What do you think?
Rate this book
Philadelphia Bulldogs #1
Take The Shot
DINAH
When my husband died, I never thought I would find love again.
I definitely didn’t think I would find it in the arms of my younger best friend. Why would the hunky hockey player want anything to do with me? I’m a stressed out writer with a lot of baggage. Any other man would say, “HARD PASS!”
But Noah was the best man I’ve ever known, and if it wasn’t for him, I might not be alive.
But am I ready to put my heart on the line again?
NOAH
I’ve pined for my best friend for so long, that my teammates issued an ultimatum.
“Make your move now or one of us will ask her out.”
They are just trying to push me, besides none of those jerks would ever be good enough for her. Makes me wonder if I even stand a chance.
Besides, what would a smart woman like her want with a dumb jock like me?
Get ready to meet the Philadelphia Bulldogs hockey team, in this all new-standalone novel. If you love sexy sports romances and friends-to-lovers with a HEA, this book is for you!
Content Warning: This book deals with miscarriage & infertility.
When my husband died, I never thought I would find love again.
I definitely didn’t think I would find it in the arms of my younger best friend. Why would the hunky hockey player want anything to do with me? I’m a stressed out writer with a lot of baggage. Any other man would say, “HARD PASS!”
But Noah was the best man I’ve ever known, and if it wasn’t for him, I might not be alive.
But am I ready to put my heart on the line again?
NOAH
I’ve pined for my best friend for so long, that my teammates issued an ultimatum.
“Make your move now or one of us will ask her out.”
They are just trying to push me, besides none of those jerks would ever be good enough for her. Makes me wonder if I even stand a chance.
Besides, what would a smart woman like her want with a dumb jock like me?
Get ready to meet the Philadelphia Bulldogs hockey team, in this all new-standalone novel. If you love sexy sports romances and friends-to-lovers with a HEA, this book is for you!
Content Warning: This book deals with miscarriage & infertility.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2020
530 people are currently reading
2115 people want to read
About the author
Danica Flynn
13 books207 followersDanica Flynn is a marketer by day, and a writer by nights and weekends. AKA she doesn’t sleep! She is a rabid hockey fan of both The Philadelphia Flyers and the Metropolitan Riveters. When not writing, she can be found hanging with her partner, playing video games, and reading a ton of books.
FOLLOW MY AMAZON PAGE:
amazon.com/author/danicaflynn
FOLLOW MY FACEBOOK PAGE:
facebook.com/danicaflynnauthor
JOIN MY READER GROUP:
Danica's Romantics on Facebook
FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM:
@DanicaFlynnAuthor
SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER:
Newsletter
FOLLOW MY AMAZON PAGE:
amazon.com/author/danicaflynn
FOLLOW MY FACEBOOK PAGE:
facebook.com/danicaflynnauthor
JOIN MY READER GROUP:
Danica's Romantics on Facebook
FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM:
@DanicaFlynnAuthor
SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER:
Newsletter
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
April 30, 2020
Take the shot is the 1st book in the Philadelphia Bulldog series and believe the debut book by this author. It is the story of Dinah and Noah. Dinah at 30 has endured more pain then most people (hopefully) in a lifetime. She lost her husband to a car crash...discovers she is pregnant with his baby, and then that is taken away through a miscarriage that almost claimed her life as well. Noah is a 22-year-old professional hockey player...who (although feels guilty) wants Dinah. Are they finally at a place where they will act on these feelings…?
My thoughts:
I love hockey ya’ll….like love hockey in a rabid fan kind of way!! I also love romances...so it would make sense that I would love hockey romances...and I do!!! This one however missed the mark. It made me so crazy!! I wanted to like it……. the thought of a new hockey romance series…. Is almost as exciting as watching Ryan O’Reilly win the Conn Smythe trophy!!!! Ok not even close, but I love when a new series starts! Back to it made me so crazy...ugg first I didn’t like Dinas’s back story...DEPRESSING!!...I know these things happen, but they don’t need to in my fantasy world! Second Noah was a wimp!!! I hated his dialog...if I could have thrown this book at him, I would have!! Obviously I believe sex could be consensual…(I hope we all do)….but my god….how much reassurance do you need!?! I would give a more specific example, but there is a chance that my mother/and or grandma might see this...so I won’t. Love you guys! Man up “dude”. That brings me to my next bone...more diaglog issues….it was like reading a conversation between two junior high kids! I lost count of how many times “dude” was said. *Sigh*...im getting annoyed all over again.
I'm hoping some of these issues…. can be chalked up to a debut author, and that her next book will address some of these concerns. I will probably check book 2 out...after all... authors grow with each book(hopefully), and I'm not ready to give up on the idea of another great hockey romance series!
For more book fun check out my blog @: http://beachbumbookworm.com/
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author Danica Flynn, and the publisher for this opportunity
My thoughts:
I love hockey ya’ll….like love hockey in a rabid fan kind of way!! I also love romances...so it would make sense that I would love hockey romances...and I do!!! This one however missed the mark. It made me so crazy!! I wanted to like it……. the thought of a new hockey romance series…. Is almost as exciting as watching Ryan O’Reilly win the Conn Smythe trophy!!!! Ok not even close, but I love when a new series starts! Back to it made me so crazy...ugg first I didn’t like Dinas’s back story...DEPRESSING!!...I know these things happen, but they don’t need to in my fantasy world! Second Noah was a wimp!!! I hated his dialog...if I could have thrown this book at him, I would have!! Obviously I believe sex could be consensual…(I hope we all do)….but my god….how much reassurance do you need!?! I would give a more specific example, but there is a chance that my mother/and or grandma might see this...so I won’t. Love you guys! Man up “dude”. That brings me to my next bone...more diaglog issues….it was like reading a conversation between two junior high kids! I lost count of how many times “dude” was said. *Sigh*...im getting annoyed all over again.
