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.

This was such a cute story and I had a lot of fun with it!! Love/skate very much reads like a sapphic Disney Channel original movie (which I read in other reviews and pushed me to finally request it) or really just like any cheesy teen movie in general and I usually always love those so I loved this too of course. Thank you to Publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Alexa and Charlie were easy to root for the entire time even in the beginning when they were still being super unfair and bitchy towards each other. And honestly it was funny with some of the jabs they would throw at each other. Especially Charlie's, that girl was funny right from the jump and never stopped. She's also very stubborn and verrrry impulsive which kind of drove me crazy sometimes because I sat and watched her make some not very smart choices thinking that they wont end well at all (and usually didn't). Alexa presents as your classic queen bee and as the book describes her "ice queen" but you learn fairly quickly she's a good person as you usually do. She complimented Charlie very well and balanced her out. I also particularly loved Geri, Alexa's mom and their coach, she was just a little iconic to me. Frankie was a sweetheart from the beginning to end and didn't miss a step in helping Charlie any way he could even if technically she was adjacent to blame for his injury and why he couldn't skate. It tells you a lot about his character because he didn't have to be her friend or even such a good one. Also Konnor and Gavin did not deserve to get off with no punishment for the stuff they pulled though. Like please don't be scared, punish the big scary hockey players!

I think the only thing that this book takes a real hit for me is the sports aspect, specifically the figure skating. But I think thats to be expected in a story like this. Realistically, beginner figure skaters like Charlie don't go from that to competition levels of good in mere months ever. Because I don't know if you've ever WATCHED figure skating but that looks hard just from the outside looking in I imagine its far more difficult to actually do it. Even so, Ill let it slide because like I said I totally expected it. But I still loved watching Charlie put her all into it more and more as time went on and really fight to learn the routines because she cared instead of just tolerating it because she was getting something out of it. Just expect to walk into this book and expect that if you do choose to read it. There were also a few things I would've loved to have explored in more detail just to add depth to the book but I wont bring up every little thing. Overall this was adorable, fun, easy to read, and I flew through it in a time where I really didn't have a ton of time to be reading period but this made it hard to not pick up and continue. Thank you again to Netgalley and the publisher.

Normally the whole enemies to rivals trope is not my thing. Not a fan of all the stress when I am reading for pleasure. Turns out I didn’t hate this one. I liked both of the main characters and enjoyed their getting to know each other and care for each other.

"When she lets go, I can't help but wish she didn't." ---me when this book ended!! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I am pretty certain this was made for me. Sapphic coming of age, check. Zippy prose? Check ("Hocky Rocky" Charlie made me grin from ear to ear.) Girls who are allowed to brood and show the full range of their flaws while still being loved by others? YUP. Carli reminds me of Becky Albertalli and that is the highest praise because I love Becky. And ice princess Alexa? Hi, yes, I love you.

The premise is great. Hockey player Charlie and figure skater Alexa have to work together a-la Icebreakers but there's something so fresh about this I hate to even compare it (even though I just compared Carli to Becky and this book to Icebreakers, but I had to). Some moments took my breath away, and the whole thing was just pure fun.

Oh, and I love the cover and want a physical copy to clutch to my chest.

THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!! If you've read Icebreaker and thought "I wish this was a YA sapphic romance" It's a Love/Skate Relationship fits that bill!

After starting a fight at the ice rink, hockey player Charlie Porter finds herself expelled from her private school. Now attending the rival public school, she's classmates with Alexa Goldstein who's figure skating partner was injured in the fight. Alexa can't find a new partner in time for competition season, but Alexa's olympic winning coach and mother has a solution: Charlie can be Alexa's partner and she'll pay for the ice rink damages Charlie caused in the fight. After getting off to a rocky start, Alexa and Charlie's partnership starts to work on the ice, and maybe even off the ice too....

This book was so fun! I loved all the side characters, Taylor Swift references, and died when it was revealed they were performing their figure skating routine to Defying Gravity.

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins Childrens for an ARC of It's a Love/Skate Relationship

I absolutely loved this debut YA Sapphic remix of The cutting edge movie that sees hockey star Charlie getting benched for a year and ending up paired with Alexa, a figure skating Olympic hopeful. This had great enemies to lovers tensions, amazing sports rep and was also good on audio. Highly recommended for fans of books like She drives me crazy or All's fair in love and field hockey. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

*2.5 Stars*
First, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Now, I can say that this was such an easy read! I read it super fast, and it was super easy to digest; however, it definitely wasn’t the right book for me.

I love reading queer hockey stories, so when I saw a sapphic hockey story it seemed like it was perfect! I was so excited to read it, but I was quickly let down. I didn’t vibe with the writing style, and the dialogue didn’t seem really natural at times. The characters were also a bit too standard and predictable for me.

It’s a debut novel, though, and maybe I just /wasn’t/ the target audience! I would give the author a second chance, definitely, and I’m actually really sorry that I didn’t like this book because I wanted to so badly!!

IT'S A LOVE/SKATE RELATIONSHIP is a wonderful and swoony sapphic YA romance, perfect for fans of enemies to lovers and opposites attract. Thanks to NetGalley and Storytide for the advanced copy!

this was an absolute blast are you kidding me?! i typically find YA’s to be 50/50, but this gave me the same feeling that better than the movies did. from the beginning, i loved our mc charlie and her lil enemies to lovers moment on the ice was chefs kiss!!!! i *will* be recommending this to anybody who wants a sapphic skating romcom 🙂‍↕️🤞🏼

Well, the author of this book has quickly become a must read for me! Growing up, I loved watching any sort of sports movie where teamwork and found family became the focus. I wanted to watch people growing and loving each other as friends and teammates, but of course it was better when there was also a romance. Movies like The Cutting Edge, Ice Princess and Step Up were by far my favorite. This book really hit all of the tropes that I wanted to see from those movies but in a book (which let’s be real, makes it better).

I am so excited to have been able to read this book before it came out. I’m so appreciative. The romance was so cute but more importantly I loved reading about Charlie and how she grew in her mental health journey and how she finally understands that family are the people who show up for you. I think this book hit a lot of really important topics but it was also just a really fun read. I rooted for all the characters so hard from the first chapter and the romance had me unable to put the book down.

I really appreciate NetGalley and Harper Collins Publiser for allowing me to have an advanced reader copy of this book. I cannot wait for the next book written by Carli J.Corson.

I was really excited for this book, as the summary had me hooked! Unfortunately, the writing style took away a lot of my enjoyment. Aside from a few typos and oddly phrased sentences that could easily be fixed with more editing, the dialogue felt odd. It definitely seemed like someone who’s more than a decade removed from high school wrote this book (and I say that as someone who’s a decade removed from high school). The characters also felt extremely cookie cutter. Everyone had their stereotypical role to play, it seemed. I also struggled to root for Alexa with her classic “mean girl who’s dating the popular jock” introduction. I understand her being frustrated with Charlie initially, but it felt like teen movie bully. It was hard for me to get invested in the characters and the love story. Since this is a debut novel, I definitely see a lot of potential for future works by this author!

Carli J. Corson’s It’s a Love/Shake Relationship is a delightful slow-burn romance with humor, heart, and undeniable chemistry. When fiery hockey player Charlie Porter and poised figure skater Alexa Goldstein are forced into an unlikely skating partnership, sparks fly both on and off the ice.

Their clashing personalities’ boldness against icy precision creates tension that gradually melts into a heartfelt connection. Corson’s sharp dialogue, charming characters, and perfectly paced romance make this story as exhilarating as a flawless skating routine.

With its blend of humor, emotional depth, and swoon-worthy moments, It’s a Love/Shake Relationship is the ultimate rom-com to kick off 2025.

I really wanted to like this one because it was so easy to just pick up and read (I made it to 30% of this book in one sitting), but there were just parts that were too much for me. I hated the Taylor Swift references (can't any book go without making them?), I wasn't a fan of how little regard Charlie had for ultra-feminine women, and I didn't like the little care there was about comments about date rape, which really gave me the ick.