Fated Skates by Victoria Schade

 

Summary (from the publisher): She’s chasing gold. He’s chasing forgiveness. The Winter Olympics heat up as two comeback stories collide.

Quinn Albright was America’s figure skating darling until a humiliating Olympic performance splashed her across every headline. Now she’s back, stronger than ever, ready to claim the gold medal on her own terms—no PR fluff, no perfect princess act, just the real, unapologetic Quinn.

But the one distraction she didn’t train for? Bennett Martino. Once the golden boy of speed skating, Bennett’s reputation took a hit he’s still paying for. The chance to host a sporty news magazine show is the perfect redemption arc, and nothing would boost his ratings more than an inside look at Quinn’s comeback. There’s just one issue—she’s the last person who wants him around.

As this year’s Olympic Games commence, past mistakes, shared secrets, and unrelenting chemistry collide. With cameras rolling and the ice melting under their skates, Quinn and Bennett must figure out if they can rewrite their stories—or crash and burn.

Review: Thank you to Avon Books for the gifted copy of this novel!

The premise of this book was SO fun! Four years ago, Quinn Albright had a humiliating Olympic performance. Now, she's hopeful that this Olympics will be her comeback chance for gold. But she didn't count on Bennett Martino, a celebrated speed skating gold medalist who is now working for a sporty news magazine to show up. Quinn has to figure out a way to work with Bennett for a feature they're doing on her and stay focused on winning gold.   

I love the Olympics so reading about a figure skater and a speed skater just felt so fun! Later in the book, this has scenes in the Olympic village and references to the infamous cardboard beds the athletes have to sleep on. It was fun to see Quinn training, practicing her routine, and trying on her competition outfit. It was so fun to start reading this during the 2026 Winter Olympics that were in Italy, just like the Olympics in this book.                                                                                                                                  

I really appreciated how much Quinn has gone through, both as an athlete and as a daughter. She has trained for years to hone her craft, and I cannot imagine the disappointment and humiliation of her first Olympic experience. Her mother is absolutely the worst and incredibly critical and unhealthy for Quinn to be around, which led to Quinn working with coaches that didn't support her in the past. I really appreciated the journey Quinn has been on to get to this come-back opportunity in her career. I also appreciated the mental health rep in this book, in terms of Ben's confiding in Quinn about his depression struggles. 

I was a bit disappointed with the writing in this, which felt sort of simplistic and flat at times. I also thought the ending of this felt rushed and not super well pulled together. I ultimately felt dissatisfied by Ben's distance and subsequent explanation. Much is made about what he might be hiding and then it's all sort of scrubbed over and explained away. The conclusion to their time in Italy for the Olympics just did not feel like the beginning of a happy, healthy relationship and I was dissatisfied by how it all played out. The story did not feel complete and then it just jumped to an epilogue chapter. There was also virtually no resolution to the tension between Quinn and her parents, even after several hundred pages of intermittent references to how terrible they were to her. 

Stars: 3