Review: Taking A Shot – Jaci Burton

If you want to score, you have to get in the game…
The last thing Jenna Riley needs is more sports in her life. While her brothers are off being athletic superstars, she’s stuck running the family’s sports bar, whether she likes it or not. Then in walks pro hockey stud Tyler Anderson. As much as Jenna would like to go to the boards with him, she’s vowed to never fall for a jock-even one as hot as Ty.
Ty, intrigued by the beautiful bar owner, becomes a regular. He senses that Jenna wants to do something more with her life. And as he gains her trust, the passion between them grows, as does Ty’s insistence that Jenna should start living for herself. With his encouragement, Jenna starts to believe it, too…
But first, Jenna has to figure out what she wants, what she needs, who she loves, and if she has the passion and pride to take a shot at having it all-including Ty…

Jaci Burton certainly knows how to write characters that can be larger than life, flawed like the rest of us and absolutely down and dirty!  If you’ve enjoyed either of the other two Play-by-Play books, you will not be disappointed in this latest addition to the series.

Jenna Riley, baby sister to Mick (The Perfect Play) and Gavin (Changing the Game), has an extremely difficult time putting herself first and going after what she wants.  When she was a kid, she took a backseat to her brothers various sports and the family bar.  As an adult, it’s keeping a Riley running the family’s sports bar rather than doing what she wants.  But Jenna also has a confidence problem after being told once that she wasn’t good enough.  She wraps all this up into her crutch of “not liking anything related to sports” so she can give herself an excuse for not pursing what she really wants…both professionally and personally.

Ty Anderson has been attracted to Jenna from the moment he met her.  While she’s not his type, he pursues he relentlessly until she finally caves in and they have one hot night after Mick and Tara’s wedding.  Ty figures he’d have her this one night and get her out of his system.  The problem is, he still wants her and finds her wants more from her than he swore he’d ever want from someone after living through his parents disastrous marriage.

Poor Ty finds himself in a bit of a quandary where Jenna is concerned.  He pushes for more while she pulls away trying to convince both of them they won’t ever work.  Ty gets exasperated further because he’s discovered Jenna’s passion and can’t understand why she isn’t doing what she can to try and make her dream a reality. In the end, it takes a blow up fight, some faith in yourself and your significant other and some groveling for Ty and Jenna to find their HEA.

Ty and Jenna are two character you love regardless of whether they ended up together or not.  But together they are some kind of wonderful.  They bicker like it’s going out of style and had sex in some interesting places (I sit in a hockey arena every weekend freezing my arse off, so I can’t even imagine using the glass and boards like Jenna and Ty did).