Finished ✔️ Shooters by Julia Boggio

4 ⭐️’s
Publish Day: March 14th, 2023
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Sassy, sizzling romantic comedy about wedding photographers
A sexy, sassy romantic riot
A racy romcom with a heroine who I was cheering on from the start.
Funny, sexy, & full of heart
Humor, romance, complex characters, luxury locations, & a sprinkling of sex seducing the reader into wanting more.
Yes, I’d highly recommend this book

#DeesReading #DeesRecs #DeesBookRecommendations #BookNerds #BookNerdProblems #BookProblems #BookProblems101 #BookNerds101 #Bookworms #BookwormProblems #BooksOfFacebook #DeeTheBookReviewer #DeesReadOfTheDay #DeesBookOfTheDay #DeesBookReviewsOfTheDay #BookReviewer #NewToMeAuthor #ReadOfTheDay #BookOfTheDay #JuliaBoggio #Shooters #NetGalley

I really, really wanted to like this book. I am a photographer; I love books set in Great Britain; and I love contemporary romances. Unfortunately this book missed the mark for me.
The entire book starts with the main character knowingly involved with her married boss. And I think we are supposed to feel sorry for her because she loses her job and is embarrassed when his wife calls her out on it. She also says she feels bad about it and is never going to do it again. But then willingly and knowingly lusts after, flirts with, and kisses someone else she thinks has a girlfriend!!
Couple that with the eleventy billion references to Jolene (and how she’s like Jolene), the unlikely booking of a 60,000$ wedding-her first wedding!- where the bride is allegedly a bridezilla but doesn’t need to see a non-existent portfolio from the photographer first, to the stilted dialogue, and the supposed best friend who doesn’t tell Stella about ANYTHING…. I mainly skimmed the last 1/2. Which may be why I didn’t believe the double profession of love at the end. Lust, sure. Love, no. But maybe it’s because I didn’t really like the main female character so couldn’t understand why a seeming playboy celebrity super hot everyone wants him guy would suddenly change his entire philosophy on marriage for her. And I literally rolled my eyes every time she got jealous thinking he was with someone else. YOU, ma’am, are a CHEATER (or at least knowingly being the other woman). I feel no sympathy for the natural consequences of those choices. I also didn’t understand how Stella could claim she was so open sexually with Nathan and then have a clutch-my-pearls moment whenever sex work, sex toys, or lingerie is mentioned. Her character seemed very under developed and inconsistent.
Perhaps others who don’t mind the “other woman” trope will like this one more?
Positively, I did enjoy the photography parts (since I am a photographer as well) and Liliwen’s character was delightful. I also liked Krish who is apparently featured in the 2nd book. I may give that one a chapter or two try. This one maybe just put a bad taste in my mouth because of all the blatant infidelity.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for providing this ARC copy to read and review. All the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading the book.

Wedding photography provides the perfect backdrop for a romcom and Shooters did not disappoint!
The highly anticipated moment of connection between Stella and Connor is where Boggio shines - really emphasising that dramatic tension and bringing it to a satisfying conclusion.
Shooters is funny and uplifting - the perfect escape!

Is there someone searching for a wedding photographer rom-com with thumb wars? This is the book you're looking for.

I love this story! Throughout reading the story, I can feel the author's passion for photography and how she described the photography session in the story is so vivid. Stella's struggles and commitment for photography somehow challenged my list-to-do freelancing job or any kind of job.

The storyline overall is enjoyable except for some parts that are a bit draggy but it's okay it doesn't really matter when you're too into the story. The author made the encounters natural but funny at the same time. It doesn't look forced or cliche at all. It wasn't a heavy story which I liked. I see some parts that need to polish more but since it's a romcom, it's forgivable. I love how the characters are portrayed in the story. Everyone has their own purpose even though they just a minor character. And they all have their own unique personalities to make them special in their own way.

There's just one thing that can be improvised which is putting translations for any additional languages. I want to know what they are talking about without me going back and forth browsing in google translate. It's ruining the experience of my reading progress.

I picked this one just from its fun cover and I was pleasantly surprised with what was inside!

Stella is starting a new career as a wedding photographer after being shunned for her affair with her married boss. Even though she is flawed it was refreshing to see a “not-so-perfect” FMC who turns her life around. I loved that she found her confidence and was able to stand her ground with her ex later in the book.

While the side characters were great, Stella deserved a better bestie! Claudia was selfish and wasn’t there when Stella needed her. Loved the Ab Fab vibes! And Connor…WOW, enough said!

I loved all the traveling in this book…I felt like I was right there learning the ropes of wedding photography. It was nice to see her blossom into this new career even though her first wedding job was a hot mess!

