Review and Giveaway – One More Shot by Victoria Denault

Publisher: Forever
Publish Date: Out Now
How I got this book: NetGalley
Reviewer: MinnChica

They say you only get one shot at making your dreams come true.

Jordan is determined to take two.

Drafted by the NHL at eighteen, Jordan Garrison was headed for fame, and there was only one person he wanted to share it with—Jessie Caplan. He was crazy in love with her, and had finally told her so. They shared an amazing night . . . and then everything fell apart.

Jessie tries not to think about the night she gave herself to Jordan—or how he broke her heart. She tries not to think about it, but she does. Especially now, when she’s staring into his sky-blue eyes for the first time in six years. After so much time and torment, she can’t tell if she loves him or hates him. But Jordan has learned enough to know a connection like theirs is rare. He was lucky to find Jessie once. No way will he lose her again.
*Blurb from Goodreads*

It’s a well known fact that I’m a junkie for sports romance books, so I find it hard to say no when a new sports book shows up in my inbox.

Jordan’s childhood best friend is the one girl that got away, and that he never forgot. He’s loved her for so long, and so hard, that going back to his hometown for her grandmother’s funeral gives him the chance to finally try and make amends for the way things crumbled between them after high school.

Jessie isn’t ready to forgive Jordy and go back to being best friends, but the attraction between them is so strong, so intense that she has a hard time finding reasons to deny a relationship. When they both return to Seattle and find themselves in each other’s orbit, Jordy is determined to show Jessie that he is ready for the chance to make it work with her, and that they can still be explosive together.

By the time the book was finished, I was invested in the story and characters. However, it took me a long time to get there. The majority of the book is told not only in first person from both Jessie and Jordy, but it also bounces back and forth between the present and the past. I found the format of the time jumping to be a bit jarring, and it continued to pull me out of the story. I know a lot of readers don’t have that problem, but I’ve never really been able to fully immerse myself into a book that goes back in forth in time quickly. It takes a long while for the story to build up for me, and as such it diminishes my enjoyment of the book.

That being said, I’m definitely going to be looking forward to future books, because Denault did an amazing job developing secondary characters that I am desperate to know all about! I absolutely have to know what happens in the next book as it features Jessie’s little sister, Rose, and Jordy’s best friend Luc.

While I liked Jordy and Jessie as main characters, it took me awhile to warm up to them both. Again, I’m not sure if that was because of the back and forth nature of the book, or if it just took awhile for me to not hate the younger version of the characters. I really struggle with young adult books because of the high drama and lack of maturity, so seeing that time and again with both Jessie and Jordy with their high school selves did factor into my perception of them. However, once they finally got their past straightened out, and actually listened to each other, I liked the way their romance finally resolved. It was sweet and sexy and a wonderful friends to enemies to friends to lovers story. 🙂

All in all, I enjoyed Denault’s debut novel. She really knew her hockey, and although we don’t get to see a lot of actual play-time, I liked the way it played a huge but understated part within the book. The characters were all amazing, and like I said I’m super excited to read the next book about Rosie and Luc.
I give One More Shot a C

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Thanks to the folks at Forever, I have one digital copy of One More Shot to giveaway! Just leave a comment with your favorite sports romance book to be entered. Giveaway ends June 9th. Good luck!