The Friend Face Off: A Sweet Small Town Hockey Romcom by Grace Worthington
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Reading The Friend Face Off, was such an easy, entertaining read with a happy ending that I didn’t know I needed in my life. I loved reading this story, Emmy and Dawson were everything and more. Grace did an amazing job of developing a plot full of amazing lovable characters. I love the chemistry between Emmy and Dawson, the way their relationship develops through the book was well developed. Definitely a must read book!.
November 22, 2024

I am a sucker for sports romances, so this was right up my alley. I have never read anything by this author, but I will definitely be looking out for this author! The pace was great and I was hooked from just a few pages in!

The third book in the Love on Thin Ice tells the story of Emmy, a bookworm obsessed with hockey romance. When she finds that no real hockey players can measure up to her book boyfriends, she issues a challenge online for someone to prove her wrong. Her brother's best friend answers her challenge and decides he will show Emmy just how romantic he can be.

The Friend Face Off by Grace Worthington is another delightful addition to the Love On Thin Ice series, serving up the perfect blend of small-town charm and hockey romance that will make you swoon (and maybe even grab a blanket for the cozy vibes).

In this book, we meet Dawson Hayes, the easygoing goalie for the Ice Breakers charity team, who's navigating not only the transition from the AHL to the NHL but also his overbearing father who wants a say in all aspects of his life, including her public persona and love life. Dawson is no stranger to Maple Falls, having visited a few years back when he was still playing with his best friend (and former teammate) Dan Roberts, whom readers may remember from The Rebound Play.

Emmy Roberts, on the other hand, is a bookshop manager with big dreams that are constantly put on hold—thanks to her overbearing boss's son and her role as a caregiver to her grandmother. But there's one thing she's kept secret: her anonymous BookTok account, where she shares unfiltered book reviews and musings on love.

When Dawson and Emmy reconnect in Maple Falls, the chemistry is undeniable. But Emmy is hesitant to lean into a romance with someone who lives such a different life. As their connection deepens, Emmy retreats to her anonymous BookTok account for advice, only to realize that the mysterious man offering relationship wisdom might be closer than she thinks.

The Friend Face Off is everything you want in a sweet romance—charming, cozy, and full of heart. If you love romcoms with a dash of sports, a sprinkle of small-town charm, and a whole lot of heartwarming moments, this book will be a perfect fit for your next read. Grab your favourite sweater, settle in, and get ready for a story that will leave you with all the warm-and-fuzzy feels!

3.5 stars. While I loved the plot and the characters, I just found the story to be a bit boring at times. The writing did not completely grab me.

This is a super short book that could be read in a day or a few depending on how fast you are. It is apart of a multi author series so I highly recommend reading all of them!

Love in Overtime is set in a small town in Washington state (which I loved because I live in Washington!). This is a brothers best friend, friends to lovers, fake dating story!

✅ Hockey romance - Emmy, runs a bookstore, &
✅ Dual POV
✅ Brother’s best friend
✅ small town romance
✅ book 3 in a series of connected romances all written by different authors but you don’t need to read them in order
✅ Lots of references to the author’s other book in early chapters, frankly I appreciate the hustle.
✅ This is very Hallmark, down to the dialogue. LOL who is paparazzing an AHL player who is moving to the NHL

Four years ago, when her brother brought his best friend, Emmy, and Dawson made a pact to go on a date when she turned 25. Dawson is back to play in the charity matches and is very motivated to be with Emmy. Emmy struggles a lot and resists; I didn’t like that she kept repeating that it wouldn’t work out for them. Many people succeed in long-distance relationships. I didn’t like it.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley.

The Friend Face Off is a contemporary hockey romance novel written by Grace Worthington. It is book three in the Love on Thin Ice series. It is not necessary to have read the previous books in order to read this one, but characters do intersect throughout the series.

Summary: Emmy is a little jaded. She wants a storybook romance but is convinced that no one can live up to the men she reads about in her books.

Dawson has admired Emmy for years, but the last thing he wants to do is anger his best friend-Emmy’s older brother.

Can he get up the courage to admit his feelings, and take a chance on losing a friend?

My Thoughts: This one was OK.

I liked the actual romance between the main characters. It was sweet, and I felt like Dawson was a good romantic lead.

But I thought the online interaction storyline seemed a little contrived to me, and it was a little cheesy in spots.

This one was more of a one-time read for me, but I am glad I read it just to continue the overall storyline of this series.

I would like to thank Poets & Saints Publishing for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you.

If you start a book quoting a popular 'TikTok' song then it's an automatic nope from me.

This book felt like it was AI written after being given pretty much every popular trope in the bookish world.

The characters were flat and unlikeable and honestly the FMC was just infuriating, she was negative about everything

And the Villain character was just missing having a mustache to twiddle while being his dastardly self.

I have loved read the maple hills series and like the rest of the books, found this very sweet, an easy read and cute! I love the brothers best friend trope so I was always going to love this realistically! I found it exciting and wanted to keep reading to see what would happen, overall it was a really lovely read and as a whole series something I’d definitely recommend! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this!

The Friend Face Off is another story written by multiple authors set in the small town of Maple Falls. I’m loving my visits to this small town to catch up with the hot NHL players there for the star player games and the quirky residents who call this town home.
This is Dawson and Emmy’s caring, cute,fun and entertaining journey.
If you love small town romance or hockey love stories look no further than this book and the rest of the books in the Love On Thin Ice Series.

First of all, Thank You netgalley for the ARC granted. Another good story from this cozy serie of books. It's Emmy's story( Dan's sister who appears in the book 2). I loved it and will recommend fr everyone who loves sport romances.

I really enjoyed The Friend Face Off. I thought the storyline was very sweet and I really enjoyed the TikTok messages tie ins. The brother's best friend trope was done very well here. I did think that at times the book could get a little repetitive but overall I found it enjoyable. 3.5/5

Arc Review:
Overall Rating: 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover Rating: 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tropes:
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Friends To Lovers
- He Falls First
- Fake Dating/Dating Pact
- Second Chance
- Hockey Romance
- Cinnamon Roll Hockey Player
- You’ve Got Mail Vibes!
- Secret BookTok Account/Hidden Identity
- Small Town
- Fall Vibes
- Dual POV
- Closed Door/Clean Romcom, Kisses Only

Welcome to the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series, seven authors, seven short novels, and one charming town, welcome to Maple Falls where heartwarming love stories live. Our third book of the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series is ‘The Friend Face Off’ written by. Grace Worthington.

When Dawson and Emmy first meet there was an instant attraction, but Emmy’s brother Dan has labeled her off limits to his best friend plus Emmy doesn’t date hockey players. Anyways they all go to this party we’re Dan gives Dawson the task to keep an eye on Emmy, Dawson and Emmy keep each other company all night. Now let’s jump to current day it’s been awhile since either of them have seen each other. Emmy is a local bookstore worker, plus she takes care of her grandmother but Emmy has a secret BookTok account and has challenged the TikTok community to prove her wrong about the perfect man existing in the real world, she thinks that BookTok has set impossibility high standards, but despite that Emmy still believes in romance, just not the perfect man. Dawson is about to head into the NHL, but before he goes pro he is back in Maple Falls for a charity hockey game, Dawson has set out to prove to Emmy that he can meet her every expectation and be the perfect man for her. As Dawson and Emmy hangout more, Emmy is trying to figure out her feeling for Dawson while Dawson is realizing he needs Emmy to be in his life longer. Dawson is determined to find a way for Emmy to take a chance on him and keep this relationship going, will Emmy give Dawson his chance? Read ‘The Friend Face Off’ and find out.

I’m now three books into the ‘Love on Thin Ice’ series and this is a good series so far.
This was such a fun and cutesy read.
I loved Emmy she was so fun just had a lot of self doubt but don’t worry worry she has the the perfect man to reassure her.
Dawson the man that you are *chefs kiss*. This man is the perfect book boyfriend hands down he plays hockey (and he’s the goalie I’ve always had a thing for goalies), he reads her favourite books, he joins her book club, he takes notes about the books he’s reading all for her, he has a motorcycle, and he’s a dog lover like how the hell could I ever resist falling for this man.

I liked to wrap this up by giving a huge thank you to the author Grace Worthington along with NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advanced readers copy of this book, I had a really great time reading it.

This was a cute story with the right amount of hockey and small town vibes. I am really enjoying this series. Thank you for allowing me to read and review this ARC

The friend face off is another fun read in the multi author love on thin ice series.
Emmy is a bookaholic who loves hockey romance, but doesn’t believe a hockey player can be so romantic in real life, manages a bookstore and has a secret BookTok account. Dawson is a hockey player and her brothers best friend in town for the charity hockey match, and is set to prove her wrong.
This was a cute read, and I really enjoyed the chat between Dawson and Emmy on BookTok without knowing who they are chatting with.

This is the third book in the love on thin ice series covering Emmy and Dawsons story but can be read as a standalone. Set in a charming small town with lovable characters (and some not aah) during autumn which in my opinion made it even better!
Pretty sure I peeped a twilight reference in there which was 10/10 for me!
The friend face off was very fast paced but not in a way that made me feel like I was missing anything .I ended up reading in one sitting and will be picking up the first two when I have the time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Emmy and Dawson is probably my favourite from this series so far! Emmy works at a book store and has a secret booktok account so obviously it was always going to be a win for me!

Check this one out if you love: hockey romances, friends to lovers, books about books, happily ever after, kissing only

I was very happy with this book, the interaction between these characters and the characters from a prior week was perfection.