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Like a Power Play
A sapphic college hockey rom com for fans of Cleat Cute and Off-Campus, about a team captain who butts heads with her new student coach, until she begins to fall for her.
Peyton Clarke has everything to prove. As the starting center for Greenrock University’s women’s hockey team and the daughter of a retired NHL star, she’s determined to earn her place—no handouts, no shortcuts. But when her relentless drive to prove she’s more than just a product of her father’s fame starts to blur the line between dedication and recklessness, it's only a matter of time before something breaks.
Darcy Cole never thought she'd return to hockey. Once a rising star at Minnesota State, her dreams were shattered when rheumatoid arthritis forced her to quit the sport she loved. Now, thanks to her meddling head coach mother, she’s stuck in a role she never asked student assistant coach. Darcy has sworn off the ice, keeping her past as a player a secret. But when Peyton Clarke’s reckless playing style clashes with Darcy's cautious approach, something sparks—and then explodes.
To Darcy, Peyton is a reminder of everything she had to give up. To Peyton, Darcy is just the coach’s daughter who has no business telling her how to play. But Darcy is no stranger to hockey, and when their worlds collide, the two start to realize that maybe they have more in common than they thought—both on and off the ice.
Peyton Clarke has everything to prove. As the starting center for Greenrock University’s women’s hockey team and the daughter of a retired NHL star, she’s determined to earn her place—no handouts, no shortcuts. But when her relentless drive to prove she’s more than just a product of her father’s fame starts to blur the line between dedication and recklessness, it's only a matter of time before something breaks.
Darcy Cole never thought she'd return to hockey. Once a rising star at Minnesota State, her dreams were shattered when rheumatoid arthritis forced her to quit the sport she loved. Now, thanks to her meddling head coach mother, she’s stuck in a role she never asked student assistant coach. Darcy has sworn off the ice, keeping her past as a player a secret. But when Peyton Clarke’s reckless playing style clashes with Darcy's cautious approach, something sparks—and then explodes.
To Darcy, Peyton is a reminder of everything she had to give up. To Peyton, Darcy is just the coach’s daughter who has no business telling her how to play. But Darcy is no stranger to hockey, and when their worlds collide, the two start to realize that maybe they have more in common than they thought—both on and off the ice.
494 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 27, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 6, 2026
Like a Power Play
by Elle Sprinkle
⭐Rating: 4.5/5
🌶️Spice: 4/5
👥POV: Dual POV — Peyton & Darcy
📖Genre: Sapphic Romance • College Hockey • Sports Romance • Contemporary
🏷️Tropes
College hockey
Sapphic romance
Rivals/enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Slow burn
Banter
Student coach x team captain
Chronic illness representation
Mutual support
Learning to accept yourself
Winter/sports vibes
Characters:
Peyton
Peyton is competitive, ambitious, confident, stubborn, and determined to prove that she deserves her place on the team without relying on her famous hockey-player father.
Darcy
Darcy is more cautious, sarcastic, intelligent, and guarded. She used to be a rising hockey star before rheumatoid arthritis forced her to leave the sport, and now she's trying to figure out who she is without hockey.
Peyton & Darcy
Their dynamic was SO fun. They start off constantly butting heads because Peyton thinks Darcy doesn't understand hockey, while Darcy sees Peyton as reckless and frustrating.
But underneath all the arguing, they actually understand each other surprisingly well.
I especially liked that they help each other grow. Peyton learns that she doesn't have to constantly prove herself, while Darcy slowly starts figuring out how hockey can still be part of her life without defining her.
The romance is a genuine slow burn, with lots of banter and tension before they finally get together. Readers have particularly praised how naturally their relationship develops.
Representation
One of my favorite things about this book is Darcy's rheumatoid arthritis representation. The story doesn't just mention her condition and move on—it actually explores how chronic illness affects her relationship with hockey, her career, her confidence, and her everyday life.
There's also pansexual and lesbian representation, plus an autistic supporting character.
⚠️TW
Chronic illness, chronic pain, medical treatment, surgery, needles, blood, injury, ableism, panic attacks, alcohol/drug use, bullying, homophobia, and sexual content.
💭My Review
This was SUCH a fun sapphic sports romance!!
I really loved Peyton and Darcy's dynamic. They are both stubborn and competitive in completely different ways, so watching them go from "you are SO annoying" to actually understanding and supporting each other was probably my favorite part.
