Former valedictorian, current pothead, and perpetual overthinker, Nomi Wyeth is this close to opening her very own Amsterdam-style cannabis dispensary in the historic Strange Drugs Pharmacy building downtown. Former salutatorian, current doctor, and perpetual try-hard, Julian D’Angelo’s chronic failure to listen leads to a mistake that ruins his reputation and forces him to serve in Sparrow Nook’s family clinic, located next door to the Strange Drugs Pharmacy. But how is Julian supposed to be nice when the woman who stole both his valedictorian title and his heart is planning on opening some mangy weed palace for losers next to his clinic? Through zany zoning hearings and “pot luck” fundraisers, free-spirited Nomi and straight-and-narrow Julian battle against each other all over Sparrow Nook, New Jersey, bringing up old rivalries and older flames in the process. It’s tough to say what will change first—their minds or their hearts—but one thing’s for they’re not going down without a fight.
Title: Pot Shot
Author: Laura Piper Lee
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Expected Publication Date: May 19, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Hachette Audio, Union Square & Co., and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read/listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I will be honest, I jumped and took a chance on this book because of the title. It was a read now and the blurb was so intriguing. I love the idea of a romance book that includes a little weed! I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. I was not expecting a romcom with such heart! I actually highlighted the number of times I laughed out loud or manically while reading this and I came up with 87! 87 times I could not contain myself because the humor was just that on point.
The audio for this is great. I have definitely listened to books narrated by Elizabeth Lamont before, though I didn't even know it when I dove into the book. CJ Mission is new for me and I did enjoy his voice but not as much as I would have liked. One of my favorite things about this narration was that it is duet. Not dual POV, because it's that, too. But you get both voices in many of the scenes and I just loved how it was done.
Nomi Wyeth wants to open a dispensary. Weed has been the only thing she's found that truly helps her chronic condition. And she wants to bring that to others who are also suffering. But she gets some push back not from her childhood nemesis, Dr. Julien D'Angelo, who is back in town after an incident at the hospital where he was working. He has six months to cool off and change his ways before the hospital will re-evaluate if he can return. When he learns about Nomi's dispensary, he takes it upon himself to put the kybosh on the whole thing. But this only serves to turn many in town against him and he must win them back by working with his nemesis. Little do they know there are other things working against them both that just may cause them both to fail.
I really loved the banter between Nomi and Julien. From the first few pages, the story is totally hilarious and just continues to get funnier throughout. And this banter only served to push Nomi and Julien closer and helped so much with their chemistry. It was so nice to read a story where the characters grow into each other rather than having insta-love. And this story is a bit of a second chance romance as Nomi and Julien have a high school background together. But it's not just the FMC and the MMC that make this story, it's all the fabulous side characters. Nomi and her found family and Julien and his huge family who have their reputations in the small town where he grew up. But my favorite side character hands down was Aunt Edna. She cracked me up so much. I loved her spunk, despite her situation, and how honest she was with Julien. She was supportive but also didn't let him get away with his BS.
The pacing for this one was fabulous. It flew by as I read it because I didn't want to put it down. Lee truly has a great writing style.
I really loved how Lee addressed the chronic illness. It was done really well and truly showed the emotional roller coaster that goes along with it. Lee really made me feel for Nomi and what she would go through when she had a flare up. Lee not only handled it delicately but she also was able to be informative with it. And the plot is unique. I have not read anything with this plot before and it was handled truly well. I live in NJ so I'm very familiar with all the places Lee brings the characters and it brought back some nostalgic things for me.
Add to the humor the book touching on a few sensitive topics that were done really well, and you have a fabulous story.
If you're looking for a feel good story with complex characters who learn and grown and banter that will have you belly laughing, pick this one up and give it a try. I'm now a Lee fan and I cannot wait to read her other stories and things she writes in the future!
Author:
Laura Piper Lee writes lots of things--desperate pleas to her partner for emergency caffeine, to-do lists that never get done, impassioned texts on her favorite supplements (it's Berberine, look it up)--but she only gets paid to write adult romantic comedies featuring characters as hapless as she is.
Add her newest book, Zoe Brennan, First Crush to your want-to-reads shelf if you love steamy, sapphic romcoms with professorial butch love interests, power play, and lots of wine!
Things you'll find in Zoe Brennan:
*A lot of on-page spice,
*a sexy, bossy butch love interest,
*a LOT of jokes, and
*a perpetually single lesbian in a small queer mountain town who's married to her vineyard because relationships are scary.
Add Laura's debut Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair to your to-reads shelf, or hell, if you want to be a hero, buy it even!
Things you'll find in Hannah Tate:
*on-page spice
*a hot Golden Retriever boyfriend (he even lives in a treehouse y'all)
*a LOT of jokes, and
* a single mom who's trying to build her whole life from the ground up with two leaky breasts and an infant strapped to her front.
Add her newest book, Zoe Brennan, First Crush to your want-to-reads shelf if you love steamy, sapphic romcoms with professorial butch love interests, power play, and lots of wine!
Things you'll find in Zoe Brennan:
*A lot of on-page spice,
*a sexy, bossy butch love interest,
*a LOT of jokes, and
*a perpetually single lesbian in a small queer mountain town who's married to her vineyard because relationships are scary.
Add Laura's debut Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair to your to-reads shelf, or hell, if you want to be a hero, buy it even!
Things you'll find in Hannah Tate:
*on-page spice
*a hot Golden Retriever boyfriend (he even lives in a treehouse y'all)
*a LOT of jokes, and
* a single mom who's trying to build her whole life from the ground up with two leaky breasts and an infant strapped to her front.
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