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.

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!