DNF at 20%

Thank you so much to Simon Teen and Lynn Painter for an e-ARC of this book. I promise you guys that no one is sadder about this than me. (I will not post a scathing review on my social media, I will just mark that it was a DNF for me on goodreads.)

I really tried to enjoy this book, but I unfortunately, could not get into it. It is really telling that I was nearly a quarter of the way through the book, and I still had no idea where this plot was going. My biggest qualm with this book is that it does not feel like YA to me. I might be aging myself when I say this, but there are way too many cuss words in this for me to think that high schoolers are in this book. Even with the scene of some girl returning the scarf to the main character, Alec or "Zeus", was a bit much, and if I wasn't told that this was in high school, I would have thought they were in college.

I love a hockey romance more than A N Y O N E but calling this man Zeus because he's a great at hockey and everyone in town loves him for it gave me the ick. It was also interesting how I was 20% in and at this point, our characters have only interacted with each other as the FMC, Dani, ran into Alec and that was that. I had extremely high hopes for this book and I just feel like even if I kept reading, I would not find myself eventually enjoying it.

Sorry :(

Just want to thank NetGalley for this ARC!😊


This one was so cute. I wanted to love it more, the only issue for me personally was that they curse/cuss a lot. For YA I didn't think it was necessary. Other than that the book was great. I loved both Alec and Dani, as well as them together. I thought the nickname Goldilocks was sweet, even though he didn't use it much. I'd recommend it!😊

This is by far my favorite Lynn Painter book written so far. The high school experience written is the most accurate to a regular high school experience that you can expect from a fictional book. It really explored plausible personal issues that a wide variety of people can connect with making the book much more valuable to me. The romance was also written so well. My only critique is the recruiting process for Alec being inaccurate to the actual recruiting process, but I understand with the timeline how it might not have fit in properly. Besides that, it's an amazing read and one of my top books of the year.

3.75 stars

I love Lynn Painter's YA romcoms. In this story we follow Dani and Alec who used to be best friends but after Dani moves away, they lose contact. They're reunited after Dani's parents divorce and they begin fake dating in order to help Alec maintain a good guy reputation to help gain offers from hockey scouts.

What I liked:
Grandpa Mick was easily my favorite character and any scene with him was gold! I think this story really picked up for me around the last 30-35% of the book. Between the hockey games and other tense situations, my heart was racing and I didn't want to put it down.

What I didn't like:
The writing just felt different from Painter's other books and the dialogue felt choppy at points. I felt that there were parts of the story that were supposed to be inferred but its so vague that the reader can't be 100% sure of what happened in the past. As much as I loved Mick I thought his thoughts on the Air Force were brutal and I didn't like how they portrayed Dani's dad "The Colonel" (I'm a military wife so this is probably a "me" issue) And while I liked Dani and Alec, I never had any swooning moments or felt myself rooting for them.

All this to say I still really enjoyed the book and found myself thinking about it during the day and I was excited to pick it up in the evenings. It was easy and it was my first hockey romance so Painter definitely peaked my interest for more!

Childhood friends, fake dating, with a touch of enemies to lovers. This was such a cute read. Really enjoyed the characters and the development of their story.

This book was cute but it wasn’t my favorite LynnPainter book. At times I felt the plot dragged and i’d get bored. I also didn’t care for all the cussing. However, if your YA reader enjoys sports and childhood friends to lovers they will love it. It is also spice free which is always great.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the copy. All opinions are my own.

3-3.5 ⭐️!

I’m so torn about this one because I did like it a lot, but it took awhile for me to get into it! I think because Alec was mad at Dani in the beginning and they didn’t interact that much made me hard to root for them right away. Once they started their fake dating (one of my favorite tropes!) things really started to pick up! The story was cute read and it was a good palette cleanser in between all of the fantasy books I also read!

I also think the writing style was not my favorite. This was my first Lynn Painter book, so I wasn’t familiar with her writing prior to read this one, but I do know her books are popular! I’m a fan of YA novels, but as an adult this one read just a tad bit too childish for me. I think that’s why I didn’t fully connect with the story. This is just a personal observation and of course I don’t think everyone will feel this way.

Overall, I enjoyed all of the characters and I’m glad Alec and Dani were able to get their happy ending together! And as a hockey fan, I loved watching Dani learn about hockey and all the lingo that comes along with it!

Thank you so much to Simon Teen for an advanced copy! Fake Skating releases on September 30, so be sure to check it out if you want a YA hockey rom-com featuring fake dating and friends to lovers!

I will read and love anything by Lynn Painter. Fake dating to loving each other is always a favorite of mine and I loved it in Fake Skating as well! One of my favorite parts of this book was the friendships Dani developed after growing up a nomad due to her dad being in the military.

Anything Lynn Painter writes, I will devour. Love the main characters (really just everyone except for two people). Friends turned lovers, fake dating, and a miscommunication trope done right. Hockey romance too!

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute YA romance. Hockey focused around a small town obsessed with hockey but the romance shinned brighter for those not as much of a fan of sport romance. I loved the multi-layer characters with multiple things they were working thru and both main characters were very cute. Honestly this was just such a great romance and by far my favorite so far from Lynn Painter!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own. This releases Sept 30th and make sure to snag your copy.

A childhood friends to lovers hockey romance is probably my favorite niche genre. I was so excited to dive into this book once I received the ARC. I have not read any of her other books but have heard nothing but good things so I was excited this was my first introduction. I thought it was entertaining, and held my attentions and I had a good time reading it. I think the beginning was just a little slow in getting them together but once they were it was so fun. I felt a lot of qualities that Dani had I see in myself and I always love when I can find pieces of myself in characters. The only part of the story that I didn’t enjoy was miscommunication. It’s my least favorite trope and is really the center of their issues. But overall I enjoyed this book and if you’re a fan of her other books I’m sure you’ll like this one too!

I was so excited to get this ARC because the cover just screams cuteness and who doesn’t love a hockey romance! Once I started reading, I could not put it down! Childhood friends to fake dating to real feelings between Dani and Alec 🥰 This is a YA romance, so keep that in mind while reading, but Lynn does a great job of making her YA stories enjoyable for readers of all ages. This cozy romance will be perfect to curl up with in the colder months!

I LOVE Lynn Painter's writing, first and foremost. I adored Better than the Movies, Nothing Like the Movies, and Betting on You... and I just KNEW that I would also love Fake Skating. One of my favorite tropes is the Fake Dating trope, and I loved it in this book as well. The beginning feels a bit slow, but once it hit its stride I was HOOKED. There was a bit of miscommunication that seemed to really drag on at the end, so that's the only reason I would give it 4.5 stars instead of 5. Overall, if you enjoy Lynn Painter's writing... you will enjoy this one as well!

The best mail day!!! THANK YOU, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for sending me over this ARC.

What to expect:
🏒YA romcom
🏒dual POV
🏒sports romance
🏒small-town
🏒childhood best-friends
🏒fake dating

Lynn Painter does it again—I absolutely devoured this story! I fell in love with the FMC and MMC. I loved the depth of the characters and how their background stories were intertwined into the present-day dialogue. The overall plot was charming and just what I needed. I highly recommend it if you're into romcoms!

Pub Date Sep 30 2025

I have read all of Lynn Painter's adult romance novels and loved them.... This was my first YA Lynn Painter and omg I loved it too! Fake Skating was so adorable; I will be going back and reading Lynn Painter's other YA romances. I highly recommend to YA and adult romance readers.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to get the eARC.

2 ⭐️s

I would like to start this review with the fact that I absolutely loved BTTM by Lynn Painter. I’m also extremely grateful I was given the opportunity to read this book before publishing. Given how much I loved BTTM I went in with some very high expectations and ultimately I did end up disappointed. In some respects I do believe the age I’m at in comparison to the typical demographic has some effects on the enjoyment of this book as I do now truly believe I’m too old to enjoy these. That’s of no fault of the book, it’s of my own. But I will argue I enjoyed BTTM so I’m not completely sure that my age is the issue.

I was enjoying this book up until around 30%. After that I severely struggled getting through it without wanting to DNF. The good thing is that Lynn’s writing is easily digestible. However as I read on I quickly realized that this book is based on miscommunication and it was not a slow burn romance. I get that some will say ‘oh well they’re teenagers’ and while I agree some miscommunication is typical, to this degree just seemed to be a crutch. I didn’t connect with either character really in the slightest after 30%. Alec was a dick throughout the book other than when he was dreaming about kissing Dani. Or he was throwing ‘fuck’ around like confetti, and I don’t mind swearing in books but it really took me out of reading. Especially considered this is for young readers (yes teens swear but I don’t think they swear that much 😅).

For a lot of the book Dani felt like she had no backbone. I understand having social anxiety and previously having a bad experience with friends (which was never told in detail, just vaguely), but I don’t find it believable that she was so hesitant about having real friends with no knowledge given to the reader what exactly in detail happened and how it made her shy. I didn’t find their banter to banter for me. Honestly I overall found it hard to like this book, and it’s unfortunate as I had high hopes. Maybe it’s just me and my slump. Hopefully some others find this appealing!

Thanks again to the publishers and NetGalley.

This one just didn’t work for me. For a YA book, the amount of swearing was honestly shocking- like, every other sentence- and it pulled me right out of the story. The pop culture references were fun at first, but by the halfway mark it felt like the book was trying to break a world record for how many times you can slip them in a story. And the miscommunication? Dragged on forever and could’ve been solved in three sentences. I’ll still read more from Lynne Painter, but this one was a miss.

4.25 🌟

A Lynn Painter book set in Minnesota? Yes, yes please.

I loved Alec and Dani in this book. I always get nervous about a YA romcom but Painter always does them so well. I loved watching Alec and Dani's relationship grow in this book - the way they learned who each other was again was so fun. Fans of Painter will love this one.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I absolutely ADORED this book! I read it in one sitting lmao. The only thing that really bothered me was the third act breakup. It felt really rushed and it came out of nowhere?? Even the resolution was a little bit rushed. But I feel that way about all Lynn Painter books so maybe it’s just a me thing.

I love everything Lynn Painter does. This novel was full of yearning and I eat it up every time!!!

The amount of times I squealed, kicked my feet, and gasped throughout!! I finished this in one sitting and I’m so sad it’s over.

I loved Dani — she’s got a good head on her shoulders — and Alec was strong and mature for his age. The two of them together were just perfection!! Their character arcs were thoughtful and I resonated with their feelings & thought process.

Thank you so much Simon Teen for my e-ARC! I couldn’t wait to dive into this — truly a quintessential Lynn Painter novel!