Lynn Painter’s latest YA novel offers a warm and engaging look at teen life, set in a vividly drawn small-town Minnesota community. With moments of humor, vulnerability, and emotional depth, it delivers a satisfying coming-of-age romance—even if a few elements occasionally miss the mark.

The hockey culture and close-knit dynamics of the town feel genuine and immersive, providing a solid foundation for the characters’ relationships and personal growth.

Dani’s journey, shaped by her military upbringing and social anxiety, is thoughtfully portrayed. Her emotional arc—marked by insecurity, isolation, and growth—feels authentic and resonant.

Though Alex's character begins as the typical popular athlete, his internal struggles, particularly around family responsibility, give him compelling depth and balance Dani’s story well.

The childhood-friends-to-strangers-to lovers progression is handled with care. Despite a few unresolved issues, the emotional connection between Dani and Alec feels sincere and like a traditional High School first romance. Their fake-dating setup provides some genuinely sweet moments.

Alec’s voice occasionally lacks authenticity, with certain music choices and dialogue feeling out of character. Some of the teen banter reads like an adult’s version of Gen Z-speak, which to me disrupts immersion in the plot. While intended to enhance emotional moments, the inclusion of song lyrics often feels overly literal or awkwardly placed.

Though promising, many secondary characters lack development. More depth could have strengthened the novel’s strong sense of community.

This is a thoughtful and charming YA romance with a well-developed setting, a relatable heroine, and a sweet love story. Despite minor missteps in voice and side character development, it remains a heartfelt read likely to please fans of Lynn Painter and contemporary YA romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review– A Heartfelt YA Romance with strong themes and room to grow.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Fake Skating is Lynn Painter at her best. I honestly don’t know how she continually does it. She can write YA that reads authentically teen while still appealing for an adult reader.

Dani and Alec’s dynamic was good. SO GOOD. I loved the complexities and miscommunications of their past. I loved that they were thrown together again and found each other different than they both remembered. I was obsessed with the drive they each had for their own separate goals and the way that fake dating made those goals more obtainable.

In a few words, this was dynamic, hot, flirty, and just delicious.

Lynn Painter did it again! Such a cute YA romance book. We’re so ready to get this on our store and we already know is gonna be one of our best sellers this year. The way Lynn’s characters are so relatable and wholesome, truly love her writing. 10/10 book

Overall, I would recommend this book for kids wanting to get into romance books. This book was humorous, romantic, and corny, with a well-developed and enjoyable storyline. The book was not overly fast-paced, and the characters were well developed, with each having their own plot, challenges, and growth while still letting you feel the butterflies. However, because it is YA, this book is cheesy, and I would not recommend it to older readers. I also thought the finale was a little hurried because they split up, Alec got in an accident, and they got back together all inside 50 pages. Furthermore, Benji was not mentioned at the conclusion, or at least how he responded when he found out they had reconciled, which I thought was out of character.

I love Lynn Painter books, and Fake Skating is no exception. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read this book early. The pacing is off at times, and miscommunication as part of the plot is tough, but overall a solid fun YA book.

Dani and Alec are best friends from childhood. After a 5-year absence from each other’s lives, Dani returns to Alec’s hometown to finish out her senior year of high school. While their reunion starts rocky for these former best friends, they find themselves in a situation that would be best remedied with some fake dating. Lynn Painter’s books are so easy to read, and I ate this up. Do yourself a favor if you enjoy YA novels and read this one.

Thank you NetGalley, Lynn Painter and Simon & Schuster books for an advanced digital copy of this book

The premise of this book was really cute, and I liked it overall. I liked the family component of the story, and the idea of childhood besties reconnecting and falling in love. However,I felt like I didn’t really feel like the romantic relationship developed as well as I would have liked. They go from not speaking and being hung up on events from the past that they refuse to acknowledge (and later leads to my least favorite thing: miscommunication trope) and having that drawn out but then the switch to caring about each other and being in love felt too abrupt I felt like it needed to be eased into more. I still think it’s a cute YA story, and I loved that it was a little hockey romance, 3.5 stars

This was the Ya version of books like ice breaker. Is was sweet, and heartwarming, and super fun to read. It was also quite predictable, but I loved it so much. The characters are realistic and relatable and could have been friends in my high school. There were more swear words in this book than other Lynn Painter books if that’s a hesitation for parents.

