I'll be honest, when I picked this book I was having an extraordinarily bad day and was really looking for something to cheer me up, which this book did. This book follows our main character 'Willow" who was on-track to be an Olympic level figure skater before she tore her ACL and was no longer able to compete. Desperate to get picked by a team again, Willow joins forced with Brodie, star skater of the local hockey team, to play hockey in order to regain her strength. Now if you're looking for the next great work of literature, this isn't it. This is cheesy and fluffy, a rom-com in book form. I found myself completely immersed in the world and the romance and was unable to put it down. As a big fan of ice hockey, and someone who used to competitively skate, I particularly enjoyed the respect shown to both of these sports; it was not pitting the two against each other which is rare to see and was much appreciated.

My biggest gripe with this plot was Brodie's character development. I can get past the fact that Willow was playing on a men's hockey team which I'm not sure would happen in real life, but Brodie's abandonment issues and the effect they have on Willow is just something that had me screaming in frustration. Things between the two characters just became so unhealthy and toxic, and this wasn't something that was dealt with. Brodie's actions were seemingly sanctioned and justified by the plot which hurt my enjoyment of it. He was such a loveable and wonderful character and I was so disappointed that he became completely toxic and controlling.

This was such a sweet small-town sports romance though, so if you're looking for something light and cheery then it doesn't get much better than this.

Willow is a figure skater on the fast track to the Olympics. Brodie is a local legend on the hockey rink. When Willow’s dreams of a gold medal are dashed by an Achilles’ tendon injury & the local star hockey team needs a temporary goalie— it seems like fate. The next thing she knows, Willow is persuaded by Brodie to try out.

Brodie will do anything for his team to win, except ask Willow to give up her Olympic dream. But it may cost him a scholarship & a chance in the pros. . .

Willow will do anything to become strong enough to complete in the Olympics. But it means abandoning a team that relies on her to win. . . And the boy she’s come to love.

I loved reading this book! The writing & flow of the book is exactly what you want when you pick up a YA RomCom— but the plot & character development exceeded my expectations!

I loved the dual POV and watching the internal struggle of both main characters. Both characters make decisions that seem natural & realistic. The insta-attraction between Brodie & Willow is very believable and slow burns into deeper feelings.

It is still very much a YA RomCom! But definitely one of the best ones!

I love reading YA and MG books, in particular sports-themed ones, and this one had me drawn in from the first page. Because of word-of-mouth, I ordered In the Penalty Box, and finished it in the course of two days. Willow and Brodie were great characters that made me want to know them better. I was really impressed by the hockey scenes. I am an avid watcher, and felt the game descriptions were authentic.
I highly recommend this book and definitely look forward to more from this writing team.

While reading Slotcouplet (a Dutch book with experiences of a pulmonologist) I needed something lighter and more fun. So the blurb of the Young Adult book of In the Penalty Box looked really good. Sports and romance, I like it.
Willow was a stubborn and determined young woman, training very hard for the Olympics. When she is injured and thrown of her team, she is even more determined to get back to the top of figure skating. Brodie - Wind - Windom is a hockey player, who wants to win the state tournament to ensure his hockey scholarship. With all his personal problems and his focus on icehockey, he doesn't have time for distractions. But then their goalie gets injured. And Willow needs more time on the ice to train her muscles. So Brodie convinces Willow to help the team out. Willow isn't used to be part of a team. As a figure skater you are pretty much on your own. So, when she is recovered, can she leave the team behind to follow her own dreams? Sugary sweet, cute and funny. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Was ok, kind of seemed like whoever wrote this had a basic/pop culture take on sports, but that’s just my opinion. Otherwise it was subpar

'In the Penalty Box' is a sweet, fun YA sports romance that captures a lot of those fluttery high school feelings.

When Willow and Brodie literally run into each other on the ice, neither would predict that rehabbing figure skater, Willow, would become the newest (temporary) hockey goalie for Brodie's team. And neither of them expected to be attracted to each other, even though the team has a no-fraternization rule. Can they ignore the spark they feel, or will it be too big to ignore? And what happens when Willow returns to figure skating?

I enjoyed the nostalgic feelings that this book evoked. It's definitely a high school story with characters who are trying to navigate through that often confusing time of life. So it might read a bit juvenile to some, but it didn't really bother me too much. There are hints of more depth to each protagonist's backstory, which I thought was effective, though we never really delve into either character's pain to the point of really feeling a connection to the loss they've experienced. It was kind of like reading about tragedy through rose colored glasses.

There are also some secondary characters whom I would loved to read more about, and hope this becomes a series. I'd also say that the ending is definitely a HFN, which is fine for YA because they're so young. But don't expect a giant leap into Willow and Brodie's futures.


**Thank you, NetGalley and Entangled for the opportunity to honestly review this ARC.**

This one ticked a lot of boxes for me: sports romance (where both the h and the H are athletes!), YA, and -- honestly, that cover. I really thought this was going to be a winner!

Unfortunately - it was maybe a little "too" immature for me. I always feel bad saying that because it's YA. It's not supposed to be for adults. But this one just felt very young to me and I had trouble connecting with it. It all felt a bit rushed, a bit forced, and the dialogue did not feel authentic. I found myself skimming very early on, and eventually put it down for good. A swing and a miss for me, but may be a winner for the younger portion of the YA crowd.

I really enjoy hockey books, and this one was no different. When I saw it on NG, I didn’t check too much and didn’t know that it was YA but that was okay. Both of the characters seemed pretty mature, especially Brody.

I think what I liked most about this book was that it was a little different than most hockey romances, instead the guy trying to figure skate, we have her on the hockey team. An all-boys team. Though he does do some figure skating as well.

We get a little of both world, which was fun.

I also loved the friendships in this book and the team spirit, well for the most part.

I liked both main characters and thought they were easy to relate to. They both have their issues to deal with. They dealt with them in their way which not always was the right way.

I like Willow, I loved how she stood her own, in the team even though not everyone was for her being on a boy’s hockey team. Some were just plain mean and rude, but she never gave up. That includes her dream to get back to figure skating. She definitely had spunk. But she also had some pretty selfish moments.

Brody, what was not to like, I liked him right from the start and he always knew what he wanted and fought for it. He definitely had a lot on his plate to deal with. Almost a little too much, so just seemed a bit too piled up for dramatic effect.

Together I thought they were cute and I liked the training moments and the on the ice and game parts as well.

While it was easy to tell how it would end, I was curious half way through, because at that point it could have gone either way. Of course, with most contemporary some of the stuff was pretty predicable, but I still really enjoyed it.

Overall. I really enjoyed it and hope to see more in the series and this author duo. I’m really hoping we will get a book about Preach, you know maybe a friends to lover/hockey romance 😉

I rate this 4 ★

I think this is the 4th sport romance book I’ve read this year. Who am I? 😂 I don’t really like sports, but apparently I love sport romances.

I do actually like watching figure skating, so reading about a figure skater dancing on the ice was really neat. I loved how the beauty and grace of figure skating was juxtaposed with the brutalness and unrefined nature of ice hockey. The fact that Willow mastered both sports was incredible, and gave her a really interesting dynamic.

I loved seeing Brodie, the all-star hockey player on the team, try out some figure skating moves from Willow. It was endearing seeing them work together and try out unfamiliar things.

Their romance was sweet, and I particularly loved the ending. But there were times when their relationship was pretty superficial. I know that physical attraction is a huge part of a romantic relationship, but they sometimes focused too much oh how “sexy” the other was. And sometimes all Brodie really cared about was being able to kiss Willow. Their kisses also became very repetitive. It was all about titling their heads to make the kiss deeper, or “acquainting” themselves with each others mouths.

Besides that, I really did enjoy the novel, and would recommend it to people who love sports and romance books. It would also be cool to see a movie adaptation of it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for an e-arc to review!

In the Penalty Box by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount, published by Entangled Publishing is a stand-alone, sports romance and I greatly enjoyed reading this beautiful story.
I gingerly started reading this book, because co-written stories sometimes don't do it for me. But I'm happy to say, these two authors did very well. Ther are no cracks et al in the storyline, everything fits in Willow and Brody's beautiful story.
A great read, 4,5 stars.

I really liked this book! It was the perfect sweet romance to curl up and read on a cold day. I have something of a history of reading YA hockey romances, so I was thrilled to find this one on NetGalley.
Willow Covington's dreams of becoming an Olympic figure skater are crushed when she injures her Achilles heel. When she blocks a wayward shot from Brodie "Wind" Windom that was about to go crashing into her best friend, Brodie's team invites her to be their hockey goalie, since their goalie was just injured in a pick-up game. Though she's apprehensive at first, Willow slowly rediscovers her passion for the game and, despite the strict no-fraternization rule on the team, grows closer to Brodie, who helps her train and get stronger. But when forced to choose between her lifelong dream and her newfound team, which side will Willow pick?
Just to be clear, this book was a two POV (which I love!) YA hockey romance. One of the things I really enjoyed about it was that it included the fallout of having a girl on a boys hockey team and one of the character arcs was having a teammate keep complaining about Willow's presence and slowly start to appreciate her, until he finally admits that their team is better because they have her. The book also dealt with a variety of themes, instead of focusing on just the romance aspect the way some YA romances do. While Willow's family is coming back together, Brodie's is falling apart, and he learns that he can lean on other people, including his best friend, instead of bottling up his feelings. There also weren't any cliches in this book. There was no signature mean girl, no vengeful ex, and certainly no snobby rich boys. Though some of the leading players of opposing teams are particularly nasty to Willow, for the most part, Willow's team gets revenge through success. Aside from the sexist opposing players, both of the main characters had a lot of self-respect (another feature I loved) and respect for other people and players, even if they were from other teams.
Overall, this was a really sweet book and I can't wait to see what the authors come out with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled for sending me this arc! All opinions are my own.

I really enjoy YA romances, but this one just isn’t my favorite. While I enjoyed it at times, it was cute, there were a few major flaws for me. There seemed to be a good bit of internalized misogyny through the interactions between Willow and some of the guys on the hockey team in the beginning. While I understand in high school guys can be a bit harsh, this seemed to be a little more than that. It was a bit cringe worthy. It didn’t necessarily fully detract from the story, but it didn’t help it either.

While I liked the characters themselves (Willow and Brodie) they were pretty typical and cliche of the high school teens.

A lot was packed into this book and the flow was fine, but not the greatest. This isn’t a bad book, just not my favorite.

There simply is not enough books written with hockey as part of the story. I loved that this sport was included. It makes for a good love story and this book has that and then some. All the ups and downs of a good love story is in this book. I could not put it down. I would highly recommend it!

So, I usually love a good hockey romance. Add in figure skating and it’s a win win! However this fell a little flat for me. It wasn’t badly written, but it had a lot of things going on and some plot points that definitely made me shake my head. Overall it was just ok for me. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

This book was definitely something I enjoyed, but didn't love. I tend to enjoy sports romances, so I liked that about this book, but I just never entirely connected to the characters. The hockey matches were very well written though, I felt like I was there with the characters.

In the Penalty Box is the story of Brodie and Willow, hockey players looking to win the state championships. Willow, a competitive figure skater had injured her Achilles, forcing her to go through grueling physical therapy. After playing goalie in a pick-up game, she find herself loving hockey, and joins the team. Brodie, determined to play hockey for Boston College, refuses to let himself be distracted by anyone, even Willow.

From both the cover and the blurb, this book was about as predictable as it could be. Not that that's a bad thing, it just means that the book just has to bring something else to the board. Sadly, this didn't. It was the usual contemporary romance, with the normal plotline.

I liked both Brodie and Willow, but I wasn't head over heels for either of them. Willow got way too good at hockey a bit too fast for me, but I did emphasize with her. As an athlete, I can't imagine what injuring yourself so badly could be like. I was really rooting for her to recover, but I wasn't too happy with where her story ended. I liked Brodie, but I wish he would've gotten a bit more character development. I loved his relationship with his little brother, so I wish we would've seen a bit more of them, but whatever.

The plotline about Brodie's dad felt a bit random, and didn't serve any purpose in the book. It wasn't explained as well as it could have been, so I'm not entirely sold on it. It was touching to see the friendship between Preach and Brodie though, so I can't complain too much.

As for the relationship that drove this book, it wasn't my favorite, but it was enjoyable. I did get a bit tired of reading about how attractive they were, it was mentioned almost constantly. I also was a bit thrown off by the insta-love, but I enjoyed the romance against my better judgement.

Despite this review being mostly complaints, I did enjoy this. It was stereotypical and predictable, but it held my attention. I got dragged into the book, and was really rooting for both Brodie and Willow. If you're a lover of romance and sports, you'd definitely enjoy this!

Thanks to Lynn Rush and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to enjoy this one but it felt a little too forced. I couldn't get into the story line no matter how hard I tried. I think this might be a book I revisit and enjoy more if I am in a different mood when I read or maybe the weather changes?

In the Penalty Box is a contemporary sports romance focusing on Willow, a figure skater in rehab, and Brodie, a promising hockey player. It follows them navigating through senior year.


I won't get into the plot, because there really isn't much to tell. The story is character driven, and even the "big twist" at the beginning is something I predicted at 20%.

What I'd like to talk about more is the shallowness of the characters. See, human nature is complicated. I think we can all agree about that. People change and evolve and grow their whole lives and everybody is unique, but there is a certain average of maturity at 18 that neither Willow nor Brodie achieved despite not having perfect lives and dealing with a lot of hardships. They were literally kids. Kids, okay? It was so annoying.

Next up, we have the constant, endless talk about how sexy each of them were. In every single chapter, the word sexy was mentioned at least once, sometimes it was ten times. Again, annoying!

Same goes for the issue of blushing. Both of them were red in the face 75% of the time.

Also, the next time any of these authors decides to write a book from a male point of view, I'd recommend... trying harder, I guess. If you told me that Brodie was a girl, based on his thoughts and the writing style used I'd totally believe you.

The last criticism I have is that the whole hockey situation didn't seem realistic or believable. I'm in no way a hockey expert and I'd probably believe something that is total nonsense if it was sold the right way. This wasn't. And I'm not talking about the scenes where they were playing hockey itself, they were done very well in my opinion, I'm talking about the fact that a high school team from a nothing town could win a championship as big as was mentioned in the book and a good deal of other logistics. In spring, I read The Deal by Elle Kennedy, which is also a college sports romance, and I never once questioned the realness of it, the author simply seemed to know a lot (or enough) about how hockey works. I'm sure if Elle Kennedy did her research, Lynn and Kelly could have done theirs, too.

I'm really sad that I didn't love this book, because I was so excited to delve into it! My figure skating phase is at its peak these days and when I saw this book on NG, I didn't even look up other reviews or the authors' other books like I normally do - I clicked on "request" instantly. And my hysteria didn't pay up, unfortunately. Also, I feel like this has a lot of potential that was left to rot. What a pity :(

Anyways, I hope that this review helps you decide if In the Penalty Box is worth it. I'm not saying that it isn't - but let's be honest, there are books that are worth much more.