Not be confused with the 1990s film of the same name, this short and sweet story also features a romance between a hockey star and Olympic-hopeful skater. Coco is trying to make ends meet as an instructor to cover the expenses of rink time, her trainer, and costumes; Logan’s daughter is one of her pupils. When he’s late to pick up his kid from class, Coco decides to walk with Poppy and deliver her directly to he dad, and Coco is hit with a stray puck. A concussion ensues. She really can’t lose her income or training time, and Logan is a kind person who wants to do the right thing. He has the means to spoil Coco and provide her with whatever she needs, but she is fiercely independent and doesn’t want to accept his help, so he comes up with a stealthy way to get her employed as his good luck charm.

Miscommunication drives the plot, which is predicable and neatly wrapped up. Characterizations are warm and detailed, especially Poppy, Logan’s precocious daughter. The excessive gift giving and material details were a little squicky, as is the pursuing a romance while accepting pay, but this is a solidly written hockey romance with drama, action, lots of flirting. It’s a light, fun, clean read.

I received an advance reader’s review copy of #TheCuttingEdge from #NetGalley.

I really wanted to love this since I do really love hockey romances but this just wasn’t it for me. The majority of the setting was a hospital and the insta love just didn’t make me fall in love with their love…

I love me a sports romance - especially a hockey one. So when I saw this book avail as a read now title I was excited to scoop it up. Unfortunately it left a lot to be desired. For what seemed to be a finished copy it did not appear to have gone through any proper or thorough editing. Some examples being : character with multiple spellings of a name, character called by multiple similar names, repeated paragraphs, and a famous character referenced with incorrect spelling of the name, just to name a few. As well some completely inaccurate portrayals of situations, including but not limited to, a professional hockey player using a phone and text on the bench mid game in a high stakes situation. Or in any situation. That would NEVER happen at a professional level. All of these little missed details added up and unfortunately really detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

What saved the rating star wise for me was that I really enjoyed and connected with our main characters, and the premise of the book. I mean who doesn't love a figure skater/hockey player romance. We all fell for the movies of the same name for that reason. I just wish the execution had been better.

- hockey player & figure skater
- cinnamon roll MMC x sassy independent FMC
- single dad (swoon right)
- romcom to the max
- not much spice

I love the characters in this book and i'm apparently a sucker for a single dad in books too ... single hockey player dad? let's go!

Very little angst in this book and the banter between the characters was fulll of wit and flirtation
BLURB:

The Cutting Edge is a delightful and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that skates its way into the hearts of readers. Perfect for fans of sports-themed romance novels combining humour, romance, and the world of professional hockey.

Logan Rivers, a star pro hockey player for the St. Pete Slashers, who finds himself in a frustrating slump, unable to score for three consecutive games. His anxiety about this streak is palpable, making him a relatable and endearing character. Coco is an Olympic figure skater looking for a way to pay off her training expenses. She strikes a deal with an assistant coach to become Logan's "lucky charm." The chemistry between Logan and Coco sparks immediately, and as their relationship deepens, everything starts looking up for both of them. The budding romance between them is not only heartwarming but also genuinely funny, as they navigate their respective worlds with humour and charm.

The book cleverly explores the tension between Coco's secret and her growing affection for Logan. Her internal struggle to reveal the truth adds depth to the story and keeps readers engaged. The juxtaposition of the high-stakes world of professional sports and the grace of figure skating creates an intriguing backdrop for the budding romance.

The writing style is witty and engaging, with well-drawn characters and hilarious situations that will have readers laughing throughout the book. The dialogue is sharp and filled with banter, making it a true page-turner. As the story unfolds, readers will find themselves rooting for Logan and Coco, hoping that they can overcome the obstacles in their path. "The Cutting Edge" is not just a romantic comedy but also a tale of self-discovery and the importance of honesty in relationships.

In conclusion, "The Cutting Edge" is a fantastic addition to the romantic comedy genre. Lisa Daily's storytelling prowess shines as she brings to life a story that blends humour, romance and the exciting world of professional sports. If you're looking for a book that will make you laugh, swoon, and cheer for the characters, "The Cutting Edge" is a must-read that promises to entertain and leave you with a smile on your face.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh how I wanted to love this Hockey romance more 😭

Honestly it felt like the first half of the book took place in the hospital room and was 1,000% inaccurate about anything medical AT ALL and that truly distracted me. No one has just a concussion from getting whacked with a hockey puck, is unconscious for that long and just *magically* recovers. Just saying.

Plus their chemistry was weirdly insta-love adjacent and then there’s a random ex brought it for a good manly display of manliness.

This was a very run of the mill rom com sports romance. I didn’t feel super connected to the characters and it wasn’t super memorable. The third act break up/miscommunication was not my favorite. Not terrible, but not great

This was very much an average sports rom com, with a single parent. It was not bad, except for there were quite a few continuity errors.

There were moments where movements were written in, and then something would occur that did not correlate with how the character should have been,

For example, when the FMC was in the hospital, the author would state the character sat up at the prompting of the doctor and that the doctor began checking her out, and then on the next page, the author would have the doctor ask the FMC to sit up so they could look at her... even though that just happened.
This really took me out of the story, as it was quite jarring. It wouldn't have been so bad, if this didn't happen quite often.

A super cute romance, at times a bit cheesy. The third act breakup was too chaotic and maybe not necessary. It was very one sided. This 5 yr old talked like an adult to be a believable 5 yr old.

