Lynn Painter knows what she's doing and she does it well, another one that grips you and doesn't let go!

I absolutely loved this book! I love all of Lynn Painter's YA books, but this one is one of my new favorites. I love the hockey romance aspect as well as the friendship between Alec and Dani. Overall, I am excited for this book to be one of my common rereads!

I am obsessed with this book! I love everything that this women writes, and this wasn’t any different! This was so cute and would be so fun to read in fall!!

OMG I actually am stunned. How can Lynn Painter make a masterpiece every time? I need her advice lol. Dani and “Zeus” are the cutest and might top Charlie and bailey!

Ah this was so good! Lynn can do no wrong with her YA books in my opinion. It was cute, charming, swoony, funny and had all of what I expect from a YA romance! The YA audience needs just as much hockey as the adult audience is getting. I thought the plot was great and I also enjoyed the relationship the main character had with her family and how she navigated through it - she had a tough time with her dad and grandfather and I really was happy with how the relationships progressed and surprised me!

Quick intro:
Childhood best friends turned enemies, Alec and Dani, decide to fake date to help Dani assimilate into her new highschool and help Alec’s image for the hockey scouts - but what happens when feelings are caught and it’s all supposed to be fake?

Quick thoughts:
Well folks, Lynn has done it again. Thank goodness I live in a world where Lynn Painter writes YA romances. Lynn likes to joke about how she can’t help but write some sort of enemies/friends to lovers with a little fake dating sprinkled in…but honestly I’d read it 100 times if it was written by her! She always gives us the most sarcastic, playful, and downright funny characters and I eat up every single moment with them. Fake Skating was no different. Lynn gave us her signature banter and wit in HEAPS!

This book had me swooning, giggling, kicking my feet, laughing out loud, tearing up, and straight up bawling. I truly truly loved it. I loved the friendships. I loved the family dynamics and relationships and how they changed over the course of the book. I loved Alec and Dani and their love. I HATED the villain - like Lynn wrote the worst guy ever. I loaaaaathed him - we’re talking same level of hate as Cade from LAOC.

Read if you like books set in Minnesota, hockey romances, childhood friends to lovers, messy family dynamics, teasing, teenagers with mouths like sailors, nicknames, a well placed “honey” or “baby,” and books with playlists.

This book publishes on 9/30 and you’d be a fool to not preorder it. I can’t wait for the world to meet Alec and Dani! Thank you, Simon Teen, for the advanced copy to read and review!!!

Quick Details:
CW: Lynn’s teens do curse more than any teens I know in real life 🤣, so if you’re sensitive to strong language - it might not be for you.

I love Lynn Painter. I will read any of her books even though I'm mostly finished with reading YA anymore. This was so cute- I loved all the characters. The relationship between Dani and Mick was so lovely.

And, I think it's one of the hottest books I've ever read. Yes, it's YA and there's never anything more than kissing, but the way Painter can write a love scene, she doesn't need anything more.

"Please let me kiss you please let me kiss you please let me kiss you please let me kiss you, Dani."

"The way her fingertips flexed against my shoulder, the way her teeth nipped at my bottom lip, the way her curls rested on my hands, dear Jesus."

"Everything between us was somehow in slow motion all of a sudden. My fingers brushed his skin, slowly, and I swear I felt him shiver under my touch as I traced higher."

"Good girl."

"Then I was sipping champagne off her lips, sliding my hands up the curves of her face while my tongue got drunk on the taste of her."

"I chased her tongue, nibbled on her lips, fucking ate at her mouth because I just needed more."

"The simple truth is that all I've wanted is you--period."

Did i just read my new favorite Lynn Painter book? Move over Wes and Liz...Dani and Alec's story may be even swoonier than BTTM! Ugh I'm obsessing. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Fake Skating⛸️💌
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley & Simon Teen for an eARC of this! I love Lynn Painters books and this one was high on my radar.

This book transported me back to High School. It is YA however that doesn’t mean it’s any less good than her adult books. TBH Lynn Painter is so good at writing, I felt anxious like I was about to go to a new school 😂😂 It transported me back to those HS days.

The romance was so adorable! I have actually never read a hockey romance so this was my first one but I really enjoyed it. I think the main characters were so cute together and ofc fake dating is in this🤭

A few parts at the end of this book felt very random & I wish we got more of Alec’s backstory. We got to know a ton about Dani so I was hoping for the same with Alec. Even if we got some more flashbacks of their childhood? I still loved it and would recommend!🩵

guys this book is everything…

fake skating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
i devoured this book in under 24 hours and now that i’m done i just want to read it all over again 😭 i seriously couldn’t put it down—i was locked in from the very first page!! dani and alec are ADORABLE, like i was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. alec is officially my new book boyfriend and dani?? i related to her SO much, it made me love the story even more.

the setting, the plot, the pacing, the romance—everything about this book was just pure perfection. the small town vibes?? the found family moments?? the tension and sweetness between the characters?? literally everything was hitting.

and y’all know i’m not usually a rom-com girly, but this one had me in a chokehold. i was LAUGHING, smiling like an idiot, and genuinely just so in love with everything about it. i haven’t stopped thinking about this book for days and i already know it’s gonna be one of my comfort reads.

add this to your tbr RIGHT NOW. it comes out september 30th so mark your calendars and get ready to fall in love—first with the story, and then with alec 💌

huge thank you to @simonteen and @lynnpainterbooks for the arc!! forever grateful <3

A massive thank you to Simon Teen and NetGalley for the ARC of this book 🥹
I adore the way Lynn Painter writes YA and this ticked every box of expectations I had. I laughed.. I cried.. and I bit my lip on my commute to keep myself from squealing 😂. Serious topics like divorce, social anxiety, friendships, and finding where you belong were woven into this beautifully.
Lynn’s romances are always top tier and I really loved these characters and found them and their relationship well developed. I absolutely LOVED Alec! the flirty banter… His emotional side.. lol and his playlist (and I’m convinced he’s Liz from Better Than The Movies cousin!). Lynn delivered and gave us another swoon worthy MMC.
I loved the small town setting, and I’m new to sports romance but this makes me want to read this genre more.
I don’t have anything bad to say about this book! I loved everything about it!

Side note: I love that Lynn always includes a playlist in her YA books and I was happy to see my favorite British artist represented 🥹. She brought new meaning to a song I’ve heard at least 1,000 times 🫢.

First off let me just say two things…

1. I DEVOURED THIS BOOK WITHIN 24 hours AND I AM CONVINCED LYNN PAINTER IS THE QUEEN OF YA ROM COMS

2. I am SOSOSOSOOO grateful to be one of the lucky ones bestowed with the opportunity to read this book early for the release!!! Thank you Simon Teen I love you guys so much <3

Onto the full review…

There is something so captivating in the way Lynn Painter writes her YA stories. I felt so immersed in the minds of the characters; their voices are so distinctly different that right from the start I got the feel of their personalities right away! Fake Skating is a heartfelt and banter-filled rom-com about childhood sweethearts whose icy reunion in their hockey-loving hometown unexpectedly thaws when they fake a romantic relationship. This book had everything I loved: fake dating, childhood friends to lovers, banter, yearning, and hockey?!? SOLD. This book had so much qualities and charm that I think Better Than The Movies had, which made me LOVE this from the start. And if you think Wes Bennet was the absolute simp/loverboy?!? Wait til you meet Alec 🤭🤭🤭 this boy is soooo loverboy coded it was so funny to read.

All in all, fans of BTTM and any of Lynn’s YA rom coms will be absolutely charmed with this one. Dare I say, this is one of my favorites right after BTTM 🤭

ADD TO YOUR TBR NOW!! ❄️🏒⛸️🩵

Thank you to Simon Teen and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

Lynn releases another fun YA romance escape in 𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, perfect for fans of hockey romance.

Dani is moving back to Minnesota after her parent's divorce, and she's hoping to survive yet another move by keeping her head down and grades up to stamp her ticket to Harvard. She strikes a deal with Alec, her childhood friend, agreeing to fake date in exchange for a spot as co-manager of the high school hockey team.

While I enjoyed the sweet romance, there were a lot of underdeveloped plotlines and friendships that I would have loved further detail on. It's quick and fun, but it ultimately felt a bit surface level and like it was missing something. Readers will love the main characters and relatable story, but I think they'll be left wanting just a bit more, especially with some of the deeper, emotional topics that the characters overcome throughout the story.

This book was so sweet—I genuinely can’t get enough of the way Lynn Painter writes her men. Alec… you absolute gem.

It gave me serious Better Than the Movies/Nothing Like the Movies vibes with that swoony, banter-filled Liz and Wes dynamic. The fact that it was a hockey romance just made it even better.

That said, the ending felt a little abrupt! Maybe it’s because there’s a book two coming? I’m not sure—but I definitely found myself wishing for one more scene before the epilogues, just to ease the transition and make the wrap-up feel a bit more complete.

Thank you so much Simon Teen and Lynn Painter for the eARC!

Lynn Painter has done it again! I absolutely devoured this book. Dani and Alec were so cute together. I loved seeing how their relationship progressed throughout the book. I highly recommend this one.


Thank you Simon Teen and NetGalley for the ARC!