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Give Me a Shot
Sparks fly between an amateur blacksmith and an outspoken professor with a passion for archery in this heartfelt contemporary romance from the author of Getting His Game Back and Not the Plan.
Mo Sarda carefully guards his peaceful life from other people's messy feelings. He coparents his daughter with no drama, sits quietly at family gatherings, spends plenty of time alone tending to his plants, and volunteers to teach blacksmith skills at the local folk school. No one seems to get him, except for his family, and that’s completely fine with Mo—there’s no one else he needs. Then along comes Jessica Anderson and her damn crossbow.
After the unexpected death of her sister, Jess has moved to Michigan to move forward with her life. Her grief still stings, but she’s excited to start her new professorship job and continue pursuing her passion for archery. Luckily, her new town has a folk school with ample practice space. Then Jess has a combative run-in with Mo Sarda and all her plans to avoid complicated feelings start to crumble. No one should look that hot banging an anvil.
Before long, the two are drawn to work together to save the beloved folk school from closing its doors. The heat is on them to plan a Renaissance Faire to raise the much-needed funds, but the more worthy pursuit could be the fire growing between them—if only they would be willing to give each other a shot.
Mo Sarda carefully guards his peaceful life from other people's messy feelings. He coparents his daughter with no drama, sits quietly at family gatherings, spends plenty of time alone tending to his plants, and volunteers to teach blacksmith skills at the local folk school. No one seems to get him, except for his family, and that’s completely fine with Mo—there’s no one else he needs. Then along comes Jessica Anderson and her damn crossbow.
After the unexpected death of her sister, Jess has moved to Michigan to move forward with her life. Her grief still stings, but she’s excited to start her new professorship job and continue pursuing her passion for archery. Luckily, her new town has a folk school with ample practice space. Then Jess has a combative run-in with Mo Sarda and all her plans to avoid complicated feelings start to crumble. No one should look that hot banging an anvil.
Before long, the two are drawn to work together to save the beloved folk school from closing its doors. The heat is on them to plan a Renaissance Faire to raise the much-needed funds, but the more worthy pursuit could be the fire growing between them—if only they would be willing to give each other a shot.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2025
21 people are currently reading
10095 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
April 18, 2025
Okay this book is SUCH a great example of my deeply held belief that good romance books have the power to make you a better person; reading about the interworkings of people that are different than you is just so good for a person (even if the ppl are fictional!!!!). I didn’t think every little thing about this book was perfect, but I really appreciated how carefully the author handled certain topics, and I did end up loving the main characters in this book.
I loved the angle that they are good at such random things so fun - I love a unique hobby. I thought the planning an event together was fun. And I loved that he was a guy w big strong shoulders sue meeee.
That being said, if you really don’t like men written by women (u KNOW what i mean - softy sweetie babies that understand feelings), probably skip this one. Otherwise, let ‘er rip!!!
(I do wish this book was like 50 pages longer - some story lines / sub plots felt a bit brushed over)
Copy kindly provided by publisher via NetGalley for review:)
I loved the angle that they are good at such random things so fun - I love a unique hobby. I thought the planning an event together was fun. And I loved that he was a guy w big strong shoulders sue meeee.
That being said, if you really don’t like men written by women (u KNOW what i mean - softy sweetie babies that understand feelings), probably skip this one. Otherwise, let ‘er rip!!!
(I do wish this book was like 50 pages longer - some story lines / sub plots felt a bit brushed over)
Copy kindly provided by publisher via NetGalley for review:)
March 4, 2025
I did not like this book, it was not well written in my opinion, I love a well written neurodiverse person but this one was clearly Autistic but just claiming to be sensitive? Yikes, it also felt like the whole book was centered around the fact that this person was neurodivergent and or sensitive which once again I love a well written neurodivergent person but let that be in the background instead of constantly bringing it up .
I cannot personally recommend this book I disliked it that much. This book was not for me.
Thank you netgalley Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the arc
I cannot personally recommend this book I disliked it that much. This book was not for me.
Thank you netgalley Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for the arc
January 11, 2025
Es uno de esos libros que te hacen sonreír, suspirar y desear tener ese tipo de amor.
Jess y Mo son personas que merecen todo lo bueno. Por separado, son maravillosos, y como pareja, forman un equipo extraordinario: se apoyan mutuamente, saben cuándo dar un pequeño empujón y cuándo es necesario dar espacio. Celebran sus triunfos, sin importar si son grandes o pequeños, y saben que siempre podrán contar el uno con el otro, sin importar nada.
Me encantó cómo, desde el principio, hicieron clic y todo fluyó de manera natural. La comunicación que tenían fue algo que realmente disfruté.
La relación de Mo con su hija y todo lo que hacía para ser un buen padre me robó el corazón.
Tengo muchas cosas buenas que decir, pero siento que si me explayo más, estaría dando spoilers. Así que lo último que diré es que todo el tiempo estuve leyendo tuve una sonrisa.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Jess y Mo son personas que merecen todo lo bueno. Por separado, son maravillosos, y como pareja, forman un equipo extraordinario: se apoyan mutuamente, saben cuándo dar un pequeño empujón y cuándo es necesario dar espacio. Celebran sus triunfos, sin importar si son grandes o pequeños, y saben que siempre podrán contar el uno con el otro, sin importar nada.
Me encantó cómo, desde el principio, hicieron clic y todo fluyó de manera natural. La comunicación que tenían fue algo que realmente disfruté.
La relación de Mo con su hija y todo lo que hacía para ser un buen padre me robó el corazón.
Tengo muchas cosas buenas que decir, pero siento que si me explayo más, estaría dando spoilers. Así que lo último que diré es que todo el tiempo estuve leyendo tuve una sonrisa.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 9, 2025
Give Me a Shot is one of the sweetest and yet spiciest books I've read in a long time. Jess has returned from England and is trying to find a connection in the community, practicing her archery when she mets Mo, the head blacksmith. Sparks fly (yes, in this case, it's a pun), but both Jess and Mo need to learn to trust and communicate in order to open up their hearts.
I was a Jess fan from the moment that I realised that she and I were graduates of the same doctoral programme, but I really enjoyed that these two characters were really kind people, who made an effort to communicate and anticipate each others needs. I really did feel like these two really belonged together. While this book revolved less around Ren Faires than it seemed in the marketing, I really enjoyed that this book offered the geeky version of a sports romance. It is great that books like this show hobbies like Ren Faire can be great sources of support and community.
Finally, this book handles some heavy topics - grief, domestic violence, dealing with the world with neurodivergence. All of it was handled very sensitively and thoughtfully and I appreciated that the main characters remained their best selves, showing thoughtfulness and empathy to each other.
I would really recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Dungeons & Dating or would love to see the sports in sports romances replaced by a keen archery demonstration!
I was a Jess fan from the moment that I realised that she and I were graduates of the same doctoral programme, but I really enjoyed that these two characters were really kind people, who made an effort to communicate and anticipate each others needs. I really did feel like these two really belonged together. While this book revolved less around Ren Faires than it seemed in the marketing, I really enjoyed that this book offered the geeky version of a sports romance. It is great that books like this show hobbies like Ren Faire can be great sources of support and community.
Finally, this book handles some heavy topics - grief, domestic violence, dealing with the world with neurodivergence. All of it was handled very sensitively and thoughtfully and I appreciated that the main characters remained their best selves, showing thoughtfulness and empathy to each other.
I would really recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Dungeons & Dating or would love to see the sports in sports romances replaced by a keen archery demonstration!
January 17, 2025
3.5
struggled a bit to get through this one, but i think it’s just because i didn’t have the motivation to read. i really liked mo as a mmc, and i hadn’t heard of hsp, so reading about his experience with that was interesting.
#netgalley
struggled a bit to get through this one, but i think it’s just because i didn’t have the motivation to read. i really liked mo as a mmc, and i hadn’t heard of hsp, so reading about his experience with that was interesting.
#netgalley
May 6, 2025
Happy pub day!
I loved the first two Sarda brothers stories by Gia de Cadenet, Getting His Game Back and Not the Plan. When I heard Gia had written a story about another Sarda brother, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I was especially touched that she mentioned me in the acknowledgements, and deeply honored that she named a character after me.
Jess and Mo meet while teaching archery and blacksmithing, respectively, at the Michigan Folk School. They're each enduring significant challenges: Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person and a divorced single dad, and Jess is grieving the sudden and tragic loss of her beloved sister, Cassie. HSP is a new concept for me, and I was fascinated to learn about it in this book, and even went down an internet rabbit hole to learn more.
