Whispers on the Ice :

Rating:
Summary: good not what i expected
Review: i felt that whispers on ice was a good book. I just felt that this was a somewhat fantasy that this author had on Katia and Sergei which is kind of freaky. Also i don't feel it's a nice book i mean after all this book was inspired by Katia and Sergei and for me it's awful that she writes a book about how she probably thought the relationship of them was. I felt really bad at the end of this book the way this book was inspired or by whom. I recommend it if you don't know much of katia and sergei but if you don't well then it's a good book to pass time.

Rating:
Summary: You've got to get this book
Review: This book has got a fresh look at romance. No simpering females here. It's all heart and soul and the characters are strong people with a love of not only skating and each other, but also of life. Join Aleksei and Jordan on this emotional rollercoaster. You'll laugh, cry, and probably go through a box of tissues.

Rating:
Summary: Preposterous and Amateurish
Review: While many fictional books set in the skating world lack accuracy and while many romance novels are trite and predictable, it would be hard to find a skating romance as preposterous and amateurish as this one.

It seems that the author knows nothing about skating that she didn't learn from watching it on tv in the 80s. Her male lead switches from Single to Pairs after breaking a leg because supposedly Pairs will be less strenuous on this leg. While one could argue whether or not an elite athlete would actually give up their sport while still in cast not knowing how well their leg will heal, the fact is that most skaters who break their legs suffer no long term effects and Pairs skating is actually tougher on the body than Singles because of the lifts and throws. The female lead's reason for being without a partner is equally absurd. Her former partner left her for a "more promising" skater, one who is 5'8" -- an unheard of height for a female Pair skater. In fact, while much is made about how "mismatched" the two skaters are in height, how amazingly tiny the girl is, and how dangerous that might be, at 5'2" and 6' tall they are a pretty typical size for a Pairs team.

Now many romances start with contrived reasons to throw their protagonists together so perhaps this could be forgiven if the rest of the story was engrossing or the characters at all interesting. But in this case there is no attempt to come up with an original story or to flesh out characters. The plot is is based on that of Gordeeva and Grinkov (probably the only Pair skater the author has any familiarity with) and there is little attempt to provide an interesting new twist on that story. Most of the characters are plot devices who exist only to talk about how amazing the couple are, how in love they are, or how brave Jordan is once her lover dies prematurely.

Even the leads aren't particularly fleshed out. Their journey from first being paired together to winning their first National title is laughable and includes no real setbacks to deal with and no real details that would make the story come alive. Instead we have PG rated seduction scenes and "cute" fights interspersed with training that has no basis in reality and sometimes even defies the laws of physics. After winning Nationals in spectacular (and unbelievable) fashion, we jump ahead three years to just prior to the Olympics. So that means anything interesting about their pairing -- rivalries with another team, dealing with injuries, being jealous of a potential romantic interest, not being able to master a move -- is missing.

Also missing is the two years after Aleksei's death and before Jordan decides to start living and finds love again. Once again, there are no details as to how she dealt with her grief, why she made the choices she made, or any other sense of what sort of person she has become as a result of her tragedy.

Adding to these faults are distracting typos, florid prose and way too much "lover" talk that isn't nearly as witty or engaging as the author believes it to be. The end result is a book that is virtually unreadable.