The Hot Shot (Game On #4)

Author: Kristen Callihan Title: The Hot Shot Publisher: Canary Street Press Date Published: 11/18/2025

Read Dates: 10/12/2025- 10/14/2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

The Hot Shot is a dual POV friends-to-lovers romance. When photographer Chess meets football player Finn while shooting his team for a charity calendar, they don't exactly get off on the right foot. But Finn can't get the prickly photographer out of his head, and after a few chance encounters, manages to convince her to give him a shot as a friend. When circumstances leave Chess without a place to live, Finn steps in, and the two friends become roommates. Chess is determined to keep him firmly in the friend zone, after all, she's not looking for anything casual, and he's never committed to more than a night. Still, Finn is determined to convince Chess that he's worth taking a risk for.

I always love Kristen Callihan books, and this was no different. I am coming into this series on book four, but it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. I didn't feel like I was lost for not having read the preceding books yet (but I definitely plan to go back and read them!) I liked that Chess and Finn were both navigating the relationship a little uncertainly, but that they shared their inexperience and doubts and figured it out together. I liked that Chess knew her worth as a person on her own, and I loved how completely gone for her Finn was. There were a lot of great side characters who really rounded out the story.

First we were friends. Then we were roommates. Now I want more…

What can I say about Chess Copper? The woman is capable of bringing me to my knees. I know this about five minutes after getting naked for her.

No one is more surprised than me. The prickly photographer my team hired to shoot our annual charity calendar isn’t my usual type. She’s defense to my offense, a challenge at every turn. But when I’m with her, all the regrets and darkness goes away. She makes life fun.

I want to know Chess, be close to her. Which is a bad idea.

Chess is looking for a relationship. I’ve never given a woman more than one night. But when fate leaves Chess without a home, I step up and offer her mine. We’re roommates now. Friends without benefits. But it’s getting harder to keep our hands off each other. And the longer we live together the more I realize she’s becoming my everything.

Trick is… Now that I’ve made her believe I’m a bad bet, how do I convince her to give this player a true shot at forever?