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Wanted by the Champion: An age gap instalove romance

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He’s a world champion. Older, gorgeous, and driven.

And for some reason, he wants me.


When world champion pairs skater Alex McIntyre asks me to skate with him, I’m flattered, and a little confused. After all, he’s at the top of our sport, and I’m best known for crashing my head on the ice in the pairs skating accident seen around the world. I’ve never even been to the world championships, and he’s won them three times. He’s twelve years older than me, and far more experienced.

And yet, he insists that he wants to team up with me.

I’d be a fool to say no.

When I’m on the ice, he stares with enough heat to melt the rink. When I falter, he tells me he’ll always be there to keep me safe.

And I’m starting to think that maybe, just maybe, Alex wants me for more than just skating.

Which is a dangerous fantasy to entertain, because my focus needs to be on the ice. Not on my ridiculously hot partner.

But those fantasies—the ones I’ve had since my teenage crush on Alex—might just be rooted in reality…

Wanted by the Champion is a short and very spicy instalove story featuring an obsessed older man and the sweet skater he falls hard for.

114 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2025

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About the author

Alyson Archer

19 books120 followers
Alyson Archer is a writer and romance fanatic who’s been obsessed with fictional heroes ever since crushing on Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. Ever since, she’s been dreaming up her own heroes and romantic situations.

Alyson is a pen name for an award winning contemporary romance author, and before writing full-time, she spent over a decade working as a public librarian. Now, she spends her days writing spicy books and drinking too much coffee.

Alyson lives in Hamilton, Ontario with her husband, daughter, and stubborn-but-adorable dachshund. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, playing video games, watching figure skating, and enjoying nature.

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5 stars
174 (26%)
4 stars
223 (33%)
3 stars
174 (26%)
2 stars
72 (10%)
1 star
14 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
Profile Image for Céloise.
392 reviews238 followers
June 25, 2024
DNF 70% Good story got hijacked by awkward "Yes, Daddy" on a loop.

Pretty sure this is the author's debut book, so I want to cut them a break, but honestly that second half did me in. Once the smut started, I was cringing and bored by the repetition. And this is coming from a Jessa Kane fan.🤣 I'd been enjoying the first half of the story so much, too! It seemed well-researched, at least to someone whose professional figure skating knowledge is almost nil.😁 I liked Cate and Alex's dynamic as sweet friends/skate partners about a decade apart with somewhat forbidden sexual tension. The insta-love thing worked in this OTT context, when he watched her skate for the first time. BUT THEN THEY HAD TO BRING "YES DADDY" INTO IT. 🤦🏻‍♀️ It seemed so completely random and took me out of the story. Over and over. And over. I tried to ignore it, but I swear as soon as the smut scenes got going halfway through, that's allllll there was. Even skimming and skipping pages wasn't enough. Shoving cliche kink into a story for its own sake rarely works, but here it just straight drowned it. Besides, there was already plenty of fun ‘scandalous’ material: 12 yr age gap, workplace/professional careers, and OTT obsession. I wish more authors would just focus on a good plot if kink/dirty talk isn’t really in their wheelhouse yet. 🙏
Profile Image for QuinnReads.
3,857 reviews223 followers
June 26, 2024
Trifecta of Feelings

Alyson Archer's inaugural insta-heat is everything I'd hoped it would be. Once I started, I didn't want to put it down!

Alex McIntyre is over-the-top, growly at all the right times, and a man possessed from the moment he lays eyes on Cate Wilson. Yeah, it's hot. 🔥🔥🔥

It’s as though I’ve been struck by lightning, and my life will now be forever categorized into two parts—before I saw Cate, and after.
-- Alex McIntyre

They go from zero to forever in the blink of an eye, but it completely works for them. The fact that Cate came into their relationship with some hero worship helps the believability.

It’s crazy and it’s fast but…I have feelings for Alex. Pants feelings, and brain feelings, and heart feelings. The trifecta.
-- Cate Wilson

I love the fierce protectiveness of his... claiming of Cate, privately and publicly. I also love her backbone and willingness to fight her own battles. Together, they make for a sizzling read! This 4.5 🌟 read is worth every minute. 🔥💜🎉

Oh, and be sure to read the bonus epilogue. In a word, FIRE!

