**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Crossing the Ice is the first in a new ice skating series by Jennifer Comeaux. It is a spin off series from her Edge series. The ice skaters from the Edge series are the coaches in the Ice series, so they make plenty of appearances. I never read the Edge series, but I so completely loved Crossing the Ice that I am excited to see what the Edge series is about. Figure Skating is my favorite sport in the winter Olympics, so I was really excited to see how Jennifer was going to be able to bring the sport to life through her book. And boy did she ever bring it life.

The routines in the series were particularly exciting for me to read, because I felt like I was actually watching the pairs figure skating on tv. It was pretty incredible how vividly Jennifer Comeaux was able to paint the scenes and how fluid and realistic they felt. Another favorite of the book for me was the main characters and their super sweet romance. It was so nice to see a quiet, nice shy guy get to be the swoon worthy star. And how swoon worthy he really was! I loved Josh. He is beyond thoughtful and ridiculously talented. I loved watching him play  the piano and share with Courtney his ear for music. He really is crazy talented.

The romance was not rushed at all. Courtney and Josh baby stepped around each other for the first third of the book, and it was only through their tentative and behind the scenes friendship did they find out just how much they had in common and saw how compatible they were for each other. I really liked both Courtney and Josh, but it was really nice to see the dynamics between the two of them reversed. Don't get me wrong, Josh is all guy, but for once the author was not afraid to make the male character the more sensitive and emotionally fragile one. I mean that in only the best of ways. Josh was not afraid of his feelings for Courtney. And every time he got up the courage to flirt with her even the slightest bit, I swooned a little.

Crossing the Ice is marked as clean New Adult Contemporary romance. It is suitable for young adult readers as well. The plot of Crossing the Ice is not at all predictable. More than once I was surprised at the turn things were taking. Jennifer Comeaux is not afraid to crush your heart into a million little pieces, but luckily she is just as skilled at putting it all back together again. I was so utterly crushed, along with select characters, at something that happened. I felt their pain so clearly and I didn't know how any of us were going to recover. But then Jennifer worked some of her magic and the characters and I were suddenly ok. I loved it. Something that at first seemed so utterly awful, was turned into something that I now think is perfect. Crossing the Ice is a must read for fans of figure skating everywhere. You will fall in love with Josh and Courtney.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs