“‘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.

when she misses a winning shot for the winthrop cup and starts a brawl directly after that, charlie is kicked off the team and suspended from school. now, she has to attend the rival school, where nearly everyone sees her as an enemy. things can’t possibly get worse…until she meets alexa goldstein, a prickly figure skater. she gets roped into being alexa’s skating partner, and eventually starts falling for her.

i was so excited to read this book! the cover is adorable and the description sounded really interesting. i am not super familiar with either hockey or figure skating, but i always find them interesting to read about. it was especially interesting to see how charlie compared the two sports. even though she wasn’t very keen on figure skating in the beginning, she quickly warmed up to it!

i also enjoyed the character growth throughout this novel. charlie’s dealing with many of her own difficulties at the start of this book, including a rough relationship with her mom. these definitely affected her relationships with her friends and with alexa. it was great to see her grow through these difficulties throughout the book!

overall, this was a sweet YA romance. i’m looking forward to more from the author!

This was a solid YA contemporary! I am always a sucker for a sport romance, especially when it is sapphic. I really enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers storyline (for once the reasons for being enemies didn't feel contrived) and I loved all of the scenes of hockey and figure skating. I loved Charlie's relationship with her dad and brother. She is a bit of a hothead at the start of the book, and I loved the journey she went on to grow and evolve.

I had some slight issues with this book, but nothing major. Mostly, things not making sense around the private vs. public school rivalry, such as: are these schools the same size to play in the same athletic conference? How does Charlie have a scholarship if she's not a great student? Why doesn't the daughter of an olympic skater who is currently training for the olympics herself attend private school? I think if the private vs. public schools were reversed, the story would have made a little more sense imo. However, I'm trying to not think too hard about that since that wasn't actually the focus of the book LOL.

Overall, a solid YA read that I definitely recommend to any young queer girls or anyone who is a fan of hockey lesbians.

A sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance between a hotheaded hockey player & the ice princess from the rink next door.

If I could convince you to read this book with just one thing it would be this…..
ICE SKATING ROUTINE TO DEFYING GRAVITY!

Once I heard that was in this book I rushed to my ARC. I have been begging the world for a sapphic Hockey player/figure skater book. If you’re like me & love hockey romances but wish there were more quality sapphic ones, then you simply MUST check this out. The banter in this is HIGH QUALITY & this whole book is reminiscent of a Disney Channel movie, a high I’ve been chasing since I was a teenager.

Carli, you deserve the world. Thank you for writing this story. Growing up as a bisexual figure skater, you wrote the story of my childhood dreams.

Major thank you to the author, the publisher, & to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a "loose canon hockey player that's been kicked off the team" meets a "desperate for a partner figure skater" but MAKE IT GAY!!!!! I ran to this book so fast.

I loved that Charlie and Alexa didn't know each other prior to being paired up and didn't care for each other wither - the really resisted working together and their was no pining or hidden feelings - which is how a true enemies/rivals-to-lovers should be imo. They both needed each other and still fought it for a significant amount of the book with made the slow burn so good.

-Sapphic romance
-hockey player x figure skater
-opposites attract
-reluctantly work together
-gay and bi rep
-pining and YEARNING!!!!!!

This book was just unbelievably sweet and heartfelt. Both characters were relatable and likeable even when they were being jerk to each other. And I mean LOOK AT THAT COVER!!!! I wanna read everything by this author!
4.5 stars rounded up

loved this take on a LGBTQ rivals to lovers story! the contrasting characters were perfect and I loved them both in different ways from the start. read it all in one sitting and just ate up the way they were forced to work together! and this cover is unreal! so cute!

I'd like to thank Carli J. Corson, NetGalley, and Harper Collins Children's Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In It's a Love/Skate Relationship we follow our main protagonist Charlie, a hot-headed, shit stirring hockey player on a co-ed highschool team. A fight breaks out when Charlie throws a punch at an opposing team player after some sexist remarks, and Frankie a figure skater is injured in the fight. Due to Frankie's injury and the breaking of a statue, Charlie is suspended from the school and removed from the hockey team for 6 months or until she learns to calm down and makes up for her actions. In that time, she meets Alexa, her love interest and Frankie's figure skating partner. Alexa is a beautiful and brainy ice princess, her words are harsh and her skating moves are harsher, yet she's so elegant, and everything Charlie isn't. Yet they end up working together and and becoming more than just rivals.

