2.5 stars

The banter/humor between the main characters was enjoyable. Other than that, I don't really get the deep connection between the two. I did really enjoy the actual hockey game play scenes, but those happened at the end of the book. The pacing didn't seem consistent throughout and things happen a bit randomly. The cat puking scene almost made me DNF because we got more descriptors of that scenario than we do in the spicy scenes. Actually, the spice was not good; it may have been better written as closed-door rather than the scenes just lacking. Overall, it felt just surface-level writing and somewhat boring unfortunately. There were good topics to dive into deeper like the anxiety and depression; even the charity work after losing a friend.

“Shoot Your Shot" by Lexi Lafleur Brown had all the ingredients for a great hockey romance: a handsome athlete, a feisty heroine, and the fast-paced world of professional hockey. Unfortunately, the execution fell short. The writing style was a major letdown. The prose was clunky, and the dialogue often felt forced and unnatural. I struggled to become invested in the story due to the lackluster writing. Another significant issue was the one-dimensional characters. Both the hero and heroine felt more like caricatures than fully fleshed-out people. I couldn't connect with them on an emotional level, which made it difficult to care about their romance. Overall, "Shoot Your Shot" was a disappointing read. While hockey fans might enjoy the sports aspect, the subpar writing and character development make it hard to recommend. 3/5 stars. Thank you Lexi LaFleur Brown, netgalley and Canary Street Press for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's hard to believe this is a debut! Quick read, light spice, perfect banter. Love the author and what she represents!

I don't read a ton of sport romances, but as an avid hockey fan I definitely had to check this one out! The thing that brings me out of stories the most is when the hockey is wrong, which thankfully isn't the case here, as Dr. Brown is a former hockey player herself and is very familiar with the NHL. The rest of the story felt pretty standard romance to me honestly, but pretty good for a debut!

3 ⭐ 3 🌶️ 4 🎧

This was so sweet and fun. I loved the representation, the banter and the tropes a ton. It felt a little too hockey smart sometimes as an occasional real life hockey fan, I'm not sure if it would be too much for a superfan or not, but it turned me off a bit.

I thought the brokenness of Lucy and Jaylen was really well done. Lucy had an absent and abusive father and Jaylen had a ton of anxiety and depression surrounding his tragic and guilt ridden past. I really enjoyed the journey with each of them leaning in each other and overcoming their hurdles.

The audio was great. I really loved Jamal Roque and Kristen DiMercurio, they did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life.

This book started off so strong and was really gearing up to be a five star read in the beginning. The characters were great, the meet cute was so adorable (love a relentless man), and they were both set up for some really solid character growth.
By the time l got to the halfway point, the story kind of lost the plot for me and I really struggled through the rest of the book.
The character arcs needed more time to develop and their relationship needed a little more oomph.
Overall it was cute and much be your thing if you like slower paced hockey romances.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this, as I struggled to connect with the writing style. While I was excited about the premise—a fictional hockey romance—I found that the storytelling lacked the immersive quality I was hoping for. Rather than feeling transported into the world of the characters, the prose read more like a series of facts, making it difficult for me to fully engage with the story.

That said, I know this is the author's debut novel, and I truly admire the effort that goes into bringing a story to life. I’m excited to see how her writing evolves and would love to read more from her in the future. I appreciate the opportunity to read an early copy and wish the author all the best!

This is a must-read for hockey fans! The story follows the FMC, an aspiring tattoo artist interning in the industry while also pursuing her passion for art. The MMC is a Black hockey player struggling with his performance on the ice. Desperate for a turnaround, he strikes a deal with the FMC—she’ll be his good luck charm since he plays better with her around.

As they spend more time together, their chemistry becomes undeniable, even as they try to resist dating. I really enjoyed the unique mix of the good luck charm trope and the FMC’s journey as a tattoo artist. The MMC completely stole the show—he fell first and was utterly obsessed with the FMC. Both characters grapple with personal trauma and challenges, making their connection feel deep and authentic.

The romance was both adorable and realistic, especially in how it portrayed arguments and real-life struggles. For smut lovers, there are multiple spicy scenes to enjoy. While some parts felt a bit slow, this was still a cute and engaging sports romance overall.

Shoot Your Shot is such a fun and unique take on a hockey romance! Jaylen is an anxious, superstitious golden retriever of a guy who believes Lucy—a prickly, tattooed black cat of a woman—is his lucky charm after a one-night stand turns his hockey career around. What starts as a simple “good luck” text deal quickly turns into something much more, and watching these two navigate their undeniable chemistry while battling their own insecurities was both heartwarming and entertaining.

I also really appreciated the mental health representation in this book, which felt thoughtful and well-executed. Plus, the hockey aspects were written so well! Jaylen and Lucy’s dynamic was the perfect mix of sweet and steamy, and their journey kept me hooked from start to finish. If you love a sports romance with a fresh twist, this one is definitely worth picking up!

First I want to thank the publishing house to give me this ARC. I don’t like giving low reviews, but sometimes I have to be honest.

First of all the two main characters, I feel, didn’t have chemistry. I almost couldn’t finish the book, but I pushed myself. I read a lot of hockey romances, since I really love the game. One other issue I had, was that Lucy said she was gay. Knowing this, why would Jaylen stick around and not worry that Lucy would leave him for a woman. This book I found slow and sometimes not exciting, which is what I’m used to. Lucy’s friends were a nice side story I enjoyed.

I’m sorry to Lexi LaFleur Brown. Publishing your work is not an easy task. I’m sure you worked hard on this book, and I don’t relish giving you a bad review. I’m sure there are readers out there that will like this book, I’m sorry that I was not one of them.

Like many people, I have been following the publishing of this book for a while on tiktok and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it to see how Lexi weaved in her amazing knowledge of hockey. Probably unlike a lot of people, my knowledge of hockey is very limited so I probably wouldn’t even be able to tell you if something was inaccurate. For a debut book? Not that bad!! There were times where I was laughing, and awwwwing at the sweetness from JJ. I really loved the focus on him in the book. It’s probably out of character for me to say but I think the majority of the book is told from his perspective and I liked that! It was a nice change of pace to really get in JJ’s head and see the story from his perspective. However…. With all of the backstory and development we get from JJ, I feel like we’re lacking in development with Lucy. Lucy is highly afraid of commitment and sabotages herself at almost every step of the book. I would have loved to see a little more investment in her and her growth journey to be the best match for JJ. Can you tell I absolutely adored him? I think what sets this book apart from other hockey romances is Lexi's knowledge and ability to tackle the hard issues athletes, particularly hockey players, face. I love that we get a deep dive on JJ’s mental health and him learning to take care of himself holistically. We see inclusion and diversity not as something to just be in the book but at the forefront of everything our characters do. So yeah, I had a few issues with the book, but all of the good definitely outweighs the bad here!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Canary Street Press, and the author for an ARC :) This book was just published!!

This had the makings of a good story, but it fell flat for me. The relationship between our MCs was surface level. And I was mostly bored while reading this.

I thought this was a really solid debut. Lafleur clearly knows what she is doing. If you follow her online at all, you already know her hockey knowledge is excellent. (She’s a WAG, so her knowledge comes first hand.) The writing is smart, effortlessly witty, breezy, and fast-paced. The character development is fast and thorough. I knew exactly who the FMC was by page 2. She’s also hilarious. The one-liners, the zingers, the banter. I loved it. Reading Lafleur’s writing is like hanging out with that friend everyone likes — smart, sarcastic, a little bit wild, always has a one-liner at the ready. She writes Lucy in a very down-to-earth way. I enjoyed her “black cat” energy even more as it was paired with Jaylen’s easy-going manner. He’s definitely excellent book boyfriend material. 👌

As someone who has followed Lexi LaFleur Brown on TikTok for quite some time, I was super excited to read her debut novel. So, I am disappointed to say that this book fell flat for me. I do want to give my review with a grain of salt. My excitement likely raised my expectations, so I want to acknowledge that I may be reviewing this book a little harsher than I would a book I wasn’t looking forward to as much.

That being said, I did expect more. While I think there were some moments of genuinely funny banter, that didn’t make up for what the book was lacking. I didn’t feel like the characters had much depth. So while the characters had nothing wrong with them, I didn’t feel connected or drawn to either of them. Unfortunately, that made it difficult to make myself care about the story.

There were also moments where the prose was choppy that pulled me right out of the story. Same goes for the smut scenes. And not a critique of the substance, but of the ebook format: any time the letters f and l were next to eachother in a word, there would be a space in between them dividing the word into two parts. It drove me crazy.

Finally there were a couple parts in the book that (I’m hoping) were meant to be a specific nod to the hockey or hockey romance community that just felt a bit weird to me. One of the side couples in the book were Wells and Hannah, which if you read any hockey romance you’ll recognize the names. The book also references a goalie nicknamed Groot, and when he makes a save the crowd yells ‘GROOO,’ which is a chant Kraken fans do for their goalie, Gru. Now, I am sure that both of these things were done in good fun, but they did come off as just a little odd.

All that to say, this didn’t live up to my expectations, but I do enjoy Lexi’s content so much that I will still probably read whatever her next book is.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

Jaylen is a hockey player feeling the pressure to perform and reeling from being dropped by an NHL team, he has a chance meeting with Lucy, who dreams of being a tattoo artist but is toiling under the cruel burdens placed on her boss. As Jaylen’s fortunes improve to earn a single season contract, he and Lucy develop a relationship to keep his luck going. But as the season goes on, their relationship goes deeper as they face their fears, regrets, and dreams together.

