Shot on Gold

Shot on Gold (Play by Play series)- Jaci Burton
Berkley/Penguin Group
Release Date: February 13, 2018

Rating:
📚📚📚

Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!

Synopsis:  Will "Mad Dog" Madigan is making his second trip to the Winter Games, and he couldn't be happier. Hockey is his life and playing for the U.S. team is a privilege. Then he meets U.S. figure skater Amber Sloane. She's beautiful, ambitious and driven--everything Will desires in a woman. He would love to show Amber how hot life off the ice can be. 

Amber has skated her entire life, sacrificing everything in the hopes of one day winning gold. Now she's competing for the third and final time. She intends to win, and nothing's going to get in her way--until she meets Will. He's an irresistible charmer, and before long Amber is wondering if this sexy hockey player is the perfect guy to show her some moves outside the rink.

But after all the medals have been awarded, Will and Amber will have to decide if what they have together is just a fling or a real shot at true love.

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Amber Sloane has focused on figure skating her entire life.  At 24, she knows this year's Olympics will be her last and she's determined to do things differently.  Instead of closing herself off she begins making friends and emerging from the isolated cocoon her mother has forced her to stay in her whole life.  Romance has never been in the plans, but hockey player Will Madigan may just change her mind.

Shot on Gold is a sweet romance out just in time for this year's Winter Olympics.  Burton captures the excitement and camaraderie of the athletes and readers get as caught up in the excitement of the games as they will watching their winter sport of choice.  Amber is a sweet girl who is experiencing many things for the first time- despite this being her third Olympics.  With a domineering stage mother pushing her nonstop, she's spent her whole life working towards a gold medal.  There are plenty of times you just want to slap her mother for her attitude, but Amber somehow manages to be friendly and normal despite her mother's example.  When Amber begins to fall in love with Will, she discovers that friendship and romance complete her and make her a better skater instead of distracting her as her mother fears.  But a relationship in the bubble of the Olympic village is different from in the real world and Amber isn't sure that will work.  Will is a guy with a refreshing attitude towards life: live hard, work hard, play hard, but be open to the idea of love because it's real.  He's seen it in his parents and is sure he'll find it for himself some day.  It frustrated me at the end that it looked like Will might not be willing to fight for a relationship with Amber, despite all his big talk.  When she gets cold feet, he accepts that and walks away instead of pushing back.  I was glad Amber was brave enough to (eventually) give them a chance, because they had a great chemistry between them and really brought out the best in each other.  

While a good story, Burton's writing was often repetitive and I found myself skimming some sections because of that. I also kept waiting for more of a conflict than ever really came up.  However,this was still a fin book.  Despite being part of a series, this is a stand alone book and readers won't need to have read any other books in the series to enjoy this one (I haven't, yet).  Shot on Gold was fast paced and fun, a light romantic read perfect to get readers in the mood for this year's Winter Olympic Games.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review