Throughout this book there are so many undertones and themes of self acceptance and loving yourself and deciding what's good for you over what's good for other people. I love when authors go outside the cookie cutter norm of romance books, with a third act breakup for no reason, or people who forget their friends and responsibilities once they enter a relationship and they actually use real life issues people deal with and real life problems. I loved reading from Charlie's perspective but I would have loved reading from Alexa's as well to see how everything unfolded from her perspective. I loved the way I absolutely hated Alexa in the beginning, and how much she slowly won me over into liking her and appreciating her relationship with Charlie. This rivals to friends to lovers figuring skating x hockey player YA romance was wonderful both in it's story and as an addition to inclusive LGBTQ+ literature.

Trigger Warnings I Gathered: divorce, misogyny, bullying, homophobia, underage drinking, homophobic slurs, injury detail, abandonment, slight mention of the Holocaust, and drugging with intent to SA

YA-teen sports romance. Charlie is a star player on her high school hockey team till a brawl gets her suspended for a semester. Having to enroll in her rival high school for the end of her junior year was not in her plans. She is impulsive and competitive. Alexa is at the new school and furious that her skating partner was injured during the fight. They were in training for pairs figure skating, hoping to go to nationals and potentially the Olympics. Her mother is her coach and thinks that Charlie could be her new training partner. I am not sure how plausible all that would be but it makes for a fun story.

There is no love lost between the pair at first and only slowly do they start to bring out the better in each other. Charlie’s impulsiveness gets her in trouble more than once. She is also dealing with a parent abandonment issue. I wish it was resolved better in the story. Charlie’s friend group, dad and brother get high marks for their support.

This is wholesome, kissing only (on page), and is for middle school readers and up.

I loved this queer skating (hockey and figure) romance! When Charlie is banned from her high school hockey team for the season and she ends up as Alexa's figure skating partner, I wasn't at all sure how it was going to go, but it went beautifully. This fairly slow-burn romance (there are some time jumps in the narrative so the romance and skating trainings don't move too quickly) has great chemistry and believable bumps in the road, so I was rooting for them all the way. It definitely requires a suspension of disbelief in terms of how quickly Charlie picks up the figure skating techniques, but it was still so fun to watch her grow during the training. I also adored the supporting characters and would love a sequel with Frank and Mason. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Children's books for the advance digital copy!

» ARC review

» If you're looking for a quick, cute, mostly lighthearted, Sapphic read about a female hockey player learning to figure skate and falls in love with her partner, all the while them despising each other at the beginning, then this is for you!

» This was a bit of a bully romance (major dislike to lovers) but as the relationship/friendship between the fmcs developed, it was superrrrr cute. There was some opportunity to dive into some serious topics and further explore teenagers figuring out their lives and sexuality, and healing some other traumas but it only stayed on the ledge of those serious topics and didn't go much further; which is why I docked it a star because I kept wanting more discussion about those topics.

» Thank you so much to Netgalley & Harper Collins Children's book for this ARC!

This book was cute. I will admit while I enjoyed the book for most of it, I was at a 3.75 but that ending got me all in my feels and it got a bump to a 4. It's a fun book that is very appropriate for the YA audience as it is fade to black with the 1 inferred romantic scene. Now I went into this knowing it was a YA book, and I love the occasional YA book, but not all YA books are the same and this book is definitely in the YA market that it took me back to being in high school a little and just made me feel a little old reading it. I think someone said in their review that it reminded them of the old Disney channel original movies and the ice princess movie and that fits the book so well. Nothing wrong with that at all and like I said I did enjoy the book I just felt a little old reading it.
I loved the two FMCs who are such driven girls in their own fields and how dedicated they are to their sports I really admired it. You also saw real growth in them as individuals with Charlie being plucked from her private school as a scholarship student and going to the public school which is her schools biggest rival that combined with wanting to make up for the consequences of her choices and how it affected others landed her as becoming part of a pairs ice skating team really pushed her out of her comfort zone. With Alexa you saw some real growth in her as well as being around Charlie forced her eyes open on a lot of different factors in her life making her want to change as well.
In the end I liked the characters, it was a fun story that is definitely appropriate for the younger markets and the plot was cute but sometimes a little unrealistic if it were to happen in real life.

This book is about Charlie whose life is going through some changes at the moment. After an unfortunate hockey loss her team suffered due to some cheating by the other team, she ended up starting a fight that ended up with her being suspended from her team and school which means not only will she not get to play the sport she loves so much but this means she will miss out on scouts seeing her play and hurting her chances of making it into a DIV1 school. And if that wasn't bad enough, she has been enrolled in the local public school which is none other than her schools biggest rival and who they just lost too. Its awkward to say the least but she just has to keep her nose clean and maintain her grades for 6 months and then she will be back where she belongs. However, the brawl didn't just affect Charlie and her life but also Alexa's as well whose figure skating partner got caught up in the brawl and got injured as a result. Which means she only has 4 months to find a partner before her next competition in order to qualify for nationals and let's just say the pickings are slim when it comes to partners who can lift her. So, a deal is struck between the two where Alexa will get a skating partner, and Charlie still gets ice time to stay in shape but also Alexa's mother an Olympian will put in a good word for her with some scouts. Now they just have to take powerhouse hockey player Charlie and turn her into a pairs ice figure skater with the elegant ice princess Alexa. But as they start to train together the frostiness starts to thaw and they start to wonder if they can be more than just partner on the ice.

I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading this book so much. I love how it’s enemies to lovers. With a woman hockey player and woman figure skater. They have over come quite a few obstacles to get a healthy relationship. Charlie and Alexa have astounding chemistry. They very supportive of each other’s careers and dreams. I like how it can relate to teens going through a parent divorce. How to over come the hurt they went through. Also I like how they talk about many different topics from mental health, to homophobia, and few more topics. How they work through it and over comes it. Shows that woman can play in male dominated sport. Be just as great as male players. These two are so cute together. They have many fun moments. Also some hard moments that all teens go through. Their two parents in their lives are supportive, and accepting of Charlie and Alexa for who they are. Their friends and Mac are helpful, supportive, and they do some much more for them. The end of the story was so sweet. I couldn’t get enough of them.

I really enjoyed “It’s a Love/Skate Relationship”. This is the YA version of “The Cutting Edge” and the hockey player/figure skater romance book I didn't know I needed. Charlie and Alexa had good chemistry and it was a cute adversaries to lovers story. This romance was so sweet I smiled ear to ear almost for every page. The banter between Charlie and Alexa was so perfect! I love when the main characters have good chemistry and these two really had a lot of it. It also had a pretty good ratio between sports and romance, since it's a sport romance I wanted to read a lot about hockey and ice skating because it's one of the thing that made me want read it. I adored Charlie and felt for her so much throughout this book. She was torn between wanting to do what she can to help others however she can which is at odds with her impulsive selfishness. Alexa was a great counterpart of Charlie being able to go toe-to-toe with her snark and also be essential to Charlie’s growth, while Charlie also helped Alexa grow in turn! I really enjoyed watching Charlie and Alexa's story play out. I really wish we could have had chapters from Alexa’s perspective so I could see her fall for Charlie as well and get her thoughts and feelings about events that happened. I think it would have made the book so much better if it was a dual POV story. Charlie's friends and family were all super great secondary characters that I enjoyed interacting with and getting to know. Thanks to Carli J Corson, Harper Collins Children’s Books and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for my thoughts. I could definitely see this being adapted as a movie or tv series on a streaming platform. I look forward to reading her next book!

BIGGG thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc!!

Now THISSSSSSSS is the type of queer YA I want to see more of in stores. This story was such a fun experience, with so many likeable characters and an adorable romance!!

THE PLOT

Our FMC, Charlie Porter, is a hockey star with a dream to play in the big leagues. But when she accidentally starts a brawl after a game, she gets suspended from school. Coincidentally, one of the people harmed in the fight is Alexa Goldstein's figure skating partner, with only 4 months until regionals. So, the two decide to join forces to train together, and slowly feelings begin to grow.

This was the enemies-to-lovers that so many authors think they're writing but really aren't. Charlie and Alexa GEUNINELY didn't like each other and actually had to spend time together before feelings developed. There was no "hateful lust" thrown in our faces or "secretly one of them is in love with the other and it's a one-sided hatred", which I feel like is what most enemies-to-lovers romances end up being.

Charlie and Alexa's relationship felt so fresh and real, and their banter was on point every chapter!! I personally know nothing about figure skating OR ice hockey, so I was humming along flipping the pages without a care in the world about how realistic the story was.

THE WRITING

Corson's writing is so cute and fun! Sometimes the Gen Z humor and slang felt a bit forced, but overall I felt like the story flowed well and Charlie's inner monologues always felt very insightful. Towards the end, there was a bit more telling instead of showing when it came to Charlie's feelings, but ultimately I really enjoyed the writing!

THE CHARACTERS

CHARLIE

Charlie, my stubborn little hockey star. I've got issues with you about the third act break up because that was just stupid. But overall, Charlie was a fun and realistic high school MC.

ALEXA

Alexa stood on business in every single chapter, and I was so here for it!! I thought it was super interesting that there was not some huge "queer awakening" for her, though I do think it's because of her mom. I really liked Alexa as a character, and I felt like she was a good balance for Charlie.

FRANKIE

FRANKIE BEAN I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH!!!!

This is actually my favorite character, hence him getting a spot here. He was so supportive throughout everything, and I loved him, Cyn, and Charlie's little lunch dates.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this sapphic sports romance!! I can't wait for Carli's next book :)

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I went into this expecting a cute enemies-to-lovers romcom, and this book delivered that and more!

Starting with the main point: the romance. Not gonna lie, I found the way Charlie was chosen and recruited to be Alexa's new pair partner to be kinda forced and unrealistic, especially given that Charlie is a total newbie, but I didn't mind, because it was the perfect set up to force the two of them to spend time together. From Charlie's perspective, it's very easy to hate on Alexa, because she definitely comes off as mean and snobby, and Charlie definitely didn't make the best first impression on Alexa.

The way they transition from enemies-to-friends was gradual and felt very natural, but I found the shift from friends-to-lovers to be kinda abrupt. (But, like, not too abrupt that it seemed to come out of nowhere. Just wished there was more romantic tension before they got together.) The whole romantic arc was pretty predictable. I don't really mind that, because that's just how romance novels work. However, I found the last third to be kinda rushed. (Not saying what specifically, because spoilers.) Overall, though, the romance was very cute and swooney.

Following up with the other main point: sports. I have to preface that I know absolutely nothing about sports. I saw other reviewers say that it's unrealistic how quickly Charlie mastered pairs skating, but I didn't notice that at all? This book is like "Charlie learned pairs skating so quickly she could basically win the Olympics" and I was like "wow Charlie is so good at skating :)". In hindsight, yeah, that doesn't make sense, but I suppose disbelief was meant to be suspended.

I do know enough about sports (media) that I know that it's a common trope to have the MC get injured and push through it to score the big goal, or to have a character get injured and then complain about having to do physical therapy. I was super worried that one or both of these tropes would happen, but thankfully there was none of that. At one point Charlie gets injured and wants to push through it to score a goal, but her brother talks her down and insists that she goes to the doctor. When any of the characters get injured, they all take their recovery super seriously, getting the required rest and doing their PT. This was such a relief to read, because I find that in a lot of media (not just sports), there is this idea that you have to sacrifice your physical well-being in order to succeed, and this book instead emphasises that your health is the priority.

I also appreciate that this book also talks about mental health. Both Charlie and Alexa have struggled with their mental health, and although it's not discussed in depth, they are open to each other about it. Charlie is open about having previously gone to therapy, and is comfortable enough with her dad that she can ask him to help her book appointments when she feels that she needs it. It's so nice that taking care of mental health normalised like this.

Another element that I LOVED was how big of a role Charlie's friends and family plays in the story. In romances, the main character's friendships are usually pushed to the sidelines in favour of prioritising the romance, but here, Charlie's friendships are just as important as her romance. One thing I always dread when reading YA romances is the subplot where the MC's friends get mad at the MC for prioritising their relationship over their friendship, but THANKFULLY there is none of that here. It's not perfectly smooth sailing, but Charlie and her friends communicate very maturely (perhaps TOO maturely, considering they are teenagers, but no complaints here!) and are supportive of each other's goals and relationships.

Family also plays a big role in this book. Charlie's father and brother are super supportive of her, but she's also dealing with feeling abandoned by her mom, who prioritises her new family over Charlie. I think the author did a good job of balancing Charlie's perspective on this, how she feels loved and supported by her dad and her brother, but still craves and misses the support of her mom.

I love how Charlie was written in general. She's definitely not perfect, and sometimes she gives in to her impulsivity, but she always tries to do her best in everything she does. (Although she isn't the most hardworking when it comes to schoolwork, but that's to be expected.) I also appreciated what we got to see of Alexa. From Charlie's PoV, we find about about some of her struggles and how Charlie supports her, but I get the sense that there's more going on behind the scenes. I wish we had gotten Alexa's PoV, but I understand that books have page limits, or whatever.

One thing that bugged me were the bullies. They're all pretty stereotypical homophobic jock types, which, sure. That's to be expected. But for some reason the bullies are all from the public school, while the book makes it a point to say that all the kids in the private school are nice and there are no bullies, which feels kinda classist. Surely there are assholes who go to private school?

Overall, this book isn't perfect, but for what it is, it's pretty outstanding. (Especially for a debut! What?!)

She's a hockey player who's been suspended for fighting and now she has to find a way to make up for the damage... even if that means learning to become a figure skater to help the rival school's ice princess who she is definitely DEFINITELY not falling for (right?). Charlie Porter dreams about making it big in hockey, but when a sexist comment from a rival school hockey player has her accidentally starting a brawl that gets people hurt, she's suspended and forced to go to school at the rival team's school. Charlie has to also pay for the damages she caused and that means finding a job....ideally while trying to find a way to get college scouts to look at her despite her not playing during the season. Cue: Alexa Goldstein, ice princess who definitely has a bone to pick with Charlie for injuring her skating partner. Alexa needs a new partner for pairs skating and with only four months until the competition she barely has any options... until her mom finds Charlie. Alexa's mom is well connected and offers Charlie a deal: become Alexa's partner so she can practice until her actual partner heals and in exchange her mom will get Charlie connected to hockey scouts and pay her double. It's too good of a deal to resist and despite the fact that Charlie and Alexa can't stand each other they'll have to find a way to help one another. This is a sapphic sports romance between rival schools and two polar opposites. The romance just never really felt there for me and I didn't feel myself all that invested in their relationship. I liked Charlie's journey throughout the story however I felt so grossed out that the guys who committed the actual crimes never really faced any consequences. Alexa just never grew on me and I just kind of wanted Charlie to not end up with her. While this one was a miss for me I do think that other queer YA readers might have fun with this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Storytide for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and read it in one sitting. I loved the character development and the storyline. I would definitely recommend this book.

A dazzling debut voice and a story that will stick with you long after the last page. Exactly the book I needed--it's giving Disney's Go Figure in all the best ways. I loved every page of Corson's first novel, and I can't wait to see what comes next from her.

4.5 stars. It’s a Love/Skate Relationship is Carli J. Corson’s absolutely FANTASTIC debut! Swipe for synopsis. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Teen for the chance to read this via gifted eARC. All thoughts are my own and honest.

I absolutely FLEW through this book! It is very sports heavy, which I love, but if that’s not your thing, you’ve been warned. As both a hockey fan and former competitive figure skater, this is the ultimate love letter to my two favorite sports.

Charlie and Alexa are such sweethearts! Their chemistry is apparent early on and I love both of their determination to be the absolute best they can be on the ice. I will warn you this is a SLOW BURN (they don’t kiss until about 70%), but at the same time, it didn’t feel slow at all.

This is a definite contender to make my favorite romances of the year!

This book truly felt like a cozy Disney Channel Original Movie, in the best way! I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance, and it definitely delivered. Carli J. Corson does a great job of developing the opposites-attract dynamic between Charlie and Alexa, while also making them (and their friends, family members, etc.) feel like fully realized characters. It would be easy for them to fall into stereotypes, but Corson shows that there's more to their story. The Jewish rep and the musical theater references were also definite highlights for me! I could see there being some areas where readers have to suspend their disbelief (like how quickly Charlie improved at figure skating, and the skill level she progressed to at such a fast pace), but this was just such a fun, enjoyable read overall. If you love YA romcoms, particularly those with a focus on sports, and the enemies-to-lovers trope, definitely check out IT'S A LOVE/SKATE RELATIONSHIP! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.