H = 32; h = 20

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Profile Image for Christina (stinarinareads).
430 reviews405 followers
June 26, 2024
2.5✨ (rounded up to 3 for GR)
2.5🌶️

I wanted to like this one waaaaay more than I did. It was on my radar for a while and I was eagerly awaiting its release. I mean, age-gap, skating partners, The Cutting Edge vibes? SIGN ME UP! Unfortunately, all the goodwill that was built up from that premise in the first half failed to hold up in the second half, which became a little too melodramatic too quickly and repetitive + overdone with its spice, particularly the Daddy trope. Read Céloise's review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) for more on this and a good laugh! I subscribe to the belief that some things are better in moderation, because they leave a bigger impact when they are used.

I'll keep an eye out for this author's future works, there was potential!
Profile Image for Lolina ⋆ .
1,182 reviews279 followers
September 8, 2024
I wasn't too big on the modern references in the book- but the story quickly won me over. I'll definitely be checking out more of AA's work because this was such a solid novella. It was so thorough and I loved Cate and Alex's dynamic with one another.
Profile Image for Hannah.
257 reviews106 followers
August 8, 2024
Now this is how you write a good novella!😍

• New skating partners
• He falls HARD💗💗💗
• No OW/OM drama
• Steam was niceee🥵
•Sweet HEA
Profile Image for Yesmina.
636 reviews40 followers
June 25, 2024
For a romantic passionate novella, this missed the spot for me.

If you wanna write about an obsessed hero, which the author did using wild description of how wild he is about her, then you must not follow it up by the hero sending the heroine mixed signals.
If he's obsessed he needs to peruse hard.

And not all heroes should be "obsessed" so we can believe he loves the FMC. You can write a kind one down to earth one and we would still believe it. Which the author tried to do as well. But it made the plot messier.
Profile Image for summer⁎ ˚ ˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆.
552 reviews233 followers
June 29, 2024
if you see me reading this no u did not

i mean... its a novella... hard to believe a relationship was developed in like 3 days when there's only 100 pages but the smut 🌶️ was spicing and that's all i was here for
Profile Image for SJ.
2,023 reviews34 followers
June 22, 2024
An excellent MF with a likable couple. I have to give the author praise for writing the h as intelligent and competent, yet still a feminine mess about being the new skate partner to an Olympic champion. Alex was alpha masculine and totally into beautiful Cate. The author provides good descriptions of them.

Their chemistry was intense and Alex was like a heat seeking missile in his desire for Cate, as a certain part of him was always ready for the countdown. I like how his thoughts were written as always being a gentleman when with her and trying to remember their age gap, 32/20.
I don’t think twelve years is a lot, but for Cate, Alex was her first everything and her inner thoughts were written very well. The story is dual POV and that always works.

I really like how smitten he was with her and was so caring and protective without being overwhelming during their long hours of practice. The world of intense figure skating practices was interesting and added to the story. Side characters are limited, the two coaches, and the writing has the H/h in a bubble of skating and falling in love.

The sex was fire. Alex is a dirty talking champ and Cate is extremely responsive to it. They were a good couple and their scenes were excellent.

This was a pleasant surprise to read a good MF, the genre can be sorely lacking. I would read another book by this new to me author.
Profile Image for Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez .
1,603 reviews496 followers
February 24, 2025
🌶️🔥🌶️🔥🌶️🔥🌶️

This was soooooo freakin steamy, my kindle was smokin! But it was also filled with all the warm gooey feeellzzzz, the perfect romance combo!

My only complaint is that this author doesn’t have enough books for me to binge!!

Safe. Heros past is only barely mentioned to say he has been celibate for a few years. Never a manwhore. Heroine is a virgin and belongs only to her hero, gives him the gift of claiming all of her firsts. No ow/om, no cheating or sharing. Hea but extended epilogue available thru sign-up
Profile Image for Makayla Bostick.
98 reviews1 follower
July 27, 2024
Olympic season made me do it.
The dirty talk was nice though 😋
Profile Image for Vicki.
1,967 reviews61 followers
June 25, 2024
This age-gap instalove was a nice, light read and well-edited, but for some reason I struggled to stay engaged. What should have been a quick hour or so read for me ended up taking multiple sittings over three days because I just wasn't feeling it. A common refrain for me, it was that in-between place of not dirty enough to be a dirty short and not developed enough to be a complete story. It is daddy-lite (token paid to he wants to take care of/protect her but mostly just a name in the single full-length+ sex scene), and has dirty talking with all the right words, but I just didn't feel the heat/tension between the couple. I've always loved pairs figure skating and ice dancing so this was a nice plot for me, just didn't quite land this time.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Hillebrand .
385 reviews41 followers
March 5, 2025
I'm very surprised with this short insta-love story. It had everything you want in a story without all that filler stuff
Profile Image for Shannai.
678 reviews43 followers
June 27, 2025
Listen, the spice, and the dirty talk in this was really something hot, ok, but I couldn’t tell you a thing about anything else.

