Member Reviews
Seduction on the Slopes is a fun, light read. Well written and easy to follow, it tells the story of downhill skiing teammates and rivals who start as roommates but end up with more than they bargained for. I knew essentially nothing about skiing, but that didn't matter. I was able to pick up enough to get real enjoyment from the story. The characters are well fleshed out, and very believable. I really felt Miles Palmer's struggle with the impending end of his career, and his struggles to pass on the torch to his younger teammate. Overall, a solid story, and good fun for anyone looking for a quick and entertaining read.
Miles and Crash couldn't be more different and more perfect for each other in every single aspect of life and romance.
Miles has had an amazing career as a skier for 12 years. This is going to be his final change to win a SIG medal and he wants it more than anything. He's also super close to his coach, and when he's charged with mentoring the young addition to the US team, he takes his job with every ounce of seriousness he can muster.
Crash has had a tough break; living on his own since he was sixteen years old, smoking weed every chance he got, and having skiing as the thing that keeps him going and determined. He's had to steal and scavenge in order to live his dream, and now that he was discovered as a skiing prodigy and has miraculously found himself as part of the US team to the Snow and Ice Games, he's a combination of cool, nervous and clueless. He's also a nervous wreck every time he needs to stand in front of the media.
Miles's job is to get Crash to media events on time. Get him to the athletes' village by curfew and on the slopes for training. He's first going to tackle Crash's vomiting before press events. Miles is very methodical and serious, and before he knows it, he's head over heels in love with Crash, 12 years his junior and a sort of a wild card.
Crash's idol is rooming with him in the SIG village. Miles is just as beautiful as on the cereal boxes Crash's parents bought for him when he was a kid. He's just as impressive on the slopes and he's just as frustrating as anyone could guess. But then Crash manages to get through to him, even if it's by driving him absolutely mad with anger and lust.
I adored the conflicting personalities and their dynamics throughout the story. Miles and Crash are so different, their attraction to each other is inevitable and sweet.
Seduction on the Slopes didn't disappoint. It's exceptionally well written, beautifully detailed and encompassing. The romance, the sex, the emotional complexity of the situations and the so many swoons are just lovely.
This was really great. How their relationship started out was really unique and different from anything I’ve read before. I loved Miles and Crash and their relationship. And i liked how it ended up concluding. My one gripe is the pacing of their relationship. For me, it was just a bit too fast but all in all, a pretty good book.
The set-up for this book is pretty great: Miles is the dignified veteran of the alpine ski team, looking to win more gold medals in what he knows will be his last SIGs (Snow and Ice Games). As a veteran skier and a black man in a predominately white sport, Miles is a pro at handling the press and the expectations of the games. He’s the de facto captain of the team and encourages them to give a spot to Crash Delaney, a young, undisciplined, but wildly talented skier. Crash hasn’t been as responsible about doing press events as the team would like, so Miles offers to be his roommate to help him manage it all. It turns out that Crash isn’t irresponsible, he’s just a complete ball of anxiety about the press and interviewing.
Miles is a problem solver and he’s determined to help Crash, but time is of the essence. There’s no time for therapy or more traditional routes to treat Crash’s anxiety. When Miles asks Crash how he’s handled stress in the past, he admits that he relied on smoking pot and getting laid. That first option is out (drug testing at the games), but that second option. Lol. You guys, this book is SO SEXY. Basically, Miles agrees to help Crash get off before press events, just to take the edge off. But of course, it becomes more. This is a classic hook-up to lovers romance.
I appreciated the intersectionality in the characters and their lives: along with their different racial backgrounds, there is an 11 year age gap between them, and they are from different class and family backgrounds. Miles is a trust fund baby and Crash is from a family of drifters. I loved the way that Tamsen Parker handled the age difference, having Miles admit that there was something a little “pervy” about the fact that he was Crash’s childhood idol. Tamsen Parker shows how exploring their differences develops and deepens their relationship.
Alternating first person point of view isn’t my favorite thing, but in this case, Tamsen Parker really gives each character his own voice. The reader sees how Miles and Crash are developing feelings towards each other. Crash gets past the idea of Miles as his idol and sees him for the man he is, and Miles sees past Crash’s out of control exterior troubles to the sensitive soul underneath. A lot of their feelings are shown through their developing sexual relationship, and I wished there were more scenes of them outside of the bedroom. Sometimes an author chooses that tight focus on intimacy to show relationship growth, and I think it works in this case. Especially because that’s where they can reveal their truths to each other.
