The adrenaline on the ice isn’t the only thing making the players’ hearts race. Lynn Painter, a New York Times bestselling author, has blessed her fans once again with the new release of her YA romance “Fake Skating”. With Painter’s track record being nothing but extraordinary, coming out with some of the most popular booktok books like “Better than the Movies”, “Betting on You”, etc. Fans yearned for more after falling in love with her old characters like Liz and Wes (“Better than the Movies”). These books are a hopeless romantic’s dream; they follow gut-wrenching plots, making them interesting and relatable. They are short enough to read fast but long enough to completely lose yourself in the book. However, in my opinion, this book takes the top spot for the best Lynn Painter book.
The book begins with Dani, a military brat who’s spent her life traveling from place to place. After her parents’ marriage fell apart, her mom decided to move Dani back to her hometown in Minnesota. However, Dani wasn’t nervous about the move but was more nervous about seeing him.
Alec grew up in Minnesota, spending the summers with Dani because their moms were childhood best friends, but after one weird night, he completely wrote her off from his heart. The tragic events that happened during her absence changed Alec. He went from being a clumsy nerd to being “Zeus,” the best hockey player in the state.
While romance takes the center stage, this book dives into some pretty serious topics, such as divorce, family issues, and trauma from a past car accident. Nonetheless, even though this book gets into these deep topics, it does not lose its sense of whimsy or romance. All of these elements together make for one of the most compelling and intriguing books I’ve read this year.
I feel like this quote perfectly captures the relationship between the two characters and also displays Painter’s amazing writing. Painter’s writing genuinely puts the reader in the character’s shoes, making it so you feel what they are ‘feeling’.
If you end up liking this book, I would recommend reading “Betting on You” by Painter and “Every Summer After” by Carly Fortune. Both of these books capture the cuteness of a childhood friends-to-lovers trope, but also have deep-rooted issues that you can lose yourself in this warm spring season.
