★★★★★ 5
AMAZING Debut Hockey Romance!
T R O P E S
🏒 College Hockey/Figure Skating Romance
🏒 Cinnamon Roll MMC/Black Cat FMC
🏒 He Falls First
🏒 Friends to Friends With Benefits to Lovers
🏒 Found Family
🏒 Mental Health Rep
R E V I E W
I’m sorry. Excuse me. WHAT? How is this Peyton’s debut novel?! This book had NO BUSINESS being this good. IMMEDIATELY it is in the top 5 books I’ve read this year, and I’ve read nearly 125 books. I was blown away by how good this was and cannot recommend it enough.
This book follows Sadie, a figure skater who has a hard home life but is determined to succeed this year, and Rhys, the captain of the hockey team who took a hard hit in last year’s Frozen Four and is now struggling with getting back on the ice. These two are some of the BEST MCs I’ve read in a while! Sadie has so much going on, between her skating career, working 3 jobs, trying to get custody of her two younger brothers from their alcoholic dad, and school in general, this girl is stretched thin, but she is a power house - small but mighty. I loved her spitfire character! She is so guarded, but understandably so. I loved seeing her icy exterior melt for Rhys. And RHYS. I think he might be my favorite Rhys to date 👀 . He is the perfect Cinnamon Roll, but he’s also going through PTSD from a terrible hit and struggling. He becomes so obsessed with her and honestly, I’m a little jealous. (Let’s not forget about the mouth on this man though 🥵 .) I LOVED them as a pair and the angst and tension between them was spectacular! I love how they pushed each other and how well they matched. The spice between them was perfection as well! This was such a good blend of character development, plot, and spice.
I also have to discuss the amazing side characters. First of all, Sadie’s brothers are the stars of this show. Liam was the cutest thing on this planet and I just wanted to give Oliver a hug (but won’t because he doesn’t want to be touched). The way Rhys interacts with them and the whole storyline with them made me bawl. It was soooo good. Then we have Rhys’ family! His parents are magnificent and I need to know more about their story! And lastly, we cannot forget Rhys’ team. I cannot wait for more books about each and every one of them. They were all introduced so well and I KNOW there are going to be some fantastic stories told about them. I’m going to need this to be a series with all of the hockey teammates (Toren and Bennett both have me eyeing them up and I needed their books YESTERDAY). I’m also going to need a prequel novel about Rhys’ parents AND a next gen spinoff with Sadie’s younger brothers. This book is going to be a trophy I buy for my shelf so I can reread it and I will definitely be reading anything and everything Peyton writes in the future!
The mental health rep in this book was chefs kiss. We saw them both struggling with their thoughts and emotions, saw them using each other for comfort, and saw them both getting true help. I loved that Rhys recognized he was using her as a crutch and sought therapy. We need more mental health rep that is done like this!
Honestly, I cannot recommend this book enough. It had me laughing, blushing, and full on crying so many times. There was so much emotion, care, and love packed into this book. BRAVO Peyton on writing such a magnificent debut novel!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2024
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