I’m obsessed and still crying from the ending. I loved Alec and Dani so much. Had literal butterflies kicking my feet throughout the whole thing!

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
Release date:September 30th
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Age rating:15+
Spice:none

Thank you for this arc! This book has done the impossible and has dethroned Betting On You, and is now my favorite Lynn Painter book. GUYS WHEN I TELL YOU THIS IS MY EVERYTHING! It’s one of those books where once I finished it I wanted to go back to page one and read it all over again. It’s literally “Now That We Don’t Talk” but in a book. The writing is amazing. Lynn always captures that romcom feeling so fully and it is just perfect. The plot was so so so good. Ex childhood friends, fake dating, and hockey?! PERFECT. Alec and Dani are my besties. Alec’s struggles with putting so much pressure on himself was something I found myself relating to so much. He’s also just such a kind and sweet guy and I absolutely love that. AND HE SOMETIMES WEARS GLASSES. Everything with Dani was so relatable. Lynn described the feeling of moving around often growing up and how it affects you so well, it was almost painful how seen I felt. Dani is me, and I am Dani. She’s also just such a good character. I felt like she was so real. I love her so much. Their friendship and relationship was SO SWEET. Their banter was EVERYTHING. And just the way they fully understand each other, perfect. Just perfect. Absolutely loved all(but one) side characters. It was just so so so good. I miss this book already. If you love a romcom and have read her other books definitely pick this one up!

First off I want to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an advanced copy. This is my first book I've read by Lynn Painter. I have her other books on my shelf but I haven't read them. I loved this book. I've been in my sport era for a while and this book did not disappoint. I loved it, the characters I like them all even grandpa. I'm not a big YA reader but this book was amazing. I recommend it for anyone who wants to start reading sport romance it's a perfect book to start with overall I loved it and is a great read.

⛸️💌This book starts out at strong, and continues throughout the entire story. From the prologue I was hooked. This was my first read from Lynn Painter and I will be reading more! 🫶🏼
Her writing reads so effortlessly!
Any age can read this book (14+)! While it’s ya, i a 22 year old, enjoyed every second of it. I wish I had these books in high school! It is such a cute, fun story.
~tropes:
friends—> enemies—> fake dating
hockey romance 🏒
childhood best friends
fake dating 💌
I can’t wait to share a review on Instagram and TikTok closer to release!

Well… I’ve come to the sad gut wrenching realization that I don’t think I am the right audience for Lynn Painter 😭 specifically her YA books. I have been prologuing reading Better Than The Movies for the right time so when I received this ARC I thought maybe I should give this YA read a try ASAP. Btw I’ve only read The Love Wager from Lynn Painter. I will say that I struggled getting through and finishing this ARC. The dialogue, how predictable the plot was, and the MCs were a let down. I did catch myself mostly skimming a significant amount of pages. Was this read a little cheesy? Yes, yes it was. Did I find the MCs cringey? Yes, yes I did. Did I feel that there was a lack of chemistry? Unfortunately yes again. Now I have read some other YA reads so going into this ARC perhaps did influence my already formed thought process and amped up this read more than I should have. I so wished I would have loved it but at lass I’m just not the right audience. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

MOVE OVER WES AND LIZ!!!!

wow. LYNN NEVER FAILS!!! the swoon, ALEC, OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!! probably my new favorite book!! such a sweet story! 5 stars, no , 6 stars.

I have been a longtime fan of Lynn Painter, so naturally, I applied for Fake Skating! This is a wonderful sports romance, fake dating, filled with second chances, banter, and it is YA. It's everything that YA lovers and romance lovers will enjoy. Dani is drawn back to Southview Minnesota, where she had time with Alec her dear friend, and over time their friendship changed and went away. Rekindling their relationship because of what both of them can gain resurfaces feelings between the two. I also had a soft spot for Dani's grandpa. Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, NetGalley, and Lynn Painter for this ARC! It ended on a sweet note and I am excited to share with my book friends of this upcoming new one!