*stuff your kindle day purchase*
Profile Image for Paige.
1,330 reviews112 followers
Read
October 14, 2025
Well-done instalust. Chemistry between the leads. Hot sex, with daddy dirty talk that mostly avoids cringe (hard to do!). Plot didn’t annoy me. Better written than most comparable freebies. Good!
Profile Image for Aurora  Rosette .
191 reviews33 followers
July 10, 2024
PURRRRRFECTTTTTTTT!!

after a looooooong time I got some toe curling mushy wooshy smut!! Soo hwat!!

The Daddy / LG talk
The dirty talk

Yum yum yum!!
I love Insta love stories for a reason!!

Alex and Cate 🥵🤰

Also my only complain for this book is it wasn't longer! Cause I wanted them longer 🥵🥵.

But it's ok! I'm satisfied with them for now! But I need the next book like I need air!

Please gimme that already and make it longer next time! The dirtier the better! Hehe😚❤️
3,253 reviews32 followers
June 15, 2024
Alex, the male lead, is a professional pairs skater whose partner just retired to have a family. Whilst he’s older for his sport, he’s not ready to quit. Given a selection of films for potential future partners, he sees Cate, the female lead, a much younger skater who recovered from being dropped and is only now looking at reentering pairs skating.

Cate has had a crush on Alex and is shocked to be asked to trial as his pairs partner but she’s grateful and excited for the opportunity! They have an immediate chemistry on the ice but will this just be a professional relationship or more?

This novella is dual POV, well written and edited, and a steamy, instalove, contemporary sports romance. I enjoyed Alex’s confidence in his own feelings and desires, combined with his determination to give Cate choices of her own. I enjoyed Cate’s belief in herself and confidence to claim the relationship she wanted. I enjoyed the spicy intimate scenes, and the respect the characters had for each other.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and this is my voluntary honest review.
9,377 reviews141 followers
June 19, 2024
This is a well written insta love skating romance with strong characters in Alex and Cate. The author takes you into their lives with chemistry both on and off the ice and gives some smokin hot scenes. She moves the story quickly and smoothly with her detailed and descriptive scenes and delivers an enjoyable read.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are freely given.
Profile Image for arn barn .
412 reviews12 followers
July 1, 2024
The perfect taboo & kinky novella I needed when I wanted to just enjoy a quick read and shut my mind off.

I was obsessed with both Alex & Cate. They are perfect together. Alex was insta obsessed and over the top. I love how when they decided to be a couple, he was 10000% in and didn’t let his coach make him waver.

Will absolutely be reading more by this author!!
Profile Image for Casey.
207 reviews11 followers
September 20, 2024
Come to find out I'm a sucker for the figure skater trope. This was a short but sweet spicy read. I love the age gap plot with their undeniable chemistry being on and off the ice. I would have liked some sort of conflict or struggle to have happened it was a little too smooth sailing, I like a little drama 😜
29 reviews
June 23, 2024
A fantastic read, so much so that I read it in one go! The chemistry between Alex and Cate is instant and Alex wants Cate as his new partner as soon as he sees a video of her skating. Cate has always had a crush on Alex and the chance to work with him is not one that she is going to passup. The heat between them builds and builds as Alex tries to remember that Cate is much younger than him but he has to give in when Cate confesses that she also feels the tension between them. Some red hot and steamy scenes as Alex teaches Cate about the joys of being togther. A defintie recommend

Thank you to the author for the ARC copy. All opinions are my own and I have not received any payment for this review.
Profile Image for Audrey.
373 reviews12 followers
January 21, 2025
Spicy Skater Romance

I loved this. Cate and Alex had sizzling chemistry, on and off the ice. I am a sucker for the insta love stories, and the reasonable age gap is just the icing on the cake.
Profile Image for starr ⟡˚˖.
172 reviews8 followers
July 8, 2024
what does:
age gap + daddy kink + ice skating = ?
2 stars, apparently :(
504 reviews2 followers
June 14, 2024
Simply enjoyable!

This was just a fun, relatively uncomplicated, minimal drama quick read! With only 4 characters in the book, the focus was really on the relationship that developed between Alex and Cate. Much of the book was the love-making scenes between the couple but I enjoyed the discussions of the skating dreams they both had and how well they were instantly compatible on the ice.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Profile Image for Amanda.
256 reviews1 follower
June 30, 2024
Short spicy 🌶️ age gap sports romance
What a filthy mouth Alex has 😮‍💨❤️‍🔥
Profile Image for Claudia, Cmarie927.
2,204 reviews47 followers
June 18, 2024
So, this is a new author to me and I hadn't read a figure skating story before, so I grabbed this.

Whew! Quite a steamy, quick insta-love!! Lots of chemistry between these two!!

There are several things going on in these pages.
An age gap, her first-time, the Daddy/Princess dynamic and all the crazy hot scenes... there's a lot to keep the pages turning!

I enjoyed this read and look forward to reading the next new release from this author!
166 reviews
June 28, 2024
s h e l v e s :
age gap -32, 20
alpha
coworker
he falls first
instalove
moves her in
mutual pining
obsession
ott
possessive
protective
sports (figure skating pair)
virgin
wife her up

e n d e a r m e n t s :
♥︎ princess

k i n k s :
breeding (bonus epilogue)
clit nuzzling
daddy
dick on clit
dirty talk
dry humping
just the tip
no condom (on the pill tho)
praise
pussy humping
tss
💦

e n d i n g :


🔥
Profile Image for kymagirl.
7,084 reviews89 followers
January 10, 2026
He’s older, obsessed, and in control. She’s his from the first skate.

Alex is skating royalty. Focused, intense, and not ready to walk away after his partner retires, he’s searching for someone who can match his drive. When he sees Cate, younger, still carrying the weight of a fall, and full of quiet determination, he knows she’s the one. Not just for the ice. He wants it all.

Cate never imagined the legend she’s crushed on for years would pick her. But from the moment they skate together, the pull between them is impossible to ignore. Alex is steady, commanding, and makes her feel seen in a way no one else ever has. The ice brings them together, but it’s everything after that sets them on fire.

Their chemistry builds fast, turning into something physical and overwhelming. Trust deepens, boundaries blur, and they create something neither expected but neither can let go of. When outside pressure threatens what they have, walking away isn’t an option.

Their love isn’t safe or simple. It’s intense, intimate, and built to last. And together, they just might rise to the top.

Cate grows from uncertain and cautious to strong and self-assured, stepping fully into her power on and off the ice. Alex learns to let go of control where it matters most and finally gives in to the kind of love that redefines him.

What starts as a powerful professional connection evolves into a consuming, emotionally charged romance. It’s fast, it’s filthy, and it’s grounded in trust, devotion, and a need that never lets up.

A steamy, age gap, instalove, dominant hero, virgin heroine, forbidden sports romance set in the world of elite figure skating, exploring ambition, healing, trust, power dynamics, obsession, intimacy, and emotional surrender. It’s about obsession that turns into devotion, control that gives way to care, and a love that leaves marks in all the best ways.

The Elevator Pitch: A dominant world champion skater takes a chance on a younger partner with a shattered past, and the spark between them ignites something fierce. Their connection is instant, their chemistry overwhelming, and their love both protective and all-consuming. Fast, filthy, and dangerously tender, it’s a power play that hits hard.
Profile Image for Danielle.
147 reviews2 followers
February 24, 2026
3 stars. Age gap smutty short story. Lacking in the plot department overall.

Alex is an Olympic figure skater in his early 30’s who’s partner he has been with for a decade Charlotte retires to be with her family. He now needs a new partner. He watches a video of Cate skating. She’s young. She had a bad fall and concussion with her last partner. She has been skating singles. He emails his boss Kurt that he wants a trial skate with her. Meanwhile she’s obsessing over him. He’s also obsessing over her. She hurts her ankle and he takes care of her.

They continue to silently crush on each other until he kisses her. We find out that it is her first kiss and she is a virgin. He’s 32 and she’s 20 so he does kind of treat her like he has kid gloves on and she doesn’t like it. Alex tells her if he has her he’s never going to let her go. He lets her make the decision. She decides it’s go time. There’s a lot of dirty talk but they do finally have sex. He’s hung like a cow. Alex’s trainers, Deb and Scott don’t seem to be too happy. He says Alex can think with his dick and lose him as a trainor and the facility or make a professional decision to keep things platonic.

He tells Scott he loves her and would choose her over him. They tell each other they’re in love after just a month. They continue to have dirty dirty sex. 10 months later we find out they got engaged on Christmas and they win the world championship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews