Thank you so much to HarperCollins for sending me a copy of this book as an ARC.

Rate : ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Author ; Carli J. Corson

This book is such a cute, fun read full of lovable characters and a great sense of found family, friendship and finding love. I had a great time reading it and I loved the journey it took you on.

It’s a Love/Skate Relationship follows Charlie Porter who ends up causing a scene after a hockey match which results in Alexa Goldstein losing her pairs partner. After being kicked off the team, Charlie steps up to help Alexa qualify for nationals… but will their relationship develop into more?

Alexa and Charlie are adorable - their growth from rivals and dislike to girlfriends and being smitten was so much fun to read.

I really liked how many openly queer characters there were - and how easily it was mentioned. Sometimes, it feels forced in other books but this one really flowed well and just flew off the page!

One thing I struggled with was the technical jargon of ice skating. I know some lingo due to watching some online and reading other books - but nearer the end it got very jargon heavy.

However, I did enjoy this book! It was an adorable read and I cannot wait to see what else the author comes up with!

A sapphic hockey romance? Where the LI is a figure skater? I couldn’t not like this if I tried.
I loved the idea of a hockey player turning figure skater as kind of a punishment for bad behaviour. I also really loved that they hated each other hehe.
The side characters were lovely, I love their friend group and all the characters felt real in a very teenage flawed way (sometimes stupid, but also growing from their mistakes).
I really liked that the figure skater and her famous weren’t posted as little miss perfects, but also had problems of their own and a lot of character to them.
What I also really liked that not everything turned magically okay in the end, not everything can be fixed and sometimes even adults don’t (want to) change their ways.
I think the ending wasn’t super realistic, but ofc there needed to be a happy ending!

thank you to the publisher for an e-arc! this was a very fun and sweet read. i loved the relationship that developed between charlie and alexa, which was wonderfully banter-filled but also adorably awkward as befitting two teenagers. it had a lovely 'found family' element that really came to fruition at the end, and i enjoyed seeing all of the side characters and learning a little about them. the pacing was a little awkward at times, and you have to suspend your disbelief perhaps for some of the 'bigger' sporting moments of the book, but those don't take away from the fact that this is a very charming sapphic YA sports romance - we need more books with girls in hockey!!

I am now on an ALA committee and cannot leave a real review. Thank you for your patience. Sorry for the inconvenience This is NOT a rating. This just a place holder because I had to.

this is everything I would've wanted in a sapphic YA romance as a teen. it has sports, it has supportive friends, it has chill parents, it has an adorable romance, and most importantly, it has a main character that feels so freaking real. I, as a 30-year-old woman, still identified so much with Charlie and her silly and sometimes irresponsible attitude at odds with her incredible determination and ability to lock in and challenge herself. I was absolutely rooting for her the whole time, and despite knowing that there would be some kind of third act conflict regarding their performance, was totally convinced that Charlie would make it through. Some people may complain that this ending is too happy, too convenience, too unrealistic—to which I say, sapphic stories deserve cliché HEAs too!! It makes me want to be a librarian—to have the ability to put this in the hands of queer kids and watch them enjoy reading while also feeling seen and represented. I seriously love and recommend picking this up!!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

This was a funny, sweet, romantic YA enemies to lovers romcom about a hot-headed hockey star and a stuck-up ice princess forced to work together as a pairs figure skating team. I loved the MC, Charlie, and the chemistry between her and her figure skating partner Alexa. A great debut!

I started reading this book with high hopes, expecting it to be a fun and easy read. While it is indeed a cute story, I found myself annoyed by the references to homeschooling (or elective home education in the UK) and being labeled a hermit. Perhaps I’m being overly sensitive, but it felt like a dig at those who educate differently.

The story is filled with humor, particularly in its portrayal of historical context. The characters' involvement in what was essentially the first same-sex pairing for official skating events is presented in a hilarious manner. However, this aspect is only mentioned toward the end, which leaves the reader entertained but also wanting more.

One significant issue I encountered was with the pacing. The main storyline takes place over six months, excluding the epilogue, which has a full six-month skip. The narrative often jumps forward in time, making it difficult to follow and stay immersed in the plot. We would be experiencing one event, only to suddenly leap two months ahead, glossing over previous moments and moving past them too quickly.

Many elements that should have had the appropriate time to develop felt rushed, especially regarding character relationships. The transition from Alexa dating one character to another felt incredibly abrupt. While I appreciated the emphasis on the two romantic leads having their own relationships and goals, there’s a pivotal moment in the story that ends up getting overshadowed by the romantic comedy elements, which didn't sit well with me.

This shift disrupted my ability to simply accept and enjoy the story. Additionally, it made me more aware of an ongoing issue with the book: certain significant events that should have been depicted directly are instead summarized after the fact. Ultimately, I felt that the characters ended up making major decisions that I just didn’t fully understand or appreciate.

#BookReview #Homeschooling #LGBTQ #PacingIssues #CharacterDevelopment #RomanticComedy #Storytelling #CharacterChoices #Netgalleybacklog

This was such a fun and easy read! The characters of Charlie and Alexa were relatable and the banter between them is both believable and relatable. The hockey player and figure skating duo is absolutely everything you didn't know you needed!

For me, the strength of YA lies in complex, imperfect characters who go through a lot of growth, and this book does that phenomenally. Combine that with an absolutely adorable sapphic romance, well-fleshed out characters, and not one but two ice sports, and you have a really entertaining read with a lot of depth. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to like our main character, but that turned out to be a strength in the end, because it was very much intentional and the MC goes on such a journey of growth and development. I love how this was shown rather than told, and it never changed her personality.

this was the most fun i'd had reading a book in ages! i adored both the main characters, charlie and alexa, so much. their back and forth was supremely interesting to follow and i was hooked throughout. some suspension of disbelief is required re: the ice skating/hockey aspect, but i didn't care because of what a hoot this was.

