I'll admit this was an on-a-whim buy for me because of the whole hockey/figure skating connection. I was not prepared to be sucked into the story and blown away by it. The writing, the characters...it all worked out so well, and now I can't help but want the 2nd book in the series. 

I loved both Alex and Eli! I lost track of the number of times I was laughing out loud from some of their conversations and interactions, especially in the beginning of the book. The fact that Eli didn't take any guff from Alex made for some great times. Add both Jeff and Kuzy, teammates of Alex, and there is a lot of fun times in the bantering department. 

But the best thing of all was watching the two of them quietly and steadily fall in love with support from their friends when they needed it. And watching Alex put aside his years of anxiety and loneliness to be able to have something with Eli. 

As I said before, I'll be anxiously awaiting the 2nd book in the series, quietly hoping and wondering which amazing secondary characters will headline that book.

 

3-7-25 Back for a re-read after finishing Free from Falling. Reading that book made me nostalgic for Eli, Alex, and others, so I thought, what better thing than to re-read it again. You know it's a good book when you enjoy it just as much or more with the second re-read. *contented sigh*