In "The Friend Face Off," we dive into a sweet and charming romance set in a small town. Dawson is truly a sweetheart, and his unconditional love for Emmy shines through every page. As a fellow book lover, I found Emmy incredibly relatable; her passion for reading adds a delightful layer to the story. This novel is the essence of a vanilla romance, making it the perfect autumn read for cozy moments and heartfelt smiles.

While I felt it was a bit predictable at times and that it lacked a certain spark, the overarching message about shining in our own way and stepping out of our comfort zones is both empowering and uplifting. I give it a solid 3.5 ⭐️, but I definitely recommend it for anyone looking to feel warm and fuzzy inside!

This is book three in the Love On Thin Ice multi-author series and it just keeps getting better! Though this is the third book it read easily as a stand alone, but was fun to see characters and places from the previous books. This is my first read by Grace Worthington and I am a fan!

Emmy and Dawson’s story would make the cutest hallmark movie. Seriously.. why aren’t there more hockey romance movies!? This would be perfect. Small town, bookshop employee who has a secret booktok and though she loves romance books, doesn’t believe there are actually men out there like in the stories, and the hopelessly romantic, brother’s best friend and fellow hockey player who has loved her since they first met and is out to prove her wrong. *SIGH*

I seriously love books with characters who love books! I can’t get enough of it, so this was right up my alley. It’s like the author knew my favorite tropes and she did an amazing job at writing exactly what I like. It was so cute and swoony and I am all in on my small town hockey romance era. Emmy is the sweetest FMC and the way Dawson is constantly going out of his way to show her how much he cares and knows her was exactly what every girl dreams of. Their messages back and forth and the way he flirts with her had me feeling her butterflies and blushes.

Absolutely, highly recommend this one and the series so far! Looking forward to reading Grace’s other hockey romances too!

Thank you to Poets & Saints, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Really appreciate that this standalone can be read truly as a standalone! Great book, and made me want to go back and read the rest of the series!!

The perfect non-spicy hockey romance DOES exist!! While can be read as a stand-alone, it’s part of a fun little series that’s easy to read and even appropriate for YA.
Friends to fake-dating to romance, the story of Emmy and her brothers best friend, Dawson, who is a goalie in town for a little hockey extravaganza. As a reader, she has thrown out the challenge - real life hockey boyfriends are nothing like book boyfriends!
And Dawson has made it his personal mission to prove her wrong.

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this arc in return for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 12 September 2024

This sweet brother's best friend book is adorable. It was sweet, it was a funny and captured Emmy and Dawson perfectly. It was easy to read and an overall good read.

This was soo good!! This will have you swooning and wishing you had your own Dawson! Friends to lovers, kisses only and all the feels!!! Highly recommended to anyone who loves a good romance. It is part of a series but can be read as a stand alone. But I do recommend reading the others because you’ll get attached to all the people!

Received via NetGalley for my honest review

This was an easy, fun read. I guess there is a hockey romance trope? The main characters were not super realistic. The guy was too perfect, and the girl was hard to like. But the story was sweet, clean, entertaining and swooney. Three and a half stars.

I love the idea of a hockey romance, but so many books out there are filled with too much spice for my liking. If you're like me...look no further than The Friend Face Off!! Grace Worthington perfectly captures the longing of the brother's best friend trope (one of my favorites!) and pairs it with the quick, easy friends-to-lovers. If you're looking for a lighthearted romance to read this fall, definitely give this one a try! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC

I love a Hockey Romance, I love a brother's bestie troupe, and most of all I love a fake dating troupe.

This book has everything I like, and more. I can't wait to read more by this author.

This story was a sweet read from the start, and I enjoyed getting to know these characters. I liked that Emmy and Dawson had met before, they already had a bit of a connection, a friendship, even though it had been a while since they'd spent time together, you could feel that pull. There's fun with their friendship, and the build up kept the pages turning. Definitely a read to curl up with to relax and shut out the world. It's part of a multi author collection and I will be adding those to my to be read list as well!

This is my first time reading Grace Worthington and I have to say...I devoured this book in ONE DAY. It was so cute and I couldn't put it down. Dawson is hunky and cute and I love that he's the perfect cinnamon roll for our skeptical heroine. Emmy is a BookTok girlie that also works at the local bookstore. Her life revolves around romance books, but she doesn't believe that type of man actually exists. Except that her brother's best friend (Dawson) gives her the butterflies she's always read about. These two are perfect for each other and the story is a perfect little romance whenever you need a break from those heavier to digest Romantasy novels.

I got this arc for an honest review. I love a good hockey romance as I fell in love with the sport when I moved to Canada. There were some inconsistencies when it came to how the NHL runs and the story in this book. I also did not know this was part of a series so I was confused when we were introduced to characters I had never heard of. I also didn’t connect with the characters and felt they didn’t have much chemistry which made me soft dnf for a week. I picked up the book to finish my obligation to the author.

I don’t usually give low reviews but this one was not for me I gave it 2.75 ⭐️ and negative 🌶️ because it was a close door/ clean romance and I usually like a little spice in my romance.

This book was not for me but that does not mean you shouldn’t see for yourself you may enjoy it.

Happy reading everyone 📚

I would like to thank Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable bookish romance.

This is a great light rom com with that gives off cozy fall vibes. Emmy works at the local bookstore when her brother’s best friend Dawson returns to town to play in the local hockey charity event before moving to Seattle to play for the NHL. Ever since a party in college, Emmy has had feelings for Dawson but she feels the gap between her little life and Dawson’s bigger hopes and dreams of playing in the NHL is too big of a gap to bridge. Dawson also has carried feelings for Emmy since college and with this limited time in Maple Falls he wants to win Emmy’s heart and show her that she is so much more than her small town dreams.

If you’re looking for a fun light romcom and just a feel good pick me up story, this book will give you all the good fuzzy vibes. :) I enjoyed the characters and how Dawson worked to show Emmy that he cared for her. Some of my favorite parts were corn maze at night, the book club discussion of the hockey book, and the bet that Gold Dog and Romcom Books have for seeing each other.

The Friend Face Off, the third book in the Love on Thin Ice, was such a sweet romance. The Friends to Lover trope was such a cute, charming small-town hockey romance. Emmy is a romance-loving, bookish girl working at the town bookshop. Her brother and his friend Dawson are in town to play hockey. Dawson is a hockey goalie, who is in town to play for the towns hockey team with a golden retriever personality. I loved that Dawson and Emmy had this sweet relationship that they didn't know they had online as well as in person. This romance was exciting and engaging to read with zero spice. I enjoyed her writing and look forward to reading more of her books in the future. I also am excited to ready more of these series Love on Thin Ice. I received this book as an ARC by Netgalley and Poets & Saints Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

If you’re a fan of sweet hockey romances with a dash of humor and heart, The Friend Face Off is a must-read! Grace Worthington expertly blends the charm of small-town life with the thrill of unexpected romance, creating a delightful story that had me hooked.

The premise is a fun twist on the classic brother’s best friend trope, featuring Emmy, a book-loving heroine who challenges her social media followers to prove that real-life men can be just as romantic as her beloved book boyfriends. Enter Dawson Hayes, her brother’s best friend, and a confident goalie determined to win her over finally. The chemistry between Emmy and Dawson is electric, and I loved how their relationship unfolds in real life and through their playful online interactions. It adds a modern twist that feels so relatable!

What I particularly enjoyed was Emmy's hidden booktok persona—her passion for romance novels because same. The fake dating element adds a delightful layer of tension, and I found myself rooting for them every step of the way.

This was my first book by Grace Worthington, and I’m excited to dive into the rest of the Love on Thin Ice series. If you enjoy friends-to-lovers stories with plenty of charm, witty banter, and swoon-worthy moments, then you’ll want to pick up The Friend Face Off. It’s a charming reminder that sometimes, the best love stories are right in front of us, waiting to be discovered.

Such a sweet romance!! I love the brothers best friend trope. These characters were really made for each other!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Dawson is an amazing book boyfriend. I love that he wanted to read Emmy’s favorite/ current book club book so he can join. He wants to spend time with her however he can.

Emmy gives out younger sibling energy and by that I mean everyone always talks about how oldest siblings give off parent energy because they take on a responsibility for the younger siblings. Younger slibkings feel responsible to take on the responsibility of being around for parents and grandparents since older siblings gave up their childhood youngers give up moving away.

I love that Dawson and Emmy connected on TikTok without even knowing but I really liked that she didn’t get mad that he knew first and didn’t tell her right away. It could have been an easy out for conflict but the story didn’t need it.

Perfect fall pick me up.

Small Town hockey romance meets You've Got Mail! I loved this story so much! The MMC was such a golden retriever and I lived for it! This was such a wholesome romance that solely focused on the friends to lovers trope. He fell for his best friends sister in a small town at the peak of his hockey career. All of a sudden we get thrown into a you've got mail situation and I lived for it! It was so relatable in the beginning as well relating to booktok and the social media aspect of it! Fantastic read! I finished it in one day.

Cute romance between a jock and the bookish little sister of his best friend. I loved Dawson’s character and found him believable but Emmy wasn’t my favorite character. She made so many decisions that didn’t make sense (I have no idea why she just didn’t replace her tire) and I am not a fan of women who don’t know their worth and let people walk all over them. I liked the bookish discussions they had but expected a little more hockey for it being billed a hockey romance. Otherwise, the other characters, particularly her grandmother, were all so much fun and I enjoyed the cameos of the characters from other books and can’t wait to visit Maple Falls again.