I'm hoping some of these issues…. can be chalked up to a debut author, and that her next book will address some of these concerns. I will probably check book 2 out...after all... authors grow with each book(hopefully), and I'm not ready to give up on the idea of another great hockey romance series!
For more book fun check out my blog @: http://beachbumbookworm.com/
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author Danica Flynn, and the publisher for this opportunity
July 7, 2020
Dinah is a thirty-year-old widow who lives next door to two hockey players. They both knew her husband who was killed in a car accident. She deals with the loud music and partying from next door. She does this while working at being a writer. She does have a soft spot for Noah who actually saved her life months after she lost her husband when she had a miscarriage while in the stairwell, Noah found her carried her downstairs and took her to the hospital and stayed with her. She felt for him then and as much as she is trying to deal with her feelings.
First, she wants to like Noah but still, she feels that she is too old for him, second, she is still dealing with cheating on her husband. As a reader, I was wanting her to take the time to get with Noah and I was equally confused with Noah. I wanted him to step up and tell her before he did that he wanted to be with her. I got that he was nervous, or even scared because he knew her husband and actually liked him, he thought maybe that his feelings for her would be not helping her. He did fall in love with her though when he was with her in the hospital, seeing how strong she was he found a different person on the inside and his love grew right there in the hospital. When he finally heard from the coach that she had called the team and told them what he had done that had sealed the deal and he finally decided to make his play on the ice and with her. This is when the story becomes different and changes.
I had hoped that the last part of the book would have been part of the beginning for it seemed that the author had found her groove and the whole story from the 75% mark just was so much better, even though they were all the same characters. I like hockey and hockey stories so I was looking forward to reading this book, I was just a little disappointed in the beginning and a little passed the middle. Dinah’s character and the struggle with Noah’s character were both good and her part really helped the book move along. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
First, she wants to like Noah but still, she feels that she is too old for him, second, she is still dealing with cheating on her husband. As a reader, I was wanting her to take the time to get with Noah and I was equally confused with Noah. I wanted him to step up and tell her before he did that he wanted to be with her. I got that he was nervous, or even scared because he knew her husband and actually liked him, he thought maybe that his feelings for her would be not helping her. He did fall in love with her though when he was with her in the hospital, seeing how strong she was he found a different person on the inside and his love grew right there in the hospital. When he finally heard from the coach that she had called the team and told them what he had done that had sealed the deal and he finally decided to make his play on the ice and with her. This is when the story becomes different and changes.
I had hoped that the last part of the book would have been part of the beginning for it seemed that the author had found her groove and the whole story from the 75% mark just was so much better, even though they were all the same characters. I like hockey and hockey stories so I was looking forward to reading this book, I was just a little disappointed in the beginning and a little passed the middle. Dinah’s character and the struggle with Noah’s character were both good and her part really helped the book move along. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
![Profile Image for Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1642113904i%2F116166019._UY200_CR2%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
August 21, 2023
3.75 ⭐️ Surprisingly good!
I mean it is a reverse age gap hockey romance where he falls first AND harder. This book basically had my name on it lol
RTC
I mean it is a reverse age gap hockey romance where he falls first AND harder. This book basically had my name on it lol
RTC
June 2, 2020
❤️❤️❤️
💋💋
A good read and plot .
Some of the characters were wonderful.
Dinah I loved , so strong and she had fire and heat, wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted.
T.J ,I adored him so funny at times , most of the other players too were quirky and amusing they had real life to them.
Noah however I was disappointed in.
At first he just came across as a gentle giant of a man and that was fine , even being unsure of himself was good , not all men are confident.
Noah began to anoy me around chapter 6, I started to think him weak and I couldn’t get past it .
It’s probably a personal thing so don’t let it put you off reading this book , the rest of it was good and enjoyable reading.
In all it’s great reading with a vast majority of excellent characters.
I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review
💋💋
A good read and plot .
Some of the characters were wonderful.
Dinah I loved , so strong and she had fire and heat, wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted.
T.J ,I adored him so funny at times , most of the other players too were quirky and amusing they had real life to them.
Noah however I was disappointed in.
At first he just came across as a gentle giant of a man and that was fine , even being unsure of himself was good , not all men are confident.
Noah began to anoy me around chapter 6, I started to think him weak and I couldn’t get past it .
It’s probably a personal thing so don’t let it put you off reading this book , the rest of it was good and enjoyable reading.
In all it’s great reading with a vast majority of excellent characters.
I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review
June 3, 2023
A sweet hockey romance
**This is a sweet romance but pleased be aware of some triggers in this book**
Noah has always like Dinah but she is oblivious to the fact that he wants to take their relationship further, despite all of their friends seeing it. Dinah has some concerns when Noah finally makes his move, about ruining their friendship as well as what people will think of their age difference.
He is very sweet, and really cares for her needs and understands her routine enough to be respectful of her time.
I enjoyed their story developing from friends to lovers and exploring their different insecurities. Dinah has been through a lot in the past couple of years and Noah has been there to support her through it. I felt that the topics were treated respectfully and that they were not simply used a plot fodder.
