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Nymphs & Trojans #1

Shots Not Taken

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“If there isn’t a risk, is it worth wanting at all?”

Starting Forward for the Tennessee Trojans Nikolas Verette hasn’t always lived the golden life. After personal setbacks placed barriers in his path to professional basketball superstardom, he took to approaching life with the motto “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Following his passions leads him to an opportunity of a lifetime, but he is in need of a slight bit of assistance to achieve his goal.

Enter Jayde Turner, a smart-mouthed, straight shooter who is grappling with her own set of roadblocks that are in her path as she tries to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a popular country singer. Moving from her tiny hometown in rural Tennessee to Nashville was supposed to be the major key to her success, but instead she consistently faces narrow-minded individuals and stereotyping based on her appearance.

A common interest and shared goal eventually causes Nikolas and Jayde’s paths to converge. Both of them are operating with a single-minded focus that is consistently detoured by the underlying current of…undeniable chemistry between them. The further along the road they travel, the more their individual goals morph into a singular focus—maintaining their sanity and connection in a world that constantly threatens both.

Set in “The Athens of the South” Nashville, Tennessee, The “Nymphs & Trojans” series is a sports romance collaboration by Nicole Falls and Alexandra Warren that follows two fictional professional basketball franchises - the Nashville Nymphs Women’s Team and the Tennessee Trojans Men’s Team.

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2019

619 people are currently reading
1136 people want to read

About the author

Nicole Falls

62 books547 followers
Nicole Falls is a contemporary Black romance writer who has taken entirely too long to complete her first project. She's also a ceramic mug and lapel pin enthusiast who cannot function without her AirPods constantly blaring music. When Nicole isn't writing, she spends her time trolling her friends and family while drinking coffee and/or cocktails or checking off yet another of these great United States visited in her quest to see some land! She currently resides in the suburbs of Chicago.

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5 stars
582 (58%)
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285 (28%)
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111 (11%)
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19 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
Profile Image for WellReadRuby.
535 reviews113 followers
January 25, 2023
Wow!

Now I know Nicole be watching basketball because stay at a WNBA game but this first chapter was 🔥! I felt like I was in the game!! I wasn’t sure how this story was going to go since I didn’t read the synopsis and boy I’m glad I didn’t because country singers was not on my bingo card for this book! Lol I know the team is in Nashville but nah I didn’t see that and what a fun ride this was. Jayde playing hard to get in the beginning and almost fumbled her Niko bag! And then Niko later playing hard to get too?! These two were both stubborn as hell BUT I’m glad they came together for the common good! I love Jayde and how her mouth doesn’t have a filter at all! Like girlll 😩😂. Both Niko and Jayde were both fighting to win in new territories for them and seeing their hard work come to fruition was nice. The “road blocks” trying to get in their way got what was coming to them and that’s just that. And the Big Brother tv show situation??? Also didn’t see the story having that but honestly the journey of #forthegram was fun and made for an interesting story! Also Selena’s name was dropped a few times and I’m ready for the next book to see what’s her story! Overall loved this book and I’m so mad I’m late!!
Profile Image for Kameel.
1,063 reviews292 followers
June 5, 2022
I Love A Good Sports Romance

Nico & Jayde was an inevitable couple based on their based friends pushing them together. I also enjoyed the way they thought their relationship was developing secretly….but, of course it was obvious.
Profile Image for Dee Cherry.
2,945 reviews67 followers
September 7, 2019
Nicely written as Niko and Jayde's love story was told. Looking forward to reading next part
Profile Image for Deloris.
970 reviews42 followers
August 3, 2019
I liked the premise of this story , but the first few chapters turned me off , too much use of the N word , and cussing , which added nothing to the story . Then the singing contest storyline , that turned into a reality to show that went no where .... like this sentence. You can write the characters having sex but that doesn’t make them have chemistry . The story was a basketball player who can really sing ,and a black woman who wants to be a country and western star , that was the story but it got sidetracked by all of the other stuff.
Profile Image for Malaika.
870 reviews4 followers
January 22, 2021
Didn’t want it to end!

