I was surprised when I realized this was a debut novel. It hooked me so quickly and so thoroughly. Gave some Unsteady vibes with black cat and cinnamon roll but a bit lighter in my opinion at least for the most part. I think there were some minor pacing inconsistencies towards the second half but overall the build to the relationship and the support they provided each other without “changing” was refreshing. I feel like a lot of times with the black cat/cinnamon roll trope once they get together they change but I could still see the spiciness of Lucy, and the cautious energy of Jaylen which remained consistent throughout. Classic and well executed opposites attract storyline.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

After literally bumping into each other, golden retriever (and NHL player) Jaylen has, what they mutually decide on is, a one night stand with black cat Lucy. After their one night stand, Jaylen’s luck seems to turn around, and he credits Lucy with being his good luck charm. What follows is a nice story of navigating personal and professional hardships to reach goals and maybe find love!

As someone who worked in hockey, I appreciate so much that the author is able to tell the hockey side of the story so accurately. The banter between the main characters was great, and the mental health representation was so well written.

This is the author’s debut, and I know her next book will be even better!

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really hate being a hater when it comes to romance books as I’m pretty easy to please… but I wish I never read this book. strike one was right off the bat, realizing that the characters names and descriptions almost exactly matched the author and her husband and it was reading like some sort of weird self insert fanfiction. but still I tried to give it a chance... then it was just bad - the book, the writing, the characters, the pacing, the dialogue, the sex (which was so cringey I thought it was a joke at first)… I am really easy to please but this read like something a 13 year old wrote on wattpad (derogatory) (and I LOVE wattpad this is not a slight against them). given this author has had very loud opinions on how everyone else writes hockey romances, it made it irrationally angry how comically bad this was.

A solid debut. I generally had a good time reading it. The characters' backgrounds and emotional baggage (i.e., his yips; her trust issues and career issues) were thoughtfully developed. There wasn't a ton of hockey on page because Lucy knew so little about it but I trusted the details that were there. LaFleur Brown clearly understands the game and had the inside scoop on locker room BTS.

There's some great snark in Lucy's POV - I particularly liked "I need to know if he engages in deranged pastimes like hiking or if he knows the difference between there and their." Or they're. Well, Jaylen, do you?

Some cons, from least important to most:

They go to Seattle's fanciest restaurant and Lucy orders the most expensive bottle of red they have, to stick it to Jaylen. It costs... $400. Like, I've been to nice-ish restaurants that have wine for $5K and Michelin star restaurants that carry ultra-premium wines that cost $20K.

POV is alternating first person, present tense. I can deal with one or the other but both is an uphill battle for me.

There were a few awkward turns of phrase that made me stop and squint at my phone as I was reading, like "he's so hot I could bark" - is she suggesting that he's reduced her to animal instincts or does she think dogs bark at hot people? "He tentatively watches my moans get faster and louder" - how do you watch a sound? Or "I can't help but watch the veins in his forearms pool with blood" - lady, call an ambulance because blood is not supposed to do that in a person's veins.

My biggest issue with the story was that Lucy seemed to be making nonstop bad decisions. Her exes all sounded awful but she's constantly negging and pushing away poor Jaylen. Later in the story, she [won't even consider long distance even though Seattle and LA are three hours apart by plane and the real life teams of Seattle, LA and Anaheim are all in the same conference and division. There literally could not be an easier city for him to visit from Seattle. It's not even worth discussing with a guy who's in love with you, and nice and hot and rich to boot? (end spoiler)] She's ambitious and working hard towards a professional goal, until suddenly she doesn't care enough about it to answer an email. It's hard to root for someone who is constantly sabotaging herself.

All that out of the way, I do want to reiterate that I enjoyed the book, and would read another by LaFleur Brown.

This is a hard review to write. I really enjoy the author's social media, and I was so excited for this book. But I found it really hard to read and even harder to enjoy, and that was such a disappointment.

