Thrown for a Loop by Sarina Bowen is live!

A second-chance hockey romance between a figure skater and NHL player, this book brought Cutting Edge vibes (“toe-pick!”), and it’s such a gorgeous read!

 

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Blurb

Fans suspect that the bad boy of hockey has a few skeletons in his closet. They have no idea he also has a sparkly bodysuit… #toepick!

When they met at figure skating camp ten years ago, Chase Merritt was a scrappy hockey player from the wrong part of town, and Zoe Carson was the up-and-coming ice princess. They fell in love faster than you can say triple toe loop, until Zoe makes a fateful error that ends up costing Chase dearly.

Almost a decade later, their fortunes are reversed. Chase is the MVP of the New York Legends hockey team, while Zoe—their new skating coach—has years’ worth of personal and professional bruises. It’s hard to face him again—all six feet and two hundred pounds of muscle and swagger.

And anger. Chase is in hot water with management, and refusing to work with Coach Zoe no matter how badly he needs to shore up his stride—and his image. Until a journalist digs up an old video of Zoe and Chase performing a skating program, and the internet goes wild.

Management seizes on the opportunity for a P.R. redemption, ordering Zoe and Chase to reprise their flashy routine.

Skating with him again—to a love song, of course—is pure agony. But it’s also Zoe’s only chance to unpack the truth of what really happened that night ten years ago. And to at least find forgiveness, if she can’t win back his heart.

 

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Review

4 stars

A second-chance hockey romance between a figure skater and NHL player, this book brought Cutting Edge vibes (“toe-pick!”), and it’s such a gorgeous read!

Figure skater, Zoe, and college hockey player, Chase, met as teenagers at a skating camp. They fell hard for each other, but their summer ended with both of their hearts broken. Almost ten years later, Zoe is hired as the skating coach for the New York Legends, which just happens to be Chase’s team. She’s coming out of a toxic relationship and eager to make her mark, he’s a star but is currently in a slump and getting negative press for his bad moods.

It’s not the friendliest of reunions for them, with Chase refusing to even engage with Zoe. And then an old video of them skating together at camp goes viral, and the two of them are paired up to skate together again for the team’s upcoming showcase. It’s a situation full of tension and longing (on Zoe’s part at least), and when Chase’s snark finally gives way to actual conversation, they start to get to know each other as adults, and they begin to unravel all that happened between them all those years ago.

The story shifts between the present and the past, with dual perspective in the past (though mostly Chase), and present day is Zoe’s POV, which I love, because there’s so much mystery around Chase in the present, and what he is thinking and feeling. Not knowing where his head is at brings a nice intensity of their encounters as we watch their chemistry-filled interactions.

The romance is a slow burn with a lot of build-up, and my only wish is that we could have seen more of their reconciliation. When they finally get there, it happens really fast, and while we do get to see them happy together, I felt like I needed a bit more. But I really enjoyed this story; Zoe and Chase are great characters, and there’s some fantastic character development as they find their way back to each other.

Along the way, we get to meet a number of the Legends players, and I am so happy this is the beginning of a new series, because this is a fantastic bunch of guys, and I can’t wait to read more about them!

This is such an enjoyable read, and I loved this one – 4 stars.

I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Brooke Bloomingdale and Ryan Hudson, and it’s a great one to listen to.

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.

 

New York Legends

 

For more great reads, check out our Sarina Bowen Author Spotlight