Review: Hit Me with Your Best Shot by Sara Ney (Houston Baddies #1)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Sara Ney's got a brand-new hockey romance series, and this time around, she's set it in the world of professional hockey instead of the collegiate level. Hit Me with Your Best Shot is book one in the Houston Baddies series, and it's kinda-sorta-maybe an opposites-attract romance featuring a hockey player and a professor. Austin Adams is a twenty-nine-year-old sociology professor at the state university, and she also happens to be a huge hockey fan, her love for the sport courtesy of her late father, who bequeathed his beloved Chinese crested, whom he named after his favorite player, to his only child. Austin isn't one to shy away from expressing her opinion, so when the Houston Baddies's star goalie is in a bit of a slump, she shares what she thinks of him while watching a game in a bar. Word gets back to Gio Montagalo about the supposed bashing of his less than stellar skills, and the twenty-six-year-old goaltender's curiosity is piqued. When he comes face to face with Austin, she has no idea who he is but encourages her to watch a game and to do her heckling there live and in person. And she does, only to belatedly realize that Gee and Gio are one and the same. Now, he calls her his good luck charm and he wants her to keep going to games, plus making time for dates and kisses and more. But Austin can't help but wonder how a hot, wealthy, and gifted athlete like Gio could want a girl as plain and bookish like her.

This was a really fun read, one loaded with as much humor as there was romance, and headlined by two main characters who felt like they truly clicked together. I liked that Austin was a bit older than Gio and that she came from a different world professionally than he did, but that they were still able to have common ground, such as a love of hockey, watching movies, and so on. They both needed each other, with Austin being someone who told him as it was, and while he got the same from his twin sister, Nova, I think the fact that she was his sibling gave him permission to tune her out whenever he wanted to. That being said, I loved Gio and Nova's relationship because it reminded me somewhat of my own relationship with my late brother, and for as much pushing of buttons and teasing that they had going on, there was a great deal of love and care that they had for each other. On the flipside, Gio brought a lot of love and adoration Austin's way. Yes, she had her career, a best friend, and a loyal dog, but I think Gio also made her see herself as someone more than "just" a bookish female. I enjoyed seeing Austin and Gio fall in love, and I was so glad that there was no third-act break-up to speak of. Hit Me with Your Best Shot gets 4.5 stars out of five stars, and that epilogue has me eager to see what awaits Nova and ___ in book two!

Release Date: 10 March 2025

Date Read: 08 March 2025

Learn more about Sara Ney.

Pre-order Hit Me with Your Best Shot on Amazon.