Review: Kiss To Defy by Anna B Doe

Kiss To Defy by Anna B. Doe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author, all opinions are my own.

Figure staking and women's gymnastics were my favorite sports to watch during the Olympics.  I also love hockey!  I can barely skate forward myself, but I always appreciated those who could make it look so effortless on the ice.  This book combined two unlikely characters from two very different worlds and brought them together.

Rei has decided to attend Blairwood as she trains for the Winter Games in an attempt to shake things up and find some normalcy in her life that is anything but normal.  She has been skating since before she could walk and has won every figure skating title there is except at the Winter Games.  Her dad and coach think college is a bad idea and will distract her from her training.  Zane come crashing into her life, and because he is a hockey player their paths cross pretty regularly at the ice rink.  They also have mutual friends as her roommate is his roommate's sister.  After a rocker start to their friendship, Rei and Zane realize that they have chemistry between them.  It starts out slow but builds into something so much more.

This will get your emotions going for sure.  You want to shake Rei when she's being unreasonable and stubborn.  You want to punch Zane in the arm then give him a hug and tell him "it's not your fault" & " it will be OK".  You just want to punch Alex.  Jade and Grace are great friends that keep Rei grounded and help her have the college experience she was longing for.  The banter between all of the friends in this is great!  I love good banter.  This tackles some heavy issues such as poverty, substance abuse, physical abuse, and racism.  It gets pretty angsty.  To balance out the seriousness of the heavy topics, it also has some pretty steamy parts.    Anna really puts Rei and Zane through their paces in this one.  

You can tell that Anna did a ton of research to write this book.  I loved the combination of a hockey player and an ice skater.  Have you seen The Cutting Edge?  I love that movie.  Every time I read toe pick when Rei was going up for a jump in this I heard Moira Kelly's character saying "Toe pick" to DB Sweeney's character when he falls down.  

I really enjoyed this sports romance.  It has all of the things I want in a romance book: good banter, chemistry between the characters, angst and conflict resolution, great side characters for support, and a happy ending.  I also recommend you check out the bonus epilogue.  The book didn't feel 100% complete until I read it.  Don't miss out on that!

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