K.R. Collins can keep feeding us hockey books and I will keep reading and enjoying them. This novella is a spinoff from her Sophie Fournier series (the first woman to play in the NAHL) and features the first female goalie to join the NAHL, Gabrielle Gagnon. Sophie and Gabrielle may share some attributes like athletic prowess, knowledge of the game and highly refined technical skills but the comparisons end there.

Gabrielle is a girly girl. She feels good in dresses and heels and is not afraid to wear makeup. Her childhood ballet and figure skating lessons set her up to be the flexible goalie she grows up to be but her ability to understand the science of hockey helps her excel in her chosen sport. The focus needed to be an effective goalie is also a strength and I wondered if her OCD behaviour (my opinion) plays into that single minded determination to be perfect with every shot, every angle much as she is with every cookie or cake she bakes at home.

She’s familiar with the toll being the rare female in a male dominated sport takes on a woman. She’s been dealing with rejection and slights her whole life. I was impressed with the author’s portrayal of her phobia about being touched or hugged at family functions. The verbal abuse by drunken Uncle Peter on her ability to succeed in a “man’s sport” and a hallowed one at that in Quebec, matches the abuse she takes from teammates and other players on the ice. The strength of characters it takes to endure both physical and emotional abuse is enormous yet Gabrielle perseveres. She wins her teammates over with her cooking skills and develops a lasting friendship with a player who accepts her for who she is. We see few characters in fiction who are assexual or ARO and it was great to see this positive portrayal by Gabrielle.

I missed out on downloading my ARC request from Nine Star Press so I bought the book instead. I plan on reading everything K.R. Collins writes.

Fan of the Sophie Fournier series and appreciated the author expanding that world. Understanding hockey from Gabrielle's perspective, from a goalie's perspective, as someone who likes more feminine habits and still be a formidable athlete in a man's world, the author gave us some interesting elements. Still, the theme of loneliness and having to be beyond reproach resonated like in the Fournier books -- again, just with a different spin. It was a clever idea for a novella.

✨Glove Save and a Beauty✨

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the earc.
✨
Summary: Gabrielle is a hockey player with the dream of playing in the NAHL, she is isolated by both her position on the ice and her personality off it. She faces a heap of sexism as her team view her as just a girl and not a hockey player. One day she gets a new teammate and in gaining a teammate she gains her first real friend.
✨
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Review: this was my first insight in this K.R. Collins’ work and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a short, sweet and easy read. I mistakenly thought it was a romance but i enjoyed the story anyway.

I really liked that Gabrielle wouldn’t let herself be pushed around, she stands up for herself and rises above it. She knows her worth and the value she adds and doesn’t need anyone to tell her. A strong female MC is what we love to see!

Would highly recommend to any sports lovers, now please excuse me while i go find all the other books to binge!

This was a great little novella. I actually enjoyed this even more than I expected. I like this series very much but it can get a little repetitive at times. This novella stars one of the secondary characters, another woman that has made it into the formally all male hockey league. Having this book be about Gabrielle, instead of Sophie, was a great idea. It really freshened up the series and if anything made me even more excited for book 4.

While this book is 3.5 in the series, you could actually read this first, to get a feel for if the series might be for you. If you like this novella, chances are extremely high you will enjoy the other books. This series has some of the better sports books I have ever read. But to be clear, these are sports books. If you are a fan of hockey, or at least know the basics of the game, these books hopefully will work for you. If you don’t know any hockey and don’t really care to, you might struggle at times with this series.

While the major focus of these books is hockey, these are very character driven reads. It’s one of the reason I enjoy this series so much. You connect with the characters, these women breaking the glass ceiling and you hang on their every move and at times every word. Can they take the pressure, can they prove everyone wrong? Their journeys just suck you in and you want to know more. I really liked that Gabrielle was such a strong ice queen. She said things in this novella that I wished Sophie would have said in the other books. Gabrielle pays for it though, by not being as close with her teammates, but I loved that she was such a badass.

I hate to do it but I just have to complain about the cover. NineStar Press normally has some of the best covers in LGBTQ+ fiction so I’m really surprised here. Plus, Collins herself knows so much about hockey and even talks about the importance of a goalie’s mask in the book. I don’t get how this big mistake got by. The helmet on the cover is NOT a goalie helmet. It is the kind that every player wears but the goalie. Even an old-school, Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees, mask would have looked better on the cover than that one. Hopefully it will get fixed in the near future. Collins has written an excellent series here and I think she deserves a correct cover.

I would easily recommend this novella to fans of the series and I would also recommend it to people who were on the fence about trying the series. This well written and quick read, is the perfect way to get a taste for what the series will be like. Since I mostly read LGBTQ+ books, I want to mention that I believe Gabrielle is asexual. I really liked her character and I wouldn’t mind reading more about Gabrielle in future books.

