2.5 starsThe Play by Play series never suffers from bad book covers, does it? I'm not a hockey fan but skates have never looked sexier. Too bad the sexiness of the cover isn't wholly portrayed in the book.When I read Taking A Shot, I went into it expecting the hotness, sexiness and emotional drama that was a integral part of the first two books of the series. But instead of being interested in Ty and Jenna's story-line, I found myself annoyed and at times, bored.Jenna has been surrounded by sports all her life. With two brothers who play professional sports and running the family sports bar, sports is the center of Jenna's life. But she wants to have something that is her own but is too scared to pursue it or tell her family. Ty has been interested in Jenna from the moment he met her. But Jenna keeps putting him off, claiming she doesn't date "sports guys." Ty won't be deterred. He realizes they have smoking hot chemistry and he has no problems forcing Jenna to throw her ridiculous dating rule out the window.I had issues with liking Jenna. She was a broken record, constantly saying she doesn't date sports guys. She hates sports. Blah, blah, sports, blah. At first I was like, ok, she is constantly around sports so I understand why she wouldn't want it to invade her personal life. But she kept saying it over and over and after awhile, it came across as whiny and I was annoyed. I never thought I would say this but Jenna is a coward. She comes off as sassy and strong but throughout this book, she was a little scaredy cat. Her excuses for not pursuing her dreams were weak at best and I found myself blaming her for being stuck running the bar. Her family are not mind readers; I would think in such a loving family she would feel more than comfortable to speak up. Using her father's heart attack as an excuse was a total cop-out.Ty is a great sexy hero and I liked how he pursued Jenna even if at times, he did come off as kinda bossy. But his heart and intentions were in the right place. I felt that we only got a peek into Ty's background; would have liked to have known more about him. There were plenty of sex scenes but for me they were not as sexy as the first two books. They started becoming redundant with the same dialog and found myself skimming them. I know, hard to believe but after the 3rd sex scene, I was ready to move on.Ty and Jenna didn't work for me. I loved revisiting the characters from the previous two books. There wasn't enough Gavin for me (his book is my favorite of the series). I love the Riley family and how they support each other. Even though I don't watch hockey, the descriptions of the games were vivid and I felt like I was sitting in the stands, watching it. I could easily picture the action on the ice in my head.Even though Taking A Shot didn't work for me, I still love this series. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, featuring Cole, the Riley's cousin. I had high expectations for Jenna and Ty. In the previous books, Jenna has come across as sassy and strong so I thought that she would be this way in her own book. Instead, I found her to be whiny and boring.
