I had the amazing opportunity to receive an ARC for this book before it was officially released! It was my very first ARC so I feel like I have a lot to learn, but I was really excited to get more involved with the book community online. Receiving the ARC was not conditional, and this review was voluntarily given.
Amazon Review
Cosmo is “Flash”, lightning on skates and a superstar on the ice, loud and confident and a friend of everyone; but hiding his insecurity whether he will be up to snuff, or if people will see past their preconceived notions. Eli is a brilliant physics whiz; but a duck-out-of-water, withdrawn and wears his anxiety on his sleeve. However, what others can’t see is his quiet confidence in his analytical abilities and a shrewd disposition. Despite their outward appearances, these two have more in common than it readily appears.
This book is a low angst, slow burn and an opposites attract story, told in an alternating first person POV. The nerd and the jock is by now a tale as old as time, yet Becca Jackson manages to keep this story feeling fresh and fun, bringing her own unique brand of charm; and the story is supported by her usual rich cast of side characters. While broadening each other’s horizons and propping each other up, Cosmo and Eli both come to realise: with a little help and by being themselves unreservedly, they are enough and they can be accepted as they are.
I do love a good story where the two MCs build each other up and become each others’ hypeman. It warms my heart, and by the end you can see the change in the MCs and the distance they’ve come. To be honest, initially I found the book hard to get into but this was more reflective of my own insecurities and geekish disposition than the book itself – that out of place feeling simply hit a bit too close to home. As Eli started to become more comfortable around the fraternity, so did I in following his POV.
As a slow burn, it took a while for these two opposing poles to become close enough to click together; but once they did, the story dialed the heat up quickly and the second half of the book just seemed to fly by. These two find some… creative ways to be together in a house full of others, and we have a decent amount of time to enjoy them as a couple. What becomes their little ritual together is extremely cute, plus we get some fun Parks family interactions.
My one single criticism of the book would be that there were too many fun details that were brought up and never mentioned again! Some unpleasant personalities midway through disappeared without a trace and, while I didn’t realise until we’d reached the end, made me wonder very much what happened to them. I would also have loved to see Eli’s family in this story, but perhaps that’ll come up in the future…
Becca Jackson has very quickly become an insta-read author to me, even if I still barely understand a thing about ice hockey. Despite that, I can say she scored a clapper on this one. (Yes, I looked that one up.) Though this book had cameos from “Love the Game” and from Becca’s own series “Love in Play”, everything is well explained and there shouldn’t be much confusion; just a lot of characters to keep track of. I’m not up to date on the rest of the series so I’ll definitely need to loop back through and read the rest.
Instagram Review
Cosmo is “Flash”, lightning on skates and a superstar on the ice, confident and a friend of all; but hiding his insecurities. Eli is a brilliant physics whiz; but a withdrawn and a duck-out-of-water. What others don’t see is his quiet confidence and a shrewd disposition. Despite their outward appearances, these two have more in common than it seems.
While broadening each other’s horizons and propping each other up, Cosmo and Eli both come to realise: with a little help and by being themselves unreservedly, they can achieve their desires.
I do love a good story where the two MCs build each other up and become each others’ hypeman. It warms my heart, and by the end you can see the (mental, emotional) change in the MCs and the distance they’ve come. The second half of the book in particular just seemed to fly by. What turns into Cosmo and Eli’s ritual together is extremely cute, plus we get some fun Parks family interactions.
I still barely understand a thing about ice hockey, but I can say Becca Jackson scored a clapper on this one. (Yes, I looked that one up.) Though this book had cameos from “Love the Game” and from Becca’s own series “Love in Play”, everything is well explained and there shouldn’t be any confusion. I’m not up to date on the rest of the series so I’ll definitely need to loop back through and read the rest (obviously I can’t miss out on Brent Parks).
Puck Shots is out now (from October 7)!
Instagram Post: Review Post, Fanart Post
Read the book here: Amazon