Every book that Nicole writes gets better and better. The growth in her storytelling and the comfort in being herself shines through. I don’t know where to start with this book. Nicole is funny in real life and the way she voiced these characters was like little pieces of her on the page. I laughed out loud regularly to Jayde’s quick wit and Niko’s smart retorts. The chemistry between them jumped off the page. Even the people you want to hate in the story make you laugh. Jackie Moon though Nic? LOL I can see the Nymphs and Trojans universe taking shape just like the Connecticut Kings universe with CCJ and LB. I can’t wait for the next release in the series and hope we get more than two books (hint).
Profile Image for amirahlynn.
596 reviews22 followers
March 12, 2021
I really didn't like this at all. I wanted a basketball romance, there was one basketball game and a smaller one towards the end. The plot in this went no where. Niko participated in an Instagram singing competition, which then turns into a livestream tv show thing that goes literally no where and then, one basketball game that was a few sentences and then Jayde's concert. There was no chemistry between them and the plot sucked. Plus the use of the n word and AAVE just got on my nerves. I'm Black and use slang but in this book, it just got annoying
Profile Image for KayReads__.
299 reviews4 followers
September 25, 2020
This book was EVERYTHING AND MORE!!! I love the two point of views and I absolutely LOVED JAY!!! Like omg!!! With wanting to write a book like this exactly what I needed for inspiration!!
Profile Image for BetweentheCoversLiterary .
1,511 reviews32 followers
March 7, 2021
I loved this read it was so freaking magical. I knew from the beginning that the chemistry between Jayde and Niko would be magnetic. The banter between them was fun and light hearted throughout their budding friendship leading head on into romance. I loved them together something between them just fit so well between their love of music and basketball. I just want more of them. Definitely enjoyed this book and can’t wait for what’s next
Profile Image for Katheryn.
219 reviews
July 19, 2019
If I could give more stars 🌟, I would!

This book was just what I needed! If you’ve ever been in a book drought, then you understand what I mean. Jayde and Niko were everything!🥰

I was impressed with the whole storyline- the sport aspect, the music, the social media craze, friends, family...whole👏🏾entire👏🏾book👏🏾! I fell in love with Niko and his drive to be more than in the box people placed him in, and Jayde was going to kick in doors or heads to be in her rightful place in the music business. The two of them together was straight magic!

So more than 5 🌟...this is 10 ⭐️ read, and I cannot wait for the other book in the series collaboration!
Profile Image for Mrs..
5,994 reviews107 followers
August 13, 2019
Shots Fired

The author did her thing again with this romantic comedy about a Black lady who loved music, especially country music. She would find herself paired with an NBA player in an exciting contest which led them to take a leap of faith. An excellent tale; it was fun, comical, and just plain amazing.
Profile Image for Kema B..
Author 10 books229 followers
October 15, 2020
Come on Nik and Jayde! I loved this story. I don’t want to give anything away but I loved their meet cute and how their relationship developed throughout the book right up to that fantastic ending. Great read!
Profile Image for darrian sade.
37 reviews
January 5, 2025
overall really enjoyed this book. full disclaimer i jumped into it bc of a sports romance rec and while there was def some basketball it’s more of a music based story which i was also down for. it made me laugh out loud a lot and once i got into it was really locked in. my biggest question after finishing tho, WHERE IS THE PLAYLIST??? niko singing that’s what it’s made for?! earned it?! so anxious!!! kinda obsessed with that aspect, there are song gems in here so i know somebody has to have a link by now! there were a few parts that got on my nerves and a few things i wish we had circled back to but i had a good time reading it for the most part and i’m def excited to jump into the next books 🤗
Profile Image for Tsholonki .
443 reviews7 followers
January 6, 2023
I have almost zero knowledge about basketball but this was a fun, easy book. No low points and unnecessary break ups
Profile Image for _pagesturning.
423 reviews
August 15, 2024
Cutesy, fun, fast-paced read. As someone who mostly judges books by their covers, don't let this one get you into this. It's more about singing than it is basketball.
Profile Image for Melanin Book Lover.
269 reviews26 followers
July 29, 2021
Well I lied yall…when I said in my Road to Love post that I preferred Nicole’s Novellas, she still is the novella Queen but this book right here has me ready for the next longer read by Nicole. This book pulled me in before I even started reading it, when I was reading Natural Transition and read about Jayde and Niko’s chemistry I was ready to get to this one and I was not disappointed at all.

