e-Audio, 09:16:05
Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
Release Date: February 8, 2022
Published by: Books On Tape
Read from: December 10-11, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
Content Warning: Injury/Injury Detail, Death of a Parent, Toxic Relationship, Death, Grief
For Readers Interested In: Audio, Books to Movies, Contemporary Romance, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports, YAFor fans of Emma Lord and Abbi Glines, Jennifer Iacopelli’s swoony, romantic new novel follows elite ice dancer Adriana Russo as she finds herself drawn to both her old dance partner and her new one.
Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty.
With gold-medalist parents, and her older sister headed to the Olympics, all she wants is to live up to the family name and stand atop the ice dance podium at the Junior World Championships. But fame doesn’t always mean fortune, and their legendary skating rink is struggling under the weight of her dad’s lavish lifestyle. The only thing keeping it afloat is a deal to host the rest of the Junior Worlds team before they leave for France.
That means training on the same ice as her first crush, Freddie, the partner she left when her growth spurt outpaced his. For the past two years, he’s barely acknowledged her existence, and she can’t even blame him for it.
When the family’s finances take another unexpected hit, losing the rink seems inevitable until her partner, Brayden, suggests they let the world believe what many have suspected: that their intense chemistry isn’t contained to the ice. Fans and sponsors alike take the bait, but keeping up the charade is harder than she ever imagined. And training alongside Freddie makes it worse, especially when pretending with Brayden starts to feel very real.
As the biggest competition of her life draws closer and her family’s legacy hangs in the balance, Adriana is caught between her past and present, between the golden future she’s worked so hard for, and the one she gave up long ago.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was a lot of fun. I had some issues, but tbh not that many. It wasn’t bad at all. Maybe that’s my bias because y’all know how I am about sports romances and any books that mention the Olympics, but this was good lol
Ok so the thing I had an issue with…. She got close with the wrong one! I get the plot twist and everything, but we didn’t exactly know the person she fell for you know? She ended up with someone who was closed off and mad at her for a lot of the time. Which fine, if you like it I love it. But we as the reader don’t know much about him and it genuinely made me confused as to why we just read an entire story of him being mean lol
The characters were ok. I was annoyed by her sister. She needed to get a grip. She had so much hate for her sister because she felt she was able to be free, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. She was annoying. Everyone else was ok. Besides her dad. I don’t like that it felt like he didn’t take any accountability. She basically gave him an out and I hated that. She was way too nice and I don’t think any of them deserved that.
The plot itself was ok. It moved quickly and I was never bored. There was a few times where I thought it was repetitive, but nothing that was bad. I did wish we got to see more of her on the ice since it IS her story, but we mostly saw her arguing with everyone and hearing about her sister. And when she was on the ice, it was telling not showing. It was weird. I like my sports romance books to actually have sports in them.
Like I said, this wasn’t bad, but it could have been better. I think I would have enjoyed it more if there were more of some things and less of others. Alas, this isn’t a perfect world, so. However, I did enjoy it and I will be recommending it come time for the Olympics and when the movie comes out.
Overall, I give this
