Paperback, 256 pages
Release Date: September 2, 2025
Published by: Scholastic Press
Read from: November 8-December 23, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Bought at my kid’s Scholastic Book Fair!
Content Warning: Injury/Injury Detail (From the past, but recounted a bit on page)
For Readers Interested In: Coming of Age, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Sparkly Cover, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports (Hockey & Figure Skating)One girl. One boy. A small-town ice rink. This sweet story of hockey, friendships, and crushes is perfect for tween readers in search of a hockey rom-com that’s just right for them.
Harper was born to play hockey. She was captain of her school’s hockey team…but after she causes an accident during a game, Harper is terrified to ever get back on the ice again.
Instead, she gets a job at the local ice rink’s snack shack and resigns herself to days spent making hot chocolates.
Until Jason, a cute figure skating champion and Harper’s new classmate, comes to town. Suddenly, Harper wonders if she’s truly happy with never putting her skates back on.
With the help of her new crush and best friend, Bea, can Harper break the ice around her heart and forgive herself enough to lace up her skates again?
*MY THOUGHTS*
Looking at this cover I thought this was going to be a really cute romance. Although it WAS that, it also had some really big like insight on things to do when there’s a sports injury with you or someone else.
So the number one thing I liked about this was the sports part of it. Harper was the hockey player who is no longer on the team. She quit because she felt she was the cause of her best friend getting hurt on the ice. I felt really bad for her because she was so scared. But I was really glad that she had so many people in her corner. They were actively trying to talk to her and let her know that she wasn’t to blame. She was so strong and so real. I know she had been scared, so being able to immediately quit something that had been such a big part of her life, had to hurt. But still, she didn’t let that stop her.
The characters in this tho were some of the worst. The coach that said something to her after her friend got hurt was shitty. And then the brother? Yeah I get it. He was scared too, but my gawd, he was past mean. He was being cruel about it. And for him to have nothing happen to him? Yeah absolutely not. There needed to be some accountability. Other than his sister. She should have told a grown up because some of that stuff was just really mean. I don’t think he should have gotten a pass on account of him being scared. She didn’t get one.
The writing style of this book was great too. I loved the descriptions of everything. Like the descriptions of the smell and taste of the hot chocolate and the rink. I felt like I was there with her every time she made some hot chocolate or stepped in the building. I also felt the way she was so scared and the way she got so shy and excited at the same time when she was around Jason……
The romance is your average really cute first crush kind of thing. They spent a lot of time just as friends. And then finally at the end is when they started blushing when they talked, and holding hands, etc. I thought that was the cutest thing ever. I don’t read a lot of MG romance, so this was cute. And their first kiss made me laugh, which obviously means it was hella real. I loved this just because of that lol
This book was a lot of fun and I was glad to see the two of them grow so much in this book. I do wish there were some changes in this, but I still wouldn’t change this or the way this book was written for anything. I really enjoyed this and had a lot of fun.
Overall, I give this,