Jayde is a singer having a hard time getting signed to do the music she loves, country music. Since she is fighting so hard for her career she has no time for a love life, she just likes to get her physical needs met and move on but then her friend Nyema introduces her to Nikolas and all that one night em goes out the window. Nikolas is focused on his career, his backup plan/second childhood dream, and bringing his team a championship but when he meets Jayde he see’s not only a potential mate but also someone who can assist him in achieving his second career goals.

After reading the attractions between Jayde and Nikolas I was looking forward to this read and I was not disappointed. I loved Jayde’s work ethic, she went hard for her career and she wasn’t going to let anyone deter her or try to direct her path. Gotta love a woman with that much passion and who won’t back down or sellout for anything sis was a boss.

Nikolas, Nikolas, Nikolas…listen I love me a man that can sing and I understood how Jayde felt when she heard him since because in my vision of that scene I wouldn’t have been able to resist him either lol. I like how Nikolas wasn’t only focused on basketball and was planning to fulfill his other dream. I could just imagine Jayde and Nikolas getting their Tamia and Eric Benet on.

This was a super cute read.
Profile Image for Byron Washington.
732 reviews4 followers
December 24, 2019
So Good!!!

I really enjoy a well written book, and especially so when lit's topical and REAL. Real folks, living real lives, with intact real families, and having REAL conversations. Like family reunion conversations, full of jokes, colloquialisms, USED PROPERLY BTW, and showing true love for one another. This woman is a wholly unique storyteller. Not much drama, and fairly predictable, but still smooth and enjoyable.

Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
Profile Image for Wilina.
22 reviews11 followers
October 15, 2019
Amazing Fun read!

Nicole doesn’t disappoint!!! Amazing wit and hilarious sense of humor. These characters are off the charts and they were just fun to read. Love their love. I love how they tried to fight it. But when it was time they decided that no shots taken is the greatest loss of all. Pick up this book y’all!
Profile Image for Samona.
206 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2019
Jay is a whole mess

I really enjoyed Jay and Nik, Jay is a whole mess in the best way. I also enjoyed that Nik was a good guy not a bad boy turn good. A really good book.
Profile Image for Brandan WH.
655 reviews4 followers
December 17, 2021
Entertaining but some distracting elements

Jayde is an aspiring country musician in Nashville, Tennessee. But she’s also a black woman trying to get into a genre that isn’t usually so kind to people of color. She’s put in her time by working behind the scenes and writing songs for other people but now she’s ready for her own music and her own voice to be heard. She has the opportunity to get some notoriety by working with NBA player, Niko. But is it smart to mix business with pleasure?
Niko has just come off a NBA season where his team got knocked out in the playoffs. Now that he has some time, he wants to revisit his second love which is music. He has the chance to compete in an online music competition, but he needs some assistance. Jayde, a friend of a friend that he’s met a couple times, could be just the person to help. However, because he’s attracted to her, he’s concerned she might be more of a distraction than a help.
How these two connect, the premise behind the singing competition and the inevitable drama, made for a good story. I enjoyed reading about Jayde’s challenges with being a country artist and respected Niko’s wants to do more that just play basketball. Add in some amazingly hot sex scenes and the book gets better!
How so ever. I could not get past the use of ”…” throughout the book. It was added in bizarre places, completely slowed down my reading and was just strange. In very few places did it make sense, but it was everywhere. It’s also a pet peeve of mine when authors have their female characters giggling all the time. These are grown ass women. Why can’t they just laugh?
I enjoyed the book though. The cover is gorgeous. But, while I’m curious about some of the characters that were introduced, I don’t think I’m going to read the rest of the series.
Profile Image for Monique.
734 reviews72 followers
June 23, 2021
I loved Jayde and Niko's story but the outside drama made no sense to the story. For instance, Jayde is a black country singer and she had a writing partner named Rich. Rich gets in his feelings about Jayde, he said and acted inappropriately. It was just inserted in the story and it made no sense.

Niko is a big time basketball player and he wants to try his hand at singing. So he enters an American Idol type singing competition anonymously on Instagram. Again there was weird unnecessary drama, characters inserted for said dramatic effect but then goes absolutely nowhere.

I get there needs to be some tension or outside conflict for the main characters to work through but this wasn't it. Also there were some weird phrasing and word choices for me.

For this to be a sports romance, there wasn't enough of the "sport" aspect for me. Plus I'm a die hard basketball fan which is why I was excited to start this series. Hopefully the rest of the series will be much better.
Profile Image for Charm &#x1f33b;.
250 reviews42 followers
January 8, 2021
I started not to finish this book, but I pushed through as it started to level out about 30ish percent of the way through. By the end, I did kind of like it. I didn’t think I would continue the series, but I’m going to read the next book to see if the author has more to bring to the table. I enjoyed the love and chemistry between the main characters but the book fell short in regard to flow and the reality of the story. There were certain parts brought up
In the story that were not finished and felt incomplete that has you wonder why she even brought it up or introduced in the story. There were also certain aspects of the story that I wished she had explored more. Overall, it was enough of a good read for me to finish, but I’ll see how the next book is.
Profile Image for BookNotes by Niecy.
224 reviews6 followers
March 3, 2021
Really liked this! Had all the necessary elements of this genre, especially the HEA. I liked the realistic elements and the different perspective of Jadye wanting to do country music. Nicole Falls even dropped some country music history about (our) Black peoples' contributions. (I kept thinking about singer K. Michelle when envisioning what Jadye looked like.)

There were definite character set ups for the rest of the series and I look forward to reading the rest of the books. I think Nicole and Alexandra Warren's styles should complement each other well.

Oh, and I was glad Nyema and Langston were in this story. Hope to see them again. Natural Transitions made me want to read this. I thought it was funny that Jadye and Niko got engaged first.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
439 reviews3 followers
April 18, 2021
Yeehaw!!!

This was very nice and interesting. A cute story with a cute couple and a clean romance.
Jayde was an all around amazing person. Loyal, independent, direct, and very intelligent were just a few adjectives for her.
Nikolas was so cute, so endearing yet so manly, he to was a remarkable character.
This story was a cute feel good story with a positive light on both the sports world and the music industry where all that television and social media promotes is shown a different way here, and that was the best part of this story. No cheating, no unnecessary drama, no sob story, but just good old wholesome tale of how two opposite from different backgrounds and career choices could be faithful and still make it.
Very good!
Profile Image for Tracy - loves to read .
1,013 reviews
September 17, 2021
Gotta take that shot

I liked this book.

Jayde marched to the beat of her own drum and had total confidence in herself and her abilities. Musically she believed that she could make in the country genre. In life she was a free spirit and in love it was all about moments and quick interludes - no love just sex and a hood time.
Niko was about his b-ball career. He worked hard to get to where he was and did what needed to be done to maintain it. He had a side interest totally unrelated to ball and never applied himself to pursue it.
This two were great characters. I enjoyed their banter and loved her mother - “strongbacked man!” They definitely go on a whirlwind of experiences and have run ins with some haters. I’m glad they decided to shoot their shots!
Profile Image for Crystal Luckey.
749 reviews31 followers
March 21, 2021
Great introduction!!!

All Jayde ever wanted to do was be a country singer. Nikolas was a basketball player but he had other dreams of be singing. Jayde and Nikolas met through mutual friends, but Jayde didn't want to mess up a friendship. When Nik entered a singing contest, he asks for Jayde help and she is more willing to help. After a date, Nic and Jayde friendship turned into something more. The more time spent with each other, the more they fell for each other.
This was a slow read for me, but I enjoyed how Nic and Jay finally ended up with other. Nik support of Jay was a breath of fresh air. The connection with each other was strong and i was finally happy when Jay gave Nik a try!!
1,412 reviews12 followers
October 18, 2021
Absolutely Excellent! !!!

Wow, this book was so refreshing. I cannot begin to tell you how needed this book was! As an avid reader of all things romance, I‘be been noticing a trend lately where the women are so hung up on past hurts and trespasses that they can’t get out of their own way it’s ridiculous. So this was a nice break from that. Even though, neither Niko or Jayde were looking for love, they wasn’t opposed to it. In addition, I felt like they were two “whole” (not broken) people coming together to share and explore love. It made for a much more entertaining experience. By the way Pharris was hilarious. Great job Ms. Falls!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews

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