Due to life being chaotic, I wasn't able to read the book before or shortly after publication and with other ARCs and life obligations, I'm not going to get a chance to read it soon.
I will keep it on the TBR, though!

Thanks for the eARC and apologies for the lack of review.

This hockey romance was just so/so for me. The story jumped around a bit and it leaned heavily into an insta-love trope which just isn't my thing. Single dad trope is great but you have to know hoe to write kids, and how to make them likable lol.. I think this story has the potential, but needs a little more umph to it to bump up the stars.

This book was a hard one for me. I wanted to love every second of it, and there were parts of the book I was obsessed with. But, overall I felt the book to be very surface level. Coco and Logan fall in love so fast, and while the book makes a point to mention that (like a million times) there is really nothing bonding them together. Also, don't get me started on him "buying" her...YUCK. This entire book was "oh, someone hurt me, don't worry they spend thousands of dollars on me, and now I have a job lieing to them" I think all of this is made worse by the fact that they don't get to know eachother. The characters mention like, "oh he knows my pizza toppings because i told him" but we never get a scene of them really getting to know eachother. I would say the troupes of "instalove" is very very strong in this book. There are some super cute moments, which is honestly the only reason I did not DNF this book. I did not leave a review on my Instagram(@shelvedbytatum). But I did leave one on my Goodreads @tatumkirschenheiter

I am an absolute sucker for a hockey romance. There's just something about them that I can't get enough of. And while I typically love a hockey romance, I just liked this one.

The story itself was great. An Olympic level figure skater and the NHL hockey playing team captain. Sign me up! Even better was the inclusion of the single dad trope which is one of my favorites and their connection without really knowing one another because she is the kid's skating coach? Perfection.

However, while I enjoyed the story, the pacing felt very off to me. I think the lack of details made the story seem very insta-lovey when it was clear that Logan was interested in Coco before their fateful meeting. I would have loved for this story to me more fleshed out, because the potential was there.

Another factor that took away from the story for me was the constant formatting and grammatical errors. There were numerous parts of this book where lines of text were repeated, or a line was stated one way and then again another way. The editing just wasn't there and it took me out of the story.

While I wanted to love this one, I couldn't because I could not get over those reasons. But it was still a cute read.

Coco is hospitalized after accidentally getting hit in the head by Logan's hockey puck as she is trying to find one of her student's fathers after practice. Turns out, Logan is Poppy's dad. Logan visits her and the two bond and start to fall for one another.

This book was a little hard to follow. It was an ARC, so I expected some mistakes, but there were some major continuity errors. At some points I had to double back to figure out what I was reading. I felt that the hospital scenes, which took up about 64% of the book, were very drawn out and not very realistic.

The plot was cute and I was happy to see that Logan was a good father, and a respectful/decent guy.

Thank you NetGalley and Siesta Key for the eARC.

Hate to say I had to DNF the book. Kids in books can be a hit or miss and in this case it was a miss. From the start I just couldn’t feel the chemistry with the characters, so there wasn’t anything that really made me want to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lisa Daily for a copy of this book!

If you like cute witty hockey romance books, this may be for you. Logan Rivers is a cute charming single dad who just so happens to have some bad luck. Coco is an Olympic athlete whos known to be a good luck charm. What happens when this single dad falls for his good luck charm?
The banter in the book was good, it kept me smiling all the way through.

An Olympic figure skater gets brained by a stray puck shot by the captain of the professional hockey team at the facility they both train at sounds like the set up for a great book. And it was. Sadly, the book couldn’t sustain the amazing start it had and the second half went downhill.

The first half was amazing. Logan’s over the top simping for Coco was a thousand kinds of adorable. As was his relationship with his daughter. The writing was well-paced and the insta-connection between the main characters was golden. I liked the dual POV, the voice was great, I was loving it.

And then her medical diagnosis changes (I have a million thoughts on how this was handled) and everything goes downhill, both for Coco and in the book. A lot of things happened just for convenience to the plot (no one stays in the hospital for a week for a concussion, especially when they have people at home to support them) and didn’t necessarily make sense within the story or were clearly unresearched.

There were a lot of underdeveloped character pressure points which made certain scenes lackluster or even pointless (I’m looking at you, restaurant confrontation). And Coco’s lucky charm plotline felt completely unnecessary. I will allow that I just hate that kind of plot in general and have a personal bias against it so might be overly harsh here.

Since I read an ARC of this book, I tried really hard not to judge on the errors but there were multiple continuity errors and discrepancies in actions between narrators. The timeline jumped without warning in ways that didn’t make sense and were jarring, causing me to have to reread the last few pages to see if I missed something. I feel like this book had so much potential that went unrealized.

Single dad hockey player meets ice skater rom com. Had very cute moments between the FMC and MMC. One steamy scene. Favorite part was the MMC's daughter.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Hockey star meets figure olympic skater/figure skating teacher. When a misplaced puck ends up with the FMC being taken to hospital, it's up to the MMC to step up and nurse her back to health. It was largely surface level with some super cheesy lines (but who doesn't secretly love some cheese). It was also slow. Like 16 chapters to cover 3 days where not a lot happened. Over all a super fun, cute professional athlete romance.

For you if you like: single dad romance, hockey romance, sports romance, hospital romance, he falls first, insta-love, dual PoV

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read and review this book early.

3.5 stars
This book was very cute and heartwarming. Besides the fact that the grammar and interpunction were off at times i really enjoyed reading it!