Emma Beauchamp, the face of American Women’s Hockey (Ice
Hockey), finally wins the Olympic Gold as her last hurrah and retires from
competitive sports to teach maths and coach the hockey team in her old alma
mater, Stonebridge, a boarding school. With close friends and a dream job, Emma
is in a happy place till her old nemesis, Campbell Jordan, arrives on campus as
a counsellor and assistant coach. Campbell, ex-captain of the Canadian team,
retired from professional competitive hockey before Emma because of a shattered
knee (gifted by Team America). During the days of their competitive playing,
Emma and Campbell were bitter rivals and their teams were sworn enemies. Emma
is not particularly thrilled by Campbell’s arrival but has to adult it up.
This is a straight-forward romance with great chemistry,
engaging banter and superb supporting cast. It is not slow burn but there is
the right amount of time spent to develop the relationship between Campbell and
Emma at a perfect pace. There are some funny, funny moments and some that
actually give you tingles, butterflies and romantic goosebumps. The whole
developing relationship is so well done that you just slow down and savour it. The
continuing competitiveness between Campbell and Emma is totally endearing. We
also totally loved that there is zero angst and no misunderstandings in this
one.
Campbell starts off charming and quickly moves to being
utterly captivating. Emma – okay, some mixed feelings here. Emma is adorable
for most of the book.
Campbell and Emma are so good together that you actually
feel heart-eyed about them. For most part they are equally romantic and into
each other. Then somewhere, Duncan lost her steady grip on the madly romantic
pulse, and slipped up with Emma. The first stumble was just before their first
time together. But that one was a teeny tiny stumble. Then came the point when
Campbell is in an accident and Emma has
to be told by a friend to go to the hospitalised Campbell. This didn’t sit
particularly well with us but we tried to explain it off as Emma being numb. It
was the final ‘grand gesture’ that stripped Emma of romantic-ness for us. Emma
doesn’t make the gesture. She doesn’t even think
it. She is actively against doing it
and is practically goaded to making the gesture by her friend. We really wish
that the big acts of flying to Campbell were both Emma’s doing and not Emma
being told to or made to do.
Up until almost 80% or more of the book it was a solid 5 for
us. And then, sadly, it lost its romantic steam. But that’s just us with our
starry-eyed expectation from love and romance.
This is definitely a great read and solidly recommended.
⭐⭐⭐☆★