The story flowed well, and there were quite a few extra characters from the team that have me curious to see what the next books are like.
Overall, it is an easy read but the miscommunication/non-communication between the main characters was just too consistent for me throughout the story.
**This is a sweet romance but pleased be aware of some triggers in this book**
Noah has always like Dinah but she is oblivious to the fact that he wants to take their relationship further, despite all of their friends seeing it. Dinah has some concerns when Noah finally makes his move, about ruining their friendship as well as what people will think of their age difference.
He is very sweet, and really cares for her needs and understands her routine enough to be respectful of her time.
I enjoyed their story developing from friends to lovers and exploring their different insecurities. Dinah has been through a lot in the past couple of years and Noah has been there to support her through it. I felt that the topics were treated respectfully and that they were not simply used a plot fodder.
The story flowed well, and there were quite a few extra characters from the team that have me curious to see what the next books are like.
Overall, it is an easy read but the miscommunication/non-communication between the main characters was just too consistent for me throughout the story.
July 31, 2021
There seemed to be a lot of tell, and no show. I was told that this man loved this woman, but I didn't feel an ounce of chemistry.
There also seemed to be a lot of repetitive conversations, and some slight inconsistencies. I can't count the number of times I rolled my eyes while listening. I just kept thinking, "Make it make sense."
There also seemed to be a lot of repetitive conversations, and some slight inconsistencies. I can't count the number of times I rolled my eyes while listening. I just kept thinking, "Make it make sense."
June 3, 2020
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Sometimes, you just need a book that you just fall into, losing all around you, and reading about 2 people falling in love. And this is such a book.
Dinah lost her husband 2 years ago. Moving on seemed like a good idea, and a bad one, all at the same time. Her neighbour provides some eye candy, but he is so much younger than she is and she doesn't think he would want anything other than friendship. Noah lives in the next door apartment. Noah has lusted over Dinah for ages, but she was married, then widowed. He wasn't gonna make a move til she was ready. If she never did, he would be heartbroken, but he would rather have Dinah as a friend, than not at all.
This is a delightful read! I'm not the greatest fan of first person books, I make no secret of that, but I really rather loved this one!
Noah, bless him, 22 years old, lusts after Dinah, has done since he met her. But he kept it to himself, she was married. And after he died, he found himself helping her in more ways than he ever expected. But he waited, he WAS waiting for Dinah. Waiting for her to let him know she was ready to move on. He would wait, however long it took. Til his housemates gave him an ultimatum: Ask her out, or one of them would. They could see what Noah could not, that Dinah was lusting after Noah as much as Noah lusted after her. They just had to act on it.
And it is wonderful when they do! Yes, the attraction is powerful and hot, but there is much emotion here, not just steamy sex. There is much between these two, BEFORE they get to the bedroom, which would be spoilers to explain. And I really found those bits far better than the sexy bits, but thats not to say the sexy bits aren't good :-p
There is a supporting cast who have their own problems, and I hope they all get their story in this series.
The hockey bits, I will admit, I tended to flip over, but then something happened in one and I had to go back, so, yeah, I actually read the hockey bits after that!
There are a couple of lines that are repeated, more times than was really necessary. BUT! I've seen that this is the author's first book, so I'm not really complaining, I'm just saying!
A thoroughly enjoyable read, so for a first time author? Well done, Ms Flynn, very well done.
4 good solid stars
**same worded revivew will appear elsewhere**
Sometimes, you just need a book that you just fall into, losing all around you, and reading about 2 people falling in love. And this is such a book.
Dinah lost her husband 2 years ago. Moving on seemed like a good idea, and a bad one, all at the same time. Her neighbour provides some eye candy, but he is so much younger than she is and she doesn't think he would want anything other than friendship. Noah lives in the next door apartment. Noah has lusted over Dinah for ages, but she was married, then widowed. He wasn't gonna make a move til she was ready. If she never did, he would be heartbroken, but he would rather have Dinah as a friend, than not at all.
This is a delightful read! I'm not the greatest fan of first person books, I make no secret of that, but I really rather loved this one!
Noah, bless him, 22 years old, lusts after Dinah, has done since he met her. But he kept it to himself, she was married. And after he died, he found himself helping her in more ways than he ever expected. But he waited, he WAS waiting for Dinah. Waiting for her to let him know she was ready to move on. He would wait, however long it took. Til his housemates gave him an ultimatum: Ask her out, or one of them would. They could see what Noah could not, that Dinah was lusting after Noah as much as Noah lusted after her. They just had to act on it.
And it is wonderful when they do! Yes, the attraction is powerful and hot, but there is much emotion here, not just steamy sex. There is much between these two, BEFORE they get to the bedroom, which would be spoilers to explain. And I really found those bits far better than the sexy bits, but thats not to say the sexy bits aren't good :-p
There is a supporting cast who have their own problems, and I hope they all get their story in this series.
The hockey bits, I will admit, I tended to flip over, but then something happened in one and I had to go back, so, yeah, I actually read the hockey bits after that!
There are a couple of lines that are repeated, more times than was really necessary. BUT! I've seen that this is the author's first book, so I'm not really complaining, I'm just saying!
A thoroughly enjoyable read, so for a first time author? Well done, Ms Flynn, very well done.
4 good solid stars
**same worded revivew will appear elsewhere**
June 12, 2020
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play
Being widowed at a young age has left Dinah never expecting to find love again. That she finds it with her best friend, younger, hockey player, is even more unexpected. Can they make a relationship work with all her still grieving heart?
