Genre: young adult, romantic fiction, sport

Stars: 5

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Blurb:

Alice Bell has one goal: to play for the elite junior hockey team the Chicago Falcons.But when she’s passed over at tryouts for being a girl, she’ll do anything to make her dream a reality…even disguising herself as her twin brother. With her amazing skills on the ice, Alice is sure she’ll fit in easily. That is, until she starts falling for one of her teammates…

Hayden Tremblay, star of the Falcons, can’t keep himself out of the penalty box. Constantly living in the shadow of his older brother, Hayden’s losing his passion for hockey. But when he gets shown up on the ice by the Falcons’ new rookie, Hayden’s determined to teach the kid a thing or two. Little does he guess that “Al’s” surprises on the ice are just the beginning…

 

My Review:

A story about a girl that loves sport and still enjoys dressing up and wowing her crush? Well what more could you ask for? Not much at all.

Alice Bell loves NOTHING more than ice hockey. So when the coach finds out she’s a girl at tryouts and pretends that her brother made the team instead, she is furious. Until an accident results in her taking her brother’s place as “Al”. Playing hockey is what she does best, so gaining her teammates support when they all think she’s male is easy. Bonding with her teammate Hayden, however, has unintended consequences as she starts to fall for him. Throw in her brother’s secrets, a blackmailing ex-boyfriend, and an emotionally absent mother, and you have the perfect ice storm brewing…

The writing was fresh and, despite being a plot that has been done before, the author managed to make it felt new and different. The characterisation was realistic and with just the right amount of wit and angst to make it believable. The heroine was a wonderful mix of strength on the rink and self-doubt off it. Sweet and heart-warming, this is one of those reads with characters that stay with you long after you’ve read the final page… Highly recommended.