Upcoming 4 ⭐️ romance novel, projected for October 2025!

Olympic Gold medalist hockey player, JT Cox, has always harbored resentment for her hometown, after experiencing bullying from kids and parents as the only female player on her high school hockey team. So she’s not exactly excited to spend the holidays there… until her best friend’s newly single, older sister (and her first crush) bursts back into her life, in the best possible way.

The storyline for this was really cute! I loved that JT and Ali had a holiday competition they entered and the way they worked together to try to become that season’s winners. There were only a couple of spicy scenes, but lots of tension throughout between the characters that kept it interesting.

The one major drawback of this novel for me was how often Ali’s ex was brought up. It felt like every scene there was a mention of him and I found it distracting from the romantic storyline.

Overall, this was a cute, cozy romantic read that will be perfect for winter!

What a feel good, cozy romance this was! I loved JT and Ali, and thought their friends to lovers romance was sweet and steady. The competition added a little bit of flair, and I loved having people to root for (and against!). The hockey aspect was a nice touch, too, and Ali definitely appreciated it! The spice felt natural (but not too much/over the top) and I genuinely liked reading about the characters falling for each other (and going to IKEA!). The only part that I wasn’t sold on were the families of JT and Ali- other than Toby the dog, of course! Otherwise, a very cozy book, and a GREAT queer holiday read! Many thanks to Harlequin-Romance and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was an enjoyable novel to read. I liked the characters and the holiday setting. This was a lot of fun and had some particularly good scenes throughout. There was also a dog named Toblerone, so that was awesome right from the start.

This novel is filled with messy drama and interpersonal issues, particularly between the protagonists and their parents. It somehow manages to be a relaxed and fun holiday read, while also packing in the messy drama which is honestly impressive. It is NOT a stressful read, which was appreciated.

The novel wasn’t without some issues though. I found that it was incredibly repetitive to the point of being somewhat annoying. Many of the interpersonal issues/drama consisted of essentially the same scene being replayed multiple times with very little variation or development, which got tiresome by the end (looking at you Ali & Mom!). There was a lot of time spent on characters repeating their worries (internally) over and over without ever addressing or discussing them, so there was never anything new to add to the reoccurring conversation.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel but found it dragged in sections due to the repetition and lack of development. Other parts however were delightful. This was a good novel but I think I would recommend a lot of other over it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.

I'm frankly shocked at how much I enjoyed this book. I read the first book in this series and thought it fell short, so I didn't know what to really expect from a second book in this universe. But this was so well written, and I loved these journeys.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

I enjoyed the competition aspect of the book, it gave the perfect small town cozy holiday feel.

I feel like Ali's character was approached in a weird way. When we first meet her it almost feels like she just wants to get with JT to fulfill some loneliness and see what it would be like to kiss a girl. Even if she had simply said something like "I'm bi, but I've never been with a girl, and want you to be that girl" I'd have been totally on board. Not "I want you to flirt with me, like you do with everyone else" If I were JT I'd think that since she's newly divorced, she's just looking to boost her confidence, and I'm personally not someone who wants to be used help with someone's curiosity.

But thankfully the vibe does shift once we get to the holiday competition and they go in as just friends and it felt much more natural and I really loved the yearning, chemistry, and progression.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! A nice holiday romance with some good vibes, but it doesn’t particularly stand out amongst the crowd

Sweet, funny, and very cozy, I really liked this! I thought JT was fleshed out very well and her flirting was top tier.

Are you a romcom lover? Check out Yours for the Season by Kate Cochrane. It’s one that will keep you turning pages until the end.

The whole concept of "unlikable" characters means nothing to me, but I found this book so difficult to read because JT's narration was so irritating. It was difficult to feel sympathetic for her, even if she arguably deserved it, because of how bitter and negative she was about everything. I'm pretty sure she was meant to be charming and smooth in a lot of scenarios (like at the bar and flirting), but it always felt painful and cringing to me. I struggled with the world of hockey that Cochrane built up in her first book, and felt the same pains in this one. It's unfair to want a more realistic portrayal of women's hockey, but there were parts that stood out as so false and awkward that it took me out of reading. I'm sure lots of people will love reading this book, but personally I found it hard to get through.

I honestly don't think I could have liked this book any more than I did. Despite some of the outside conflicts with family, this book felt like the coziest warm hug that I think everyone needs at the holidays. When we met JT in Nat and Darcy's story, I knew there had to be a lot of layers under all that shameless flirting and I was not disappointed. JT goes back to her home town for christmas and meets up with Ali, who is her best friend's sister and JT's first crush. The chemistry between them was so good and only got stronger as they worked together to beat their competition in the holiday challenge. JT was so sweet and a little damaged by her past and my heart just ached for her in those vulnerable moments. And Ali was a bold little firecracker that did not shy away from what she wanted. They had so much love for each other you could practically taste it and I was so happy to see their happy ending. I liked Nat and Darcy's story, but I loved this story so much more. It was so so good. I really enjoy when the conflicts are external and we don't have to deal with a 3rd act breakup.