In addition to being about romatic love, Give Me A Shot is also about friendship. Jess's close friends Alice and Stephanie are there for her through the loss of her sister, health issues, and to help her with processing her feelings for Mo. They are the type of friends who can always count on each other's support, even when geographic distance keeps them apart.
I also loved the character of Mrs. Sargysan, the wise, elderly busybody neighbor of Mo's. They look out for each other in their own way.
It was inconceivable how much I LOVED The Princess Bride references! No more rhymes; I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?
I had a blast revisiting the other Sarda brothers and their significant others that I met in previous books. It was great to catch up with what's happening in their lives since we last met.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is just trying to put one foot in front of the other while the stress of the world piles on you, and to anyone who enjoys Renaissance Faires.
Thank you SO MUCH to Gia for sending me a physical ARC from France! All opinions are my own.
I loved the first two Sarda brothers stories by Gia de Cadenet, Getting His Game Back and Not the Plan. When I heard Gia had written a story about another Sarda brother, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I was especially touched that she mentioned me in the acknowledgements, and deeply honored that she named a character after me.
Jess and Mo meet while teaching archery and blacksmithing, respectively, at the Michigan Folk School. They're each enduring significant challenges: Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person and a divorced single dad, and Jess is grieving the sudden and tragic loss of her beloved sister, Cassie. HSP is a new concept for me, and I was fascinated to learn about it in this book, and even went down an internet rabbit hole to learn more.
In addition to being about romatic love, Give Me A Shot is also about friendship. Jess's close friends Alice and Stephanie are there for her through the loss of her sister, health issues, and to help her with processing her feelings for Mo. They are the type of friends who can always count on each other's support, even when geographic distance keeps them apart.
I also loved the character of Mrs. Sargysan, the wise, elderly busybody neighbor of Mo's. They look out for each other in their own way.
It was inconceivable how much I LOVED The Princess Bride references! No more rhymes; I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?
I had a blast revisiting the other Sarda brothers and their significant others that I met in previous books. It was great to catch up with what's happening in their lives since we last met.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is just trying to put one foot in front of the other while the stress of the world piles on you, and to anyone who enjoys Renaissance Faires.
Thank you SO MUCH to Gia for sending me a physical ARC from France! All opinions are my own.
May 21, 2025
Give Me a Shot by Gia de Cadenet (May 6, 2025) Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted advanced listening copy of this beautifully tender, emotionally rich romance.
Mo is a man of routine - he finds comfort in control and calm. As a highly sensitive person (HSP), he experiences the world with heightened sensory and emotional awareness, and he’s built a quiet, meaningful life around that understanding. Between running his auto repair shop, co-parenting his 12-year-old daughter, and volunteering as a blacksmith at a local folk school, he’s doing just fine, until he meets Jess.
Jess is navigating overwhelming grief after the loss of her sister, the emotional distance from her parents, and the pressure of a demanding new job - all while her body sends signs she can’t ignore. The folk school, where she practices archery, offers her a rare sense of peace. And it’s where she meets Mo.
When they’re unexpectedly partnered to organize a Renaissance Faire to help save the school, the two begin spending more time together - and slowly, beautifully, begin to unearth their vulnerabilities. As trust builds, so does an intimacy that neither was expecting but both deeply need.
This book is gentle, complex, and incredibly human. I hadn’t encountered HSP representation in romance before, and Mo’s perspective was both eye-opening and deeply moving. Watching Mo and Jess navigate emotional trauma, grief, and the fear of being a burden (while still making space for love) was profoundly touching.
Mo and Jess are soft in a world that often demands hardness. And this story honors that softness in a way that feels like a balm.
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts Ryan Lee Dunlap and Natalie Naudus deliver a grounded, heartfelt performance that perfectly captures the emotional nuance of the story. At 9h 54m, it’s a quiet, powerful listen that lingers long after it ends.
Mo is a man of routine - he finds comfort in control and calm. As a highly sensitive person (HSP), he experiences the world with heightened sensory and emotional awareness, and he’s built a quiet, meaningful life around that understanding. Between running his auto repair shop, co-parenting his 12-year-old daughter, and volunteering as a blacksmith at a local folk school, he’s doing just fine, until he meets Jess.
Jess is navigating overwhelming grief after the loss of her sister, the emotional distance from her parents, and the pressure of a demanding new job - all while her body sends signs she can’t ignore. The folk school, where she practices archery, offers her a rare sense of peace. And it’s where she meets Mo.
When they’re unexpectedly partnered to organize a Renaissance Faire to help save the school, the two begin spending more time together - and slowly, beautifully, begin to unearth their vulnerabilities. As trust builds, so does an intimacy that neither was expecting but both deeply need.
This book is gentle, complex, and incredibly human. I hadn’t encountered HSP representation in romance before, and Mo’s perspective was both eye-opening and deeply moving. Watching Mo and Jess navigate emotional trauma, grief, and the fear of being a burden (while still making space for love) was profoundly touching.
Mo and Jess are soft in a world that often demands hardness. And this story honors that softness in a way that feels like a balm.
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts Ryan Lee Dunlap and Natalie Naudus deliver a grounded, heartfelt performance that perfectly captures the emotional nuance of the story. At 9h 54m, it’s a quiet, powerful listen that lingers long after it ends.
May 13, 2025
Ok as someone who's not into the D & D scene or Renascence Faires, I wasn't sure how I would enjoy this book but I knew ! wanted to read it based solely on the MMC, who was a grumpy neurodivergent and he did not disappoint. Mo had such unique and interesting attributes that endeared me to him almost from the moment he appeared in the page and even through some tough topics that were covered throughout the story, he remained his best self and showed thoughtfulness and empathy towards Jess, the FMC. Jess had some major trust issues and needed to do better at communicating, but at heart she was a genuinely kind person and therefore it made it easy to see that these two could belong together.
While HSP is a new concept for me. I learned a lot about it in this story, but I didn't feel like it was overwhelming. It just seemed to help understand Mo and his response to things.
Besides the romance aspect, there's a great secondary story about the power of friendship as Jess' close friends help navigate her through some difficult times as well as her new feelings for Mo despite the distance between them This is evidently part of a series, which I wasn't aware of until after reading it so clearly you can read it as a standalone, but I will definitely be reading the rest of the books and anything else this author writes!
Thanks to Dell Publishing and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.
While HSP is a new concept for me. I learned a lot about it in this story, but I didn't feel like it was overwhelming. It just seemed to help understand Mo and his response to things.
Besides the romance aspect, there's a great secondary story about the power of friendship as Jess' close friends help navigate her through some difficult times as well as her new feelings for Mo despite the distance between them This is evidently part of a series, which I wasn't aware of until after reading it so clearly you can read it as a standalone, but I will definitely be reading the rest of the books and anything else this author writes!
Thanks to Dell Publishing and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.
April 20, 2025
Thank you Dell for an early copy of this book through NetGalley! All opinions are my own.
This was SO SWEET OH MY GOD. I really had no idea what to expect going into this as this was my first book by Gia de Cadenet but I will absolutely be going back and reading her other books in this series!
Mo captured my heart pretty much immediately. His thoughtfulness and consideration made my heart ache. His neurodiversity was handled with such care and even as a mental health professional, I learned a lot about how Highly Sensitive People experience the world around them. He was so sweet with his flowers and little gifts for Jess and his relationship with his daughter.
I struggled some with Jess, but I think that’s just bc she wasn’t dealing with the grief from losing her sister and I, like her friends, wanted her to do a little self reflection and see what was going on. I did love how much her friends cared for her and that they were willing to say hard things to her bc they wanted the best for her. Outside of her grief, I really loved how Jess saw and sought to understand Mo so she could love him well. They just worked really well together and it was fun to watch their relationship bloom!
This was SO SWEET OH MY GOD. I really had no idea what to expect going into this as this was my first book by Gia de Cadenet but I will absolutely be going back and reading her other books in this series!
Mo captured my heart pretty much immediately. His thoughtfulness and consideration made my heart ache. His neurodiversity was handled with such care and even as a mental health professional, I learned a lot about how Highly Sensitive People experience the world around them. He was so sweet with his flowers and little gifts for Jess and his relationship with his daughter.
I struggled some with Jess, but I think that’s just bc she wasn’t dealing with the grief from losing her sister and I, like her friends, wanted her to do a little self reflection and see what was going on. I did love how much her friends cared for her and that they were willing to say hard things to her bc they wanted the best for her. Outside of her grief, I really loved how Jess saw and sought to understand Mo so she could love him well. They just worked really well together and it was fun to watch their relationship bloom!
January 11, 2025
This book is a lot. It’s filled with secondhand stress, emotions, and grief. A lot for me to relate to. Neurodivergence threads through your daily interactions and I think reading this novel made my own peculiarities even more clear to me. I related to Mo and I related to Jess, and regardless of how drained I felt from some of the scenes, I still completed this book in less than 24 hours. This was one of the realest written relationships I’ve experienced; I so enjoyed the way they worked through their challenges. I loved the way they saw each other and folded into each other’s lives. This gave me hope that it is possible to be seen and loved for who you are. I think we all hold back a bit of ourselves sometimes but my goal since last year has remained to be my truest self with all I love. Perhaps it has also inspired me to look into another sibling support group, because if one thing rang true from the story, it is that you never truly “get over” loss.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC.
July 28, 2025
This book was sweet but bland. I loved the neurodivergent representation and the respect that the main characters showed each other but the romantic spark between them never really materialized. It just fell a little flat as far as the plot and dialogue went. I kept waiting for something to happen but it felt like so much of the plot centered on Mo’s neurodivergence and Jessica’s grief. We never really get to unpack who they are as characters beyond that. I thought that the archery and blacksmithing would be more central to the story but that was sort of glossed over, also.
I think this was worth a read but there was something missing that kept me from truly enjoying it. It read more like a handbook for dealing with Highly Sensitive Persons than a romance.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think this was worth a read but there was something missing that kept me from truly enjoying it. It read more like a handbook for dealing with Highly Sensitive Persons than a romance.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 28, 2025
I honestly didn't realize this was the latest in a series until I finished, and even though Mo's family played a significant role in this book I wasn't at all lost. The insight into being an HSP was interesting, especially in the context of navigating interpersonal relationships and high-emotion situations. I loved the dynamic between Jess and Mo, and both of their struggles with emotional regulation felt realistic and relatable. Worth the read!
January 10, 2025
This is definitely a romance, but the amount of emotions in this book could be a bit overwhelming for some readers. From heightened sensory awareness, intense grief from the loss of family, repression of feelings, and more, there is a lot that goes along with the love story of Jess and Mo. Readers need to go into this quite prepared.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.
January 18, 2025
3.5⭐️
This book had everything but it just didn't fully work for me. It felt a little flat. I loved so much about it - the princess Bride references, the Ren faire, Jess and Mo. but I think in the end, a lot felt dull and clinical. Cute idea, just didn't fully work for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc!
This book had everything but it just didn't fully work for me. It felt a little flat. I loved so much about it - the princess Bride references, the Ren faire, Jess and Mo. but I think in the end, a lot felt dull and clinical. Cute idea, just didn't fully work for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc!
June 10, 2025
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my voluntary and honest review!
An archer and a blacksmith work together to help their Folk School put on a Renaissance Faire to save the school. I LOVED the concept of this story and was excited to see some neurodivergent rep in a romance novel. However… the author’s relentless focus on the MMC’s HSP made both the story feel textbook dry and the relationship clinical.
An archer and a blacksmith work together to help their Folk School put on a Renaissance Faire to save the school. I LOVED the concept of this story and was excited to see some neurodivergent rep in a romance novel. However… the author’s relentless focus on the MMC’s HSP made both the story feel textbook dry and the relationship clinical.
June 4, 2025
Really enjoyed this. The author handled all of the characters well and nothing felt forced. Mo’s story was touching but not twee. If anything Jess acted a little bit crass at times,but grief does weird things to us. It was nice to see the grief information handled well too.
August 25, 2025
I really enjoyed the characters. I like the struggles they faced and how they communicated through them. The flow of their relationship was more true to life than most books.
May 26, 2025
**My thanks to Random House PG – Ballantine for providing me with an advanced review copy via NetGalley**
3.5 stars
A charming and low-stakes contemporary romance perfect for fans of Jen DeLuca.
Give Me a Shot features two cool and capable protagonists: Jess, a women’s history professor and competitive crossbow archer, and Mo, a car mechanic shop owner and part-time master blacksmith. The two become friends while working/volunteering at the Michigan Folk School, and though neither enjoys the spotlight, their coveted skills make their contributions vital to the school’s fundraising efforts as it puts on a Renaissance Faire.
What makes this book stand out is the way the two characters genuinely care for and attempt to navigate one another’s emotional health. Jess is heavily grieving the recent (violent) death of her beloved sister, and Mo identifies as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), gifted/burdened by extremely sensitive empathy and highly affected by sensory input of all kinds. Neither wants to burden the other, but they are both genuinely interesting, kind people who have believable chemistry, which grows as they work together for a common cause.
One downside to the story is that Mo’s daughter, Maddy, reads as younger than her age. When she’s revealed to be twelve years old, I found my eyebrows raising—her dialogue makes her seem much younger. I was gratified that Jess decided not to meet her until she and Mo had been dating at least 6 months (this is the smart and healthy way to do things IRL), but in practice it meant that Maddy didn’t have much of a role in the story; I think there could have been a way to make her presence matter more even with Jess’s responsible rules for dating a single parent.
3.5 stars
A charming and low-stakes contemporary romance perfect for fans of Jen DeLuca.
Give Me a Shot features two cool and capable protagonists: Jess, a women’s history professor and competitive crossbow archer, and Mo, a car mechanic shop owner and part-time master blacksmith. The two become friends while working/volunteering at the Michigan Folk School, and though neither enjoys the spotlight, their coveted skills make their contributions vital to the school’s fundraising efforts as it puts on a Renaissance Faire.
What makes this book stand out is the way the two characters genuinely care for and attempt to navigate one another’s emotional health. Jess is heavily grieving the recent (violent) death of her beloved sister, and Mo identifies as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), gifted/burdened by extremely sensitive empathy and highly affected by sensory input of all kinds. Neither wants to burden the other, but they are both genuinely interesting, kind people who have believable chemistry, which grows as they work together for a common cause.
One downside to the story is that Mo’s daughter, Maddy, reads as younger than her age. When she’s revealed to be twelve years old, I found my eyebrows raising—her dialogue makes her seem much younger. I was gratified that Jess decided not to meet her until she and Mo had been dating at least 6 months (this is the smart and healthy way to do things IRL), but in practice it meant that Maddy didn’t have much of a role in the story; I think there could have been a way to make her presence matter more even with Jess’s responsible rules for dating a single parent.
June 26, 2025
This romance is soft in all the ways that matter—like a weighted blanket you didn’t know your heart needed. A grieving heroine meets a blacksmith with a quiet soul, and together they craft a slow, tender love story rooted in trust, vulnerability, and healing. It’s about showing up, even when you’re shattered. It’s about love that doesn’t demand fixing—just witnessing. My heart = melted.
🏷️ Tropes You’ll Find:
Opposites attract
Forced proximity (event planning FTW)
Renaissance Faire backdrop
Found family
Soft cinnamon roll MMC
Neurodivergent rep (HSP)
He brings her flowers
Grieving heroine
Single dad sweetness
Friends who say the hard things
Archery is therapy (no notes)
Blush Meter 🔥🔥/ 5
Sweet and soulful. Think slow kisses, lingering gazes, emotional intimacy dialed all the way up, and one particularly tender scene that made me curl into myself and squeal like a Victorian heroine clutching a love letter. The spice isn't constant, but when it shows up? It’s earned. Deeply emotional and never performative.
🌟 TAK Girlie Rating: ★★★★☆
Four stars for the softest man I've read this year, a heroine who felt human in all her messy, grieving glory, and a romance that respected mental and emotional nuance. I docked half a star only because I found myself wanting just a little more time inside the romantic arc—some scenes felt like emotional sketches that I wanted to see developed further. But the heart of this book? Beating and beautiful.
I went into Give Me a Shot expecting Renaissance Faire banter, flower crowns, and maybe a little rompy fun. What I got was emotional depth, affirming softness, and two broken people who never try to fix each other, but instead hold space for one another in a way that felt nothing short of holy.
Let’s start with Mo. (MO!!!) If you’ve ever screamed “WHY CAN’T MEN BE LIKE THIS?” into the void after reading a book boyfriend too good to be true, this one’s for you. He’s a blacksmith, yes, but not in the cliché gruff alpha way. He’s a Highly Sensitive Person who processes the world gently and carefully. He feels everything. He notices things. He leaves a little flower for Jess, not to impress her, but because he sees that she needs softness. That kind of thoughtfulness? Peak fictional boyfriend behavior. It was also incredibly refreshing to see HSP rep done with honesty and complexity—it wasn’t a quirk, it was part of how he loved. And this was my first time reading about it, given that I’m a self-diagnosed HSP, so I’m glad to see someone like me being represented.
Jess, meanwhile, is deep in grief. Her sister’s death has left her unmoored, and that fog of sadness colors everything she touches. She’s moved back from England and is trying (and mostly failing) to find her place again. I’ll be honest: she was frustrating at times. But here’s the thing—I didn’t need her to be likable. I needed her to be real. And she was. Her emotional walls, her avoidance, her distance—it was all familiar. Painfully so. Watching her slowly let Mo in, even when she didn’t know how to ask for help, broke something open in me.
Their romance isn’t a whirlwind or flashy—it’s steady. And yes, there are cute moments: planning the Ren Faire together, quiet laughs during archery practice, Mo being the literal best dad. But what stayed with me was the quiet intimacy of their shared grief, their willingness to ask hard questions, and the joy of being truly seen.
Also? Jess’s friends are the real deal. They call her out, not out of judgment, but love. There’s something powerful about seeing a heroine surrounded by people who won’t let her self-destruct in silence. And Mo’s relationship with his daughter? Tender and grounded. It’s rare to see a single dad in romance who isn’t just a plot device—and Mo is never that. His love for his daughter informs every choice he makes. He’s just that guy.
This book also deserves a shout-out for showing that healing doesn’t mean being perfectly okay by the end. Jess and Mo don’t magically fix each other. But they do give each other space to breathe, to feel, and to try. The romance becomes a safe room, not a solution.
🏹 Final Thoughts:
Give Me a Shot is what I call a soft-armor romance—it wraps itself around you, gently guards your heart, and lets you feel deeply without ever flinching. It’s for everyone who craves a love that whispers instead of shouts. It’s for the emotionally tired. The tenderhearted. The ones who want to believe that love can be quiet and epic.
It’s a love story, yes. But it’s also a story about showing up—for yourself, for your community, for that weird little Renaissance Faire that somehow becomes everything. I didn’t expect this book to hit me this hard. But it struck like a perfectly aimed arrow.
📚 For Fans Of:
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Love stories that honor softness
Emotionally intelligent men who listen (and really listen)
Found families, grief healing, and small gestures that land big
Until the next swoon-worthy story… happy reading and happy romancing! 💕
T.A.K. Girlie 💋
🏷️ Tropes You’ll Find:
Opposites attract
Forced proximity (event planning FTW)
Renaissance Faire backdrop
Found family
Soft cinnamon roll MMC
Neurodivergent rep (HSP)
He brings her flowers
Grieving heroine
Single dad sweetness
Friends who say the hard things
Archery is therapy (no notes)
Blush Meter 🔥🔥/ 5
Sweet and soulful. Think slow kisses, lingering gazes, emotional intimacy dialed all the way up, and one particularly tender scene that made me curl into myself and squeal like a Victorian heroine clutching a love letter. The spice isn't constant, but when it shows up? It’s earned. Deeply emotional and never performative.
🌟 TAK Girlie Rating: ★★★★☆
Four stars for the softest man I've read this year, a heroine who felt human in all her messy, grieving glory, and a romance that respected mental and emotional nuance. I docked half a star only because I found myself wanting just a little more time inside the romantic arc—some scenes felt like emotional sketches that I wanted to see developed further. But the heart of this book? Beating and beautiful.
I went into Give Me a Shot expecting Renaissance Faire banter, flower crowns, and maybe a little rompy fun. What I got was emotional depth, affirming softness, and two broken people who never try to fix each other, but instead hold space for one another in a way that felt nothing short of holy.
Let’s start with Mo. (MO!!!) If you’ve ever screamed “WHY CAN’T MEN BE LIKE THIS?” into the void after reading a book boyfriend too good to be true, this one’s for you. He’s a blacksmith, yes, but not in the cliché gruff alpha way. He’s a Highly Sensitive Person who processes the world gently and carefully. He feels everything. He notices things. He leaves a little flower for Jess, not to impress her, but because he sees that she needs softness. That kind of thoughtfulness? Peak fictional boyfriend behavior. It was also incredibly refreshing to see HSP rep done with honesty and complexity—it wasn’t a quirk, it was part of how he loved. And this was my first time reading about it, given that I’m a self-diagnosed HSP, so I’m glad to see someone like me being represented.
Jess, meanwhile, is deep in grief. Her sister’s death has left her unmoored, and that fog of sadness colors everything she touches. She’s moved back from England and is trying (and mostly failing) to find her place again. I’ll be honest: she was frustrating at times. But here’s the thing—I didn’t need her to be likable. I needed her to be real. And she was. Her emotional walls, her avoidance, her distance—it was all familiar. Painfully so. Watching her slowly let Mo in, even when she didn’t know how to ask for help, broke something open in me.
Their romance isn’t a whirlwind or flashy—it’s steady. And yes, there are cute moments: planning the Ren Faire together, quiet laughs during archery practice, Mo being the literal best dad. But what stayed with me was the quiet intimacy of their shared grief, their willingness to ask hard questions, and the joy of being truly seen.
Also? Jess’s friends are the real deal. They call her out, not out of judgment, but love. There’s something powerful about seeing a heroine surrounded by people who won’t let her self-destruct in silence. And Mo’s relationship with his daughter? Tender and grounded. It’s rare to see a single dad in romance who isn’t just a plot device—and Mo is never that. His love for his daughter informs every choice he makes. He’s just that guy.
This book also deserves a shout-out for showing that healing doesn’t mean being perfectly okay by the end. Jess and Mo don’t magically fix each other. But they do give each other space to breathe, to feel, and to try. The romance becomes a safe room, not a solution.
🏹 Final Thoughts:
Give Me a Shot is what I call a soft-armor romance—it wraps itself around you, gently guards your heart, and lets you feel deeply without ever flinching. It’s for everyone who craves a love that whispers instead of shouts. It’s for the emotionally tired. The tenderhearted. The ones who want to believe that love can be quiet and epic.
It’s a love story, yes. But it’s also a story about showing up—for yourself, for your community, for that weird little Renaissance Faire that somehow becomes everything. I didn’t expect this book to hit me this hard. But it struck like a perfectly aimed arrow.
📚 For Fans Of:
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Love stories that honor softness
Emotionally intelligent men who listen (and really listen)
Found families, grief healing, and small gestures that land big
Until the next swoon-worthy story… happy reading and happy romancing! 💕
T.A.K. Girlie 💋
May 19, 2025
Compelling opening but desperate attention grab attempt. Someone coming into their space, with a key and permission, then having a deadly weapon aimed at their back, first, and then their face? That's an encounter with a psychotic and merits a police report; its, not a 'meet cute' as written.
Put off by the writing style - overexplaining everything, its more appropriate for a textbook of case studies on traumas. (Not accurate though.) The author kills their own credibility in that from the start. Really, a MC who crafts their own living space to cause them pain?
Like the girlfriends and the Alice-in-Wonderland silliness. They at least call the moron MFC on her nonsense. Yes, she SHOULD have backed out, seeing an unknown man in the space, who didn't see her. And call the owner to find out what's going on. Death wish for sure, kind of sorry that didn't happen since she ASKED for it. "Oh, here's little me with my one weapon, I'll confront a stranger and threaten his life, even though I could have just walked away. Even though I should have learned straight off, as an 'internationally rated archer', NEVER to POINT a weapon at someone unless I am WILLING and READY to pull the trigger." What an IDIOT.
Is this going to be more like watching Alien than reading a romcom? (sigh) No, its just ... weak, lame. The FMC persists in seeing the man SHE threatened as "axe murderer". SHE is the disturbed, as in dangerously delusional, person. The reader is already begging, "please, please don't fall for her, PLEASE don't be this stupid." But in this genre? No chance the readers will be spared. Tall, hot, competent, physical guy, been the LEAD teacher for years, and not one female has been interested. Riiight. (gag!)
ENOUGH. The author thinks family completely ignoring a person's disability, needs-wants-preferences, is 'cute'.
This is a manual for inappropriate behavior - accosting an unexpected person with loaded weapon when you could just walk away, scheduling painful activities for family because YOU know better, and - wait - teaching a class in your hobby in a group setting, when you literally can't STAND noise, proximity, chaos, touching... Calling the "best in the region" and "amateur" is actually false - if he's being paid to teach, or even if people are paying someone else for him to teach, he's not an 'amateur'. If he's been paid for the work, he's a professional. (Dictionary definitions: unpaid, incompetent.)
It offends. This insults people who actually have disabilities (and intelligence). The behaviors are inappropriate and the MMC is made to be a VICTIM in this. Its not 'entertaining' or 'sweet'. (Switch the sexes, is it funny if a man comes in with an armed weapon pointed at a woman he didn't expect to encounter - in someone ELSE's rental storage space?)
Put off by the writing style - overexplaining everything, its more appropriate for a textbook of case studies on traumas. (Not accurate though.) The author kills their own credibility in that from the start. Really, a MC who crafts their own living space to cause them pain?
Like the girlfriends and the Alice-in-Wonderland silliness. They at least call the moron MFC on her nonsense. Yes, she SHOULD have backed out, seeing an unknown man in the space, who didn't see her. And call the owner to find out what's going on. Death wish for sure, kind of sorry that didn't happen since she ASKED for it. "Oh, here's little me with my one weapon, I'll confront a stranger and threaten his life, even though I could have just walked away. Even though I should have learned straight off, as an 'internationally rated archer', NEVER to POINT a weapon at someone unless I am WILLING and READY to pull the trigger." What an IDIOT.
Is this going to be more like watching Alien than reading a romcom? (sigh) No, its just ... weak, lame. The FMC persists in seeing the man SHE threatened as "axe murderer". SHE is the disturbed, as in dangerously delusional, person. The reader is already begging, "please, please don't fall for her, PLEASE don't be this stupid." But in this genre? No chance the readers will be spared. Tall, hot, competent, physical guy, been the LEAD teacher for years, and not one female has been interested. Riiight. (gag!)
ENOUGH. The author thinks family completely ignoring a person's disability, needs-wants-preferences, is 'cute'.
This is a manual for inappropriate behavior - accosting an unexpected person with loaded weapon when you could just walk away, scheduling painful activities for family because YOU know better, and - wait - teaching a class in your hobby in a group setting, when you literally can't STAND noise, proximity, chaos, touching... Calling the "best in the region" and "amateur" is actually false - if he's being paid to teach, or even if people are paying someone else for him to teach, he's not an 'amateur'. If he's been paid for the work, he's a professional. (Dictionary definitions: unpaid, incompetent.)
It offends. This insults people who actually have disabilities (and intelligence). The behaviors are inappropriate and the MMC is made to be a VICTIM in this. Its not 'entertaining' or 'sweet'. (Switch the sexes, is it funny if a man comes in with an armed weapon pointed at a woman he didn't expect to encounter - in someone ELSE's rental storage space?)
August 28, 2025
Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the free audio review copy of Give Me a Shot by Gia de Cadenet! My review is reflective of my unbiased opinions for this book.
This was an overall fun read! As a noted giant dork and Renaissance Faire fan, I always pick up any romance novel I can find where faire scenes are included, so I knew I had to give this one a shot. That being said, the renaissance faire wasn't exactly the main setting of the novel, so despite what the cover may lead you to believe, the sections with actual renaissance faire situations and settings are few.
I found, however, that I didn't mind this so much. Both Mo and Jess are loveable characters who I cheered for throughout the book, and seeing them through their unfortunate meeting to their happily ever after was a fun and positive journey to take as a reader.
I liked that this wasn't a grumpy/sunshine story, but rather that it took two people that others initially read as cold or grumpy and showed that once you get to know them they are as loving and kind as anyone else!
This is the first time that I have read a romance where the MMC was openly neurodivergent and I felt like the author handled it really well. I always appreciate a book that shows that loving someone with neurodivergence or a disability isn't any more difficult than loving someone who is neurotypical or able bodied, because it really isn't, it just means learning them and their needs like you do for anyone.
All of that said, there were a couple things that kept me from loving the book as much as I would have liked to. I feel as though sometimes scenes ended too abruptly, or a character was referring to something that happened in the past and it wasn't clear that they were doing so. This may be related to the fact that I was reading it in audio, not in ebook or physical format, but this is not an issue that I have had with other audiobooks. The situation surrounding Jess's sister and her death also threw me off a bit as I felt like she was so certain her sister had been murdered, but I don't recall there being anything about a police investigation or anything else. It seems like her character would have pushed for something like that, even from abroad, but I may be misremembering. I felt the relationship between her and her parents could have been better fleshed out as well. It just didn't seem to make sense to me that a sexist and abusive father would have encouraged her to participate in a sport at an elite level. It just doesn't seem to fit with his "you should marry a man who doesn't work with his hands and be a housewife" vibe.
Otherwise I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to readers of Jen DeLuca's Well Met Series, and to readers who are looking for positive neurodivergent rep in their romances.
This was an overall fun read! As a noted giant dork and Renaissance Faire fan, I always pick up any romance novel I can find where faire scenes are included, so I knew I had to give this one a shot. That being said, the renaissance faire wasn't exactly the main setting of the novel, so despite what the cover may lead you to believe, the sections with actual renaissance faire situations and settings are few.
I found, however, that I didn't mind this so much. Both Mo and Jess are loveable characters who I cheered for throughout the book, and seeing them through their unfortunate meeting to their happily ever after was a fun and positive journey to take as a reader.
I liked that this wasn't a grumpy/sunshine story, but rather that it took two people that others initially read as cold or grumpy and showed that once you get to know them they are as loving and kind as anyone else!
This is the first time that I have read a romance where the MMC was openly neurodivergent and I felt like the author handled it really well. I always appreciate a book that shows that loving someone with neurodivergence or a disability isn't any more difficult than loving someone who is neurotypical or able bodied, because it really isn't, it just means learning them and their needs like you do for anyone.
All of that said, there were a couple things that kept me from loving the book as much as I would have liked to. I feel as though sometimes scenes ended too abruptly, or a character was referring to something that happened in the past and it wasn't clear that they were doing so. This may be related to the fact that I was reading it in audio, not in ebook or physical format, but this is not an issue that I have had with other audiobooks. The situation surrounding Jess's sister and her death also threw me off a bit as I felt like she was so certain her sister had been murdered, but I don't recall there being anything about a police investigation or anything else. It seems like her character would have pushed for something like that, even from abroad, but I may be misremembering. I felt the relationship between her and her parents could have been better fleshed out as well. It just didn't seem to make sense to me that a sexist and abusive father would have encouraged her to participate in a sport at an elite level. It just doesn't seem to fit with his "you should marry a man who doesn't work with his hands and be a housewife" vibe.
Otherwise I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to readers of Jen DeLuca's Well Met Series, and to readers who are looking for positive neurodivergent rep in their romances.
January 11, 2025
Gia De Cadenet has truly outdone herself with Give Me a Shot! This heartfelt contemporary romance combines emotional depth, unique characters, and a refreshing setting to deliver a story that feels both genuine and deeply resonant.
One of the standout aspects of this book is Jessica Anderson, a character unlike any I’ve seen in romance. As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Jess’s experience navigating the world resonated with me in such a personal way. Seeing her emotions and reactions portrayed so thoughtfully was not only refreshing but also deeply validating. De Cadenet handles Jess’s sensitivity with care and authenticity, making her journey one of healing, strength, and self-discovery.
Mo Sarda is the perfect counterpart to Jess. Guarded yet kind, he’s a man of quiet strength with a deep love for his family and a knack for keeping his life drama free. Watching Mo’s walls come down as he opens up to Jess is so satisfying, and their chemistry crackles from the very first encounter. Their romance is both sweet and spicy, with a perfect blend of tender moments and undeniable heat.
I also loved how De Cadenet incorporated heavy topics like grief, healing, and emotional vulnerability into the story. These themes are handled with such grace and balance, never overshadowing the romance but instead enhancing it. The emotions are raw and real, and they give the love story between Jess and Mo a sense of depth and authenticity that makes it truly unforgettable.
And let’s talk about the archery! Featuring a sport like archery—paired with Mo’s blacksmithing—makes this book stand out in the contemporary romance genre. The Folk School setting and the Renaissance Faire fundraiser added so much charm and creativity to the story. It’s rare to see hobbies like these showcased in romance, and it was such a treat to read about them.
Overall, Give Me a Shot is a beautiful, layered romance that perfectly balances heartfelt emotion, personal growth, and a love story you’ll be rooting for from the start. It’s Gia De Cadenet’s best work yet, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a romance with depth, uniqueness, and characters that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. It's a must read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Gia De Cadenet, and Dell for the eARC of this book.
One of the standout aspects of this book is Jessica Anderson, a character unlike any I’ve seen in romance. As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Jess’s experience navigating the world resonated with me in such a personal way. Seeing her emotions and reactions portrayed so thoughtfully was not only refreshing but also deeply validating. De Cadenet handles Jess’s sensitivity with care and authenticity, making her journey one of healing, strength, and self-discovery.
Mo Sarda is the perfect counterpart to Jess. Guarded yet kind, he’s a man of quiet strength with a deep love for his family and a knack for keeping his life drama free. Watching Mo’s walls come down as he opens up to Jess is so satisfying, and their chemistry crackles from the very first encounter. Their romance is both sweet and spicy, with a perfect blend of tender moments and undeniable heat.
I also loved how De Cadenet incorporated heavy topics like grief, healing, and emotional vulnerability into the story. These themes are handled with such grace and balance, never overshadowing the romance but instead enhancing it. The emotions are raw and real, and they give the love story between Jess and Mo a sense of depth and authenticity that makes it truly unforgettable.
And let’s talk about the archery! Featuring a sport like archery—paired with Mo’s blacksmithing—makes this book stand out in the contemporary romance genre. The Folk School setting and the Renaissance Faire fundraiser added so much charm and creativity to the story. It’s rare to see hobbies like these showcased in romance, and it was such a treat to read about them.
Overall, Give Me a Shot is a beautiful, layered romance that perfectly balances heartfelt emotion, personal growth, and a love story you’ll be rooting for from the start. It’s Gia De Cadenet’s best work yet, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a romance with depth, uniqueness, and characters that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. It's a must read!
Thank you to NetGalley, Gia De Cadenet, and Dell for the eARC of this book.
January 15, 2025
It's such a shame when one of your most anticipated reads falls flat.
Some parts of this book I really enjoyed. The author writes some great spice scenes, and the whole concept of a Folk School is stellar. You can tell that the author really researched the craft of blacksmithery and archery, and that passion is clear. I always appreciate some good texts on page. I also LOVED the representation and the look at neurodivergence as something beyond just a quirky character trait.
(I will note: a lot of research right now around HSPs are that it is a symptom of other disorders. Practitioners often will identify sensory processing sensitivities as a recurring trait. Mo seems to have OCD-like tendencies or autistic tendencies, but he only refers to himself as a Highly Sensitive Person.)
But there were just too many things in this book that were impossible to ignore.
1) Jess kept comparing Mo to a little boy. "Seeing the shy kid inside" type of thing. While I'm all for embracing the inner child, it was really hard to see that comparison CONSTANTLY and then immediately be like "oh she's sexually attracted to him?" Very jarring.
2) Oh, apparently they are both famous in their athletic fields? Why does everyone in romance novels have to be famous or perfect at what they do?
3) While I adore effective co-parenting in romance novels, we never got a sense for why he was divorced in the first place. It seemed like a missing part to his backstory.
3b) The daughter was supposed to be 12 but was written like she was 7. Has the author ever met a 12 year old?
4) Jess's friends have NO personality traits outside of wanting to hear about her relationship. It made it hard to root for Jess when there wasn't a single full-fledged person in her periphery besides her cat.
5) The romance itself was super stilted. They kissed at 26% in, without any sort of burn to it, it felt like just randomly throwing them together. While the sexual attraction in the sex scenes was spot on, the third act break-up was pointless. Like it actually made me angry.
So yeah. I try to be a super positive reviewer but I could NOT get over these things. Sorry about that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Some parts of this book I really enjoyed. The author writes some great spice scenes, and the whole concept of a Folk School is stellar. You can tell that the author really researched the craft of blacksmithery and archery, and that passion is clear. I always appreciate some good texts on page. I also LOVED the representation and the look at neurodivergence as something beyond just a quirky character trait.
(I will note: a lot of research right now around HSPs are that it is a symptom of other disorders. Practitioners often will identify sensory processing sensitivities as a recurring trait. Mo seems to have OCD-like tendencies or autistic tendencies, but he only refers to himself as a Highly Sensitive Person.)
But there were just too many things in this book that were impossible to ignore.
1) Jess kept comparing Mo to a little boy. "Seeing the shy kid inside" type of thing. While I'm all for embracing the inner child, it was really hard to see that comparison CONSTANTLY and then immediately be like "oh she's sexually attracted to him?" Very jarring.
2) Oh, apparently they are both famous in their athletic fields? Why does everyone in romance novels have to be famous or perfect at what they do?
3) While I adore effective co-parenting in romance novels, we never got a sense for why he was divorced in the first place. It seemed like a missing part to his backstory.
3b) The daughter was supposed to be 12 but was written like she was 7. Has the author ever met a 12 year old?
4) Jess's friends have NO personality traits outside of wanting to hear about her relationship. It made it hard to root for Jess when there wasn't a single full-fledged person in her periphery besides her cat.
5) The romance itself was super stilted. They kissed at 26% in, without any sort of burn to it, it felt like just randomly throwing them together. While the sexual attraction in the sex scenes was spot on, the third act break-up was pointless. Like it actually made me angry.
So yeah. I try to be a super positive reviewer but I could NOT get over these things. Sorry about that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 25, 2025
Thank you to Dell for this advanced gifted copy!
Gia De Cadenet writes male MCs like no other. Maybe it’s because all of the men I’ve met from her are brothers but these three, Khalil (Getting His Game Back) and Karim (Not the Plan) and now Mo are deeply emotional men with women who have to slow down to enjoy them. And once those women get on the ride, they cannot get off.
Mo and Jess meet on opposite sides of her crossbow. She’s cleaning out the apartment of her recently departed sister and finds a large man in a leather apron washing his hands. She finds this grounds for aiming a crossbow at him while he explains that he’s a blacksmith with permission to be there. They do eventually work it out long enough to separate until they are drawn back together.
Jess is a champion archer and part of her settling into Detroit involves finding a place to practice. She ends up at the Michigan Folk School, where Mo just so happens to teach blacksmithing. Pretty soon they get looped into a scheme to save the Folk School after they lost their benefactor.
However, the scheme to save the school isn’t the most interesting part and it’s barely the key to their love story. The two of them and specifically how they care for one another in the quiet moments is what makes this story sing.
Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) which is a new to me form of neurodivergence. I really appreciate the care the author gave in explaining HSPs and how external stimuli affects Mo. He comes across as grumpy or sullen when in actuality he feels every emotion around him and internalizes it. When Jess clocks his emotionality within minutes of their second meeting, Mo breaks down and explains it all to her in more words than he normally uses in a month. Then she researches it, takes notes, and studies them before their next meeting.
In the meantime, Jess is reeling from the passing of her sister after a long life of suppressing her feelings. Her grief is manifesting as physical pain that she tries to ignore to no avail.
I find it ironic that they have opposite methods of approaching emotions but feel like puzzle pieces of one another. I love how they care for one another and how we get to feel the emotions they are feeling, or fighting, at the moment.
If you’re looking for something that will hit you in your chest for 300+ pages, this is your next read.
CW: Domestic violence (not between the main couple, mentioned)
Gia De Cadenet writes male MCs like no other. Maybe it’s because all of the men I’ve met from her are brothers but these three, Khalil (Getting His Game Back) and Karim (Not the Plan) and now Mo are deeply emotional men with women who have to slow down to enjoy them. And once those women get on the ride, they cannot get off.
Mo and Jess meet on opposite sides of her crossbow. She’s cleaning out the apartment of her recently departed sister and finds a large man in a leather apron washing his hands. She finds this grounds for aiming a crossbow at him while he explains that he’s a blacksmith with permission to be there. They do eventually work it out long enough to separate until they are drawn back together.
Jess is a champion archer and part of her settling into Detroit involves finding a place to practice. She ends up at the Michigan Folk School, where Mo just so happens to teach blacksmithing. Pretty soon they get looped into a scheme to save the Folk School after they lost their benefactor.
However, the scheme to save the school isn’t the most interesting part and it’s barely the key to their love story. The two of them and specifically how they care for one another in the quiet moments is what makes this story sing.
Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) which is a new to me form of neurodivergence. I really appreciate the care the author gave in explaining HSPs and how external stimuli affects Mo. He comes across as grumpy or sullen when in actuality he feels every emotion around him and internalizes it. When Jess clocks his emotionality within minutes of their second meeting, Mo breaks down and explains it all to her in more words than he normally uses in a month. Then she researches it, takes notes, and studies them before their next meeting.
In the meantime, Jess is reeling from the passing of her sister after a long life of suppressing her feelings. Her grief is manifesting as physical pain that she tries to ignore to no avail.
I find it ironic that they have opposite methods of approaching emotions but feel like puzzle pieces of one another. I love how they care for one another and how we get to feel the emotions they are feeling, or fighting, at the moment.
If you’re looking for something that will hit you in your chest for 300+ pages, this is your next read.
CW: Domestic violence (not between the main couple, mentioned)
May 14, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for providing the ARC.
This book was not what I expected when I first read the synopsis. While it was definitely lighthearted in many places, the story is so much more than that. It is an exploration of grief and a look into a specific type of neurodivergency that I don't think people realize is even a thing.
Mo Sarda is a blacksmithing wonder living live as a Highly Sensitive Person when he has what can only amount to a meet ugly with Jess Anderson, a former competitive archer and still reeling from the death of her sister, when she threatens him with a crossbow for allegedly breaking into the storage facility where her sister's belongings stay. Their relationship blooms when Jess and Mo meet again at the Folk Arts school they both frequent, and even more so when they are both asked to participate in a ren faire when the school's wealthy benefactor passes away.
Jess and Mo are both wary of each other initially, Mo because of having to navigate his neurodivergency with people who don't fully understand it, and Jess because she has not processed the death of her sister, and is very wary of men in general since she suspects that her sister's abusive husband may have caused the accident that killed her on purpose. The story unfolds as they both break down their walls and learn to let each other in, even though they have several stumbles and missteps. Mo is steadfast in his approach with Jess, trying to show her that he will not break, and Jess is doing everything in her power to be respectful of his neurodivergency, even if it comes off as grossly overprotective.
I really enjoyed this story and these characters. They show that grief is not always a linear path, and that sometimes our upbringing pre-wires us to react in specific ways. They show that neurodivergency is not something that someone needs to "put up with" or "tolerated" and can be exactly what we need even when we aren't sure of it ourselves. Mo is so tenderhearted and caring that it is impossible not love him. Jess never stood a chance.
This book will get you into your feels, but it really is something truly special.
This book was not what I expected when I first read the synopsis. While it was definitely lighthearted in many places, the story is so much more than that. It is an exploration of grief and a look into a specific type of neurodivergency that I don't think people realize is even a thing.
Mo Sarda is a blacksmithing wonder living live as a Highly Sensitive Person when he has what can only amount to a meet ugly with Jess Anderson, a former competitive archer and still reeling from the death of her sister, when she threatens him with a crossbow for allegedly breaking into the storage facility where her sister's belongings stay. Their relationship blooms when Jess and Mo meet again at the Folk Arts school they both frequent, and even more so when they are both asked to participate in a ren faire when the school's wealthy benefactor passes away.
Jess and Mo are both wary of each other initially, Mo because of having to navigate his neurodivergency with people who don't fully understand it, and Jess because she has not processed the death of her sister, and is very wary of men in general since she suspects that her sister's abusive husband may have caused the accident that killed her on purpose. The story unfolds as they both break down their walls and learn to let each other in, even though they have several stumbles and missteps. Mo is steadfast in his approach with Jess, trying to show her that he will not break, and Jess is doing everything in her power to be respectful of his neurodivergency, even if it comes off as grossly overprotective.
I really enjoyed this story and these characters. They show that grief is not always a linear path, and that sometimes our upbringing pre-wires us to react in specific ways. They show that neurodivergency is not something that someone needs to "put up with" or "tolerated" and can be exactly what we need even when we aren't sure of it ourselves. Mo is so tenderhearted and caring that it is impossible not love him. Jess never stood a chance.
This book will get you into your feels, but it really is something truly special.
April 8, 2025
4.5⭐️/5
1🌶️/5
**ARC Review**
This book is a celebration of finding a person who gets the core of you. We are all individuals. We are complicated. We cannot understand each other completely right away, BUT we can find a person who fits with the core of who we are.
That's Jess and Mo. While there's a steep learning curve for these two (they are both going through things), they see straight to the center of each other. Jess sees the effort it takes Mo to exist in the world. She understands him. She then learns he is a HSP and learns the nuances of what that means for him. Mo sees that Jess is in pain. He sees that she is hiding her pain the best way she can. He doesn't know why, but by seeing it he can be there for her in a way she doesn't allow others to be.
I adored this book. These two are so sweet to each other. Gia doesn't shy away from what they are dealing with, but gives us hope that even when times are tough you can find joy and love.
Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person, a type of neurodivergence. We see how interacting with the world at large affects Mo. His brain doesn't react to stimuli the same way. Gia gives us an inside look into what it takes for him to live his life. So often people who are neurodivergent are shown as other. We don't see them get their happily ever after. We don't watch them fall in love. Showing Mo, with all the good and the bad that goes with him, find his partner was beautiful.
Jess is refusing the grieve the loss of her sister. We don't learn how she died until over halfway through the book. We watch the toll that pushing her feelings down is taking on her. Both physically and mentally. While her relationship with her parents is a central challenge in this book, she has two friends from grad school that she can rely on completely. The juxtaposition between Jess's found family and Mo's biological family show that neither is better. Support is support.
While dealing with heavy topics, this story is a rom com at its heart. It's a tale of two people falling in love while being forced to participate in a Renaissance Faire. One who is a blacksmith and the other who is an archer. These are silly ideas. It adds levity to the weight of both Jess's grief and Mo's NSP.
An adorable story for sure.
1🌶️/5
**ARC Review**
This book is a celebration of finding a person who gets the core of you. We are all individuals. We are complicated. We cannot understand each other completely right away, BUT we can find a person who fits with the core of who we are.
That's Jess and Mo. While there's a steep learning curve for these two (they are both going through things), they see straight to the center of each other. Jess sees the effort it takes Mo to exist in the world. She understands him. She then learns he is a HSP and learns the nuances of what that means for him. Mo sees that Jess is in pain. He sees that she is hiding her pain the best way she can. He doesn't know why, but by seeing it he can be there for her in a way she doesn't allow others to be.
I adored this book. These two are so sweet to each other. Gia doesn't shy away from what they are dealing with, but gives us hope that even when times are tough you can find joy and love.
Mo is a Highly Sensitive Person, a type of neurodivergence. We see how interacting with the world at large affects Mo. His brain doesn't react to stimuli the same way. Gia gives us an inside look into what it takes for him to live his life. So often people who are neurodivergent are shown as other. We don't see them get their happily ever after. We don't watch them fall in love. Showing Mo, with all the good and the bad that goes with him, find his partner was beautiful.
Jess is refusing the grieve the loss of her sister. We don't learn how she died until over halfway through the book. We watch the toll that pushing her feelings down is taking on her. Both physically and mentally. While her relationship with her parents is a central challenge in this book, she has two friends from grad school that she can rely on completely. The juxtaposition between Jess's found family and Mo's biological family show that neither is better. Support is support.
While dealing with heavy topics, this story is a rom com at its heart. It's a tale of two people falling in love while being forced to participate in a Renaissance Faire. One who is a blacksmith and the other who is an archer. These are silly ideas. It adds levity to the weight of both Jess's grief and Mo's NSP.
An adorable story for sure.
January 28, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Mo Sarda tends to keep to himself. On the neurodivergent spectrum, he is a highly sensitive person who is able to pick up on other people’s feelings which can be very overwhelming for him. His happy places are at home with his 12 year old daughter and in his forge. But when the folk school he teaches at becomes in danger of closing down, he steps outside of his comfort zone to help.
Jess Anderson lost her sister the previous year. Unable to grieve her death, she pushes down her emotions and continues to move forward. While emptying out her sister’s storage unit, she meets Mo. He seems standoffish at first, but the more she gets to know him, the more layers she peels away. When they both agree to help at the Folk School’s renaissance festival sparks between them start to fly. But will Jess's grief prove to be too much for their relationship.
This was such a heartfelt story. I really appreciated learning about those who are HSP’s and the daily struggles they deal with. Despite this, Mo is a kind and caring person. While he does shy away from overly stimulating situations, he still finds ways to connect with others. I loved him and Jess together. Their openness and ability to tune into each other’s needs was beautiful to read. Jess taking the time to learn about those who are HSP so that she could better support Mo was so heartwarming.
Ms. De Cadenet does not shy away from grief. She paints a very painful picture of the loss Jess feels with sensitive and empathy. My heart went out to Jess. She was really doing the best she could. Her sister was her tether to home and without her she’s adrift on the look out for home. I’m glad she finally finds it with Mo.
I loved this book, and look forward to reading Ms. De Cadenet’s backlist.
Mo Sarda tends to keep to himself. On the neurodivergent spectrum, he is a highly sensitive person who is able to pick up on other people’s feelings which can be very overwhelming for him. His happy places are at home with his 12 year old daughter and in his forge. But when the folk school he teaches at becomes in danger of closing down, he steps outside of his comfort zone to help.
Jess Anderson lost her sister the previous year. Unable to grieve her death, she pushes down her emotions and continues to move forward. While emptying out her sister’s storage unit, she meets Mo. He seems standoffish at first, but the more she gets to know him, the more layers she peels away. When they both agree to help at the Folk School’s renaissance festival sparks between them start to fly. But will Jess's grief prove to be too much for their relationship.
This was such a heartfelt story. I really appreciated learning about those who are HSP’s and the daily struggles they deal with. Despite this, Mo is a kind and caring person. While he does shy away from overly stimulating situations, he still finds ways to connect with others. I loved him and Jess together. Their openness and ability to tune into each other’s needs was beautiful to read. Jess taking the time to learn about those who are HSP so that she could better support Mo was so heartwarming.
Ms. De Cadenet does not shy away from grief. She paints a very painful picture of the loss Jess feels with sensitive and empathy. My heart went out to Jess. She was really doing the best she could. Her sister was her tether to home and without her she’s adrift on the look out for home. I’m glad she finally finds it with Mo.
I loved this book, and look forward to reading Ms. De Cadenet’s backlist.
August 12, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars
Thank you @dellromance and @gia_decad for this free copy💖.
✨What it is about:
Mo lives for peace and quiet—until fiery, archery-loving Jess blows into town. Teaming up to save the local Folk School, they clash, connect, and might just fall in love.✨
💭My thoughts:
I really loved this one. Maybe it was the inner psychologist in me, but I was hooked by the emotional depth of these two characters. They’re so different, each carrying unique struggles that impact their everyday lives.
I’ll start by saying this isn’t a love story for everyone. It leans heavily into themes of grief and also life as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), which might feel too intense for some readers. But for me, it was refreshing to really get inside their minds and see how their challenges shaped their choices and relationships.
Cadenet portrayed Mo beautifully, his deep thinking, emotional intensity, sensitivity to noise and crowds, and his strong awareness of others’ emotions were all clear signs of an HSP.
The romance between a quiet blacksmith and an outspoken archery professor was an unexpected but lovely match. Watching them support each other and find comfort in their connection gave me that warm, hopeful feeling we all want from a love story.
This was a quick, thoughtful read that offered meaningful representation for people dealing with invisible emotional struggles. Sweet, compelling, and quietly powerful 🥰.
Also—the dedication in this book? Loved it. (Slide left to read it.)
4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Read if you like:
🏹Emotionally rich reads
🏹Single dad
🏹Small town
🏹Sports romance
🏹Renaissance Faires
🏹HSP and grief representation
⚠️CW: Mentions of domestic violence, mentions of a car accident, death of a sibling (off the page), grief, family estrangement, alcoholism, sexual content.
Thank you @dellromance and @gia_decad for this free copy💖.
✨What it is about:
Mo lives for peace and quiet—until fiery, archery-loving Jess blows into town. Teaming up to save the local Folk School, they clash, connect, and might just fall in love.✨
💭My thoughts:
I really loved this one. Maybe it was the inner psychologist in me, but I was hooked by the emotional depth of these two characters. They’re so different, each carrying unique struggles that impact their everyday lives.
I’ll start by saying this isn’t a love story for everyone. It leans heavily into themes of grief and also life as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), which might feel too intense for some readers. But for me, it was refreshing to really get inside their minds and see how their challenges shaped their choices and relationships.
Cadenet portrayed Mo beautifully, his deep thinking, emotional intensity, sensitivity to noise and crowds, and his strong awareness of others’ emotions were all clear signs of an HSP.
The romance between a quiet blacksmith and an outspoken archery professor was an unexpected but lovely match. Watching them support each other and find comfort in their connection gave me that warm, hopeful feeling we all want from a love story.
This was a quick, thoughtful read that offered meaningful representation for people dealing with invisible emotional struggles. Sweet, compelling, and quietly powerful 🥰.
Also—the dedication in this book? Loved it. (Slide left to read it.)
4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Read if you like:
🏹Emotionally rich reads
🏹Single dad
🏹Small town
🏹Sports romance
🏹Renaissance Faires
🏹HSP and grief representation
⚠️CW: Mentions of domestic violence, mentions of a car accident, death of a sibling (off the page), grief, family estrangement, alcoholism, sexual content.
May 19, 2025
Jess and Mo are definitely a couple that I found myself rooting for from the beginning. I felt like both characters were very relatable. Jess was grieving after the loss of her sister and Mo was probably the perfect person to help her through that grief. They really complimented one another.
I did not know much about either Renaissance Fairs or Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) like Mo before reading this book. I could tell that the author did a lot of research on both of these subjects and did a really good job writing about them. And, while I enjoyed the main characters, my favorites were the side characters. I loved Jess's friends Alice and Stephanie and the friendship she had with both of them despite the long distance between them. I also loved Mo's elderly neighbor Mrs. Sargysan and the sage advice that she gave both Mo and Jess. And, I also enjoyed Mo's family, especially his brother Khalil as he lovingly teased his brother about this blossoming romance.
I would have liked to know more about Mo's ex-wife and why things didn't work out for them. They obviously still had a good co-parenting relationship because of their daughter but that's all we know about her. And, I also would have liked the author to have done a deeper delve into the abusive relationship between Jess's parents and her relationship with both of them. It would be nice to see if a relationship has been restored between Jess and her mother in a future book. I guess I want to see some happiness for her mother too!
This book is the third installment in a series about the Sarda brothers. I read the first one, Getting His Game Back,(featuring Khalil and Vanessa), but I haven't read the second yet so I can attest that this book can definitely be read as a stand-a-lone.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine / Dell and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.
I did not know much about either Renaissance Fairs or Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) like Mo before reading this book. I could tell that the author did a lot of research on both of these subjects and did a really good job writing about them. And, while I enjoyed the main characters, my favorites were the side characters. I loved Jess's friends Alice and Stephanie and the friendship she had with both of them despite the long distance between them. I also loved Mo's elderly neighbor Mrs. Sargysan and the sage advice that she gave both Mo and Jess. And, I also enjoyed Mo's family, especially his brother Khalil as he lovingly teased his brother about this blossoming romance.
I would have liked to know more about Mo's ex-wife and why things didn't work out for them. They obviously still had a good co-parenting relationship because of their daughter but that's all we know about her. And, I also would have liked the author to have done a deeper delve into the abusive relationship between Jess's parents and her relationship with both of them. It would be nice to see if a relationship has been restored between Jess and her mother in a future book. I guess I want to see some happiness for her mother too!
This book is the third installment in a series about the Sarda brothers. I read the first one, Getting His Game Back,(featuring Khalil and Vanessa), but I haven't read the second yet so I can attest that this book can definitely be read as a stand-a-lone.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine / Dell and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.
March 2, 2025
4.25 stars
This was a really cute book, if a little cheesy at times. Despite a bad first impression, Mo and Jess had a pretty much instant connection and I really liked how they just got each other. Between Mo’s neurodiversity and Jess’s grief they both had a lot going on but they really understood each others needs and were so caring with each other.
Jess’s friends and Mo’s family were also an enjoyable part of the book. They were very meddlesome but in a way where they just wanted to help out. I felt like they all pushed their respective person to be open to a relationship and helped bring Mo and Jess together.
The Ren Faire was a fun setting and pushed Mo and Jess out of their comfort zones while also helping push them together by making them work together. I liked how they both advocated for each others needs in the planning and how they could just read each others emotions and tell when they were overwhelmed.
Mo’s daughter Madison was a fun character and I really liked her relationship with Mo although there were a lot of times where she acted and was treated as much younger than she actually was. I wish we could’ve seen more of her with Jess, I feel like there was an opportunity for some good bonding moments or even to just see them meet for the first time.
This book is definitely more character driven than plot driven but if you’re looking for a cute romance with two characters always show up for and support each other with just A little bit of a Ren Faire twist then you should check this book out!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!
This was a really cute book, if a little cheesy at times. Despite a bad first impression, Mo and Jess had a pretty much instant connection and I really liked how they just got each other. Between Mo’s neurodiversity and Jess’s grief they both had a lot going on but they really understood each others needs and were so caring with each other.
Jess’s friends and Mo’s family were also an enjoyable part of the book. They were very meddlesome but in a way where they just wanted to help out. I felt like they all pushed their respective person to be open to a relationship and helped bring Mo and Jess together.
The Ren Faire was a fun setting and pushed Mo and Jess out of their comfort zones while also helping push them together by making them work together. I liked how they both advocated for each others needs in the planning and how they could just read each others emotions and tell when they were overwhelmed.
Mo’s daughter Madison was a fun character and I really liked her relationship with Mo although there were a lot of times where she acted and was treated as much younger than she actually was. I wish we could’ve seen more of her with Jess, I feel like there was an opportunity for some good bonding moments or even to just see them meet for the first time.
This book is definitely more character driven than plot driven but if you’re looking for a cute romance with two characters always show up for and support each other with just A little bit of a Ren Faire twist then you should check this book out!
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!
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