This was a fast and easy read. I felt like her first job was a little drawn out and the ending was a little rushed. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤…
Forced Proximity
Miscommunication
Enemies to Lovers
Slow Burn

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Julia Boggio for the Advanced Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 STARS! While I did enjoy this book, I think in the end it was a little too all over the place for me. Having worked as wedding planner & coordinator, I really enjoyed the wedding photography aspect and the chaos of Stella’s first wedding. I also really enjoyed Stella’s character and her development throughout the book. I wish this had been a little shorter and that I had felt more of a connection between Stella and Connor (I did feel Stella falling in love with him throughout the book but didn’t really feel that Connor was super interested in her until his grand gesture towards the end). I actually appreciated the fade-to-black spice for them and the epilogue was totally sweet. My personal favorite character – LILIWEN. All of her moments with Stella and the other photographers made me giggle. She was the star in my opinion.

I would like to thank Net Galley and BooksGoSocial for a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars!

Overall, I mostly enjoyed "Shooters" by Julia Boggio. I appreciate that the main character, Stella, is flawed and is not the squeaky-clean protagonist in most romance novels. Stella has A LOT of stuff to work on as a character and needs therapy ASAP. She seems to have a lot of unresolved issues stemming from the way she was raised. This makes her judgmental about people's choices in life, particularly about their sex lives. She's quick to blame herself for anything and everything going on around her, (e.g, thinking people are laughing at her, thinking that others will assume she slept her way to the top, etc). This is because of a bad relationship where he was "the other woman," but isn't it also pretty selfish of her to assume everything is about her? Stella has the occasional funny line, but she's sort of insufferable as a main female character. Connor is the main male character. He's a cocky, handsome celebrity photographer who takes students under his wing to teach them the tricks of his trade. There is obviously a spark between him and Stella, but he is unwilling to let anything progress between the two of them. It might just be me, but I never really felt any titillating chemistry between Stella and Connor, and I think the whole book suffers as a result. The ending is cute, though (right up until the epilogue). The book also has too many plot points and too many characters. There is *a lot* going on here, and people and situations have a tendency to get jumbled. The more people that get introduced, the zanier the story becomes. I'm all for zany, but even I have my limits. Because of the sheer number of characters and goings-on, the story drags on more than one occasion. Still, I did laugh a reasonable amount and didn't hate this book. I don't know, maybe other people will like it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley, Julia Boggio, and BooksGoSocial for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

The main female characters backstory made it impossible for me to root for her. Had she slept with her married boss and felt remorse for it instead of painting herself as the victim, I maybe would’ve been able to look past it and root for her. But I just didn’t care for her or any of the characters really. Aside from Magnus, they all fell flat.

This book was a much faster paced read than I expected it to be, and I found it quite entertaining. The characters, especially Stella, are all likeable and relatable. I laughed, cried, experienced new places, and more throughout this story. I felt it wrapped up well and didn't leave me grasping for more or wanting a sequel. All in all, I enjoyed this one.

3.5 rounded up

2 stars

I want to apologise in advance because I did not enjoy this book, and as a part of this year's resolution, I'm choosing to be honest about it. If I were to summarise this book in a few words, I'd say it was full of miscommunication, overthinking, self-doubt and self-loathing, in no particular order.
From the beginning, I found myself spacing out a little too much and a little too often. The characters were funny and witty at times, but not always. With the way the book began, I thought it had PTSD representation. Or at least anxiety representation (it didn't). Since it is the author's first book, I thought of giving her a chance. I didn't immediately drop the book when the characters got frustrating. Unfortunately, the characters became frustrating, way too many times. I felt hopeful whenever Stella felt the importance of therapy, or just thought of plain old communicating with Connor, and then banging my head out of frustration (sometimes quite literally) when she would go back to square one.
The main characters weren't anything special. I hated that Stella kept channelling strong women in her life whenever she needed courage. Every time she channelled someone, I felt like screaming at her to be Stella just this once! I'm a sucker for badass heroines and not only did Stella not have a backbone, she didn't even try to grow one. She also had a tendency to be immersed in herself so much that she forgot about everything else happening in her life. It made her seem very detached from her friends and family.
Connor Knight was more or less white noise to me. Yes, he was The Connor Knight, photographer extraordinaire and super handsome with women trailing after him. But that's it. I couldn't find anything that made him his own brand. He was nothing but cordial to Stella and she fell for his "good manners" (In hindsight, it says a lot about her standards). I failed to see the so-called chemistry, as Stella called it.
I promised myself to give the book another star if Stella ended up in therapy. She didn't. The only reason this book has two stars is because of the extensive side characters which were the only entertaining part of the book.

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 - I found this book highly enjoyable, it was a fantastic mix of hilarious and heartwarming in the perfect balance. Stella was a character you could connect with right from the start and I really liked the anxiety and ptsd representation here too. Was it perfect, no but I didn't feel like it needed to be, it fit really well into the book's general light hearted nature. The attraction and allure of Connor was also understandable from the beginning and I loved their early interactions.

The secondary characters were all amazing, so funny and dimensional; I was truly interested in the interactions with them and nothing felt like a filler moment. Both the main and secondary characters are written so well, they are all multifaceted and feel very real. Stella really found a wonderful and organic circle of friends throughout the story and I think that it was so good for her too. I loved how her character develops through the book, her self-confidence and backbone grow and really are crucial to her success, both emotionally and career wise. I also found that the photography aspect was woven into the writing really well, you didn't need to know anything about the field before and it was wasn't a technological info dump either. It was a very interesting aspect of the story and definitely a cool setting for the romance.

The chemistry and tension between Stella and Connor was great, I also thought the pacing of their development was good. I liked seeing the side of Connor that came out with Stella and his jealousy too! My only reason for this not being 5 stars is that I think the ending was slightly too fast in comparison to the rest of the book. Spoiler warning- I felt that it went from the start of a relationship with someone who fears commitment to a quite sudden HEA. But it didn't detract majorly from the plot or the enjoyment I got from reading this.

I really liked reading Shooters and finished it in one sitting, I would highly recommend to any rom-com lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Shooters by Julia Boggio

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

“The photography conference simmered with talent: those who had it, those who wanted it, and those who would always suck no matter how hard they tried. Stella Price wondered where she fell on that scale.”

Stella is determined to become a successful wedding photographer, even if it means learning from Connor Knight, a wedding shooter with sexy rock star status and an ego to match.

Burned by an affair that ended her last career, Stella should know better than to get entangled with Connor during a residential course in a romantic French chateau. But while his arrogance turns her off, his talent turns her on.

Their clashes lead to a whirlwind of passion, but Stella struggles to frame a future with a man who’s come to distrust “happily ever afters” and hides a softer side behind his image. Can Stella learn from her past mistakes and teach Connor about real love before he disappears from the picture?

My Opinion

This is an enjoyable and different reading experience. Stella Price is eager to start a new career as a wedding photographer and when she is recommended by her friend her new business venture might get off to a better start than she could have imagined. This book flows very well and I was rooting for Stella and Connor from the start even thought they get off to a rocky start.

I believe that this is a debut novel but you wouldn't know it. The characters had so much depth. A lovely, must-read debut novel from Julia Boggio!

Rating: 4/5

This was a cute read. I would call it "popcorn fiction" - quick, easily digestible, a little addictive (just one more page) and I felt totally satisfied once I finished reading.

This book is a romantic read - but it's not really. It's more about Stella getting to know herself again, and trust who she has become. It's about her owning up to her past mistakes, letting them go, and allowing herself to move on.

Stella is starting over - in her past life she was a successful copy writer of pharmaceutical drugs - and 6 months ago is all imploded. She made a pretty huge mistake and paid for it by having to start over.

With a fresh start available to her, she's decided to pursue her first love - photography. Specifically, she wants to get into the wedding game.

The book starts with Stella attending a wedding photographer convention of sorts - and there she meets Connor Knight - THE wedding photographer - who not only knows everything there is to know about taking the best wedding photos - but he's also handsome as sin, smart, witty, talented... you get the drift...

But based on her previous history (the event from 6 months previous), Stella decides to stay as far away from him as possible. Well except - she ends up taking his 1 week crash course on wedding photography in France and spending all kinds of time with him.

The story goes as one would expect - but I will say that most of the focus is on Stella and figuring herself out. Sure there is the romantic conflict of "should she/ shouldn't she" tossed into the equation, but really - until she faces her demons and truly decides to move forward, her relationship with Connor doesn't really gain any traction.

I really liked how the author brought the past to light (well use of jumping back in time) - but I will admit that I times I thought "do we need to go into this much detail?" or "are we doing that again?"

That said - this book had the funniest - and I mean - laugh out loud - wedding and first dance I have ever read. It was great. The secondary characters were really solid, and Stella got to travel to France and to Italy - so that was lovely.

Overall - enjoyable read - I will pick up Julia Boggio's second book - which will follow Connor's assistant and his adventures in love.

A cute little story with some moments that made me giggle aloud. And I was glad that Stella made peace with herself and moved on.

3 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the advanced copy of this book. Happy to have discovered a new author.

Stella is a photographer, just beginning her career after an affair. Stella then books a highly sought after class with Conner Knight, the best wedding photographer. The story weaves through Stella and Conner’s connection both wanting more, yet protecting their hearts and previous struggles .

Boggio created a book that not only challenged the two main characters but discussed real topics (PTSD). Boggio also brought in supporting characters and paved the way for subtle connections.

I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy romance read. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

“Next to her ear, he whispered. ‘Je t’aime.’”

