The Shots You Take was not the book I expected to read when I started it, but once I got into the story I had a hard time putting it down. This story was so much deeper than any run-of-the-mill hockey romance. As a second chance romance between two professional hockey players, it was multilayered, unique, and heartfelt.

Riley Tuck has been in love with his best friend and teammate Adam Sheppard for years. The difference between the two of them is that Riley is an out gay man whereas Adam doesn't seem to recognize himself as such. They have a deep friendship that is broken apart by being on two completely different pages, causing Riley to not see Adam for more than a decade. That was until Adam showed up at Riley's father's wake. Adam has changed significantly since he and Riley last spoke. He wants nothing more than to prove that to Riley, but doing so amidst Riley's terrible grief may not be the right time.

The Shots You Take is a beautifully written mix of friends to lovers and second chance tropes. It's set in a great small town in Nova Scotia and includes likeable, realistic side characters. While there wasn't a lot of on-page hockey action, the main characters' time as NHL players is still important to the plot. I'd highly recommend it to fans of hockey romance!

Riley Tuck and Adam Sheppard are former teammates and best friends whose relationship went up in flames. Riley moved home to his small Nova Scotia hometown of Avery River, and Adam went on to become professional hockey's golden boy. A decade later, after the death of Riley's father, Adam finds himself in Avery River hoping to help Riley put the pieces back together. Can Riley and Adam work through their past pain and shared grief?

Rachel Reid's "The Shots You Take" is a sweet, spicy, emotional second- chance MM romance. I found myself instantly drawn into Riley and Adam's stories and their shared history. Their chemistry lit up the page. This book was unputdownable and I finished reading in an afternoon. This is my first Rachel Reid book, but will definitely not be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this title early.

Rachel Reid has done it again! I’ve devoured every single one of her books and this one was no different! I adored both Adam & Riley so much! It was so nice to see them reconnect and help each other become the best versions of themselves after all the hurt that they went through in the past! I just loved this book so so much!

Rachel Reid is well-known for her queer hockey romance novels for good reason. She does a fantastic job capturing the adrenaline of the sport and juxtaposing it with the rush and passion of sexual awakening and falling in love. With this new novel she gives a different side of the sport: Retirement and all the memories, lingering pain, and regrets that can come in the aftermath. This is a slow-burn, second chances story about two 40-something men who played crucial roles in each other's lives and now must decide how they want the next chapter of their lives to go. There is a lot of grief, hurt, and groveling as Adam tries to comfort Riley after the death of his father and make up for his cruelty towards him years ago. It's a beautiful, heart-wrenching story. I loved that it was set in Nova Scotia, somewhere I've never visited but the details made it come alive. I also really appreciated how realistic it was. Hockey is not romanticized - the injuries, mental health issues, and bigotry that can come with the sport are all addressed frankly. Overall this is a lovely story I would highly recommend, just have your tissues ready.

I LOVED Rachel Reid's latest heartwrenching hockey romance. This was a beautiful second chance/first love story, and the characters were totally unforgettable.

4.5 rounded down to 4

Riley used to have feelings for his teammate and roommate Adam, but he shut himself off from them years ago as a matter of survival. But when Adam shows up at his father's funeral determined to make amends, is Riley ready to let him back in?

Read if you like:
-Later in Life Romance
-Second Chance Romance
-Angst...so much delicious angst
-Grief
-Finally Getting it Right

The angst in this book was top notch! There were so many lines that completely gutted me in the most delicious way. I was hanging on every chapter wishing and hoping for these two stubborn idiots to work it out. It was the type of story that settled under your skin and becomes a little part of your DNA. I loved that Riley and Adam were older and slightly wiser. It added depth to their romance.

The only thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars, and it's a small thing, was the ending. I was waiting for one last flashback, one last piece of angst, but it never came. That's not to say it wasn't a satisfying ending. It just could have been stronger.

This was such an angsty and emotional book by Rachel Reid. I cried at least 3 times in the first half of the book.

Adam and Riley's story is so heartwarming and perfect, and I absolutely loved the slow burn/ reconnecting in their 40s, as well as the flashbacks of what their relationship was in the past when they were young hot hockey players.

If you like MM hockey romance with lovable side characters, cute dogs, and hot ex-hockey players, this book is for you!

Oh this book! I devoured it so quickly. As someone with familiarity of small town life in Nova Scotia, this one really hit close to home for me. I could feel every emotion. The story was heartbreakingly beautiful and I’m so thankful I got the opportunity to experience it. Rachel Reid doesn’t miss with this one. It’s nowhere near a typical hockey romance as both characters have retired, but it’s the hockey romance the world needs.

Trying to express how much I loved this book - It was actually perfect. I was fully hooked from the very beginning and could not stop reading even though I have tons of grad school work to do. THIS IS ABSOLUTE SECOND CHANCE GOLDDDDD. I literally feel crazy over the angst and tension. Riley and Adam are made for each other and I feel so attached to them.

This story deals with emotional topics, such as coming out, grief, an addiction, in a very sensitive and not overwhelming way. It has so many beautiful moments and character growth. The then and now timelines were executed very well as well. My new favorite MM romance by far 🥹

I absolutely love everything Rachel Reid writes and The Shots You Take is no exception. I love the new take on her normal hockey romance with a post hockey look at life and older, second chance romance. Adam and Riley are both so real and flawed, my heart aches for them. I love the love letter to Nova Scotia, it makes me want to visit and see what I’m missing. 10/10 would recommend, and will most definitely be rereading.

I have loved everything Rachel Reid has written. I'm a big fan of her previous series so I was excited to see that she was releasing a new book. This book was very sweet and the character work was so great, just like her previous books. Reid has a way of getting you immersed into the story and creates such loveable characters. I liked the time jumps and the relationship between the two mmc's was so endearing.

What a phenomenal book. I wanted to just devour it, but made myself slow down to savor it.

Rachel Reid does such a fantastic job writing romances that deal with huge emotional upheavals. This one dealt with grief and goodness, I could just feel the emotion coming out of the pages.

This is a second chance romance, which had be hard to love, especially if the original reason the first relationship did not make it was bad enough. The author did a great job balancing this, to make it believable and giving the characters enough grace to learn and grow.

I really enjoyed how the main characters are in their 40s, but we do get flash backs to when they were younger.

I can’t wait to read another by this author. Loved it.

A quick and romantic read. The Nova Scotian setting was well-built up. I liked the community of people. For fans of Check Please! by Ngozi Ukazu and E.L. Massey.

I’ve read everything by Rachel. I’m a die hard fan of hers. Will read anything she writes. She never disappoints. Her stories are full of emotions and feelings. The shots you take is nothing short of emotional rollercoaster second chance romance. I loved that these characters are older, more mature, but yet they deal with issues real people experience every day. I enjoyed this book so much.

I loved this book so much! I was excited when I got approved as I loved her previous books and this was no different.
Adam and Riley were so lovable, even when they made mistakes it was still easy to root for them, the transition from haven’t seen you in several years to friends yo lovers was organic and believable, I loved everything about this book, I cried in several parts, but that’s ok, sometimes that’s what you need when reading a book and the pay off was worth it!

Somebody hold me because Rachel Reid striked again!
In The Shots You Take, a standalone hockey romance, we follow two ex-best friends Adam and Riley (who were maybe something more) who are reunited when Riley's dad passes away. Their relationship is closer to hatred on Riley's side and longng and not understanding on Adam's, but as the two spend more time together (reluctantly on Riley's part) and as new revelations come to life, they realize that their feelings might not be completely a thing of the past.
BASICALLY Rachel Reid gave us idiots to lovers (at least on Adam's side, Riley never did anything wrong in his whole life) and I loved every second of that! From flashbacks that showed us how Riley and Adam's early starts in the NHL (and the starts of their ahem arrangement) looked, to the present when the two are in their ealry fourties and still trying to figure this thing called life out, I adored it all.
I can't wait for Reid' future projects, because she keeps putting out major hits after major hits!

I appreciate Reid’s ventures into more difficult subjects like grief and betrayal, but this book unfortunately didn’t quite hit the mark for me. When a character says or does something so hurtful that it affects the other character long-term, I require a grovel, some sort of humbling to show that the regret is real and true, and this story basically just had the offender bully his way back in. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Aghhhh I don't have the words to capture how much I love this book!!! This is second chance romance at its finest where the characters are given the room to talk and fix whatever broke the first time around in the most satisfying way possible. The yearning in this book is top tier. I was emotional the whole book. I loved that the characters were allowed to have complex feelings - grief and regret and longing all mixed together. I also really appreciated that what broke them apart wasn't a mystery for long so the tension came not from an unknown part of their past but the current yearning in the present. I was swooning the entire book. My heart hasn't felt this full from reading a book in so long. Rachel Reid just writes top-tier books what can I say. This is a must read for any sports romance or second chance romance lovers! This is going on the all-time favorites list for sure.

I can never get enough of a book by Rachel Reid and here we are with her upcoming, The Shots You Take. Quite the angsty read this turned out to be and with that comes groveling. And I just wished there was a bit more of it. While I always love and appreciate Rachel's writing, there was a lot of grief in this one. So it was a bit of a sad read for me. I think I wanted more focus on Riley and his journey managing his grief because there's a lot happening in the first half. And that took me away from Adam because I found myself getting frustrated with his character. I wanted him to let Riley breathe a bit, so that was hard to follow.

I still definitely enjoyed it, but I felt like a sad panda for majority of the book.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for an e-Arc copy of The Shots You Takeby Rachel Reid.

Now, one thing about me is that no matter if it’s an arc or a book I piad for, I’m always going to be 100% honest and tell it like it is 🤷🏽‍♀️. I’ll keep this short and as spoiler free as possible but there might be some, so be warned.

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This book was an uphill battle for me and I only made it to 10% before I had to DNF.

From the moment it starts Adam just comes across as someone who takes advantage of others and is never willing to give as much as he gets. It’s obvious he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. The whole situation with Riley and then his ex-wife was so wrong.

Meanwhile Riley had expressed himself and got laughed at, which I would have never forgiven and forgotten.

I’m assuming they end up together again but honestly Riley is too good for Adam.

This is also a second chance romance which are always tricky for me because they have to provide a good reason as to why it didn’t work in the beginning and these two just seem toxic, especially Adam.

Lastly, them messing around while Adam was married? Know what, maybe they do deserve to suffer together.