First off, I would have loved a sensitivity reader for queer identities. The use of common problematic tropes and stereotypes about bisexual characters was not great and (in my opinion) not addressed well. On a sentence level, I struggled with the prose. There were times where I would have to read paragraph more than once to figure out where everyone physically was and what actions were happening. There was one scene, early on, where there are three sentences about a character sliding into a chair/booth all in the same 1-2 paragraphs, as if only one was intended but the duplicates didn't get edited out. A lot of the dialogue was tough to imagine coming out of a real person's mouth--it felt like something Diablo Cody would write. I felt like the hockey knowledge was excellent and top tier, with the author clearly understanding her stuff, but sometimes almost going overboard with infodumps about stats or practices in places where it really was unnecessary and did not add anything to the story. I did not find the relationship particularly compelling, though I will say that it was fine. It's just a real bummer, because I did have high hopes for this being a fun entry into the sports romance genre without some of the very inaccurate hockey elements.

Sadly, this is not an author for whom I would pick up another book without first hearing from trusted reviewers that the quality had improved.

Netgalley ARC review. I would say this is a solid 3.5 but rounded down because I can't quite give it a 4 ⭐️. And maybe 🌶🌶.

I've followed Lexi on TT for a while now and was excited when she said she was writing her own hockey romance. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite the winner I had hoped it would be.

I love a black cat/golden retriever as much as the next person, but Lucy and Jaylen felt almost literal. The best part of the book was Jaylen's growth and the mental health rep. I know Lexi is a big supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community, but it felt a little forced in this story. There were a lot of stereotypical descriptions that, while true, didn't add to the storyline.

There is also a 3rd act breakup that we all saw coming from a mile away. The best part was that she was the one to "grovel" (barely).

I would say this was a good first book and hope her next one is even better.

I love duel pov and getting to see the internal dialogue of the main characters. The author took the classic hockey romance and putting a unique spin on it with the lucky charm plot line while still incorporating some of my favorite tropes.

I really enjoyed that Lucy and Jaylen wanted the best for each other and pushed each other to heal from past trauma. They encouraged one another and made each one feel seen without adding extra stress to their problems. I loved the way they made each other feel accepted and loved which allowed them to chase their dreams into reality.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was the one for me. I typically love hockey romances so I’m not sure where the disconnect was.

It may have been the writing style, but I just did not connect with this the way I thought I would. It felt like a chore reading it, so maybe it was my problem.

TY to NetGalley and THP for the ARC.

ugh i wanted so badly to love this. a bit of a clunky start but lexi is so so funny and that really comes through in her writing as well. appreciated all the accurate hockey details that are often glazed over or simply don’t exist in hockey romance books and the queer rep too but unfortunately i just didn’t click with this one.

This book was the absolute cutest thing. Getting to know Lucy and Jaylen’s story was so amazing, and I just love how whirlwind crazy it was. Sometimes its difficult for us to see what we actually want, but life will always have a way of showing us what truly matters most to us. This book reaches a soft spot for me because I love hockey with a passion so that made this read even more enjoyable. Lucy shows the readers that you should always be authentically yourself, nothing more nor nothing less; one day a big hockey just might come barreling in your way and show you just how loveable you really are. Will definitely be recommending this book to friends and anyone willing to listen to me yap about how much I enjoyed this book.

very cute sports romance with a fun MMC and a cool FMC that feels great on all the little details. 5 stars. tysm for thea rc.

