Skater Boy

Boys of Patchwork #1

by Mary Catherine Gebhard

I lost my virginity to a masked man and swore off dating for good.⁠

Everyone in my small town knows about Patchwork House, just like everyone knows I'm the only girl they ever let inside.
No one knows that one boy was willing to take a chance on me.

A boy who then vanished without ever letting me see his face.

Now, I’ve come home to find my celebrity crush sleeping in the room next door. The best skater in the world. Someone whose shirtless posters I had on my wall is saying things like “you belong to me” and “it’s always been you.”
I only know him from magazines.
So why does he look at me like I'm already his?

Tropes:

Second Chance
Stalker
Masked MMC
Childhood Celeb Crush
Found Family
Sports
Skater Boy/ Skater Girl
Close Quarters

318 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 13, 2026

Reviews

[Sarah]

Review of advance copy received from Author

I’m such a Mary Catherine Gebhard fan! She really knows how to write a good stalker romance!

I was obsessed with Tweetie and Flip’s romance. Also, at times, I felt so frustrated for Tweetie! She’s living with a bunch of men who feel a sense of protectiveness over her, but she’s also getting older. I would have started feeling rebellious over the whole big brother act!

Seeing Tweetie have a stalker who teaches her how to skate and who she also develops a huge crush on is such a vibe. Add in the tension she felt when her celebrity crush, Flip, starts showing her attention, and she really had so much going on! She definitely has a lot to process! To be honest, I get why she fell for Flip, his vibes are all in!

The chemistry was actually very sweet. You can just tell this is about more than just intimacy.

The last quarter of the book was all about spilling the tea! Talk about drama! Definitely a fun, bingeable romance!

[Leslie]

Mary writes some of the best stalker romances ! Masked men are her specialty and Skater Boy was no exception! I enjoyed it from page one and till the end I couldn’t stop wanting more. Also without spoilers I’m ready for the next book in the series !!

[Belinda Smith]

I really loved the characters in this one. ❤️ And, as always, I enjoyed Mary Catherine Gebhard’s writing. There’s something about the way she creates her characters and their relationships that keeps me coming back to her books. 🥹

The beginning was slow for me, though. 🐢 It took me quite a while to actually settle into the story and feel invested. There were so many things happening at once—new secrets, unexplained connections, vague clues—and for a while, I felt like I was trying to piece everything together without having enough information. 🤔

I did enjoy the whole mystery surrounding the masked boy from the past. She had given up on dating after losing her virginity to a mysterious masked man, only for her life to get completely turned upside down when she returned home and found her celebrity crush living right next door. 😳 And the fact that this famous skater seemed to know her in a way she couldn’t understand made the whole situation even more intriguing.

I also really liked the Patchwork House aspect and the found-family dynamics. 🥹 There was something special about the characters and the little world they had created around each other. The skater/skater-girl connection was another fun element, especially with the close-quarters setup. ❤️

But honestly, it was the last 40% that completely hooked me. 🔥 Once everything started coming together, I flew through the pages. The secrets started making more sense, the relationships became more intense, and suddenly I was completely obsessed. I went from “Okay, I’m still trying to figure out what’s happening” to “I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.” 😂

So while the beginning took some patience from me, the second half absolutely delivered the kind of emotional pull and intensity I was hoping for. 💕 I loved watching the characters find their way through all the secrets, complicated feelings, and connections from the past.

Perfect for fans of:
🎭 Masked MMC
💫 Second chances
👀 Mysterious past connections
🖤 Childhood/celebrity crush
🏠 Close quarters
⛸️ Skater boy × skater girl
🤍 Found family
🔐 Secrets and hidden identities
🔥 “You belong to me” energy

Thank you so much to Mary Catherine Gebhard for the opportunity to read this ARC. 💕

[Life on Readpeat]

If you happened to be a fan of Mary Catherine Gebhard back in 2019 then you may remember the original YA version of 𝐒𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐲 that was released in late April of that year. That version also happened to be my first glimpse into this extraordinarily talented author’s writing style and storytelling abilities. It was the book that introduced me to her and that’s why the original version will forever hold a special place in my heart!

While 𝐒𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐲 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔) has the original heart and soul of 𝐒𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐲 (𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗), this new version has been revised and perfectly showcases a range of growth in the author’s writing journey. Although I absolutely adore the original, I found myself even more obsessed with the vibes this new version brings — plus the shift from YA to a more mature view means we got those spicy moments that the original version was missing out on!

Tweetie and Flip deserved a refresh and that’s just what Mary Catherine Gebhard did by breathing new life into their story. These two stole my heart in the original YA version, but in the new version they dug in even deeper and wholeheartedly captured my soul too. Their chemistry was *𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬* perfection and you could just tell that these two were cut from the same cloth — two halves of a whole. They are the kind of characters that you just can’t help falling for and not wanting to let go.

It’s hard to believe that I finished this book just a few hours ago (on 9/20/26) and I already cannot wait to see what the next book in the 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 series has to hold! I am so excited to be back in this world (in a new light) and that we are finally getting the rest of the stories that I have so desperately been craving for years!

[Siobhan (Bookish Vibes)]

Skater Boy is such a sweet story of first love and second chances. Tweetie and Flip have a connection from the moment they meet and that only gets stronger over time. The skater boy x skater girls vibes were *chef's kiss*. Flip is all about encouraging Tweetie to believe in herself and chase her dreams and I loved that.
I also loved Patchwork House and the found family aspect of the story. This group of misfits have created a place where they feel safe and connected, but there is also a bit of mystery around King and where he came from.

I will happily devour anything this author writes and I am especially excited for what's to come in this series.

[DENISSE]

ARC review
Aww this was such a sweet and fun, second chance story. Tragic circumstances brought Tweetie to Patchwork House as a teen where she meets her masked stalker. Tweetie was adorable, eventhough she's young, she was mature and gutsy. Flip was a top tier yearner, dude fell hard and fast for Tweetie. Stalker Flip and Tweetie were so damn adorable, I found her curiosities towards masked Flip very cute. His support for Tweeite's skating career was great, all that he did for her all those years 😢☺️ King and Daniel were a great addition to their story, loved the hints that will hopefully 🤞 lead to their own books.

[Selena]

I liked the dual timeline, the picture that piece by piece grew like a puzzle and depicted a story about loss, belonging, secrets, and betrayal.

I loved seeing the dedication in Flip. How he had Tweetie's back whereever she went—from the shadows as well as out in the open.

I loved learning about her first love, about her journey of trying to establish herself in a male-dominated sport.

This book is for all the rebels. For those who found family outside of blood. The ones who like their boys bad and with a irresistible smirk.

📖 Skater Boy by Mary Catherine Gebhard
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Mary for letting me read this.

#reading #bookstagram #arcreview #skaterboy #mcg

[Elaya]

Reverence. Awe. Yearning.

Those three words pretty much sum up this read for me.

Mary Catherine Gebhard, my comfort-reading author, has done it again—and somehow brought in so many things that were new to me while still giving me that feeling I always feel in her books.

That’s really all I want to say about this one. ♡

You all are up for so much!

Thank you author for providing with the ARC all thoughts are mine

[whaterireads | Eri]

So fun! I enjoyed this book a lot! Tormented skater boy, obsessed with the gorgeous skater girl! YES PLEASE!
Also the found family in this book was so beautiful! I love those big brother of her! And the glimpse of their fmcs 🫣 obsessed already!

I can’t wait for everyone to meet Flip and Tweetie 💗💗💗

[Jen Moore]

ARC I love this authors work, but I will admit I struggled to get into this story. I guess it’s because I wasn’t able to get into the Skater aspect of the book. It was a good book with a good relationship/ found Family plot. Just wasn’t for me. Please read this if you’re into the genre of Skater because it was good.