e-ARC, 288 Pages
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Published by: Self Published
Read from: February 1-24, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Author
Content Warning: Death, Emotional Abuse, Death of a Parent, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Suicide, Suicidal Thoughts, Vomit, Child Abuse
For Readers Interested In: Adult, e-ARC, e-Book, Sparkly Covers, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports (Ice Hockey/Ice Skating)Do you believe every elite university has skeletons buried in its history?
What if those secrets were carved into the ice beneath your feet?
What if someone chose you to expose them?
Then welcome to Valcérre University, where secrets, mystery, and legacy blur under frozen glass
Luna del Sol isn’t a legacy at Valcèrre University. She’s an outsider, fighting for her shot at the Olympics.
No mistakes. No distractions.
Until she meets him.
Zayden Aldenhurst. Broody. Untouchable. The arrogant hockey captain who calls her an ice princess, like she hasn’t fought for every second on the ice.
She hates him for it.
But no matter how hard she tries to stay away, the tension between them is undeniable. The closer they get to each other, the deeper they’re pulled into Valcerre’s darkest secrets.
A hidden rink.
A deadly competition.
And a dead student no one talks about—one the school will do anything to keep buried.
They’re getting too close to the truth.
And if they’re not careful…one of them might be next.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Once I heard this was about BIPOC characters in sports and there was a mystery element, I was all for it. Definely had the set up to be everything that I wanted in a book. And it lived up to exactly that.
In regards to the mystery, it’s definitely a slow burn. We don’t see much happening in the forefront surrounding it in the beginning. Unfortunately it takes until the end before we start seeing some movement toward it in the open. And by then it starts feeling a bit rushy. Which I thought was strange because we had the whole time they were talking about it it could have come up with something! But it just seemed like the idea just floated around and never went anywhere. I just didn’t think it needed to be called a mystery or dark academia when it was mostly the back burner.
The romance was the real star of the show. They hated each other from the very beginning, so naturally we knew they were going to end up together. When they finally got over it, they were cute. She even had a little nickname. Their pull to the other was strong from the beginning, whether they seemed to hate each other or not. And Lordt they couldn’t keep their hands off each other when they finally got it together. It was hilariously to see him turn from broody to a dude from a pop music video. That’s why I’m betting on another book in the series because of the ending.
Idk, overall it had the set up to be something that I really enjoyed, but it essentially didn’t completely come together for me. I think if it had been more of a mix of the romance and mystery I would have given this 5 stars. But as I mostly came here for the mystery thinking the romance would be alongside it, I was upset that that’s not what we got. Nevertheless, I’m super interested to see what’s going to happen in the next one. ESPECIALLY since she thought what she did. And I’ll leave it at that lol
Overall, I give this