4 stars!! ⭐️ I’m obsessed with hockey romances and Lexi did such an amazing job with this book! I loved Jaylen 🥹

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars
This was a rare DNF for me, and I hate to say that! I'm a big fan of the author on social media, and I just didn't think her voice fully translated to the written word. I don't think that's necessarily her fault- I just think more work needs to be done to improve her writing structure and pacing.
I thought the bones of this were good though. The whole ensemble of characters was fun, and the author has a great sense of humor. And I can't say this enough -- it's SO refreshing to read a hockey romance from someone who ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS HOCKEY. That's not me of course, but I know the author's heart is really in it.
That's why I'm rooting for her success in the future and her growth. I know she could be stellar if given the right team to help her succeed.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

This book was so great. I'm in my hockey romance era and this one didn't disappoint. It had laugh out loud funny moments. One part had me laughing so hard I had to cover my face so I wouldn't wake my kid up. It's the kind of scene from a book I'll never forget and will always make me laugh.
The character growth was good and I enjoyed reading the mental health aspects. This is definitely a book I'll recommend.

As someone who has called Seattle home these last ten years, I really enjoyed the portrayal of the city in the book. I love hockey and the evocative imagery made it easy to imagine this happening in my hometown. This book definitely makes Seattle feel like a character of its own, and I loved all the quirky details that made the city so recognizable and full of personality.

I loved that the story follows both Lucy’s strenuous relationship with her father and Jaylen’s mental health journey dealing with the death of his childhood friend. I feel like both these topics were dealt with tactfully in the narrative, but the development of Lucy and Jaylen’s relationship lacked chemistry and tension.

Halfway through the book, I hit a major slump, it feels like the story almost plateaus after Jaylen and Lucy fall into their friendship, and it was hard to pick it back up. I wanted to be invested in Lucy and Jaylen’s relationship, but it felt lackluster and repetitive.

In terms of Jaylen’s character, I definitely feel it was missing the nuances of race in sports and in society at large. Less than 3% of NHL players are Black, and according to recent census data, the population of Seattle is only 6% Black. As a person of colour who has lived in this area for ten years, I definitely think there was a lack of addressing this in the story that would have added depth and realistic nuance to the narrative.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Lexi LaFleur Brown for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three out of five stars.

Not my favorite, didn’t actually finish it. The story was interesting enough and I loveeeeee the author on social media, but the writing just didn’t stand up for me. A bit too millennial, maybe? I’m not sure what was off honestly, just that it didn’t work out for me.

I've loved Lexi LaFleur Brown from her tiktok content so I was SO excited to get approved for her arc and it was everything I was hoping for!! I love a romance and I love a hockey so Shoot Your Shot was right up my alley. For a debut novel, Lexi really brought her A game and delivered such a fun and realistic story with characters that feel like people I want to be friends with.

Lucy and Jaylen are interesting, multi-dimensional, flawed characters that bring out the best in each other and help each other grow throughout the story. Their stories as individuals and overcoming their own obstacles was just as important in my opinion as their romance together. Jaylen confronting his panic attacks and guilt head on, developing Cam's House with Maya's help, and being his most authentic self no matter what his team or the public think was such a strong positive message. Lucy's struggle with commitment issues coming full circle, her finally freeing herself from her father's dark cloud, and the strength of her platonic relationships hit close to home and made me connect with her easily. And the strong LGBTQIA+ representation is a big bonus!

While Shoot Your Shot is a fun hockey romance (with accurate and fun actual hockey info), it's also a great story of two characters finding safety and stability and working through their own mental health journeys. I highly recommend for anyone who loves a romcom sports romance!

This is a hockey romance with grumpy x sunshine trope. Jaylen thinks that Lucy is his good luck charm for this hockey season. I liked Jaylen better as a character and thought he was patient. Lucy was annoying at times. Jaylen's anxiety was written with care and very well, which I appreciated.

Shoot Your Shot by Lexi LaFleur Brown was a sweet, cute, romance that made me smile.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a chance to read this ARC early.

DNF @ 10%

I was so bummed that I didn't enjoy this -- I love Lexi's tiktoks and was excited to read a hockey book by someone who knew what they were talking about! Unfortunately the writing style wasn't for me, it was a bit too choppy and telling rather than showing.

I think this will work for a majority of readers, especially those who Lexi has already reached through her social media!