I caught up with the previous books in this series recently in anticipation of this one’s release day and I have to say I thought this was a worthy addition to the series, despite it being about Gabrielle instead of Sophie. In fact, I think adding this shorter book before we read the next chapter in Sophie’s journey will keep the series fresher.

Reading this is a small glimpse into all the things I enjoy about keeping goal in any sport. The writing on the psyche of those of that choose to stand in front of a puck for a living is great. It’s detailed enough to allow understanding but not so detailed that non-fans will be put off.

I wasn’t sure I’d like the decision to present the narrative in a non-chronological order, but actually that works too. For me it increased the understanding as to why Gabrielle is the way she is. The pressure on her is different than that on Sophie - which is hinted at in Sophie’s books, but it’s nice to have that explored further. There isn’t as much hockey action in this book - which is probably why it’s shorter, so non sports fans may prefer this instalment.

My only real gripe is with the front cover - this is a book about a goaltender - put a goaltenders mask on the front cover. They’re unique and interesting - Gabrielle’s is even described in the book.

Fans of the series should enjoy this, as should any hockey fans, sports fans and people that enjoy queer fiction. I think you could read this as a standalone - whilst it’s definitely strengthened by having read the other books, they aren’t necessary to enjoy this one.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have a sort of hate-love relationship with the Sophie Fournier series, but I figured why not give this a go.
And it the hate-love continues for me. It's enjoyable to read these books, but with a lack of ice hockey knowledge, I do feel like I am missing something.

This novella tells the story of Gabriella, the goaltender. She has made some appearances in the Sophie Fournier series before, and now she has her own novella. Gabriella lives an isolated life, by choice, it fits her personality and her position on the ice. She has a quick mind and that makes her very well suited to be a goalie, she anticipates the moves of the attacking players. Facing her own set of social injustices and commentary from the outside world, she has a one-track mind. She pays no attention to the haters, not on her team(s) or in the media. Her goal is to succeed. She isn't a very sociable person, but when a new outgoing teammate breaks through some of her walls she lets him. He respects her boundaries and meets her on her terms and she does the same in return.

I like Gabriella, she's focussed, doesn't pay attention to haters, she does her own thing. The chapters are pretty clear on when they are set, but for me, it would have been better to have them in chronological order, just because my mind likes it better to have it all organised. Storywise I don't think it would make a big difference. It's a quick nice novella read, Sophie Fournier makes a couple of appearances and it's good to see them find support with each other.

I love K.R. Collins’ Sophie Fournier series as much as it sometimes frustrates me. I don’t care at all about ice hockey IRL yet the way Collins writes it, I’m captivated every time. There’s a lot about Sophie I don’t understand, which is what I both love and get frustrated with. So when I saw this novella, set in the same universe but focused on another player, Gabrielle Gagnon, I didn’t hesitate. And I have a feeling getting to know Gabrielle will help me understand Sophie somewhat better.

Before she chose hockey, Gabrielle was a figure skater and a ballerina. She has goals but, unlike Sophie Fournier, she also has other interests, outside of hockey. Also unlike Sophie, who cultivates her neutral looks, Gabrielle is a girl girl. A girl who likes wearing dresses and makeup and heels, not for others but for herself. Who likes things to be a certain way. Who likes order and rules in all things, from baking to dating. Who, from the youngest age, doesn’t like hugs.

As the narrative progresses, the parallels with ballet and figure skating go deeper than the healthy lifestyle they taught her. The pain, the determination, the will to try and try and try again until a move is perfected, they all fit Gabrielle entirely, in every area of her life.

Each chapter of this novella centres on the fall of a different year. In non-chronological order, the reader gets to share firsts with Gabrielle: her first Thanksgiving with a team instead of her family, when she first learns to bake with her dad, her debut as the Québec goalie, the first time she realises she’d be good at hockey, the first time she has a real friend.

Concurrently, we also get to see Sophie’s journey as the first woman in the NAHL through Gabrielle’s eyes, first as a girl a year younger than Sophie, then as a player following in her steps, albeit in a completely different way, as goaltenders have their own challenges.

K.R. Collins writes fascinating characters. The hockey prism allows her to spend time in their head, giving her the opportunity to really outline their personality, even in a shorter book like this one. I’ve wondered, over the books, whether Sophie is asexual or if her disinterest in others beyond friendship stems from her young age or her unerring focus on her sports. Now that I’ve spent time with Gabrielle, who is very comfortable with her own asexuality, the differences between them shine again. And make me even more impatient for a fourth Sophie book. Let me tell you, that gal is a mystery, and I’m really enjoying getting to know her, even when it means I was wrong about her.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.