Charlie Porter is a force to be reckoned with on and off the ice. After accidentally starting a brawl, she’s suspended from school, meaning no hockey this season—and no chance to play in front of college scouts. Alexa Goldstein’s pairs skating partner was hurt in the fight, and with only four months until their next competition, pickings for a replacement are slim. So she strikes a deal with Charlie—skate with her at the competition well enough to place, and her Olympian mother will use her formidable connections to get Charlie in front of scouts at D-1 schools, even without her team. Can the frostiness between them thaw long enough for them to realize they’ve found a partner for more than just skating?
What a dazzling debut! Get ready for smirk-worthy banter and sweet sass, a narrator who draws you in and keeps you page after page, and some serious character growth amongst an all-too-sweet romance. It’s a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson absolutely SCORES as a debut. Let’s break it down:
Charlie “Charizard” Porter demands your attention (and respect) from page one. Her narration is so strong, unique, and blunt that she’ll captivate and keep you to the very end. I do wish the other characters were more thoroughly developed (they’re given about one character detail each, and good luck differentiating the hockey players) but I love the contrasts between Charlie and Alexa, how those differences melt away to make them such a strong pair. Charlie’s character development is essential to the story; you’ll root for her as new obstacles obstruct her path.
The plot will seem vaguely familiar to fans of Icebreaker, but this book far exceeds it in terms of characters, pacing, and prose. (Yeah, I said it.)
This novel encapsulates the quintessential sweetness of first/young love. Watching Charlie and Alexa’s animosity melt away to create a relationship of mutual trust is heart-warming. These two will have you kicking your feet; get ready for some heart-eyed sweetness.
I’m annoyed by the bisexual erasure in this novel. Though it’s likely unintended, Charlie (and her friends) so quickly deny the possibility that Alexa is queer, whether because she has a boyfriend at the start of the story or based on Alexa’s personality. Though I don’t expect Charlie to have a well-developed gaydar, I do expect some open-mindedness, especially since the queer community is about acceptance, not judgment. I adored Charlie’s tendency to break stereotypical gender norms, which led me to expect more from her than blanketed assumptions.
The story starts with a male-dominated hockey game featuring a few female characters on the team. It’s not until later in the book that we get more information on the team being co-ed, which was disappointing. However, I LOVE hearing that Alexa’s mother “got the rule book changed so that a ‘pair’ is no longer defined as one male and one female skater,” making them the first same-sex pairs couple (hells yes) and paving the way for other same-sex couples on the ice (potential sequel?!).
Recommended for fans of Dahlia Adler and Rachael Lippincott or Icebreaker.
Quotes
“Seriously, our rivalry? I’m talking decades of grade-A, grass-fed, organic-as-hell beef.”
“Labels are unnecessary. You can be athletic and not be a jock. You can love reading and not be a nerd. You can wear black nail polish and not be a goth or whatever.” She taps my dark-painted thumbnail. “People love to categorize people in boxes with neat little labels. But humans are way more complex than that.”
“Always a beautiful thing when a woman bests a man in his own game.”
“You’ve got a habit of making me break all my own rules.”
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