On the Brink of Passion by Tamsen Parker

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Title: On the Brink of Passion
Author: Tamsen Parker
Series: Snow & Ice Games #5
Published by: Swerve
Release Date: March 6, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 175
Genres: Sports Romance, Contemporary, Romance
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Finishing the Series Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 HoHoHo Readathon, Lenoreo's 2019 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

Welcome to the Snow and Ice Games where competition is not the only thing that is heating up! The fifth book in bestselling Tamsen Parker's romance series concludes with a pairs figure skating couple sharing the ice... and close quarters.

At the last Snow and Ice Games, Jubilee Buford and her husband and partner Stephen Wallace were on top of the pairs figure skating world. The newlyweds won gold and their future looked bright. But just months after she thought her world couldn’t get any more perfect, Jubilee lost everything. After a scrapped attempt at a solo career, her coach found her a new partner and new possibilities in Beckett Hughes.

Beckett’s had a hard time finding a partner to compete with. Someone who’s as aggressive as he is, someone who’s given up as much of their life as he has for success. He finally found a fit with Jubilee two years ago. She’s not much fun to skate with, but Beckett doesn’t need fun; he needs precision and effort and there Jubilee delivers.

When a housing mix-up in the Snow and Ice village forces them to room with each other, they’re suddenly compelled to recognize each other’s human side. And as Jubilee and Beckett start to see each other as people instead of robots on skates, they discover that they’ve got chemistry between the sheets as well as on the ice. But the flames between them in the bedroom might melt any chance they have at medaling, and that outcome is not acceptable to either one, or the country that’s counting on them to bring home the gold and the glory.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — Quite a few of the books in this series start off in such a strange manner wrt the romance…and this one was not an exception.  I was initially super uncomfortable with the arrangement between Beckett and Jubilee.  It was awkward, and not hot, and just…fucked up.  But here’s what’s funny.  It was awkward and fucked up to them too…and it really sort of opened up a completely different way of falling in love.  I loved that they were both so stubborn that they got themselves into that situation.  In the end I loved that it started off all awkward and wrong, because that made the transition that much more believable.  I loved that Beckett tried to put a stop to it, and kind of forced Jubilee to make some confessions to herself.  It was SO WEIRD, but it felt realistic in a weird way too.  I just…can’t go into it further without spoilers.

I had a HELLA hard time connecting with Jubilee.  Which is not to say that I didn’t feel for her situation, and that I didn’t actually understand how her past had shaped her into who she was.  But it was SO HARD to see her willingly hurting Beckett, and being willfully blind to him at the same time.  I can get her and still not really like her.  But the thing is, that I did like parts of her.  I liked her vulnerable side, and how she tried to hide her squishiness from the world as protection.  I loved her drive and determination, and her respect for Beck as her partner.  I just don’t think I could be her friend…then again, I’m not sure I could be any professional athletes friend, b/c that requires a certain personality that’s probably not super compatible with my own.

Beckett was much easier to love.  He reminded me a bit of Blake Riley in his general personality and demeanor.  He’s someone who is not shy about his own accomplishments, who’s super confident in his sexual capabilities (and rightfully so), but who has just this odd sunny demeanor that is hard not to love.  I found it interesting that the author made him less book smart, but showed that that didn’t impact how successful he could be.  I hurt for him and the kinds of discrimination he faced as a man in figure skating…I thought that was super interesting.  But he didn’t let it beat him down, he just became more determined and driven.  And that goofy personality was just so endearing…the pajamas…and the pillow.  *swoon*

As I said, their romance was odd…but I still fell in love with them together.  They fit somehow.  He didn’t take her shit personally, and she didn’t take his goofiness as lack of talent/drive.  And I loved how his effervescence kind of rubbed off on her.  I truly felt their caring for one another, despite the obstacles in their way.

As I’ve said with every other book in this series, the sport aspect is just BAR NONE the best.  I love all the different sports explored, and I loved that you could tell the author respects athletes, and enjoys the sports themselves.  I love that we actually get to read about them performing, and that I learn something new about them.  It just makes me really want to watch the Olympics right now.

So yeah.  These stories are all complicated and unusual, but I’m always invested in the end.  It helps that I love sports romance, and am humbled by athletes, so I’m fascinated by their lives (that I would never ever want for myself).