Hmmmm...unfortunately, I don't have a lot of positive things to say about this story. It's a debut and it shows, but it also could be worse, so there's that. I guess the main problems I had with it are that it's rather undeveloped, and Dinah is constantly harping about Noah being younger than she is. OK, we get it, your best friend is 8 years younger. So what? It's not like he's a teenager and you're in your 60s or something. Sheesh. Dinah also spoke quite a bit younger than her actual age, so it made it hard to pin her real character down. Was she in her 30s or a barely out of her teens? The brights spots of this story are that Noah is a sweetheart, and the hockey content is really interesting and entertaining. I love hockey romances, well, sports romances of all kinds really, and sometimes the hockey content in them can be nil. Here, though, there's enough to keep the sports lover in me very satisfied.
ARC via Xpresso Book Tours for an honest review.
Review & Book Blitz: Live Through Books Blog.
Blog | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
May 13, 2020
Take the Shot is the debut book of author Danica Flynn. I really enjoy romances written about sports. I am not really a sports person IRL. I used to attend hockey games in college but as an adult not really my thing. But there is something special about this Hockey romance genre. And Take the Shot totally works as a hockey romance.
Hockey Player Noah has fallen for his widowed next-door neighbor Dinah. Noah is young and living his best life. He and Dinah have become best friends. Dinah, not sure they can be more than friends due to their age difference and life experiences. It makes for an interesting story. Watching their ups and downs and doubts.
I feel like the character, Dinah, had some serious issues getting over the whole age difference. Her sole focus on their age difference does cause some likability issues for me. Her problems with the age differences is brought up throughout the book and at times feel tedious. Because of her obsession with it does cause some story line flow issues for me.
Noah did come off as a little immature. I do think a lot his conversation felt like they were beating a dead horse. He has loved her for a long time. They are close because he was there for her through all her turmoil, and she considers him one of her best friends. Sometimes friends to lover romances can come off as the easy thing to do and not have the passion that aa read needs. But this did and was very well done. I felt their attraction even though sometimes it felt youthful. I get it and everyone knows it, but it just feels overstated a lot.
Overall, this was a solid 3.5/5 star read for me. For a debut offering it good. I think some of the chunkiness of the writing should works itself out as Flynn matures as a writer. This is definitely an enjoyable story and worth giving it a read.
Hockey Player Noah has fallen for his widowed next-door neighbor Dinah. Noah is young and living his best life. He and Dinah have become best friends. Dinah, not sure they can be more than friends due to their age difference and life experiences. It makes for an interesting story. Watching their ups and downs and doubts.
I feel like the character, Dinah, had some serious issues getting over the whole age difference. Her sole focus on their age difference does cause some likability issues for me. Her problems with the age differences is brought up throughout the book and at times feel tedious. Because of her obsession with it does cause some story line flow issues for me.
Noah did come off as a little immature. I do think a lot his conversation felt like they were beating a dead horse. He has loved her for a long time. They are close because he was there for her through all her turmoil, and she considers him one of her best friends. Sometimes friends to lover romances can come off as the easy thing to do and not have the passion that aa read needs. But this did and was very well done. I felt their attraction even though sometimes it felt youthful. I get it and everyone knows it, but it just feels overstated a lot.
Overall, this was a solid 3.5/5 star read for me. For a debut offering it good. I think some of the chunkiness of the writing should works itself out as Flynn matures as a writer. This is definitely an enjoyable story and worth giving it a read.
dnf
April 5, 2023DNF 48% if she had a professional editor she needs her money back, if she didn't she should look into that. There's a lot of "Take me to bed!", "Are you sure?", "Yes, take me to bed!", "You don't have to ask me twice!" - she literally had to ask you twice. Repetitive, strong whiff of self-insert, the group of friends are weirdly inappropriate and none of the characters have any depth. And I know the range of stock photo images is limited but the cover model looks like a 40-something country musician, not a 22 year old professional athlete.
Want to read
February 27, 2022🎁 FREE on Amazon & on Apple iBooks today (2/27/2022)! 🎁
💝 ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 💝
💝 ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 💝
June 3, 2020
I was first drawn to this book because of its theme of friends to lovers, it being set in the sports world, and involving an older woman/younger man and I started this book with lots of happy anticipation. With each turn of the page I found moments that put a smile on my face but there was lots of frustration too.
Dinah's been through the emotional wringer in her past with the death of her husband in a car accident, along with having a miscarriage, and my heart ached for her over her losses and the fear she's left with in trying to make it on her own. They're losses that she's slowly starting to move on from though. Luckily she has a sweet and dependable neighbor she's always been able to count on and the two of them have been dancing around their feelings for each other over the last two years. On a whole Dinah was a realistic heroine with fears and doubts resulting from her tragedies. I liked her interactions with her neighbor Noah, though sometimes there were moments of awkwardness and times she treated him like a little boy instead of a potential lover. Dinah has major issues with the age difference between her and Noah too and it became a repetitive concern that dimmed the joy of her finding a new love for me. The age difference wasn't even that much...8 years...with both of them over 21. Even though she was older there were times where her dialogue felt like a teenager's words with the constant use of "dude". I don't know if she was trying to be hip, but it became cringeworthy and became less frequent as the story progressed.
Noah's a nice guy with a good heart, a sexy hockey player with a bright future. He was drawn to Dinah from the very start but respected the boundaries of her being a widow and his neighbor. He wants her though and is constantly getting a push about it from his teammates, a push he desperately needs as fear and uncertainties will forever hold him back otherwise. It's a slow journey for them to finally becoming more than friends, a repetitive journey of an inner war with himself, and I was rooting for him every step of the way as I enjoyed these two together. They weren't a perfect couple in their presentation, but I feel that they will grow beautifully together.
This is Ms. Flynn's debut novel...and it shows with a story that's a bit rough around the edges. Noah's a sweet and sexy hero but talks like a teenager at times. When it came to intimacy with Dinah he was over the top in getting consent from her which pulled me out of the moment and made him seem as if he didn't know what he was doing. Dinah's dialogue was also rough and seemed to come from someone much younger and belied the strong businesswoman she was supposed to be. The hockey world presented here was realistically depicted with serious issues (like concussions) on display along with seeing the team not always win. I also enjoyed the glimpses of the other Philadelphia Bulldogs and their appearances give me great hope for the next installment in this series as Ms. Flynn's career evolves.
3.25 STARS!
Dinah's been through the emotional wringer in her past with the death of her husband in a car accident, along with having a miscarriage, and my heart ached for her over her losses and the fear she's left with in trying to make it on her own. They're losses that she's slowly starting to move on from though. Luckily she has a sweet and dependable neighbor she's always been able to count on and the two of them have been dancing around their feelings for each other over the last two years. On a whole Dinah was a realistic heroine with fears and doubts resulting from her tragedies. I liked her interactions with her neighbor Noah, though sometimes there were moments of awkwardness and times she treated him like a little boy instead of a potential lover. Dinah has major issues with the age difference between her and Noah too and it became a repetitive concern that dimmed the joy of her finding a new love for me. The age difference wasn't even that much...8 years...with both of them over 21. Even though she was older there were times where her dialogue felt like a teenager's words with the constant use of "dude". I don't know if she was trying to be hip, but it became cringeworthy and became less frequent as the story progressed.
Noah's a nice guy with a good heart, a sexy hockey player with a bright future. He was drawn to Dinah from the very start but respected the boundaries of her being a widow and his neighbor. He wants her though and is constantly getting a push about it from his teammates, a push he desperately needs as fear and uncertainties will forever hold him back otherwise. It's a slow journey for them to finally becoming more than friends, a repetitive journey of an inner war with himself, and I was rooting for him every step of the way as I enjoyed these two together. They weren't a perfect couple in their presentation, but I feel that they will grow beautifully together.
This is Ms. Flynn's debut novel...and it shows with a story that's a bit rough around the edges. Noah's a sweet and sexy hero but talks like a teenager at times. When it came to intimacy with Dinah he was over the top in getting consent from her which pulled me out of the moment and made him seem as if he didn't know what he was doing. Dinah's dialogue was also rough and seemed to come from someone much younger and belied the strong businesswoman she was supposed to be. The hockey world presented here was realistically depicted with serious issues (like concussions) on display along with seeing the team not always win. I also enjoyed the glimpses of the other Philadelphia Bulldogs and their appearances give me great hope for the next installment in this series as Ms. Flynn's career evolves.
3.25 STARS!
April 14, 2020
Take the Shot is the debut book of author Danica Flynn. I like romance based around sports as I like sports myself. While hockey usually isn’t my sport of choice, I have been to a few games and have noticed how large and hunky the players seem to be so I was super excited to read this novel. This book is a bit tedious at times and I had to take a couple of breaks. I feel like the character, Dinah, had some serious issues getting over the whole age difference. It is reiterated throughout the book several times and becomes annoying. We get it, she is a little older than Noah but it seems to over take the story and I don’t think that is what the author had intended. The thing about Noah that I found annoying was everyone he talked to would say to him “you love her/you’ve loved her since Jason died”. Ok... again, he has had feeling for her for a while, we get it, let’s not have ten different characters say it to him several different times throughout the book. There were a few things that felt juvenile in the book, for example calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend then immediately blushing, there has to be a smoother, adult way of establishing their commitment to each other.
I think the author has the right idea for this story, I really do. I’d love to see another story with Benny and Rox but developed deeper.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest review.
I think the author has the right idea for this story, I really do. I’d love to see another story with Benny and Rox but developed deeper.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest review.
April 14, 2020
Take the Shot is the debut book of author Danica Flynn. I like romance based around sports as I like sports myself. While hockey usually isn’t my sport of choice, I have been to a few games and have noticed how large and hunky the players seem to be so I was super excited to read this novel. This book is a bit tedious at times and I had to take a couple of breaks. I feel like the character, Dinah, had some serious issues getting over the whole age difference. It is reiterated throughout the book several times and becomes annoying. We get it, she is a little older than Noah but it seems to over take the story and I don’t think that is what the author had intended. The thing about Noah that I found annoying was everyone he talked to would say to him “you love her/you’ve loved her since Jason died”. Ok... again, he has had feeling for her for a while, we get it, let’s not have ten different characters say it to him several different times throughout the book. There were a few things that felt juvenile in the book, for example calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend then immediately blushing, there has to be a smoother, adult way of establishing their commitment to each other.
I think the author has the right idea for this story, I really do. I’d love to see another story with Benny and Rox but developed deeper.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest review.
I think the author has the right idea for this story, I really do. I’d love to see another story with Benny and Rox but developed deeper.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest review.
June 8, 2020
Two and a Half Stars ⭐️
Take The Shot is Danica Flynn’s debut novel and it covers some of my very favorite things. It’s a Hockey Romance / Reverse Age Gap / Friends to Lovers read and for all intense and purposes should have checked all my boxes. I found the premise of the story to be a good one but had a hard time with the immaturity of the main characters especially Dinah. As the supposedly older woman you would expect her to behave as such and instead she appeared more immature then Noah, her younger counterpart. Noah for his part, lacked the confidence that most professional athletes have (I’m talking confidence not cockiness) and it started to wear thin as the book went on. As I said, I think this book has potential but unfortunately did not play out the way I expected. I hope that her next book, improves upon this one and that I can rate it higher. (As an aside, as a Canadian I really got tired of all the references to Noah’s Canadianisms).
Take The Shot is Danica Flynn’s debut novel and it covers some of my very favorite things. It’s a Hockey Romance / Reverse Age Gap / Friends to Lovers read and for all intense and purposes should have checked all my boxes. I found the premise of the story to be a good one but had a hard time with the immaturity of the main characters especially Dinah. As the supposedly older woman you would expect her to behave as such and instead she appeared more immature then Noah, her younger counterpart. Noah for his part, lacked the confidence that most professional athletes have (I’m talking confidence not cockiness) and it started to wear thin as the book went on. As I said, I think this book has potential but unfortunately did not play out the way I expected. I hope that her next book, improves upon this one and that I can rate it higher. (As an aside, as a Canadian I really got tired of all the references to Noah’s Canadianisms).
June 1, 2020
3.5 of 5 stars
Take The Shot (Philadelphia Bulldogs #1) is the debut novel by Danica Flynn. In this story, widow Dinah Lace and NHL player Noah Kennedy are best friends who begin to act on their feeling for one another. There are several issues that the couple face in the story, including an eight-year age gap and guilt for moving on.
A couple of times I felt the story dragged repeating the same stuff. For example, concussions seemed to be mentioned a lot with no real relevance. It felt like it was thrown in to make the book longer. There were only two scenes that it seemed applicable. It bothered me that Dinah often treated Noah like he was younger than her (which he was), but it felt wrong. They were best friends for two years, so I feel like she should be treating him like an adult and not a kid. That did let up toward the end of the book. Noah is a sweet guy and a good friend.
The plot had merit. There were well done scenes. I think the author, and series have a lot of potential. I would like to hear the story of the other characters in this book. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.
Take The Shot (Philadelphia Bulldogs #1) is the debut novel by Danica Flynn. In this story, widow Dinah Lace and NHL player Noah Kennedy are best friends who begin to act on their feeling for one another. There are several issues that the couple face in the story, including an eight-year age gap and guilt for moving on.
A couple of times I felt the story dragged repeating the same stuff. For example, concussions seemed to be mentioned a lot with no real relevance. It felt like it was thrown in to make the book longer. There were only two scenes that it seemed applicable. It bothered me that Dinah often treated Noah like he was younger than her (which he was), but it felt wrong. They were best friends for two years, so I feel like she should be treating him like an adult and not a kid. That did let up toward the end of the book. Noah is a sweet guy and a good friend.
The plot had merit. There were well done scenes. I think the author, and series have a lot of potential. I would like to hear the story of the other characters in this book. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.
August 14, 2023
I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked Noah’s character and the way he was just sweet and not portrayed as a player like most straight male mc are. Not sure how I felt about the age difference because it felt kinda unnecessary. Especially because he was 22 and she was 30 so he was at the age of a college graduate. I also felt like they kept describing the physical attributes of people every time they were mentioned, especially when it came to race. The book felt a little like it was trying too hard to be pc. I also thought that the book was a little repetitive. There were little jokes or thoughts that the characters would have over and over again and I was thinking “didn’t they already go over this?” Other than that, I enjoyed the plot and characters a lot. I do wish there was more action to the story, although it is only 200 and something pages long.
August 22, 2023
(2 ⭐️) I found this pretty mind numbing, I’m not gonna lie. Got it for free for Stuff Your Kindle Day so no harm no foul but wow did I not enjoy this. I also really think that if you’re going to do an age gap, don’t keep pointing it out in a weird fetishy way and don’t make the younger partner school age.
February 26, 2020
2.5 stars
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
This is the debut novel for this author, so hopefully her style will improve with practice. The basic plot is that Dinah is a thirty year old widow who has a day job as a marketer and is a writer in her nights. She lives next door to 22 year old Noah an TJ, two Canadian pro hockey players. Noah fell in love at first sight when he met married Dinah. Her husband died , and Noah was there as a friend. Two years have passed and now they start to explore whether they can be more than friends. I like the overall plot, older woman with the hot hockey player, but there were so many thing that drove me nuts.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
1. The backstory of Dinah’s husband’s death and her miscarriage really should have been a prologue. It was awkward that two years have passed and no one knew the details about this and it had to be explained multiple times.
2. The dialogue seemed stilted, like what an older person thinks how a younger person would speak.
3. Too much use of the word dude and the f-word. I have no problems with swearing, but the author seems to be having Dinah use it to be “cool”.
4. Noah is depicted as a super polite Canadian. Which the author interprets as having the personality of a twelve year old girl. At one point, I expected him to give a note to Dinah “Do you like me? Yes__ No__”
Bottom line, this series has some potential, but this book doesn’t quite do it for me.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
This is the debut novel for this author, so hopefully her style will improve with practice. The basic plot is that Dinah is a thirty year old widow who has a day job as a marketer and is a writer in her nights. She lives next door to 22 year old Noah an TJ, two Canadian pro hockey players. Noah fell in love at first sight when he met married Dinah. Her husband died , and Noah was there as a friend. Two years have passed and now they start to explore whether they can be more than friends. I like the overall plot, older woman with the hot hockey player, but there were so many thing that drove me nuts.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
1. The backstory of Dinah’s husband’s death and her miscarriage really should have been a prologue. It was awkward that two years have passed and no one knew the details about this and it had to be explained multiple times.
2. The dialogue seemed stilted, like what an older person thinks how a younger person would speak.
3. Too much use of the word dude and the f-word. I have no problems with swearing, but the author seems to be having Dinah use it to be “cool”.
4. Noah is depicted as a super polite Canadian. Which the author interprets as having the personality of a twelve year old girl. At one point, I expected him to give a note to Dinah “Do you like me? Yes__ No__”
Bottom line, this series has some potential, but this book doesn’t quite do it for me.
March 3, 2020
It's not a bad debut story. A friends to overs with a little bit of an age difference...a little sports, a little heartache...it has all the right things but 'Dude" stop with the use of the word Dude and bro - especially during the intimate scenes when she is always using dude. it really took away from the overall story and made me feel like I was reading about a couple of teenagers instead of a woman in her 30's.
June 8, 2020
Take the Shot is the debut book by Danica Flynn. I am a huge sports romance fan and hockey is my favorite to read. I was obsessed with the premise of this book…a reverse age gap with a widow and her best friend who is a hot hockey player who has been secretly pining for her for a long time. I generally enjoyed this book despite a few things that drove me a bit crazy (i.e. Dinah obsessed with the age difference, the depiction that all Canadians are so nice that they have no backbone whatsoever and the characters were all a bit too immature at times for being professional hockey players). The dialogue was a bit immature at times (a lot of “dude” and “f-bombs”…not that I mind a well-timed “f-bomb” but this was a little overboard). I feel like if Noah had been a college hockey player and not a professional then his immaturity/innocence may have fit a bit better.
Noah was super sweet, maybe a bit too sweet, but I generally liked his character. I liked Dinah…she seemed realistic to me and I empathized with her pain. However, I wanted to scream at her to get over the age gap. It really wasn’t a huge deal and I felt like she made it too much of an obstacle and just wouldn’t stop thinking or talking about it. This took up way too much of the book in my opinion.
So, yes there were a few issues that I encountered. Yet, for a debut novel, I was still pleasantly surprised & enjoyed this book. It was still sweet, funny and steamy so it met all the marks there…it just had a bit of a lack in execution. I hope that this series will only get better with each book. I would still definitely be willing to reach the next books in this series.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Noah was super sweet, maybe a bit too sweet, but I generally liked his character. I liked Dinah…she seemed realistic to me and I empathized with her pain. However, I wanted to scream at her to get over the age gap. It really wasn’t a huge deal and I felt like she made it too much of an obstacle and just wouldn’t stop thinking or talking about it. This took up way too much of the book in my opinion.
So, yes there were a few issues that I encountered. Yet, for a debut novel, I was still pleasantly surprised & enjoyed this book. It was still sweet, funny and steamy so it met all the marks there…it just had a bit of a lack in execution. I hope that this series will only get better with each book. I would still definitely be willing to reach the next books in this series.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
September 6, 2020
In Danica Flynn's Take the Shot, the first installment in the Philadelphia Bulldogs sports romance series, this debut take you on a journey on and off the ice. It started out with Dinah Lace, who works in accounting at day and writes YA books at night. At age 30, she's a young widow who lost her husband in a car crash and later a miscarriage right after it. Her big Italian family is protective of her. But she's been best friends with Noah Kennedy, her twenty-two-year-old Canadian hockey player, and her next door neighbor. Noah is a rising hockey star for the Philly Bulldogs and always had cared for Dinah--he was there when she almost died from her miscarriage. He always had feelings for Dinah and didn't care about the age gap, when he only wants to be there for her. But when they express their feelings for each other, their chemistry sizzles off the rink and heat things up between them. Noah had always loved her, but he didn't know how Dinah felt about him. When she wanted to tell Noah how she felt during a game, he took a nasty hit from a puck that freaked her out, making her worried that she might lose something she lost again. In the end, they both take the shot to follow their hearts and find a happy ending they deserve together.
February 19, 2020
Take The Shot by Danica Flynn
Okay so....... 10/5 Stars!
When Dinahs husband died, she pretty much ruled out the idea of finding love again. Especially in the arms of her younger best guy friend Noah.
Noah a hopeless romantic can only ever live Did from afar. Hoping that one day his love will be returned.
That's right this book blew my mind. Wow!
It was everything I could have asked for in a romantic comedy/ drama. I fell hopelessly in love with these characters literally at page 4. Sweet, Romantic, Heartfelt, will pull at even the coldest of hearts heartstrings. Great character development. I read this book in 1 day and cannot wait to read more from this author and hope she continues on with a series about the rest of the Philadelphia Bulldogs hockey team.
Thank you #NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Okay so....... 10/5 Stars!
When Dinahs husband died, she pretty much ruled out the idea of finding love again. Especially in the arms of her younger best guy friend Noah.
Noah a hopeless romantic can only ever live Did from afar. Hoping that one day his love will be returned.
That's right this book blew my mind. Wow!
It was everything I could have asked for in a romantic comedy/ drama. I fell hopelessly in love with these characters literally at page 4. Sweet, Romantic, Heartfelt, will pull at even the coldest of hearts heartstrings. Great character development. I read this book in 1 day and cannot wait to read more from this author and hope she continues on with a series about the rest of the Philadelphia Bulldogs hockey team.
Thank you #NetGalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 6, 2020
Enjoyable! I am a HUGE hockey fan and love finding new HEA romances featuring hockey players/teams. Danica Flynn's book one from the Philadelphia Bulldogs was an enjoyable read.
I absolutely LOVED Noah. He is just the right amount of adorable younger man and tough hockey player to make you swoon! Dinah -- meh, she has her moments. It felt like she was two different women from time to time. One version is a tough, loudmouth who likes hanging with the guys. Another version is mousy and insecure. It's not that a character cannot have all of those traits at once, it feels a little disjointed in Dinah's character.
Love, love, love the ancillary characters and am looking forward to more of their stories in future books! TJ might be my favorite for the moment!
Overall, a fun and easy read!
I absolutely LOVED Noah. He is just the right amount of adorable younger man and tough hockey player to make you swoon! Dinah -- meh, she has her moments. It felt like she was two different women from time to time. One version is a tough, loudmouth who likes hanging with the guys. Another version is mousy and insecure. It's not that a character cannot have all of those traits at once, it feels a little disjointed in Dinah's character.
Love, love, love the ancillary characters and am looking forward to more of their stories in future books! TJ might be my favorite for the moment!
Overall, a fun and easy read!
August 29, 2020
I loved this book. Had a hard time putting it down and do things that needed to get done. I really loved the storyline.
Noah to me was perfect. Not your typical idea of a jock but more realistic. I think jocks get a bad name and sometimes it gets old reading about how awful they are. It was nice to read a story that made him the kind of guy that every girl could fall for.
Dinah was a great fit for him. A woman struggling to heal after the death of her husband. She had a few secrets as well, one that only Noah knew about. His support and friendship was what she needed. The fact she is a few years older than him I think makes this story even work better.
I look forward to reading more of Diana Flynn’s books. To watch her develope as an author and only get better with time.
Noah to me was perfect. Not your typical idea of a jock but more realistic. I think jocks get a bad name and sometimes it gets old reading about how awful they are. It was nice to read a story that made him the kind of guy that every girl could fall for.
Dinah was a great fit for him. A woman struggling to heal after the death of her husband. She had a few secrets as well, one that only Noah knew about. His support and friendship was what she needed. The fact she is a few years older than him I think makes this story even work better.
I look forward to reading more of Diana Flynn’s books. To watch her develope as an author and only get better with time.
June 9, 2020
A new author for all of us – you want to love the story and give them a great review. And yet, the story didn’t quite have the spark I expected. Hockey and romance are two things I love in a story but the constant reminder of her being ‘so much older’ than him was annoying. No one seems to have a problem in the reverse and I hope the author doesn’t continue to bend to the norms. The potential is there so I will watch for the next story and expect more!
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was promised or received for the review.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was promised or received for the review.
June 13, 2020
The premise of this book ticked all my boxes. Hockey romance. Check. Older woman, younger man. Check. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t work for me. I found that Dinah had a motherly way of talking to Noah which is not the vibe I want when reading a romance. Maybe because the author as trying to give her “older speak”? The other annoying thing I found with this story was that Noah was constantly asking for permission. I’m all for consent but asking for permission for every single action was irritating. Even Dinah, during a make out session, said “Stop asking me for permission. Yes.” This was a DNF for me.
I received a free copy from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.
I received a free copy from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.
April 7, 2020
ahhhhh, why? So I am originally from Philadelphia, so of course I was going to request this book because well first Philly and then second Hockey Players I mean where could we go wrong, well when I started reading it, I figured that out really quickly. This is an older woman/younger man scenario, friends to lovers but they didn't click for me. She drove me crazy with the Dude-ahmmm you are over 30 lets get with it...I can't which truly broke my heart.
rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions.
rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions.
April 28, 2020
I found this book really hard to get into. Things I learned about Dinah: she likes to drink. She can’t get over her husband’s death. She’s obsessed with Noah. She’s a writer who stalls. She’s thirty. Things I learned about Noah: he’s 22. He’s younger than Dinah. He’s loved Dinah forever. He plays hockey. That is basically what is told over and over in this story. I get it. She’s older than him. She can’t love another man since her husband died, right? Sob story. I wanted to like this, but it had seemingly no plot. Dig deeper. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
December 28, 2021
My favorite season is hockey, and this fun romantic hockey romp is a game winning goal.
I love the sweet, gentle giant Noah with his hockey hair and his utter pureness. I love Dinah with her no-nonsense take- charge attitude. The Hockey Gods are smiling on these two in TAKE THE SHOT!
Dinah's struggles with being a writer with a full time job was so very meta and on the nose, and the on-ice snippets made me feel like I was watching a game. Don't tell anyone, but I was actively rooting for the Philly team in this adorable hockey-themed love story!
I love the sweet, gentle giant Noah with his hockey hair and his utter pureness. I love Dinah with her no-nonsense take- charge attitude. The Hockey Gods are smiling on these two in TAKE THE SHOT!
Dinah's struggles with being a writer with a full time job was so very meta and on the nose, and the on-ice snippets made me feel like I was watching a game. Don't tell anyone, but I was actively rooting for the Philly team in this adorable hockey-themed love story!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews