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Verdict: A quick, light fake-dating romance between a commitment-shy semi-pro hockey player and vet and the photographer who moves in next door — fun company with a lovable family, but the fake relationship barely needs faking, and the drama feels bolted on.
Best for: Readers who enjoyed On the Fly, want an easy evening read with neighbours, meddling moms and a little hockey, and do not mind a fake-dating setup that is really just dating.
Heat level: Not rated (romance.io has no steam rating)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 3.69 Goodreads average across 159 ratings)
Tropes: Fake dating, neighbours, forced proximity, meddling mother, commitment-phobe, toxic ex, hockey player and photographer, HEA.
Face Off is PJ Trebelhorn’s 2019 contemporary lesbian romance from Bold Strokes Books, a companion to On the Fly. Savannah Wells is a veterinarian who plays for a semi-pro women’s hockey team and has avoided relationships since a painful breakup in college. Her mothers keep setting her up on awkward blind dates. Madison “Maddie” Scott, a professional photographer escaping an abusive ex in Chicago, moves in next door — and turns out to be the team’s new photographer. When Savannah suggests a fake relationship to stop the matchmaking, Maddie is all in.
It holds a 3.69 average across 159 Goodreads ratings, with 57% of them four or five stars. Note that this is not the same book as the other hockey romance called Face Off that we have already reviewed.
What Is Face Off About?
This is a fake-dating romance with a hockey backdrop. The two meet in the most unusual way — Maddie, whose gas has not been connected, knocks on Savannah’s door to ask if she can use her shower — and the attraction is instant. When Savannah’s mother Lisa tries to set them up, and Savannah’s flirtatious best friend and teammate Kelly starts hitting on Maddie, the two agree to pretend to be a couple.
The story runs over several months, through the hockey season, a wedding Maddie is photographing and family gatherings, with Court and Lana from On the Fly in supporting roles. Complications arrive in the form of Maddie’s ex, Mary, and a homophobic teammate of Savannah’s.
What Makes This Sapphic Hockey Romance Work
- The family: The most praised element. Savannah’s two mothers, her banter with them and Maddie’s family give the book warmth and humour.
- Likeable leads: Readers generally like both women and their easy dynamic.
- Quick and light: At under 200 pages, many readers finished it in an evening and found it fun.
- Not hockey-heavy: Readers who do not follow hockey say it never gets in the way; fans wished for more of it.
- Series connections: Readers of On the Fly enjoyed seeing Court and Lana again.
Book Synopsis
After a rocky start, Savannah Wells finally has everything she wants in family, friends, a cat and her ice hockey team. If she could only convince her mother to stop setting her up on increasingly awkward blind dates, life would be perfect.
Professional photographer Madison Scott is not going to settle for less than the happily-ever-after she reads about in romance novels. But her new next-door neighbour is sexy as hell, so when Savannah suggests a fake relationship to stop her mother interfering in her private life, Maddie is all in.
When fake dating, fake kissing and forced proximity start to feel a lot like falling in love, Savannah and Madison will have to face off and decide whether exchanging pretend for reality is really possible.
My Review
The strongest thing about this book is its warmth. Savannah’s mothers are a delight, the opening banter between them sets a good tone, and the supporting cast is full of people who care about each other. Savannah and Maddie are pleasant company, and the book moves quickly. As a light companion to On the Fly, it does its job.
The two women come with enough backstory to make the pairing interesting. Savannah had her heart broken by a college girlfriend and has spent the years since as a player, clubbing with Kelly and avoiding anything serious. Maddie has just left an abusive, unfaithful partner in Chicago and moved from Chicago with her dog to be near her sister’s family. The book is told in alternating third person, so the reader watches Maddie fall hard while Savannah stays oblivious for a while, which gives the middle some charm. The story also plays out over six months or more — through a full hockey season — so the relationship has room to grow, and readers who liked it praised exactly that: two women who genuinely enjoy each other’s company from the start.
The problem is the premise. The fake relationship never really feels fake: the two are attracted from the first page and spend time together whether or not anyone is watching, so, as one reviewer put it, they are essentially dating for real while pretending they are not. Readers who came specifically for the trope were the most disappointed, and several found the reasons for the arrangement — stopping a mother’s matchmaking and a friend’s flirting — too weak to carry it. The shower-borrowing first meeting struck many as implausible.
The drama does not help. Maddie’s abusive ex and a homophobic teammate both appear, but readers felt these conflicts flared only when the plot needed them and then fizzled. Several found the late misunderstanding overblown and the ending rushed, and a few mentioned inconsistencies, including characters’ names being mixed up in the edition they read.
My honest note: If you liked On the Fly and want another easy visit to that world, this is harmless fun. If you want a fake-dating romance that plays the trope properly, look elsewhere.
| Element | In Face Off |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Savannah Wells & Maddie Scott — hockey player and vet, and the photographer next door |
| Core tropes | Fake dating, neighbours, meddling mother, commitment-phobe, toxic ex |
| Setting | The same semi-pro women’s hockey team as On the Fly |
| Heat level | Not rated — romance.io has no steam rating |
| Series | Companion to On the Fly — standalone, happy ending |
| Content notes | An abusive ex (past), homophobia from a teammate, sexual content |
How Spicy Is Face Off?
We have not scored the heat, because romance.io has no steam rating for Face Off — only four readers have rated it there. StoryGraph readers flag sexual content at a moderate level, and one reviewer described the relationship as cute “with a bit of sexual tension”. This is not a heat-driven book.
The content worth knowing about is Maddie’s past abusive relationship, which returns when her ex reappears, and homophobia from one of Savannah’s teammates.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you enjoyed On the Fly, you like light neighbours-to-lovers stories with meddling families, and you want something short. It is on our sapphic hockey romance list.
You may want to skip it if: you want a proper fake-dating arc, you dislike insta-attraction, or you want plenty of on-ice hockey.
In short: A pleasant, lightweight companion novel that underplays its own trope.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
This is a Bold Strokes backlist title with a modest readership, much of it from NetGalley advance copies, and a web search surfaced no Reddit threads. On Goodreads the split is 23% five stars, 34% four, 31% three and 9% two or one, a flatter curve than On the Fly. StoryGraph shows 3.74 across 26 reviews. It was not in Kindle Unlimited when I checked, and I found no audiobook on Libro.fm.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The family and the moms first. Second, the easy chemistry. Third, its speed. Fourth, the return of On the Fly’s couple.
What readers argue about and complain about: The fake relationship that is not really fake, above everything. Second, implausible setup, starting with the shower. Third, bolted-on drama from the ex and the teammate. Fourth, a rushed ending and thin character development.
The standalone question worth asking first: Face Off stands alone, but it is a companion to On the Fly, which most readers rate higher and which introduces Savannah.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same Face Off as the NHL hockey romance?
No. This is PJ Trebelhorn’s 2019 Face Off from Bold Strokes Books, about a semi-pro player and a photographer. We have a separate review of a different hockey romance with the same title, in which a woman plays in the NHL.
Do you need to read On the Fly first?
No. Face Off follows Savannah Wells, a teammate and friend of Court from On the Fly, and Court and Lana appear as supporting characters, but the book stands alone.
Is it a real fake relationship?
Only loosely. Savannah and Maddie are attracted to each other from the start and the fake dating is mostly an excuse, which is the most common complaint from readers who came specifically for the trope.
How spicy is Face Off?
romance.io has no steam rating for it, so we have not scored it. StoryGraph readers flag moderate sexual content, and one reviewer described “a bit of sexual tension” rather than a heat-first book.
Does Face Off have a happy ending?
Yes, the couple ends up together, though several readers felt the ending was rushed and would have liked an epilogue.
If You Loved Face Off, Read These Next
Start with On the Fly if you have not read it. For a neighbours-to-lovers fake-dating romance that commits to its slow burn, try Love Next Door, and our list of books like Written in the Stars has twelve more sapphic fake-dating romances. For more, browse our sapphic hockey romance list, the sapphic sports romance hub, or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Face Off sets out to combine fake dating and hockey in a light companion to On the Fly, and it succeeds as easy entertainment: the family is lovely and the leads are likeable. What holds it back is a fake relationship with no real reason to be fake, conflicts that appear and vanish on cue, and a rushed ending. For fans of Trebelhorn’s Kingsville world who want a quick read, it is worth it; for fake-dating fans, it is optional. Check Face Off on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Face Off ranks as a fair-to-good light hockey romance — warm in its family and easy to read, held back by an underused fake-dating premise and contrived drama.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ 3.69 average across 159 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 57% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ Fake-dating setup the main complaint
Romance ★★★☆☆ 3.3/5
- ✓ Instant attraction
- ✓ Easy chemistry
- ✓ Fake relationship barely fake
- ✓ Late misunderstanding overblown
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Savannah’s two moms a highlight
- ✓ Likeable leads
- ✓ Court and Lana return
- ✓ Thin development
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Quick, fun read
- ✓ Alternating third-person POV
- ✓ Implausible first meeting
- ✓ Inconsistencies noted by readers
Emotional Impact ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Warm family moments
- ✓ Maddie’s escape from an abusive ex
- ✓ Conflicts fizzle
- ✓ Low stakes
Heat Level — not rated
- ✓ No romance.io steam rating
- ✓ Moderate sexual content per StoryGraph
- ✓ Sexual tension more than heat
- ✓ Explicitness not confirmed
Ending ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Happy ending
- ✓ Standalone companion
- ✓ Rushed, per several readers
- ✓ No epilogue
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.1/5
- ✓ Short and light
- ✓ Pairs with On the Fly
- ✓ Little depth for a second pass
- ✓ No audiobook on Libro.fm
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