Like many folks (I'm guessing), I came to Shoot Your Shot through Lexi LaFleur Brown's excellent TikTok presence. There, she dishes on life in the NHL and life as a WAG (wife and girlfriend). Her real-life experience definitely shows in this book, where we get a lot of very accurate NHL lingo, as well as a pretty good representation of the game.

This book has both LGBTQIA+ and POC representation, which is sadly rare in hockey romance, and the story itself is very cute. The book is chock-a-block full of hilarious one-liners. It really leans just as heavily into the com side of rom-com as the rom side.

I'm not sure if Brown wrote the book in order, but the writing at the start is a bit clunky, with lots of strange metaphors that don't land. There are still some cringy pieces in the later half of the book, but it does get better as the chapters roll on. Perhaps a stronger editor would have caught a lot of this before publishing.

* Thank you to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

This debut had the makings to be a big hit for me. I have been a hockey romance lover for many years and I have also enjoyed Lexi’s social media accounts for a while now. Unfortunately this missed the mark for me.

The hockey background and our player MMC Jaylen were clearly written with lots of knowledge (Lexi grew up playing and is married to a previous hockey player) which I appreciated as a hockey fan.

Where things didn’t hit well was the MCs together and the overall tone. Another reviewer pointed out that this read as a sort of fanfiction about the author and her husband as they mirrored them a lot, and I really felt that as a follower of Lexi’s accounts.
The growth with both of them was well written and the story was there, but it felt a bit all over the place and surface level. I found it hard to push through because I wasn’t connecting with them as much I wanted.

This was a good debut and I do think lovers of hockey romcoms will enjoy the witty one liners with a hint of spice. I look forward to seeing what Lexi creates in the future.

Thank you Canary street press for the review copy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars)
**Empowering, Fun, and Full of Heart**

*Shoot Your Shot* by Lexi LaFleur Brown is an inspiring and uplifting read that blends humor, wisdom, and real-life advice in an engaging way. Brown’s voice is authentic and encouraging, making this book feel like a conversation with a supportive friend. Whether you’re looking for motivation, a confidence boost, or just a fun and relatable read, this book delivers. While some parts may feel a bit familiar if you’ve read a lot of self-help or motivational books, Brown’s fresh perspective and personal insights make it stand out. A fantastic pick for anyone ready to go after their dreams!

I am a hockey fan. I am a Lexi fan. I liked this book-- 3.5 ⭐ rounded to 4

I’ve been following Lexi on TikTok for a while now and when she announced she was writing her own hockey romance novel, I all but ran to NetGalley to try to get my hands on an arc. I was so happy when I was approved, too! Being a former NHL wag herself, Lexi has the opportunity to pull from personal experience that other authors in this subgenre don’t have.

And pull she did.
So much so that both main characters' names use the same first letter as her and her husband. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there were several times throughout the book where we got a little too close to the self-insert fanfiction line for my comfort.

That aside, I am primarily a vibe reader, so I give first time authors some grace. Publishing can be scary and at least they are putting themselves out there. This book was a typical hockey/sports romance. While there was a little more hockey lingo used, it didn’t have as much of the secret life of wags I was expecting. I loved their meet cute and that he falls first, even if the pace was a tad slow due to Lucy’s commitment issues (which almost felt too forced at times). The mental health rep was very well done, imo.

The biggest thing that ruined this book wasn’t even Lexi's fault. I don’t know if anyone else who received a copy from NetGalley had issues but mine.. woof. It didn’t matter what font I had the text in, any word that contained an F and an L next to each other had a space between the letters (f ling, f loor, conf lict, muff led). At first, I thought it was just words that started with fl, but sadly no. Additionally for a large part of the book there were no breaks or indentations to mark paragraphs, so several pages were just walls of text. These things aren’t necessarily deal breakers for me, but they are kind of off putting. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a final product put out for review to be a little.. cleaner.

I think that this had potential but I finished wanting more. I think that the romance was few and far between while the hockey was so highlighted that I felt like I was reading an ESPN report :/

The prospect of the grumpy girl and the sunshine boy was really exciting for me but I felt like these characters could have been developed into more than a hockey player and a tattoo artist who is angsty. I wish they had more of a romantic build-up.

The mental health rep fell flat for me as well... again I wanted more depth behind it.

I didn't have a bad time while reading it but after thinking about it there was just a lot missing for me. i don't think this author will be something I reach for in the future but I was able to sort of get into the story so it was a win in that aspect of escapism.