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Blood Beneath Ice
Below the surface of everyone
There are secrets and shadows to drown in
The skating world was never ready for Astrid Isolfr, the ‘ice wolf’.
Trained to be a weapon
To compete at all costs.
She flinches at soft touch, embracing only the hard slam of the ice.
When Astrid is forced out of the limelight, she finds other ways to demand the adoration she craves.
With blades at her feet and blood on her hands, she beckons you to the rink of death!
This is a horrible little book with murder and dark themes. It’s also a perfect stocking filler for the holidays if you’re craving something sapphic and deathly. Please check out the content warning at the beginning of the book first.
There are secrets and shadows to drown in
The skating world was never ready for Astrid Isolfr, the ‘ice wolf’.
Trained to be a weapon
To compete at all costs.
She flinches at soft touch, embracing only the hard slam of the ice.
When Astrid is forced out of the limelight, she finds other ways to demand the adoration she craves.
With blades at her feet and blood on her hands, she beckons you to the rink of death!
This is a horrible little book with murder and dark themes. It’s also a perfect stocking filler for the holidays if you’re craving something sapphic and deathly. Please check out the content warning at the beginning of the book first.
- GenresAmazon
116 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2025
8 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Winter
4 books29 followersEllen writes dark-dark-dark poetic romance and erotica, focusing on queer characters with trauma.
She has an MA in Creative Writing and a background in teaching Philosophy and Psychology.
She likes to deep dive into attachment styles, abandonment wounds, mental health, and kink, with a good measure of 'lets get lost in the forest and f**k like wild animals'.
Find her here:
Instagram → @ellenwinter_author
https://www.instagram.com/ellenwinter...
She has an MA in Creative Writing and a background in teaching Philosophy and Psychology.
She likes to deep dive into attachment styles, abandonment wounds, mental health, and kink, with a good measure of 'lets get lost in the forest and f**k like wild animals'.
Find her here:
Instagram → @ellenwinter_author
https://www.instagram.com/ellenwinter...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 22, 2025
This is not your average seasonal read and because of that, I gobbled it up! What a deliciously delightful, dark sapphic story.
This author writes the most hauntingly atmospheric and descriptive prose. I have a ridiculous number of highlights. I can't pick a favorite. This review is just a hodgepodge of the experience that was this book lol.
The story starts out with dreamy descriptions and soul-tugging, bittersweet reflections on loss.
The land jutted out to the dark fjord like a blade. The severity of the landscape matched my emotions. I had been cut deep.
Once the FMCs meet—from afar at first—we are off to the races with questionable morals and tension so thick you could slice it with an ice skate's blade!
Watching her made me feel like something dark inside me had been sleeping for too long, and now it was uncoiling and tasting the air with its tongue.
I wondered if this conversation was all a game to her, and she had guessed my suspicions about the guy’s injury, because her stare was unrelenting, like a torch shining into the dark corners of my mind.
I adore how the tension of the environment reflected and played into the sizzling push-and-pull between the two FMCs themselves. I couldn't get enough of Angel's inner conflict and how hard she was fighting the pull toward Astrid's dark and demented nature... only to give in in the most sublime ways every time. Kicking my feet doesn't do it justice. I also appreciated that Astrid knew exactly how fucked up she is and never once apologized for it. I'm a sucker for a complex, morally dark, "unlikable" FMC, especially when they're given this amount of depth and self-awareness.
"What's the matter? Got your morals in a twist? Can’t tell if you want me or hate me? I’m pretty used to that.”
I have to say, that spanking scene was brutally, blisteringly hot for something that took place outdoors in the snow in the middle of winter. And ummm... possible new kink unlocked with the "playing dead" scene. That's... that's all I'll say, lol.
"I wanted her to freeze, faun, and fight with me, recognise my power, as well as resist it. I knew it was all there inside her. She was a storm trapped in a jar. I just had to shatter the glass."
This quote just perfectly sums up the story, the interplay of power dynamics between the FMCs (each hurt and dealing with inner trauma in their own way), and the unhinged attraction playing out between them like a force of nature.
She was right, I was no Angel, and I no longer wanted to be.
If you're into pitch dark, edgy, and spicy sapphic reads, give the TWs a skim and dive into Blood Beneath Ice. You won't regret it!
This author writes the most hauntingly atmospheric and descriptive prose. I have a ridiculous number of highlights. I can't pick a favorite. This review is just a hodgepodge of the experience that was this book lol.
The story starts out with dreamy descriptions and soul-tugging, bittersweet reflections on loss.
The land jutted out to the dark fjord like a blade. The severity of the landscape matched my emotions. I had been cut deep.
Once the FMCs meet—from afar at first—we are off to the races with questionable morals and tension so thick you could slice it with an ice skate's blade!
Watching her made me feel like something dark inside me had been sleeping for too long, and now it was uncoiling and tasting the air with its tongue.
I wondered if this conversation was all a game to her, and she had guessed my suspicions about the guy’s injury, because her stare was unrelenting, like a torch shining into the dark corners of my mind.
I adore how the tension of the environment reflected and played into the sizzling push-and-pull between the two FMCs themselves. I couldn't get enough of Angel's inner conflict and how hard she was fighting the pull toward Astrid's dark and demented nature... only to give in in the most sublime ways every time. Kicking my feet doesn't do it justice. I also appreciated that Astrid knew exactly how fucked up she is and never once apologized for it. I'm a sucker for a complex, morally dark, "unlikable" FMC, especially when they're given this amount of depth and self-awareness.
"What's the matter? Got your morals in a twist? Can’t tell if you want me or hate me? I’m pretty used to that.”
I have to say, that spanking scene was brutally, blisteringly hot for something that took place outdoors in the snow in the middle of winter. And ummm... possible new kink unlocked with the "playing dead" scene. That's... that's all I'll say, lol.
"I wanted her to freeze, faun, and fight with me, recognise my power, as well as resist it. I knew it was all there inside her. She was a storm trapped in a jar. I just had to shatter the glass."
This quote just perfectly sums up the story, the interplay of power dynamics between the FMCs (each hurt and dealing with inner trauma in their own way), and the unhinged attraction playing out between them like a force of nature.
She was right, I was no Angel, and I no longer wanted to be.
If you're into pitch dark, edgy, and spicy sapphic reads, give the TWs a skim and dive into Blood Beneath Ice. You won't regret it!
December 19, 2025
4.5 stars!
This was a level of unhinged that I devoured! I was so impressed by how much I couldn’t predict this story! Loved how Winter took a cozy seasonal vibe and gave it an eerie twist. She definitely had me questioning if I should be enjoying some of these things as much as I did! Thanks for giving me a creepy holiday romance!
December 29, 2025
This is beautifully violent poetry. It’s dark, effed up, and unforgiving. There’s spice, but it’s not a romance in the sense that I’m used to. It’s erotic horror. It’s pitch black. It’s pain and suffering together in darkness, almost two sides of the same coin, but one doesn’t quite realise that at first. One needs to inflict, the other needs to receive to be seen. Who knew skating could be something so viscious?
For my own tastes, the dynamic between the two characters lacked that warmth I wanted to soften the chill. I felt the lust, the intrigue, the desire, and the struggle between that and knowing it’s a terrible idea.. but I didn’t feel that care to balance the depravity. When I say it’s brutal, I really mean it!
Plot summary
Astrid, troubled and rebellious Ice skating protege, is forced out of the limelight and turns to more.. bloody.. outlets.
Angel, goes alone to a retreat primarily for couples post break up. She sees Astrid from afar and can’t deny the pull towards her darkness.
A deathly dance on the lake with more beneath the ice than you realise.
Things I loved:
- It’s violently poetic
- The prose is on fire!
- Something usually seen as graceful being violently beautiful instead
- Morally grey is an understatement
Overall, deliciously unhinged and not for the light hearted. Definitely one to thoroughly check your content warnings for!
For my own tastes, the dynamic between the two characters lacked that warmth I wanted to soften the chill. I felt the lust, the intrigue, the desire, and the struggle between that and knowing it’s a terrible idea.. but I didn’t feel that care to balance the depravity. When I say it’s brutal, I really mean it!
Plot summary
Astrid, troubled and rebellious Ice skating protege, is forced out of the limelight and turns to more.. bloody.. outlets.
Angel, goes alone to a retreat primarily for couples post break up. She sees Astrid from afar and can’t deny the pull towards her darkness.
A deathly dance on the lake with more beneath the ice than you realise.
Things I loved:
- It’s violently poetic
- The prose is on fire!
- Something usually seen as graceful being violently beautiful instead
- Morally grey is an understatement
Overall, deliciously unhinged and not for the light hearted. Definitely one to thoroughly check your content warnings for!
December 27, 2025
Duel 1st Person POV. 4🌟 3🌶️. 116 pages
This god damn novella had me fucked up from the beginning but that ending had me double fucked up! Holy shit this book is dark, not the darkest I’ve ever read (that place is still held by Breaking Broken) but this novella was a close second. Astrid is a morally pitch black figure skater with a penchant for violence and Angel is a traumatised and jilted orphan, who can see Astrid’s darkness and meet her there.
Again much like Everything Crumbles, Blood Beneath Ice has a lyrical quality to the writing and had me hooked from the first page. If you’re looking for something quick and dark definitely give this novella a read.
Please check content warnings before reading and read responsibly as this novella contains certain themes some may find disturbing!
Must Read if you Love:
✨Lesbian Romance
✨Pitch Black Romance
✨Masc Psychopathic Serial Killing Figure
Skaters
✨Traumatised Femmes that seek Darkness
✨Murder
✨Insta Obsession
✨Non-Con / Dub-Con
✨Dashes of Spice
✨Degradation
✨Light Praise
✨Heavy Impact
This god damn novella had me fucked up from the beginning but that ending had me double fucked up! Holy shit this book is dark, not the darkest I’ve ever read (that place is still held by Breaking Broken) but this novella was a close second. Astrid is a morally pitch black figure skater with a penchant for violence and Angel is a traumatised and jilted orphan, who can see Astrid’s darkness and meet her there.
Again much like Everything Crumbles, Blood Beneath Ice has a lyrical quality to the writing and had me hooked from the first page. If you’re looking for something quick and dark definitely give this novella a read.
Please check content warnings before reading and read responsibly as this novella contains certain themes some may find disturbing!
Must Read if you Love:
✨Lesbian Romance
✨Pitch Black Romance
✨Masc Psychopathic Serial Killing Figure
Skaters
✨Traumatised Femmes that seek Darkness
✨Murder
✨Insta Obsession
✨Non-Con / Dub-Con
✨Dashes of Spice
✨Degradation
✨Light Praise
✨Heavy Impact
December 24, 2025
This book was not what I expected and I'm not mad about it! It's not really a romance in the traditional sense, but the story is incredible and beautifully written. It's dark and twisted and so delightfully morbid. The writing is done in such a way that you feel like you're falling into a dark abyss right alongside the FMC. And the ending! Did not see that coming! This is a great one to pick up if you love dark sapphic stories with a little holiday death and decay.
January 21, 2026
this fucked me up so bad and made me seriously worry about myself and about the things i find hot in literature. five stars!
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
December 24, 2025
Well good grief, I would say this is a Christmas classic the same way Die Hard is, in which...it occurs at or around Christmas time.
I liked this one a lot, so much so, that I would love a full length novel of it. It was quick and dirty but so interesting. The writing was captivating and the pacing was great.
It is a dual POV but the story is experienced primarily through Angel. I enjoyed following the breadcrumbs to the resolution at the end.
Certainly check the trigger warnings, if you're looking for a very dark, quick, sapphic, Christmas (time) romance look no further!
I liked this one a lot, so much so, that I would love a full length novel of it. It was quick and dirty but so interesting. The writing was captivating and the pacing was great.
It is a dual POV but the story is experienced primarily through Angel. I enjoyed following the breadcrumbs to the resolution at the end.
Certainly check the trigger warnings, if you're looking for a very dark, quick, sapphic, Christmas (time) romance look no further!
December 29, 2025
The way I DEVOURED this book in a night. Ellen's writing is so poetic and beautiful. I got lost in this story and I was captivated until the very end. When it was over, I sat contimplating my life choices because I didn't know what to do. I loved the story and I fell in love with Astrid. I would love to join her on the rink of death in the frosty, bitter winter. Blood Beneath Ice is a quick and easy read perfect when you are cuddled with a blanket or next to a warn fire. I cannot wait to read more of Ellen's work and got lost in her writing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews