5 rating

Let’s start with the good, I loved that the MCs were older. I wish more authors would write this! It allowed for more maturity and open communication, which I really appreciated. At times, I found myself feeling so many emotions for both Riley and Adam. The author did a fantastic job showcasing their complexities, no one is perfect, and there’s a lot of gray area for both. The depiction of grief and the loss of a parent was also beautifully done; it felt raw and authentic, making the story even more emotionally compelling. Also the intimate scenes between the two MC's was well done.

Now, onto what didn’t work for me. I’m not a huge fan of second-chance romances, and in this case, I hated the reason things didn’t work out the first time. Even though Adam was closeted, he had to know how much it hurt Riley, who was already out. My heart broke for Riley and the hope he held onto, only for it to be thrown back in his face. I honestly don’t know if I could have forgiven Adam for what he did, though I’ll give him credit a bit of credit as he he did grovel to an extent.

I also wish Adam’s children had played a bigger role in the story. They felt like a nonfactor, and I would have loved to see more scenes of them interacting with Adam and Riley as a couple.

Overall I enjoyed and I do plan to read other books by this author.

I am forever a fan of Rachel Reid and will read whatever she chooses to write. The way she captures these sad and lovely hockey player romances will never not completely enrapture me. Here she focuses on Riley and Adam and their second chance at love and happiness.

Adam and Riley were best friends, roommates (they were roommates!) and teammates...who also sometimes hooked up. Riley, realizing he is in love with someone that will never love him back in the way he wants, transfers from Toronto and the two reunite years later as Riley is grieving. In the years since they last were friends, Adam has become even more of a hockey star who has recently retired. Adam is divorced and discovering who he really is, and he wants to reconnect with Riley in order to do that.

There are flashbacks to when Adam and Riley were teammates but the core of the book is on their second chance. Riley has created a life for himself in the little Nova Scotia town he grew up and Adam is trying to see how he might fit into it.

As with all of Reid's books, The Shots You Take is hot and filled with yearning and self-discovery. I love the way she writes her characters and although this book is a bit more of a slow burn than her others, I loved how much better Adam and Riley were together. This book is a welcome addition to Reid's ouvre.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books that will gut you, but it will also heal you. Rachel Reid balances complicated grief from the sudden loss of a parent well with a heartbreaking second chance romance. The story unfolds through a mix of chapters in the past and in the present. Honestly, those past chapters nearly broke me and made me not want to root for Adam and Riley to find their way back to each other. Adam said and did some truly heinous things to Riley, but this ultimately made his character arc pretty satisfying. I thought his journey to be his truest self was well done and felt realistic. He stumbles and makes mistakes, but ultimately he finds his way. Adam grows a lot through the course of the book, but part of me will always feel like he could have groveled more and that Riley forgave him a bit too easily. The epilogue made me very happy though and I loved how the story came full circle. I also appreciated that readers weren't forced to endure an unnecessary third act break up/drama after all the earlier angst.

I listened to the audiobook and read the ebook of The Shots You Take and really enjoyed Greg Boudreaux's narration. He did a wonderful job performing all of the characters using a variety of voices. I didn't have any issues determining which character was speaking and this was a really fantastic audio experience.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 4 stars

CW: sudden death of parent, grief, infidelity, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, homophobia, closeted MC, mention of accidental pregnancy (secondary character)

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

Rachel Reid does not miss. I was immediately sucked in and finished the book in two sittings. I was worried that Adam would not be redeemable by the end but I was sold on their relationship entirely.

Overall, I liked this latest book by Reid quite a bit even if I had some mixed emotions about the character of Adam. As a second chance romance it works quite well, especially paired as it is here with a moving examination of grief.

Riley's father has recently passed away and is lost in the emotional upheaval of his father's death when Adam, Riley's former teammate and best friend, arrives in Avery River to pay his respects. Adam, who was also Riley's boyfriend of sorts for some time, wants to both pay tribute to Riley's father and try to salvage a friendship with Riley. But Riley isn't exactly welcoming to Adam, having loved Adam in the past and not wanting to expose himself to the possibility of being hurt again.

Riley's character is quite fascinating here, and Reid does a good job here of depicting the toll that the pressure of sports (in this case hockey) can take on a player's mental health. Coupled with Adam's previous rejection, Riley's journey back to positive mental health is a long one, hard-earned and believable. And Adam is believable, as well, as the sports world despite this day and age still is not hospitable to gays and doesn't exactly push the concept of mental health, either. Adam's not a completely likable character to someone on the outside but what's important here is the connection between Riley and Adam, which Reid does well in presenting.

Obviously the book is a bit angsty, with it's depictions of grief and internalized homophobia, but it is rewarding for those readers willing to buckle up for an emotional rollercoaster. Another winner for Reid and her hockey world.

This book did not have a strong start for me; I felt like the main characters shouldn't be together (given some info we find out about Adam around 20-25% of the book). It was a bit slow moving and I was annoyed that this romance was happening in the wake of Riley's intense grief over his father. However, I decided to trust Rachel Reid and stick with the book, and I'm glad I did. This pair really began to grow on me and I began to see all of the work and growth Adam has done since figuring out himself. It became clear to me that Adam isn't asking for his past actions to be absolved, but rather that he is simply trying to be better now and in the future. This is a romance that is a bit melancholy but still sweet and feels true to life; sometimes, the worst and best moments of your life happen simultaneously, and I felt Reid really understood how to hold the weight of that juxtaposition.

The Shots You Take is my first read from Rachel Reid, and it definitely will not be my last. This second chance, small-town M/M romance is a sweet, steamy, and angsty story that pulls you in from page one and keeps you hooked until the very end.

The chemistry between the main characters is electric, filled with tension, longing, and a deep emotional connection that makes every moment between them feel intense and real. Their relationship unfolds with a perfect balance of tenderness and passion, navigating the highs and lows of love, trust, and vulnerability.

Reid’s writing is engaging and full of heart. The emotions hit hard, the stakes feel real, and the characters' struggles are deeply compelling. Whether it is the heart-pounding moments of desire or the quiet, aching ones of uncertainty, every scene is written with care and depth.

If you love second chance romances with small-town charm, sizzling chemistry, and emotional depth, The Shots You Take is a must-read. I cannot wait to dive into more of Rachel Reid’s books.

This story is both poignant and beautifully heartbreaking! To kick off my review, I must admit that my feelings about this book are quite mixed, so let’s begin with its many wonderful aspects. The first thing that captivated me was the stunning cover and intriguing synopsis, which instantly piqued my interest and made me eager to dive into the pages. As for the concept and plot, I appreciated the originality of the idea; it offered a refreshing take on second chance romance that many readers will likely enjoy. However, I found certain sections a bit challenging to stay engaged with. On the flip side, I adored the characters, who felt fully fleshed out and relatable, allowing readers to form genuine connections and root for their happy endings. In summary, while some moments may drag a bit, I truly enjoyed this story and am thankful for the chance to experience it.

Riley Tuck has made a new life for himself. After his NHL career ended and his heart was forever broken, Riley moved back home to live a quieter life near the sea and near his family. He runs the family sporting goods store with his father and tries not to think about the past. He especially tries not to think about Adam Sheppard, his former best friend and lover who Riley has spent years trying to move past. When Riley’s family suffers a tragedy, Adam reappears in Riley’s life and Riley has no intention of welcoming him.

Adam wants nothing more than to repair what he broke with Riley, but he has no idea how and has yet to understand exactly what Riley has been through. But Adam isn’t in a hurry to leave town and he is going to try every day to get Riley to talk to him. Riley has a lot of grief to navigate and slowly he lets Adam back in, but there are many volumes and complications to their past. The chemistry is still there between the men, but Riley will need a lot from Adam before they can repair their friendship, let alone try for something more.

This is a quiet, sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting book as Riley and Adam reconnect after many years. Riley has always been in love with Adam. They were best friends, teammates, roommates, and lovers. But where Riley knew what he wanted, Adam refused to admit his true feelings for Riley and crushed Riley time and again. Their relationship marked Riley’s life and the effects rippled out everywhere.

When Adam returns, Riley is navigating grief and doesn’t want to add anything more to the amount of things he has to handle. Adam comes across as thinking their reunion might be smoother, but he hasn’t fully embraced the devastating impact he had on Riley’s life. Through flashbacks, we learn about their earlier years and that works to tie the men together and gives weight to their story.

The men are both in their 40s and they have both been emotionally thrashed around. It takes groveling and recognition on Adam’s part and a lot of internal searching by Riley for these men to get to their long awaited and forever HEA. For friends to lovers, second chances, and lots of emotionally upheaval, The Shots you Take will be the book you want to read.

Rachel Reid has been a must-read author for me for some years now, and in her latest standalone romance, proves once again just how strong and versatile a writer she has become. The Shots You Take is very different in tone from last year’s Time to Shine; that was a funny, warm and joyful story about two young men in the early stage of their careers, while this book is quieter and more introspective, an angsty, character-driven second-chance romance between two former hockey players whose lives took very different trajectories and who have a lot of baggage to unpack if they’re to get their HEA at last.

When the book begins, Riley Tuck has been hit very hard by the sudden death of his father, a wonderful man and fantastic dad who was a role model to Riley and very much loved by family, friends and everyone in their small-town community. The rawness of his grief is palpable and intense, and just as he thinks life can’t get any worse he’s proved wrong when, on the day of the funeral, he sees a very familiar figure entering the church, one he’d never thought to see again. Adam Sheppard ripped his heart out and stomped on it many years earlier, and the last thing Riley needs now is for him to show up looking for… what? Riley doesn’t know and he doesn’t care.

Riley and Adam met when they were rookies for the Toronto Northmen and quickly developed a strong friendship which, on Riley’s part, turned into a huge crush. For three years, Riley pined for his straight bestie until one night when they were both a bit drunk, Adam kissed him. After this they started hooking up regularly and Riley, almost dizzy with the knowledge that Adam could actually want him in the same way Riley had wanted Adam for so long, didn’t immediately notice Adam’s skittishness after they had sex; the way Adam would get up and leave almost as soon as it was over, or that he would never sleep in Riley’s bed, even though they didn’t have roommates who might walk in on them. Adam always brushed off Riley’s attempts to talk about what they were doing and insisted they were just two guys having fun. But when, some years later, Riley couldn’t help telling Adam how he felt about him and Adam basically laughed it off, Riley finally realised that Adam was never going to give him the things he wanted. Not long after this, Adam got married and had two children, and eventually, and for his own good, Riley requested a trade, moved to Dallas and told Adam never to contact him again.

That was twelve years ago, and Riley doesn’t know what to make of Adam showing up at his dad’s funeral. His main reaction is one of anger – after everything that happened between them, there’s nothing Adam can possibly say or do that will make up for what he did and Riley doesn’t want him around. Adam can see how badly Riley is hurting and wants, desperately to do something to help, but when Adam tries to talk to him, Riley makes his feelings very clear and tells Adam, in no uncertain terms, to leave.

But Adam has changed. After his divorce a couple of years earlier – which followed hard on the heels of his finally admitting he was gay – Adam is adrift and struggling to adapt to life after retirement from the sport that has dominated his life for so many years, as a largely unnecessary father (his kids are older teens), and is facing a future that’s very different from the one he’d tried so hard to want. Life had been good for a while – he’d had an impressive hockey career, has two kids he adores and was married to a woman he’d liked a lot – but he’d always felt the Riley-shaped hole in his life and can admit now that he was – still is - in love with him, that he was selfish and insensitive and hurt Riley very badly. Adam knows he doesn’t deserve a second chance with Riley, but he wants one, more than anything - even if friendship is all Riley is prepared to offer.

The Shots You Take is a deeply emotional story that deals with some heavy subjects but which is never bogged down in misery. The anger, the grief, and the longing are sharp and hit hard, but they are tempered by the author’s trademark gentle humour, which serves to balance out the more melancholic elements of the novel. Riley and Adam’s backstory is skilfully woven into the narrative alongside the present day story of their reunion, so we get to see, in well-placed flashbacks, vignettes of their previous relationship, and we learn why Riley decided to quit his career with the NHL before he was thirty and how hard he’s worked to make a new life for himself. He still struggles with anxiety and emotional dysregulation but he’s on an even keel now and is settled and content with the quiet life he’s built for himself in his small home town.

While it’s not difficult to understand why Adam acted as he did, the way he treated Riley, his persistent denial of who he (Adam) was and what Riley meant to him, and his wilful ignorance and cheerful bulldozing of Riley’s feelings make it hard to like him or want to root for him and Riley to get back together. (And I suspect there will be readers who won’t be as forgiving as Riley is.) But Ms. Reid does such a great job of showing that Adam really is a different man, one who understands exactly what he did and is genuinely remorseful; one who is ready to move forward and live as his true self and who knows that he’ll have to work hard to earn Riley’s forgiveness – if Riley is even prepared to offer any. But I came to like him as he finds a way to be worthy of Riley; he’s so quietly caring and tender, doing little things like bringing Riley breakfast, or just being there for him when Riley needs it. I was pleased that Riley gets to be prickly and snotty and petulant with Adam and that he doesn’t shy away from telling him some brutal truths; it feels right that he should get to do that, and that Adam should finally hear them. And I liked that Riley comes to see that things haven’t exactly been a bed of roses for Adam either; even though he’s retired he hasn’t come out publicly yet, fearing the reaction of his friends and former colleagues, and is stumbling his way through life as a gay man with no idea what he’s doing and no-one to talk to about it.

All Rachel Reid’s books have underlying themes about the toxicity of hockey/sports culture, and this book is no exception, containing probably the most hard-hitting depiction of exactly what that culture has cost her characters, both physically and mentally, and touching on physical injury, addiction and mental health issues, which are, as always, approached with care and sensitivity.

There’s a terrific secondary cast of friends and family in the story; I really liked how Riley’s family embraces Adam even without knowing exactly what happened between them, perhaps realising how much Riley and Adam need each other. And Riley’s small circle of friends are a charming, warm and funny bunch who all have his back, but can also see how much he and Adam love each other and just want Riley to be happy. Adam’s kids are kinda shitty to him when we finally meet them, but eh, they’re teenagers.

This is a real emotional rollercoaster of a read, pulling readers through the depths of despair over lost love, a career lost due to depression and addiction and soul-deep grief in the troughs before pulling us up to the highs and the possibility of a second chance at love, hope for the future and redemption for past mistakes. Through all the pain and the harsh words, there’s never any doubt that Adam and Riley never stopped loving each other and are the loves of each other’s lives, and I really liked the way they slowly warm up to each other again, that they actually talk to each other and how clear it is that they’re both scared of getting it wrong this time around.

The Shots You Take is a tender, angsty and lovely story of second chances, enduring love and forgiveness and is highly recommended. It might not always an easy read, but it’s a deeply satisfying one.

Rating - A/5 stars

Dear Rachel Reid,

Riley Tuck and Adam Sheppard used to play hockey together for the Toronto Northmen. They were rookie defensemen together in the early 2000s and shared an apartment. They hit it off straight away and soon became best friends. Riley fell in love with Adam, believing Adam was straight and that was that. But then one night when they were both drunk, Adam kissed Riley and from then on, they hooked up from time to time – usually when alcohol was involved. Riley fell even harder for Adam but Adam pulled away after every interaction, not addressing the issue of his sexuality at all. In fact, each time he and Riley hooked up, Adam would almost immediately go out and find a woman to have sex with as if to prove to both of them that what Adam and Riley did was just for fun and didn’t mean anything. It was… situational rather than sexual. For Adam. At least, that’s what he said.

Riley eventually blurts out that he’s in love with Adam and in typical Adam fashion, he can’t handle it, laughs it off and then hooks up with Maggie – who falls pregnant and next thing you know, Adam and Maggie are married.

Riley and Adam stay friends – best friends – all through this, despite that Riley is dying inside but eventually it becomes too much and things come to a head after they’re team wins the Stanley Cup and what happens in the aftermath. As a result, Riley requests a trade from Toronto to Dallas and cuts Adam out of his life. Riley wasn’t very successful in Dallas – mental health and alcohol issues eventually led to him retiring back to his home town of Avery River in Nova Scotia, to help his dad run the local sporting goods store.

Now it’s April 2024 and Riley’s beloved father Harvey Tuck has died suddenly of a heart attack and Riley is distraught. At the funeral, Adam turns up. They haven’t seen each other in over a decade and Riley has a lot of resentment and anger, as well as unresolved romantic feelings for Adam and it’s all just too much.

Adam, for his part, retired from hockey a little while earlier and is now divorced from Maggie, having come out as gay to her. He’s the father of two teenage children but he’s not close with them. He spent a lot of time away from them in their formative years and now that he has time to spend with them, they want to be with their friends or have their noses buried in their phones. He and Maggie had an amicable split (she’s dating someone else now) and remain very good friends. After Maggie sees the obituary on Facebook, she urges Adam to go to Avery River to be there for Riley and to maybe put some of those old ghosts to rest. Who knows? Maybe there’s something that can be salvaged between them. Maybe something more than a restoration of their friendship.

Of course Adam was always in love with Riley but he wasn’t open with himself about his own sexuality. It took him a very long time to realise he’s gay. And, when they were playing together, it would have been much more difficult to come out, had he even realised. Riley always knew he was gay but he wasn’t out in the NHL.

But now – well, things could be different now. If only the pair can work through the hurt and pain from all those years ago and find a path forward together.

Initially, Riley doesn’t want Adam in Avery River. He’s already struggling with the loss of his father only five days earlier, he’s worried about his mother and sister and also worried he won’t be able to fill the role in the town that Harvey Tuck filled – junior hockey coach and just general all-around do-whatever-you-need-with-a-smile kind of guy. Riley has depression which was mostly controlled until the death of his father and was also diagnosed with Emotional Dysregulation Disorder. What he doesn’t need is more emotional upheaval in his life. He tells Adam to go.

Adam, respectful but determined, leaves Riley’s space but does not leave town. He keeps coming back, being helpful and present and offering apologies for his past behaviour. I thought the balance between Adam sticking around and Adam being sensitive to Riley’s stated wishes was pretty well done here. I didn’t feel like Adam was stepping outside of Riley’s boundaries.

Over the course of a few days, Riley starts to soften towards Adam and ultimately invites him to bring his bung shoulder to stay in the guest room rather than the lumpy mattress of the town’s only motel.

Riley has built a full life for himself in Avery River. He has a house on the beach which he’s renovated and decorated with antiques. He has a greenhouse and has become a keen gardener. He has a beloved rescue dog, Lucky (“he’s lucky he’s a dog”) who goes with him most everywhere. He has good friends in the community and, from time to time he goes into Halifax to hook up with guys on the apps. He’s not really prepared for Adam to come storming back into his life. He stunned to find that not only is Adam divorced and single – he’s actually come out as gay. It’s not super public yet but Adam isn’t hiding it either.

Relationships can be very messy and it can be surprising what couples can work their way back from. Some things in the past one might think are deal breakers eventually aren’t deal breakers at all, as it turns out. I didn’t have any problem with believing that Riley and Adam could work their way to a HEA.

Adam and Riley were good friends back in the day. They have a messy history but a lot of really good memories too. In the end, those memories are worth more than the pain and both men move on from the past. Still Riley is a little hesitant to go all in straight away. He doesn’t think he could survive it if Adam broke his heart again.

The opening scene in the book is Harvey Tuck’s funeral. The book opens in grief and, given that Riley’s father died only 5 days before the funeral, that first week the men are together again is cloaked in that grief. The story is told using flashbacks to vignettes of their time together as young rookies, leading up to their Stanley Cup win some 9 years later. Most of the flashbacks are, to say the least, bittersweet. The Shots You Take is not a light-hearted book. There is a heaviness to the tone which is fitting for the setting. It’s a quieter book too, set mostly in small town Nova Scotia and outside of professional hockey for the most part.

That’s not to say it’s all doom and gloom – that’s not the case at all. There are certainly lighter moments and of course there is a HEA. But it is in no way a “feel good rom com” type book.

Rachel Reid’s writing is easy to read and connect with and I liked the way she was able to inject small moments of humour within the narrative

Lucky licked his own nose, his tail thudding against the floor in the laid-back manner of someone whose concerns were mostly ham related.

to lighten the mood somewhat. I liked her apt and unique word pictures too.

– Adam said, the words tumbling out of him now like the world’s most useless fountain –

Adam talks about loving his kids and wanting to be closer to them, wanting to stay in Toronto until they’re at least off to college. There’s not a lot of his kids actually in the story and what there was didn’t endear me to them all that much. They were, to say the least, disengaged, and seemed pretty disinterested in their dad. Adam said he tried to be a good father albeit he was largely absent but I didn’t quite understand why the kids were so dismissive of him. I would have liked to have seen improvement in their relationship on the page. I did not. I would also have liked to have seen Riley interacting with them but that wasn’t in the book either.

There were a lot of things that Adam and Riley had to work through in terms of logistics once they decided to be together. I was interested in those logistics but they were mostly told via the epilogue set 5 years later.

I liked The Shots You Take. It was easy to read, engaging and entertaining, for all that it was somewhat shrouded in sad. But it was not quite as good for me as other Reid books I’ve read, most especially, Time To Shine and The Long Game/Heated Rivalry. Time To Shine includes the death of a family member too but felt lighter overall. All the books I’ve mentioned have mental health representation in one form or another – in each case I think the representation is well done.

I did like how Adam took almost childish delight in seeing a deer or a meteor shower and I liked how they balanced each other out when they were together. There was a lot to like but the ending was a little rushed for me.

Grade: B

Regards,
Kaetrin

It was sweet and emotional at the same time!

I liked how the characters were in their 40s and had decades of memories/moments.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.