e-ALC, 11:13:11
Narrated by: Lillie-Pearl Wildman
Release Date: February 3, 2026
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: January 29-30, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Google Play (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Google Play. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Emotional Abuse, Toxic Relationship, Dementia, Sexism, Drug Use, Abandonment, Injury/injury Detail
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Audio, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Dual POV, Sparkly Cover, Sports, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, RomanceThe weather might be icy, but the tension is red-hot in this fake dating hockey rom-com from the author of Let the Games Begin.
Ari Shumba never expected to make it to the Winter Games, let alone be the one to lead Great Britain’s women’s hockey team through the most important competition of their lives. But when an unexpected injury catapults her to the role of team captain, Ari reluctantly shoulders the responsibility, all while trying to dodge her toxic ex.
Drew Dlamini has always feared taking risks. But after uncovering a family secret, breaking up with his ex-girlfriend and dropping out of graduate school, he’s desperate for a fresh start. So when he finds himself in London for the holidays, he decides to rekindle his hidden dream of becoming a professional photographer.
When Ari and Drew bump into each other on New Year’s Eve, neither one is looking to fall in love. Despite their instant chemistry, they’re from opposite sides of the Atlantic, and when they reveal all of their red flags, they realize that things between them would never work out. But then, when their paths unexpectedly cross two months later in the snowy Swiss Alps, memories of what they almost did that night resurface. And the combination of complicated exes, over-involved families, and stress-inducing teammates convinces them that the perfect solution to their problems is to fake date their way through the Games.
After all, there’s no risk of falling in love if it is doomed from the start . . . right?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have to be honest, I liked the track one more. Why? Only because I’m a summer Olympics girlie lol But this one was still cool and I enjoyed it for the most part.
This was good, but there were a few things that bothered me throughout the whole story. Like how in the world am I supposed to believe that you don’t know who she was? I can see you not knowing she hurt your sister, but the not knowing who she was at all and your sister is playing at that level too? And I mean come on, those fluff pieces that the Olympics keep playing and the parts that make it all over social media. The media is messy af and they would have LOVED to get their hands on that kind of information. Someone should have played it. It feels more weird that they didn’t.
Other than that, it was ok. The sports part was a bit meh. They did all that talk about how good she was and the way she was supposed to be a role model to all girl athletes, but they didn’t show that much of them on the ice. They got more ice time the closer to the end we got, but I did want some more. As a huge sports fan I wanted more than just a few times on the ice. I wanted to feel the determination and the adrenaline from when they were playing. We just didn’t get enough of that.
The characters were ok but also a bit meh. I DID like her character arc tho. Like I was really excited to see her become captain and be the player she needed to be. And I REALLY liked she was like WTF to her friends when she needed to be. And I was mad af at her for letting that thing with her sister and mom go on forever. It took forever. And Drew was ok, but he was like…. Boring. He took pictures of Olympic athletes ffs. He just didn’t seem like he was excited lol But with everything else I was worried about him because Lordt he was a liar. He had too much happening and was lying about everything to his own family. It just felt weird.
The romance was cute. I LOVED the way Drew helped her with that jackass. He was toxic af and it had to knock her off her game. And like, dude this is the Olympics. And he didn’t care at all. I hated that she felt this way and I hated that she had to enlist the help of Drew because he wouldn’t leave her alone by just her telling him to. He was a weirdo and I didn’t understand why she was with him all that time anyways.
Ugh I could go on for a long time over that one thing, but I won’t do that. I hope y’all pick it up and make the decision for yourselves. It wasn’t what I expected, but the girl power athlete message and the romance itself was enough for me to find this pretty enjoyable.
Overall, I give this
