A figure skating book: One Wish by Robyn Carr

Recently, a publisher contacted me and asked me if I would review a book for them.  Why me? Because it is a figure skating book.  I'm all about figure skating getting more attention from all angles, so I agreed to post about the book on the blog.  They did send me a copy of the book- and I read most of it, but in the end, I decided I couldn't really review it.  See, I'm not a professional book reviewer, so I don't really know how to post critically about something that isn't really my style.  This book has a figure skater as a main character, but it isn't really a figure skating book- it's a romance novel.

If romance novel's are your style, you might enjoy this one.  The figure skating bits I read rang true enough to the real world of skating that you won't be distracted about them as a skater (The only thing that stood out to me as weird was one point where the skater was warming up doing double axels, figure eights, and spins- and it seemed like an odd mix of skills to just throw out there, but it was a 'fun' warm up, so maybe?), and might enjoy the interplay of your figure skating with your reading.

"One Wish" comes out in March 2015.  It is 7th in a series about the same town, but I think it stood alone having not read any of the others.

From the press release:
     Growing up, all Grace Dillon ever wished for was to be like everyone else. She was still known then as Izzy Banks, the fiercest and most renowned competitor in the world of figure skating—a world that excluded her from any normal life while her overbearing mother’s great wealth and expectations prevented her from fitting in with her athletic peers. So, when Izzy Banks, after winning Olympic gold at age twenty-three, chose to walk away from it all (including her family fortune) to reinvent herself as quiet, unassuming Grace Dillon, owner and operator of a thriving flower shop business in Thunder Point, Oregon—where even her friends have yet to recognize her—she did so without regret. Now, five years later and loving her new life, there’s only one thing keeping Grace from feeling completely normal...having a real romantic relationship for the first time in her life.
     High school teacher and weekend warrior Troy Headley may have a reputation as an easygoing, carefree bachelor who prefers his romantic attachments to be brief and uncomplicated, but his
broken heart tells a different story. Still healing from the wounds of that failed romance, all Troy
wants for now is someone with whom to have some fun, no strings attached...and Grace Dillon
looks to Troy like someone who could use a good fun coach to show her how to enjoy life before it
Grace knows what the score is with Troy—he’s still licking his wounds from his last relationship,
and he’s just reaching out to her as another lonely heart—so she needs to guard her heart because it
would be easy to lose it to him. For his part, Troy knows Grace is a bit of a mystery woman who
likes deflecting attention away from her past, which is a definite warning sign to him not to get
serious, but despite that, Troy finds himself wanting more with Grace than he ever has with anyone
     When Grace’s former life finally catches up to her in Thunder Point, however, she knows things are changing and getting more serious than anything Troy signed up for in this relationship. Grace isn’t prepared to be completely real, though, with a guy who’s known to like his relationships
uncomplicated, but as long as she isn’t ready to open up to him, Troy can’t tell if she’s someone to
whom it’s worth giving his heart. Unless something gives between them, Grace’s wish for real love
will remain just that—a wish.


Note: I was not compensated for this post, but I did receive a free copy of the book.