This was completely just alright. Lynn Painter has a pretty unique style for writing dialogue, that’s very much written like you’re in the character’s head, but I’m not sure it worked for this one. It just made the characters feel even younger than seniors in high school to me. And the amount of cussing in this book is completely unnecessary for a young adult book. It didn’t add anything to the story - if anything, it was just distracting for me.

Things that didn’t work me for aside, I’m still going to keep reading anything Lynn Painter writes. Heck, I even enjoyed her recent middle school book. This one just hit a bit too immature for me, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad book, I just couldn’t connect to it that well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the ARC of this book!

Soooo i got an ARC for my most anticipated release (how is life real rn?) !!!
When I say that I LOVED fake skating i mean it-l read this book while in a slump and STILL ate it up; I loved it so much i made an entire reading vlog for it watch here:
https://youtu.be/r4G9ebRWBKw?si=FVt-jqsB_W7cS6cb
Dani Collin's may be my new favorite Lynn Painter girl, she was so deeply relatable and I felt so seen by her shy-extrovertedness. I LOVE LOVE LOVVVVED the characters and Soulthveiw and the entire time I was reading I was really just wishing I was there hanging out with them.
And of course I loved the romance—OH MY GOD Alec Barczewski is SOMETHING ELSE (my dream man?!?) he was so UGH-I may never be the same after reading this book. All of this to say, If you love fake dating, second chance AND childhood friends to lover you just have to pre-order Fake Skating.

I’ll never NOT read a Lynn Painter book—she’s one of my favorites!

Fake Skating has everything I love: childhood friends to lovers, hockey, fake dating, and lots of sweet moments. Dani and Alec have such a fun, real bond. Their banter is full of snark, but you can feel the love underneath it all.

Dani is a strong, smart, no-drama kind of girl, and I loved that about her. Alec is swoony in the best way. The library lunch dates? Adorable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read Fake Skating!

Lynn Painter books are the best. They’re sweet, fun, funny and sometimes serious. I love her YA titles as much as I love her adult titles. This was no exception. The hockey aspect of it made me feel like I was at an actual hockey game. She captured that feeling of anxiety and excitement. Highly recommend to all my YA readers as well as their adult counterparts.

This was absolutely charming. Everything Lynn Painter writes always becomes my next favorite book and I don’t mean that lightly! She captures of the essence of young love and high school and the struggles of teenagers so perfectly well. Absolutely stunning. The third act conflict was a bit annoying but short lived! Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend to anyone looking for a wonderful hockey romance in the YA realm!

Thank you for an early copy :)

4.5 stars

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Simon Teen, for the early copy!

I would read quite literally anything that Lynn Painter decides to write - she is one of the FEW authors who could get me to read a YA romance, and for good reason, she knocks it out of the park every single time! I knew I was going to love this story, which is just as cute and swoony as Lynn's other books, and I was so glad to be right. We have everything that Lynn is so popular for: witty banter, an adorable storyline, and just sweet characters who are so overwhelmed by each other - it's incredibly wholesome.

Once inseparable as kids, Dani and Alec had a falling out after Dani’s family moved away one summer. Now Dani’s back, living with her mom and grandfather after her parents’ divorce, and Alec, once the nerdy boy next door, has grown into the town’s hockey star. The two haven't talked in years, and when reunited, their encounters have been nothing but hostile and distant. When circumstances force them into a pretend-relationship—to help Dani’s college résumé and Alec’s public image—the spark reignites. As they fake-date around rinks and community events, they untangle the emotional distance that built up over the years, uncover family secrets, and confront the real reasons Alec kept her at arm’s length.

Alec and Dani were just so CUTE. I loved the hockey-obsessed town, I loved the growth arc we see with Dani, navigating her parents' divorce and starting over at yet another high school, I loved Dani's grumpy, yet protective grandpa, and that Lynn gave us this one in dual POV so we got to see the story from all angles- everything about this book just hooked me in.