Do you love figure skating or hockey? Do you want a sapphic enemies-to-lovers YA book? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then I've got great news for you! "It's a Love/Skate Relationship" by Carli Corson checks both of those boxes and more. When Charlie Porter finds herself on the outs from both her prestigious private school and her hockey team, she's forced to face public school and all of the people who hate her for causing a brawl that ended in disaster.

Forced to work at the ice rink to pay off the debt for the damage she caused, Charlie finds herself face to face with Alexa Goldstein, a championship winning figure skater who's partner was injured during the brawl. An unlikely duo, Alexa and Charlie must work together to help train for the upcoming competition -- and for Charlie it beats working the concession stand or cleaning the bleachers. But as they begin to get to know each other, the line between enemies and friends starts to blur, until eventually they both realize that maybe they're not so different after all.

I enjoyed every minute of reading this book, and with so many M/M hockey romances out there, it was refreshing to see a WLW one! I look forward to reading more of Corson's writing in the future.

Charlie, who’s suspened from her school and removed from her hockey team for the season and Alexa, whose skating partner is out due to an injury both come together in this opposites attract romance. You’ll follow them as they navigate their relationship on and off the ice. I loved the sweet high school yearning and the found family in this. I could not put down this cute sapphic ya romance.

I really couldn't get into this one but I liked the idea of the story . It just wasn't for me.
I don't really have much to say really.

I do think the author is a good writer just maybe I wasn't in the mood for this type of story at the time.

I was utterly charmed by this book. Hockey x figure skater, rivals to lovers, and sapphic romance is everything I could ask for. Charlie is a really fun pov character, and her developing relationship with Alexa was a delight to read.
I did feel like there was a lot of telling us about Charlie’s struggles without a lot of follow up, and the story could have benefitted from going a bit more in depth. And, unfortunately, many of the sports aspects were just not believable, but the ending was so sweet it definitely made up for it! The epilogue had me heart-warmed and giggling.

I will definitely be recommending this book for Reader’s Advisory! Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this YA sapphic romance! I adored how it was between a figure skater and a hockey player. The relationship between Charlie and Alexa was very cute; I liked how it was a hate-to-love romance; reading their training sessions was fun, and the YA-esque drama was just enough. I liked how the "third act break up" didn't last long at all and wasn't too overblown.

I just couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to buy that Charlie would be able to become a national, and then Olympic-level pairs skater in that short amount of time, which knocks it down to 4-stars. It was extremely hard to believe, and I think it would have been more enjoyable if things were a bit more rooted in reality in that aspect.

Such a cute story. I loved the development of self. And the family drama that the main character had to work through to improve themselves. Loved both main characters

I love seeing hockey romance stories making their way down to young adult stories! Sports stories in general are great to see for teen readers, and I'm biased in thinking hockey is the best.

It's a Love/Skate Relationship was a cute read, that definitely handled some tough topics that will make it a relevant read for anyone, whether or not they're huge sports fans.

i enjoyed this little sports/romance book and i really enjoyed it. i love a sports romance book and especially when its hockey and this hit the spot. i also really really enjoy a enemies to lovers which this book really did this well. I also really enjoyed Charlie's relationship with her dad and brother and how it developed as the story went on. the humour and tension was really good. def recommend.

4.5 / 5
This was such a lovely, heartwarming, enjoyable story. It had me laughing, it had me swooning and it even had me shedding a few tears.

The relationship between Charlie and Alexa progressed so naturally from rival to friends to lovers. It was lovely following their journey together.

I loved the authors writing so I will be looking at reading more of their work.

“‘People love to categorize people in boxes with neat little labels. But humans are way more complex than that.’”

Charlie Porter is a queer hockey player at Cranford High School. In her match against Winthrop High School, Charlie misses the winning goal, costing Cranford their winning streak and the territorial cup. An aggressive comment from a rival player triggers Charlie enough to start a brawl, ending in a figure skater's broken ankle and a broken statue of a local legend. As punishment for starting the fight, Charlie is suspended from Cranford, forced to attend the rival school, and required to replace the statue at the skating rink. There, she meets a figure skater named Alexis who, thanks to the now-infamous fight, is down a competition partner. When she stumbles into tryouts to replace Alexis’ partner, Charlie’s athletic skills and strength impress the skater’s mom, landing her a position as a temporary partner in exchange for having her debts paid. With college in mind and a rivalry on and off the ice, Charlie has to learn to deal with a new school, a new sport, and growing feelings for her new partner.

While the idea of It’s a Love/Skate Relationship was charming and full of potential, I found the novel to be full of clichés. The first chapter was particularly difficult to get through, as the pages were overrun by copious amounts of adjectives that only served to distract the reader from the events in the story. Charlie is also a bit of what can be described as a toxic “pick-me” with a strong victim complex. While I enjoyed the LGBTQIA+ aspect of the story, I believe it could have benefitted from more of a relatable main character. On the other hand, I did appreciate the research that Corson put into the hockey and figure skating aspects. Since figure skating is a very intimate and difficult sport, I found that the training scenes deeply nurtured the relationship between Alexis and Charlie, strengthening their overall chemistry. That being said, some parts of the novel were seemingly unrealistic, specifically towards the end. The underlying Wicked themes within the story also threw me off a bit, and while it was obvious this was meant to be the “what if” version where Elphaba and Glinda fell in love, I think the author could have integrated it into the story more to remain consistent. This would have added a layer of individuality that the story seemed to lack. It’s a Love/Skate Relationship was not an impossible novel to get through, but it is not something that I would think to recommend.