The alternating POV also helps the reader understand how each man approaches being an athlete and competitor differently. I loved this part of the book so much. Miles and Crash may be lovers, but they are also competing directly with each other. I wrote a Goodreads review of the first book in the series, Love on the Tracks. One thing that really impressed me was how Tamsen Parker explored the “mind of the athlete” during the race. Here, she does an excellent job of describing the mindset of these men before they compete. There’s a great scene where Miles interrupts Crash when he’s visualizing his upcoming run. The SiGs aren’t just a cute backdrop, it’s an essential part of who they are and how their story unfolds.
I love this series and anxiously await the next three installments. If I end up watching the Winter Olympics, I blame you, Tamsen Parker.
Tamsen Parker owning sports romance right now. Excuse me but I'm just so happy that someone is writing sports romance that isn't hockey, football or baseball. We are actually getting winter Olympics romances in this series and they all are amazing. I've only read two but I have such high hopes and I know for sure that the rest will be fab as well.
Gold medal worthy read! Absolutely loved Crash and Miles and the dynamic between them. Tamsen Parker is definitely on my radar now.
Wow i loved this! So hard. I read it in a few hours and what a delightful read.
From the get go I loved how the character's voices just shone through! Crash is just lol...that guy I swear, he would drive me up a wall too but he'd still have me rolling my eyes and cackling while doing it. And i loved Miles. So serious, so play by the book and competitive.
This is my first time reading sports rom with winter sports and it was awesome! Perfect mix of Crash and Miles relationship unfolding, along with the sports aspect of it. I'll admit to still being hazy on some of the sports details but it didnt take me out of the story or anything like that.
Great complex characters, I loved that Miles still wanted to win regardless of his feelings for Crash. They're so different in every possible way: Miles comes from a wealthy family while Crash's was the opposite. They're both in different stages of their careers:Miles is s veteran in the sport and doesnt have many years left in it, while Crash is just trying to make it to the top.
What i really loved was that their wasn't the stereotype of Miles being the black kid from family trying to make ends meet but in fact *he* comes from the wealthy family. Because let me tell you i was braced for that back story and I was so glad it was flipped.
I feel like I could gush about this forever. the characters just shine through so much in this romance. I loved it!
Eagerly awaiting the rest of books in this series.
I loved both Miles and Crash. They have a bit of an age gap but nothing too bad and while Miles might be the older and wiser one when it comes to the sport Crash definitely has the upper hand when it comes to emotions, despite being 10 years younger. I loved their dynamic and banter and you could feel how close they grew over time.
I also really loved the tension between them. In the end they were still rivals and the author did a good job using this without her characters becoming unlikable.
Miles and Crash only have two things in common: skiing (though if you ask Miles Crash's style hardly qualifies as skiing) and they both were underdogs when they started their first Snow and Ice Games. Miles is one of the very few black people participating in the games but he's proved himself over the years and is now the most successful athlete ever to grace the games. Crash is the new face in the circuit and made it all on his own, without any fancy gear or trainers. He does need help navigating the press and responsibilities though so Miles steps up. Which leads to all kinds of fun in their shared room ;) But in the end they're still in a competition so when feelings get involved it leads to all kinds of trouble...
I loved both Miles and Crash. They have a bit of an age gap but nothing too bad and while Miles might be the older and wiser one when it comes to the sport Crash definitely has the upper hand when it comes to emotions, despite being 10 years younger. I loved their dynamic and banter and you could feel how close they grew over time.
I also really loved the tension between them. In the end they were still rivals and the author did a good job using this without her characters becoming unlikable.
All in all a really cute sports romance.
This is a quick, fluffy read. Skiing or Olympic enthusiasts may enjoy this more, but for not knowing anything about skiing, I still picked up the basics. I've read that the Olympics are a place where a crazy amount of hook ups happen, so the fanfiction like premise of a mentor needing to relieve stress of a mentee before interviews sort of holds together. Once the relationship is formed though, it is kind of sweet, and I liked that they were still competitive with each other, and open about what they liked. Crash acts like some one named Crash would act, and I kept comparing Miles to Captain Holt from Brooklyn 99. He's so amusing unemotional while thinking that Miles can obviously read him and his emotions like a book. A fun read for the upcoming Olympics.