Read if you like:
- YA
- childhood friends to enemies to lovers
- fake dating
- forced proximity (high school, hockey player, and hockey manager, moms are BFFs)
- dual POV
- small, Minnesota hockey town

Loved, loved, loved this! Lynn Painter absolutely writes the cutest and sweetest YA romances ever, and this book had absolutely no faults. I was in love with both our characters and the plot was amazing and I was never bored. Definitely recommend anyone looking for a cute little romance with childhood friends to lovers and fake dating!

i can’t lie i screamed when i saw i got approved for an arc of fake skating because it was one of my most anticipated reads this year from my favorite romance author and let me tell you. it. was. AMAZING. if i could give this 6 stars i would, i am absolutely obsessed with alec and dani’s relationship dynamic and friendship. the relationship dynamic between dani and her grandpa was also so well written and hit close to home. this was also my second hockey romance book EVER and i can now say that i am 100% a fan now!!

🏒 Fake Dating
⛸️ Childhood Friends
🏒 Hockey Romance
⛸️ Family Drama
🏒 Dual POV
⛸️ Small Town setting

Lynn Painter has done it again!! This book was definitely a giggling-and-kicking-your-feet kind of book. Have you ever listened to “So High School” by Taylor Swift and reminisced on those nostalgic butterflies that remind you how fun it is to have a crush?? That is what this book felt like! But it was not just the romance that made this book hard to put down, it was the depiction of the pressures both Alec and Dani felt within their respective lives and the realness of their relationships with their friends, family, and with each other. Also I have to mention the relationship between Dani and her grandfather was just so fun and heartwarming to see unfold <3 I did feel frustrated slightly with the miscommunication, which is probably just a me thing, I just wanted to shake them and make them talk truthfully about why their friendship ended. All in all, this was another great read by Lynn Painter that I will be recommending for those looking for a well-written sports romance! Literally looking up hockey games near me ASAP!! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this arc!! 🏒🥅

Another hit from Lynn Painter! This one was a great mix of fun and emotional. The dialogue felt SO realistic to high schoolers and their lives felt so real and normal. I loved Dani and Alec, their backstories, and their romance. The sports part of the sport romance was well-done, as I feel like sometimes "sports romances" don't actually involve any sports at all... but this one really brought to life everything at the rink. My only complaint is that the ending was VERY similar to the ending of NLTM, but oh well, it's a CUTE ending so I'm still giving it 5 stars.

I love Lynne Painter and the way she captures teen angst. A typical teen romance but told in a super cute way. Definitely worth a read.

4.5 ✨ Lynn Painter is back with another phenomenal YA romcom 💛 This was very cute and there was depth in the characters beyond just simply liking one another. Childhood best friends who haven’t seen each other in several years reconnect when Dani finds herself relocating with her mom to Alec’s hometown, where they used to spend their summers. Alec is not the clumsy little boy she remembers and Dani is no longer the carefree extrovert that Alec remembers. They find themselves in a precarious situation that leads them to fake-date to get out of it and we get to watch them reconnect along the way while also supporting each other’s own personal journeys.

We get to explore messy family dynamics, estranged family members and feelings of abandonment, social anxiety, military families/frequent moving, high expectations and the consequences of those, daddy issues, and probably more that I’m missing. I think this was written so well (it’s Lynn Painter so duh) and while I am 10+ years out of high school, it was not difficult at all to put myself into the mindset of being a high school senior dealing with all of these things. There was a lot of cursing in this, especially in the male POV; this wasn’t a problem for me but might be for some people.

For those familiar with Lynn’s other works, Alec was just as swoon worthy as Wes 🫶🏼 Their banter and chemistry was great! I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC!

Her books are always worthy of a read! I loved many aspects of this & I know it will be popular. There are a few mature scenes (partying) and quite a bit of language - flirting with the limits of too mature for B of B. It got a little stuck/repetitive for me, but that sometimes happens when I read instead of listen.

My students love Lynn Painter books, and I was so ready to see an accomplished author bring the wildly popular tropes of hockey and fake dating to the YA genre.

Alec and Dani were not only best friends in the summer during her visits to Minnesota, but also pen pals all year as they exchanged post cards….until they weren’t. After five years of no communication and in the wake of her parents’ divorce, army beat Dani finds herself moving back her mom’s hometown which is incidentally the same town where Alec lives. Dani wonders if her nerdy childhood friend will be open to rekindling their friendship, but is gobsmacked to discover that Alec’s become a hockey god who seemingly loathes her. Hijinks ensue and the two frienemies must work together to accomplish their goals, and maybe, just maybe realize that they could be much more.

