Hearts on Ice Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A short, sweet YA hockey romance about a bullied new girl and the confident star player she falls for — cute, low-angst and full of lovable friends, but thin, predictable and over almost before it starts.

Best for: Younger YA readers, anyone who wants a quick sapphic hockey read with a healthy first relationship, and readers who love a supportive friend group.

Heat level: Not rated (YA; one kiss)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 4.03 Goodreads average across 293 ratings, weighed against its length)

Tropes: New girl, star athlete, first love, found family, healing from bullying, high school hockey, YA.

Hearts on Ice is Kathleen Sanders’s 2025 YA sapphic romance from Darkspace Press. When Emily’s father loses his job, she has to leave the private school she has always known for a public high school, where she plans to keep her head down. That plan lasts until she meets Sophia, a confident, outgoing star of the Lakeside Lumberjills hockey team — and her new chemistry partner.

It holds a 4.03 average across 293 Goodreads ratings, with 69% of them four or five stars, and 4.4 stars across 266 Amazon ratings. Readers generally enjoy it as a quick, feel-good read, while wishing there were more of it.

What Is Hearts on Ice About?

This is a first-love story with a hockey backdrop. Emily left her old school after being bullied for being queer — a girl who kissed her spread lies that made everything worse — and she is afraid to fall for anyone again. Sophia’s team is chronically short of players, Emily is drawn into Sophia’s close circle of friends, and before long she is on the ice herself.

The friend couple Mel and Bel play matchmaker when the romance hits a snag, and the book ends with a big game and a first kiss.

What Makes This YA Hockey Romance Work

Friendship: The supporting cast, especially Mel and Bel, is the most praised element. One reader said everyone needs a Mel and Bel in their corner.
A healthy relationship: Readers describe Emily and Sophia’s romance as sweet and healthy.
Emily and her dad: Several readers loved the father-daughter relationship.
Hockey action: Readers enjoyed a good amount of on-ice action, ending with an action-packed game.
Low angst with real themes: The book touches on bullying, homophobia and grief but keeps a hopeful tone.

Book Synopsis

When Emily’s life is upended by her father’s job loss, she is forced to leave the private school she has known her whole life and start over at a public high school. Determined to keep her head down and avoid the pain of her past, she soon learns that staying invisible is easier said than done — especially after a chance encounter with Sophia, the gorgeous, talented hockey player who seems to have it all.

Sophia is everything Emily is not: confident, outgoing and a star on the Lakeside Lumberjills. But as Emily is drawn into Sophia’s orbit, she discovers the girl beneath the helmet has struggles of her own. Together they forge an unexpected connection on and off the ice, even as Emily tries to protect her heart from falling for someone again.

My Review

For a short YA romance, this has a lot of heart. Emily’s wariness after being bullied at her old school is believable, and the way a new group of friends simply accepts her is the book’s best quality. The romance is gentle and healthy, the hockey gives it energy, and the final game is satisfying. Readers who read it in a single evening — and many did — describe it as pure feel-good.

The limits are mostly about length. At around 166 pages, the story stays on the surface: one reader felt the emotions could have gone deeper, and another pointed out that the blurb promises Sophia has struggles of her own that never really materialise. Several found it predictable, a few called it a little cringe, and the ending struck some as abrupt, with no real closure on the school year or Emily’s family situation. One reader found the idea that a lifelong skater could not stop on the ice hard to believe, and another wondered whether the book or its cover had been made with AI; I found no evidence either way.

My honest note: If you want a sweet, clean, quick sapphic hockey story — especially for a younger reader — this is a nice pick. If you want depth or length, it will feel slight.

Element	In Hearts on Ice
Central relationship	Emily & Sophia — new girl and hockey star, first love
Core tropes	New girl, star athlete, found family, healing from bullying
Setting	A public high school and the Lakeside Lumberjills hockey team
Heat level	Not rated — YA, one kiss
Series	Standalone — happy ending
Content notes	Homophobia, bullying, death of a parent

How Spicy Is Hearts on Ice?

It is not. This is a YA romance, and readers note that there is only a single kiss — one joked that they wanted more than that. We have not given it a heat score.

The content worth knowing about includes homophobia and bullying in Emily’s past and the death of a parent, handled within an otherwise feel-good story.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a quick, clean YA sapphic romance, you love friend groups, and you enjoy hockey. It is on our sapphic hockey romance list.

You may want to skip it if: you want a full-length novel, adult characters, or emotional depth.

In short: A sweet, short YA hockey romance with great friends and not much room.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

This is a small-press YA title with a steady readership, and a web search surfaced no Reddit threads. On Goodreads the split is 40% five stars, 29% four, 23% three and 5% two or one. I could not find a meaningful StoryGraph profile or an audiobook.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Mel and Bel and the friend group first. Second, a healthy, sweet romance. Third, the father-daughter bond. Fourth, the hockey.

What readers argue about and complain about: Length, above everything. Second, surface-level emotion. Third, predictability. Fourth, an abrupt ending.

The standalone question worth asking first: Hearts on Ice is a standalone. For a longer YA sapphic sports romance on the ice, It’s a Love/Skate Relationship is the obvious next step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hearts on Ice a YA book?

Yes. It is a young adult romance about two high school girls, and readers describe it as being on the younger side of YA.

How long is Hearts on Ice?

About 166 pages, closer to a novella than a full novel. Many readers finished it in one sitting and wished it were longer.

How spicy is Hearts on Ice?

Not at all. It is a YA romance, and readers note that there is only one kiss. We have not given it a heat score.

Does Hearts on Ice have a happy ending?

Yes, it ends happily with a big hockey game and a kiss, though a few readers found the ending abrupt and wanted more closure.

What are the content warnings for Hearts on Ice?

Readers mention homophobia, bullying and the death of a parent, alongside the mostly feel-good tone.

If You Loved Hearts on Ice, Read These Next

Try It’s a Love/Skate Relationship for a full-length YA romance between a hockey player and a figure skater, or She Drives Me Crazy for a YA sports rom-com. For more, browse our sapphic hockey romance list, the sapphic sports romance hub, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Hearts on Ice sets out to be a sweet YA hockey romance about healing and first love, and it succeeds on a small scale: the friends are lovely, the romance is healthy and the ending is happy. What holds it back is how little room it gives itself — thin emotions, predictable beats and an abrupt finish. For a quick, feel-good YA read, it is worth it. Check Hearts on Ice on Amazon →

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, Hearts on Ice ranks as a fair-to-good YA hockey romance — warm in its friendships and healthy in its romance, held back by its brevity and lack of depth.