What a GORGEOUS story.
I loved this book to freaking bits: it's soft and lovely and romantic, but also tough and angsty and so damn addictive. Sabrina and Lila as leads stole my whole damn soul.

I've read several of Lauren Gallagher's books, under her many pen names, and all of them have been an absolute blast to read. I love her writing style so much, and I love how she always manages to balance out the romance with character development and plot elements; and her hockey romances are no exception. When I discovered she was going to write a sapphic hockey romance, I was so damn excited; a sapphic enemies-to-lovers hockey romance? My brain went feral. OF COURSE, I had to get an ARC of this book; of freaking course, DUH.

I loved this book to bits: I managed to devour it in two short sessions, and I literally could not stop reading. I fell in love with both Sabrina and Lila since the very beginning, and I adored seeing their relationship develop. Both of them are strong-headed and both of them, especially Lila, make a lot of assumptions at the start. Seeing that initial dislike (tinged with a good amount of "I despise you but goddamn, you're so hot" reluctant attraction) morph into understanding (APOLIGIES WERE OFFERED! FORGIVENESS WAS EARNED <3) and friendship, and finally into love, was priceless.
I adored their relationship to bits, and I loved that, despite the rocky start and dislike between them, they managed to build such a strong and mature bond between them. Also, their chemistry was ABSOLUTELY scorching, and the steamy scenes, when they finally came along, delivered so hard. Whew.

There were a couple of niggles: mainly, the hockey portion of the book could get a bit too much, and some of it went over my head (I blame my Italian football*-is-our-god-no-other-sports-exist brain) (*football aka soccer *grr), and I kinda wished there had been a bit more of a resolution (view spoiler) but yeah, they were fairly minor niggles.

I loved the rest of the book so much! I loved all the side characters, and I'm very curious to see if some of them will get their own story one day.
I loved Sabrina so much, and I loved Lila so much too: I can't honestly say which one was my favourite, but if I had to choose, Lila stole my heart. I love flawed characters the best, and seeing Lila own up to her mistakes, change her mind, MATURE as a well-developed character, was a dream. Also, she was freaking hot; sue me, SUE ME.

I also freaking adored the ending. The last chapter was one of the most satisfying epilogues I've ever read (also one of the sweetest; I nearly cried, I LOVE THOSE GIRLS SO MUCH), and I loved the way Sabrina's relationship with her father was handled.

Sometimes, bad guys are given the chance to change their mind and not be a bad guy anymore, and that's okay, but I despise books were that chance isn't earned; Doran did not earn that right AT ALL, and I loved that Sabrina chose herself over placating that dickhead. Normalize cutting off emotionally abusive assholes, please <3

Anyway, I loved this book and I thoroughly recommend it.

TWs/CWs: sexism, homophobia, emotional abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, injury.

Many thanks to the author for the ARC. This is my honest review