I loved the dual POV, and I actually enjoyed Painter’s nuanced takes on reconciliation, jock culture and community, and chosen family. My favorite relationship actually might have been between Dani and her ex-pro hockey player grandpa Mick. As a reader (and a teen librarian), I was jarred by the 269 uses of the f word—it was cringe and unnecessary. There were plot holes regarding assault, and a character used a homophobic slur without this ever being addressed. I also thought that a trusted adult would help Dani receive professional support for her anxiety, but this was instead brushed off as an “issue” that could be solved with deep breathing? Fake Skating was emotional and romantic, but I think it could have landed much better with half as much cursing and more care invested in the plot and mental health themes.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It was such fun to be back in this world that Lynn Painter has created. She is pretty much an auto buy author for me. She does YA so well! I liked how Alec created soundtracks in his mind for different moments, much like his cousin Liz (a character from two of her other books). This was a sweet childhood friends to enemies to friends to lovers book with hockey and fake dating thrown in. This book was written in dual POV and was a great device to keep the plot moving. As the reader we gain information from each character that the other character is unaware of. One thing about this book that I really liked was how supportive and welcoming the friend group was, especially considering Dani’s history. Another fantastic job by Painter.

Cute story! I liked watching Dani trying to find herself and figuring out how her old summer self ties in to the girl she is now. As well as seeing Adam constantly warring with himself but being unable to not help her when he has the opportunity.

Oh my goodness Dani and Alec were so perfect I can go on and on talking about them 🥹 let me just say this was a perfect childhood friends to strangers to lovers book (and fake dating ofc) (lynn painter absolutely does not miss!!! best believe i will eat up her books 🤭). I cannot stop thinking about them!!! Alec was so head over heels for Dani it was just so cute!!! This book had me giggling and kicking my feet so much omg. I wish I could reread it for the first time also can we pls talk about how the cover matches scenes from the book 🥹 Thank you so so much SimonTeen and Lynn Painter for this ARC this is one of my new favorite books!!!

What a fun, whimsical read through of a classic fake dating trope! Dani and Alec maintain that "invisible string' level of bond beautifully reinforced throughout. LOVED the generational parents vs grandparents rift that loomed in the story. Hit too close to home oops sorry. No character was improperly motivated in their actions, and the backdrop of hockey complimented the tension and sensibility throughout. Feel good read and worth zipping through.

Overall I thought this was a cute YA novel! Would definitely recommend for hockey fans and am interested to see what some of her other popular books are like (adding Better Than The Movies to my TBR!)
The one thing that took this down for me was the language - there was an excessive amount of cursing that really took away from the dialogue for me
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC of this book!

Title: Fake Skating
Author: Lynn Painter
Length: 448
Format: ebook arc
Pub Date: Sep 30 2025
Genre: Romance | Teens & YA
Rating Out of 5: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Lynn Painter has scored again! From the moment Dani and Alec's icy reunion begins, you know you're in for a treatttt.

I'm a sucker for a childhood friends-to-lovers trope, and Lynn executes it FLAWLESSLY, adding layers of delicious fake dating, witty banter, and genuine emotional depth. Dani is a relatable, feisty heroine dealing with real family struggles, and her journey to rediscover Alec (and herself) is incredibly engaging.

And Alec? Oh, Alec. He's the perfect blend of charming hockey god and the "nerdy, kind of soft" boy Dani remembers. Their chemistry absolutely crackles off the page, making every interaction a joy to read.

The Minnesota hockey town setting adds a fun, authentic backdrop, and the way the fake relationship slowly thaws into something undeniably real is beautifully paced. But this isn't just a fluffy romance; there’s complicated family secrets that add stakes and emotional weight, making the Dani and Alec’s growth even more satisfying. And the revelation of "the real reason Alec has been pushing Dani away all these years"? It's heartbreaking, understandable, and ultimately rewarding.

If you're looking for a book that will make you laugh, swoon, and maybe even shed a tear or two, then look no further. This is a five-star read that will leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling and a big smile on your face, and I can't recommend this book enough!

Special thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!