Darcy's chronic illness storyline was also handled really well. It genuinely affects her life and her relationship with hockey, which made her character feel much more realistic.
The hockey setting was also really fun, and the team/side characters added a lot of personality.
My main complaint was that it felt a little too long in places, and the ending could have used more time.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the characters, the banter, the slow-burn romance, and especially the disability representation.
4.5/5⭐️
Definitely recommend if you like sapphic hockey romances, rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burns, and characters who help each other grow.
by Elle Sprinkle
⭐Rating: 4.5/5
🌶️Spice: 4/5
👥POV: Dual POV — Peyton & Darcy
📖Genre: Sapphic Romance • College Hockey • Sports Romance • Contemporary
🏷️Tropes
College hockey
Sapphic romance
Rivals/enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Slow burn
Banter
Student coach x team captain
Chronic illness representation
Mutual support
Learning to accept yourself
Winter/sports vibes
Characters:
Peyton
Peyton is competitive, ambitious, confident, stubborn, and determined to prove that she deserves her place on the team without relying on her famous hockey-player father.
Darcy
Darcy is more cautious, sarcastic, intelligent, and guarded. She used to be a rising hockey star before rheumatoid arthritis forced her to leave the sport, and now she's trying to figure out who she is without hockey.
Peyton & Darcy
Their dynamic was SO fun. They start off constantly butting heads because Peyton thinks Darcy doesn't understand hockey, while Darcy sees Peyton as reckless and frustrating.
But underneath all the arguing, they actually understand each other surprisingly well.
I especially liked that they help each other grow. Peyton learns that she doesn't have to constantly prove herself, while Darcy slowly starts figuring out how hockey can still be part of her life without defining her.
The romance is a genuine slow burn, with lots of banter and tension before they finally get together. Readers have particularly praised how naturally their relationship develops.
Representation
One of my favorite things about this book is Darcy's rheumatoid arthritis representation. The story doesn't just mention her condition and move on—it actually explores how chronic illness affects her relationship with hockey, her career, her confidence, and her everyday life.
There's also pansexual and lesbian representation, plus an autistic supporting character.
⚠️TW
Chronic illness, chronic pain, medical treatment, surgery, needles, blood, injury, ableism, panic attacks, alcohol/drug use, bullying, homophobia, and sexual content.
💭My Review
This was SUCH a fun sapphic sports romance!!
I really loved Peyton and Darcy's dynamic. They are both stubborn and competitive in completely different ways, so watching them go from "you are SO annoying" to actually understanding and supporting each other was probably my favorite part.
Darcy's chronic illness storyline was also handled really well. It genuinely affects her life and her relationship with hockey, which made her character feel much more realistic.
The hockey setting was also really fun, and the team/side characters added a lot of personality.
My main complaint was that it felt a little too long in places, and the ending could have used more time.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the characters, the banter, the slow-burn romance, and especially the disability representation.
4.5/5⭐️
Definitely recommend if you like sapphic hockey romances, rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burns, and characters who help each other grow.
August 6, 2026
so freaking cute, what a great sapphic sporty romance. would recommend to anyone who likes a slow-ish burn romance. the main and side characters are fun and easy to root for, i’ve never read a book where an athlete becomes disabled and i really enjoyed that perspective. i literally adored this book!!
September 15, 2026
4.5 ⭐️
Peyton is a college hockey player determined to prove herself, while Darcy is a former rising star whose rheumatoid arthritis forced her to leave the sport she loved. When Darcy becomes a student assistant coach the two clash on and off the ice… but is it really hate, or just a little too much chemistry? 👀
I genuinely have no words for how much I loved this book!! It deserves to be so much more known because I had the BEST time reading it. Believe me when I tell you I pulled an all-nighter because I couldn’t stop
This is a sports romance, but what really made me interested in it (apart from the amazing characters) was the chronic illness representation. I found Darcy's journey from grief and anger to acceptance really relatable
I loved how engaging the pacing was; I was never bored and always wanted to know what was going to happen next, which made this such a fun and easy read for me.
The only downside I found was the number of characters. There were so many that I could never keep track of who was who haha
Peyton is a college hockey player determined to prove herself, while Darcy is a former rising star whose rheumatoid arthritis forced her to leave the sport she loved. When Darcy becomes a student assistant coach the two clash on and off the ice… but is it really hate, or just a little too much chemistry? 👀
I genuinely have no words for how much I loved this book!! It deserves to be so much more known because I had the BEST time reading it. Believe me when I tell you I pulled an all-nighter because I couldn’t stop
This is a sports romance, but what really made me interested in it (apart from the amazing characters) was the chronic illness representation. I found Darcy's journey from grief and anger to acceptance really relatable
I loved how engaging the pacing was; I was never bored and always wanted to know what was going to happen next, which made this such a fun and easy read for me.
The only downside I found was the number of characters. There were so many that I could never keep track of who was who haha
October 8, 2026
As someone who grew up with juvenile arthritis, I was pleased by the way Darcy’s illness was portrayed. It didn’t match my own experience, but I recognize pieces of it. Anyone with chronic illness ends up dealing with grief and Darcy’s journey to realizing that sharing about her illness and getting help, it’s better than trying to hide it as well done.
I enjoyed the romance - it is a very slow burn - but you do see why it takes them so long to acknowledge their feelings.
I enjoyed the romance - it is a very slow burn - but you do see why it takes them so long to acknowledge their feelings.
October 2, 2026
Sapphic romance 💗
Hockey romance 🥰
College hockey romance 💘
Disability representation 💝
This was recommended to me by one of the staff at my local library and I absolutely loved it. Fingers crossed that it ends up being a series because I need more. 💗
Hockey romance 🥰
College hockey romance 💘
Disability representation 💝
This was recommended to me by one of the staff at my local library and I absolutely loved it. Fingers crossed that it ends up being a series because I need more. 💗
September 30, 2026
sexy & thoughtful
I enjoyed this sapphic romance — lots of sexiness with a background of hockey and health issues - especially rheumatoid arthritis.
I enjoyed this sapphic romance — lots of sexiness with a background of hockey and health issues - especially rheumatoid arthritis.
August 2, 2026
4,5 🌟
that was nottttt love at first sight, I spent the first 150ish pages annoyed with both protagonists and I do still feel like the period in which they despised each other could've been kept a tad shorter, since when they actually started to talk and connect, they became pretty close pretty quickly in relation to how it was a strict ew-no-policy until then. But once we look past that, this was a really good book and an amazing, believable romance. I was able to connect with both Peyton and Darcy once they got past the grumpy, self-loathing stage which was hard to get through to say the least. Other than that, they were pretty likable and made an effort to do something against the self-inflicted parts of their suffering. As to the non-self-inflicted part, Darcy's illness, I don't have any personal experience with the diagnosis but felt like it was well-written and explored the strain it had on Darcy's mental health and motivation very realistically. One last thing I sadly have to critique is the insane amount of side characters of whom at least every other person had at least 2 different nicknames. That said, I was more than unable to keep track of all these people and kept confusing them with each other so I just gave up at some point and basically ignored them all 😭 maybe we could've stuck to 3-4 teammates with relevancy and names that don't start with the same letter here-
that was nottttt love at first sight, I spent the first 150ish pages annoyed with both protagonists and I do still feel like the period in which they despised each other could've been kept a tad shorter, since when they actually started to talk and connect, they became pretty close pretty quickly in relation to how it was a strict ew-no-policy until then. But once we look past that, this was a really good book and an amazing, believable romance. I was able to connect with both Peyton and Darcy once they got past the grumpy, self-loathing stage which was hard to get through to say the least. Other than that, they were pretty likable and made an effort to do something against the self-inflicted parts of their suffering. As to the non-self-inflicted part, Darcy's illness, I don't have any personal experience with the diagnosis but felt like it was well-written and explored the strain it had on Darcy's mental health and motivation very realistically. One last thing I sadly have to critique is the insane amount of side characters of whom at least every other person had at least 2 different nicknames. That said, I was more than unable to keep track of all these people and kept confusing them with each other so I just gave up at some point and basically ignored them all 😭 maybe we could've stuck to 3-4 teammates with relevancy and names that don't start with the same letter here-
August 22, 2026
me gustó, al principio me parecia un poco cringe y era como wbna (Darcy) xq chch eres tan cerrada, me tenia cansada crj. Pero dps empezó como que a soltarse y slay. La historia con Peyton increible me encantó de vrd me tuvo giggling and kicking my feet y la tension … OMG las jokes y jodas que se hacian TOP.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews