Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨⬜
Title: A Shot in the Dark
Author: Victoria Lee
Genre: LGBTQIA+ Romance
Setting: New York, New York
Month Read: August 2023
Book Type: E-Arc
Publication: September 2023
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 320
*Thank you to Netgalley and Dell for the E-Arc, this in no way influences my review, which is completely my own.
TRIGGER WARNING-
Addiction / OD / Homophobia / Transphobia / Drug & Alcohol Use / Sex / Religion / Family Desertion
No Spoiler Summary:
Elisheva Cohen has just returned to Brooklyn after almost a decade. The wounds of abandoning the Orthodox community that raised her, then shunned her because of her substance abuse, are still painful. But when she gets an amazing opportunity to study photography with art legend Wyatt Cole, Ely is willing to take the leap.
On her first night back in town, Ely goes out to the infamous queer club Revel for a celebratory night of dancing. Ely is swept off her feet and into bed by a gorgeous man who looks like James Dean, but with a thick Carolina accent. The next morning, Ely wakes up alone and rushes off to attend her first photography class, reminiscing on the best one-night stand of her life. She doesn't even know his name. That is, until Wyatt Cole shows up for class--and Ely realizes that the man she just spent an intimate and steamy night with is her teacher.
Everyone in the art world is obsessed with Wyatt Cole. He's immensely talented and his notoriously reclusive personal life makes him all the more compelling. But there's a reason why his past is hard for him to publicize. After coming out as transgender, Wyatt was dishonorably discharged from the military and disowned by his family. From then on he committed to sobriety and channeled his pain into his flourishing art career. While Ely and Wyatt's relationship started out on a physical level, their similar struggles spark a much deeper connection. The chemistry is undeniable, but their new relationship as teacher and student means desperately wanting what they can't have.
Review:
I really loved the cover of this book on Netgalley, and was so hyped when I scored an ARC of this. Not my typical romance book, this featured an Ex-Orthodox Jewish woman and a trans man as the leads! I've been trying to read more books that go across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, and thought the sex scenes in this (in particular) were really well written and respectful. The love story, which could have been gross (professor/student, but not really???) but was actually really well-done and handled in a way that isn't gross at all. It did help that Ely was not a teenager, though I don't know how old she actually was except old enough to drink at a bar but I'm assuming a little older than 21? It also helped that Wyatt was 32 and not like 50.
I don't know much about any religion, I'm not religious at all- but learning about different forms of Judaism through Ely's project was really cool. I thought that the traditions and holidays seemed really beautiful, and I liked how Victoria also weaved in Ely's past (and familial trauma) into her art. I do think Wyatt telling her that art can be painful, and it's about what you do with that pain was super real, and I'm glad it forced her to face some of the burdens she had been carrying with her, all while reconnecting with her faith (or lackthereof) and starting new.
I don't like reading about addition, it gives me a ton of anxiety and really stresses me out, but this book handled it all with such car, and I feel like even the missteps seemed so real and true. Wyatt has a lot of really beautiful insight and I am glad no one was a perfect recovering addict. I would be careful if you struggle with addiction (drugs or alcohol) as this book does not tiptoe around descriptions of both. There is a scene with an overdose as well, so just be aware.
I do think part of this book were boring, and wish the pacing were a bit more sped up in the beginning/middle section. I loved the beginning and loved the past like 1/3 of the book, but I felt there was too much back and forth with Wyatt and Ely, and also that we spent too much time with Ely being sort of all over the place. Definite parts of the book I think could have been edited and taken out, and maybe add in more of Wyatt's backstory. I would have loved to see more about his transition, specifically. Overall I liked it, and can't wait to see what Victoria Lee does next. I'm also interested in reading their other books, even though they're a completely different genre! Have you read anything else by them? Let me know!
Recommendation:
LGBTQIA+ Romances:
Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Heartstopper Vol 1-4 by Alice Oseman (YA)
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (YA)
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
Hani & Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
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