First let me say, this would’ve been a 4 star read for me, but I felt like it dragged a bit too much. I loved the concept, the storyline and the characters but felt like there were so many sub-scenes that weren’t necessarily needed for the plot.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against clean romance and fade-to-black scenes, but this hurt me with this book. I wanted, no - NEEDED to see Connor in a spicy scene. I just know this man knows exactly what he’s doing in the bedroom, and I’m so sad not to have gotten a proper glimpse. That first make-out scene had me sweating, it was HOT! And from there I had expectations, that weren’t met.

Stella and Connor were like magnets constantly drawing each other together, but their insecurities and previous relationships kept them scared of the greatness they could be. The will they, won’t they energy was so good, until it made me want to scream! I wanted them to get together so much earlier in the book, but it took forever - I’m just impatient though.

Overall, I think I would still recommend this book.

DNF after a few chapters. I really wanted to like this one because it sounded really good however I feel that it just wasn’t for me. The humor I felt was very immature like how you would sit around the middle school lunch table and laugh with your friends. It just didn’t seem like something I would enjoy. I’m sure there are a lot of people that would enjoy this though it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you #Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this arc I wish I could’ve finished it. #SHOOTERS

This book is perfect for readers who enjoy romance and photography and are looking for a fun, easy read to escape into!

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book! I loved the interactions between Stella and Connor and was invested in their stories and relationship from start to finish! The parts of the story I didn’t connect with as much revolved around the photography aspect of the plot. I found myself sort of skimming through those sections to get to the next Stella and Connor scene. I thought I would enjoy reading about wedding photography more than I did, but I would say this has more to do with my personal interests as a reader rather than the quality of the writing or the book!

One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was Stella’s character and background story. Without going into too many details (I don’t want to spoil anything!), I thought it was interesting that she was not immediately set up to be seen as this perfect, totally innocent woman that most real life women can’t relate to. Stella has a messy past and is learning to overcome that and learning how to move forward!

Another thing I was surprised by, not necessarily good or bad, was that this book was definitely more of a closed door/fade to black romance book. Some readers only take their romances with spice and others prefer theirs without, so I definitely think it’s worth mentioning that the spice in this book is almost exclusively off page. The rest is more so innuendo or generalized references, so do with that information what you will!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Home By Midnight Publishing for a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars
I actually really enjoyed this book. A book about wedding photographers with a touch of forbidden, bad timing, and some slow burn angst. writing wise it was very engaging and got me hooked from the beginning. I actually liked how our FMC, Stella isn’t your typical heroine. She’s flawed and can be irrational but hey she’s human. Connor was okay but I wasn’t feeling him much until *spoilers* his grand gesture. I do think the book is actually a bit lengthy and could have benefitted a bit more if it was a tad shorter. All in all, I can see it as a book you read on a lounge by the beach.

Shooters grabbed my attention with its synopsis: a newbie wedding photographer falling for the rock star (and arrogant) photographer of the stars + comedy + set overseas? Yep, yep, and yep. And while Shooters most definitely had all of those things, it had a little bit more too.



As the synopsis indicates, Stella is seeking a new career after her previous one blew up in her face. It's a career she has an affinity for and has dreamt of doing for a long time and so even though she enjoyed being lauded for her creative ideas, this seemed like a good change for her. It becomes immediately clear that she's working through some things...things that cause her incredible stress and can even immobilize her, if she's having a particularly rough moment. Not something she enjoys or wants witnesses to; so you can imagine her humiliation when Connor, Mr. Photography, finds her in mid panic attack. It sucks.



Fast forward through a series of funny events and we soon find Stella at Connor's weeklong photography course, where she's vacillating from lusting after Connor and being extremely frustrated by him. This push and pull goes on for quite a while, even after the course has ended. They keep running into each other and either have heated exchanges or try to freeze the other one out. It makes from some funny and, at times, frustrating moments.



Ultimately, Stella works through some of the cause of her stress and Connor works through his commitment-phobia and we finally get to see them together, getting the HEA every romance reader hopes for.

Stella is needing a change after a disastrous run in with her Boss’ wife, effectively ending her Advertising career.

While at a Photography conference, Stella meets hot-shot Connor Knight. A well known ladies man who doesn’t believe in marriage, while being an award winning Wedding Photographer.
After catching feelings for Connor during the week long photography workshop in France, Stella must figure out how to move on from her past mistakes for the future she’s always wanted.

Shooters is your classic Rom Com that reads like a lighthearted movie. You can’t help but want to root for the FMC and hope she can change the MMC into someone who believes in commitment.

With a slew of hilarious side characters, (Liliwen might be my favorite character ever) beautiful European locations and a Dolly Parton themed grand gesture, Shooters is a great, easy read. While being slightly predictable in some parts, there was still a wonderful story that kept me engaged.

I really enjoyed this debut novel from Julia Boggio. This is a wonderfully slow burn with very little spice. I’d say it’s one step farther than “closed door”. I would recommend this book to my friends and I look forward to reading more from this author.