The story of Dinah and Noah is great. An older woman who falls in love with a younger man. A friendship transforming in friends with benefits and after in love.

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book. The characters were amazing but I felt things moved very fast. Dinahs backstory was heartbreaking I really felt for her. Noah was such an adoarble character though at times he seemed way too insecure. It was cute and relatable but at times way too much.
Overall I thought the book was ok but left a lot out and I felt like things could have been explained better.
2 stars.

As a Philly native and a writer, I was excited to see this book coming out. The details Flynn uses to bring the city and characters to life is done with a true city flare that can't be faked. Dinah's family is one I could run into far too easily walking down the street anyday. Noah has a heart of gold and is goals for a boyfriend.

But I found the writing itself hard to engage with. There were too many repetitions of the same sentences, phrases, and ideas throughout. Both the hero and heroine were of too much the same mindset for tension to ever set in. The stakes remained low the entire time, and the wrap up was too easy. I wanted to fall for them, but it was like they were two copies of the same person and never had to try.

I love a good sports romance, however, this book missed the mark. Noah was sweet but way too sweet. He questioned EVERYTHING to make sure it was ok. Dinah has been through a difficult time but the woman needed therapy as she was depressing to read about and couldn't let go of anything! She was focused on the age difference between her and Noah...a lot...too much. They were like immature kids. with their friends telling them the other liked them. "He likes me? Are you sure?" Despite this book lacking, I would love to read the next book of Benny and Rox! That has potential for a good write with their banter and angst!

Light, easy romance.'
Dinah is a 30 year old writer whose husband passed away. Noah is her 22 year old neighbor, hockey player, and her best friend. Noah has been secretly in love with Dinah for years, although everyone apparently realized it except Dinah. They finally get together, but her guilt over loving someone besides her husband and fear of losing him seems to keep getting in their way.
I like the story to a point. It is a basic plot, some the characters were great and had some fun moments. I just felt that it seemed to be very repetitive. Over and over Noah was insecure about her feelings for him, he kept putting off having talks with her. Then Dinah spent countless pages doing the same. Was flowing well in the beginning and then just never moved on. Would love to give the second book a try because I really did like some of the characters.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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!


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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

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.

"Take The Shot" is beautifully written with an amazing plot and brilliant cast of characters....it was everything I was expecting and then some. This is a must read. This was a hot match made in book heaven! I cannot say how much I loved this book! This was my first book by Danica Flynn but I can already tell its wont be my last. super excited for the next book in this series. Grab your copy today. Happy reading everyone!

Hockey romance is one of my favorite tropes. I wish I could say this one was one of my favorites, but sadly I cannot. While it is awful, it is way too repetitive and I got bored. I finished it, but I really wanted to skip over parts of it. I liked both mail characters, but didn’t actually buy them as a long term couple, which means I didn’t get that “feel good” at the end which is the whole reason I read these! I had high hopes after reading the blurb, but it just didn’t hit for me.

I had trouble getting into this book. The dialogue was a bit off, and the plot lacking a bit of substance. Not a bad story, but it needed a little more polish.

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.

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.

4 stars for this one!
This was my first book by this author, I enjoyed the characters and the story line!
We follow hockey player Noah, who has a thing for his neighbor Dinah, a young widow but yet still older than him by eight years. They are close because he was there for her through all her turmoil, and she considers him one of her best friends. She has no clue that he's had a crush on her forever, and when he lets her know, she's not sure if she's ready to move on after the loss of her husband, even though it's been quite a few years. Will she allow herself to fall for her younger neighbor and enjoy her life again, or will she let the chance at happiness to slip by her? Read along and find out!

It was a good story with likeable characters, I read it in one sitting because I was intrigued by the plot

I love hockey romances and am always looking for a new author to feed my addiction. This one sounded like promising but unfortunately ended up being a chore to get through. It is the author’s debut and I can see where she had some good ideas but the clunky dialogue that seemed like things high schoolers would say and not adults and the lack of a real plot made me start skimming part way through.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion.
Cruise reading! Nice, sweet romance about loss and finding new love. Age is just a number when it comes to love.

The premise to this story was great but as it went on I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

The dialogue was odd, weirdly stilted. I didn’t find the connection between them was strong enough for me

3.5/5

This was a very good debut novel; a funny, heartfelt, and romantic story. Noah was sexy and sweet, totally swoon worthy. Dinah was strong and smart, and I loved that she was a writer.

Dinah is a widow, having lost her husband in an accident and I felt that this added emotional depth to the story because Dinah struggles with fear and whether she can handle another relationship. Noah was so patient and understanding; he wanted a serious relationship with Dinah and was willing to wait for her to be truly ready.

I enjoyed the overall plot and the interactions between Noah and Dinah. I did think there were a couple things that would have helped the book overall:
- A prologue: The book starts off with Dinah and Noah having been neighbors for a few years and Dinah already having been widowed for two years. In those years there is some back story that I think would have worked as a prologue and given the reader a better understanding of the relationship that already existed between Dinah and Noah as friends and the impact of this history on their present.
- I felt like Dinah called Noah dude too often and it just seemed so buddy buddy and not something a woman interested in a man romantically would call him.

As a whole, I enjoyed this hockey romance and watching Dinah and Noah go from friends to lovers. It was a fun and easy read. I liked the author’s writing style and will definitely be looking for more from this author.

I really did want to like this one. I love older women with younger men storylines. This one just didn’t do it for me. Too much her saying something in her head and him saying it in his head. They need to a t least think differently! But maybe this is just me.

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!