Thank you so much to Mary Warren who sent me an eARC of this book. 

While contemporary romance isn’t my go to out of the romance genre, if I’m going to read one it had better be a sports romance. I saw promotions for this book on Instagram and loved the included representation of a fat fmc and neurodivergent main characters. I couldn’t wait to jump into a novel with characters who might look, sound, and act like me. 

This is a very sweet (and spicy!!) holiday romance that spans December through February. Our FMC is the hockey coach’s daughter who ends up spending her holiday alone in her family’s cabin. Our MMC is one of the star hockey players who happens to be autistic. His scheduled down time is extremely important to his routine and also maintaining the precious balance of his social battery. 

This story was deeply personal to me, and in some ways that made it even harder to review. I was diagnosed autistic earlier this year, and while not every autistic person (or fictional character) experiences their world in the same way, I related to both characters on very deep levels. This story does not shy away from how neurodivergent traits can be absolute gifts that also come with learning curves about navigating life and relationships around you. I openly sobbed through a few scenes, knowing exactly how characters felt, and why their actions had seemed appropriate in the moment, but potentially harmful in hindsight. 

I enjoyed that we got to watch our characters navigate more than just a blissful Christmas snowed in together. We watched them return to the real world, grapple with New Years resolutions, and experienced them settling into new routines together. I loved that our FMC is an artist who goes through such a beautiful mental transformation throughout this story. The MMC helps her to see her differences through a more positive lens, and introduces the idea that asking for help or using aids isn’t a bad thing.

Overall I thought this was a beautiful story about these two characters, who are dreadfully underrepresented. My one and only complaint is that I personally didn’t mesh well with the writing style. Because I received an ARC I’d be very curious to go back and pick up a finished novel by this author to see if there are any major differences in the writing, or if this is in fact a true representation of the author’s voice and style. If that’s the case, I’m so happy I was able to read and review this book, but I probably wouldn’t read more from this author in the future, though I do encourage other readers to give these books a try!