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　spoiler free review　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

.❅ big thanks to netgalley & the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review !! ❅

grab a mug of ur favorite beverage + cue up your sombr playlist, it’s time babes.

the absolute joy i had when i saw this inbox should be bottled up so when im sad i can like, use it again??? Because my mom was genuinely concerned when i went “OH MY GOSH I GOT THE LYNN PAINTER ARC” it’s an honor to be writing this review because lynn eats and devours every single time. Call her a chef because she’s cookin (pls im sorry) 🤭🤭

I binged this book in one night – dont question it, my goodreads updates were me trying to be normal haha

“everyone loves the things you do” ~ when we were young

I loved almost everything about this book! It was so close to being a five stars but i docked off one star for two reasons which i will dive into below! But first off the positives.

✎ fake dating is hands down one of my favorite tropes. Nothing will ever top enemies to lovers or academic rivals but fake dating >>> it slays every single freaking time. The tension, the yearning, the “fake” but its “real”ness of it makes me giggle and kick my feet. Also makes me feel single! We stan that hahahah..no. um yay
✎ our characters felt real and i could relate to dani and some of the other characters so well. Couldn’t relate to alec because im not like a ripped guy who plays hockey and is like super hot (in my dreams ig)
✎ The writing !! so many quotable moments + moments where i was just laughing
✎ the childhood friends to lovers to strangers to friends-ish to fake lovers to lovers eats every time >>>
✎ he hands her a tote bag and says “fill her up” at the bookstore (that’s what she said)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ now onto the cons

✎ miscommunication. If someone wanted to torture me alive they could hand me a banana and a misscommunication trope book and tell me to eat and read. Id rather die ty. Im not being dramatic guys, this is the truth and nothing but the truth .
But i loathe that trope with a passion but MOSTLY when it’s over the stupidest thing ever. Or something that could be resolved with *clears throat*

TALKING LIKE THE ALMOST OR ADULTS THAT YOU ARE!?

But yeah, the miscommunication in this book almost made me throw it across the room at 2am in the morning which
1. would have made me break my phone
2. woken up the entire household over some idiots not talking to each other
So i opted to just rant in my notes app (which btw, my notes app makes no sense, i don’t even know if i was speaking english in it that early in the morning.)

✎ the language. now hear me out here. im not a sensitive to language girly, it usually doesn’t bother me. but when the mmc does not know how to desrive like…anything or mentally think without being like “yada f***ing blah f***ing sh*t” im just like ???
like babes, the library is right behind u, lemme grab a dictionary and while im at it, i’ll snag a theasyruus for you too! It’ll totes help that…vocab. anyways that’s a random rant on me lol like it just kinda effects the writing style when it’s not in dialogue !!

✎ our mmc alec already liking dani when his brain was still filled with the “misscomunication” UGH

✎ if a man ever calls me “baby”, “honey” and says “good girl” after one singular thing. Please write up my speech for my funeral because ive died and not in an at all good way. no, ive deceased from cringe. too many pet names. I’m a “last name by term of endearment” girly >>

✎ all in all, not a lot of cons so that says enough hehehe

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ characters !!

dani
I actually had no idea if id like her at not at the beginning but i loved her. She spoke her mind and wasn’t trying to be like *tucks hair* “Im just…not like…other girls” she was her and i love that. Also lets get some recongizition for a fellow 5’7 girlie! Like when her grandpa went, thats pretty tall for a girl, i literally was like, bestie no it’s not but okay!!!
Love her dedication and how she’s focused on her goals we stan a girlboss.

alec
Look this man might (i mean might) be better than wes bennet. He was a walking “touch my gf and u will reget whatever u say”. I mean his man punched a guy talking bad (no not bad, disgusting) about dani. He’s such a loverboy under his “im such a bad guy like who plays hockey.” this man does have the mouth of a sailor though, holy frickin crap. (i did that on purpose)
But realises WHAT TEENAGE BOY WHO PLAYS HOCKEY IS LISTENING TO SOMBR !? like imagine “hey what are you listening to?” “oh just undressed by sombr and anxiety by doechii” plsssssss. If u are a teenage boy reading this, my culture is not to be played with. JK JK\

grandma mick
My. Favorite. Character. I need a grandpa mick in my life. I mean that. He was an absouloute diva and just always had the best lines. Also his disaste for one character–i have respect for grandpa m.

benji.
go drive ur frickin mazzartti off a cliff 😃 if benji has no haters just know i died


cassie
Lynn painter writes the best girl friendships who have their own personalities and are divas. Love her sm 🤭🤭


other
Too many characters ngl. Also her dad? He sucks.


⋇⊶⊰❣⊱⊷⋇ ⋇⊶⊰❣⊱⊷⋇ wrapup ⋇⊶⊰❣⊱⊷⋇ ⋇⊶⊰❣⊱⊷⋇

☃︎ all in all, this book eats and is the perfect book for reading in a cozy cabin or by the beach….? Or on a trip or on a plane, or JUST GO FRICKIN READ THIS BOOK! It has humor, fun characters, and like the hockey vibes without being too much. We stan. If u love lynn painter, you wont regret reading fake skating. ☃︎


.❅ big thanks to netgalley & the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review !! ❅

full review to come !! i need to understand my notes app-- (aka no clue what i was yapping about) but THIS BOOK >>>

pre-review ive peaked in life bc i got the arc

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter is pure rom-com gold with hockey and fake dating. What more could you want?! The banter is top-tier, the chemistry is off the charts, and I was grinning like an idiot the whole time. It’s got all the cozy vibes and swoony moments that I love about Lynn Painter’s books. Lynn Painter has once again delivered a story that feels like a warm hug and a sugar rush at the same time.

4 stars ⭐️
A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Fake Skating!!

This was an absolutely amazing read. I found myself completely drawn in by the characters, especially Dani and Alec. Their connection felt so genuine and I loved watching their relationship grow and evolve throughout the story.

Chapter 15, in particular, really stood out to me. The way Alec validated Dani‘s feelings and supported her during her moments of anxiety and panic attacks was incredibly moving. He just seemed to know when something was wrong and was always there for her, no matter what had happened before. I loved everything about his support, belief in her and the way he protected her.
I also adored the family dynamics in this book. Mick’s character really stood out and the relationship between the parents and their friends added so much warmth. It had a “found family” feel that made the story more comforting. And the growth of Dani was beautifully written!
The hockey aspect was another highlight for me. It was so refreshing to read about a close-knit community that rallies around the sport and each other.

All in all, Fake Skating was a fantastic read. Lynn Painter has done it again! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartfelt story. <3

Cute & flirty! The perfect teen romance with all the fixings: swoon worthy lead male, quirky female character, fake dating trope and small conflicts throughout. Quick and easy to read -- a page turner! If you love Lynn Painter, you'll love this one.

Lynn Painter YA sports romance books are literal catnip for this reader. I was stoked to receive advanced access and relished reading this dopamine infused romp, and I think you will as well.

Dani's parents divorce in her senior year of high school and she has to move to her mom's hometown in Minnesota to complete high school. We know she relished her summer's there as a kid and her relationship with best friend, the quiet and intelligent, Alec. He ghosted her five years ago, and she is trepidatious to begin seeing in school and throughout the community.

Alec has so much on his plate. He is being scouted for the NHL as a huge hometown hockey phenom. And, since his dad's injuries keep him from working full time, it is up to him to help the family financially. Now, his mom wants him to help out Dani? She ghosted him.

Dani needs an extracurricular to help her move off the Harvard deferred list, and she joins the hockey team as a manager. Dani has an enigmatic, reclusive NHL legend of a grandfather that lends the coaches to suggest the two fake date to rehab his image as a partier and hothead.

We have fake dating, the cutest Minnesota community, a banging soundtrack, and Painter's signature chemistry. This one is pure fun.

This was my first Lynn Painter book, and I loved it! A very cute story with lots of emotional depth and character development. Would definitely recommend for someone who enjoys YA reads.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!