Cocoa Crush

by Natalie Blitt

After a hockey injury, Harper is afraid to return to the ice. Then a new crush helps to cool her fears.

Genres: Romance, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade

256 pages, Paperback

About the author

Originally from Canada, Natalie Blitt grew up on a steady diet of loyalist adventure stories. It wasn’t until she moved to Chicago after graduating from McGill and receiving a journalism degree from the University of King’s College, that she learned that not everybody sees the loyalists as the heroes. Now living in the Chicago-area, she dreams up young adult novels of a different sort: more kissing, less guns, but always a lot of loyalty. Natalie works at an education think tank and lives with her husband and their three sons. She knows a lot about baseball. She has no choice.

Natalie is represented by Rena Rossner at the Deborah Harris Agency.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable middle grade read. I loved the relationship between Bea and Harper. A cute book about facing your fears.

[Athaliah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coco crush is about a girl named, Harper. Harper causes an accident playing hockey and she can never forgive herself. Ever since then, she has been afraid to go on the ice. A boy named, Jason comes to her town and he changes her life. Her friends and Jason help face her fear.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute but the plot was predictable. The main character had a negative attitude for most of the book.

[🎀Lily Jane🎀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s a fun content check and review for Breaking The Ice! Keep reading, but beware of spoilers!😁

✍🏻Author~Natalie Blitt.

📚Series~Standalone.

📊Reading Level/Genre~Sports, middle grade/YA, romance. Ages 13+ easily for light romance.

🤬Profanity~”Oh my god," "Dear lord", and "thank god" are used with no capitals when referring to God. "Gosh" is used once or twice, "crap" is said once, and "shoot" is said once as well. Harper says that there's "no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks" that she'll get back on the ice, but no swear words are said.

💣Violence~Mild hockey violence (i.e checking, not graphic). A few mentions of a concussion.

🌶️Spice Level~Hand-holding, one none-descriptive kiss. Harper has to sit on Jason's lap during a Zamboni ride due to limited seating space.

✝️Faith Elements~A few mentions of "having faith."

❓Additional Content~None.

😃My Take~A clean, gender-swapped winter sports romance in which the girl is the hockey player and the boy is the figure skater! There are some great messages about not giving up and having confidence in yourself. I loved how Harper and Jason started out as friends, and then the relationship gradually became something more, instead of falling in love right away. It felt more realistic and relatable! And for my homeschool readers-there's a well-represented homeschooler in this book who you'll fall in love with!

🎼Musical Match~”It Is What It Is” by Jenna Raine.

🔗Link To This Review (and more)~ https://sites.google.com/view/lemongr...

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounded up from 4.5. Super cute story. Considering this was originally called Cocoa Crush, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth contained in the story of the main character. I also really appreciated that the main characters become friends first. And I can’t help but love that it’s about a hockey playing girl and a figure skating boy. Tough friendship issues and mental/emotional obstacles are also covered. Really enjoyed this one and it was perfect to read while watching the Winter Olympics!

[Addy Mundahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!!I just finished and I loved it so much it was such a cute book!I feel like the end was the best because it had the most actions,the part when they kissed was intense!but any way definitely recommend!❤️

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

8th grader Harper has a job serving cocoa at the Sweet Shack in the local ice skating rink, the Skatium. She used to be on the girls' hockey team, since her grandmother and mother were obsessed with hockey and her older brothers all played, but after an incident in a game, she won't even go on the ice. This poses a problem when the owner of the rink asks her to participate in a mentorship program. Jason D'Andre, a prominent tween pairs skater, has moved to town and will be helping out, but Harper is still reluctant. It takes the insistence of eight year old friend Bronte to get Harper to acquiese, and even then, she refuses to actually get out on the ice. Jason is not only at the rink, but also enrolls in Summit Middle School. When Harper finds out that the two live in the same neighborhood, they walk home together. Jason has his own issues with skating, and is not fond of the attention that his skating has brought him. Harper's best friend was Bea, but she was involved in the incident that took Harper off the ice. Bea's brother, Brian, has been very mean to Harper ever since. When Bea insists that Harper come to her birthday party, there's a snafu with the cocoa, but the two have a heart to heart talk and make up. Harper is enjoying the mentorship program, but is anxious when she thinks she has caused Bronte to injure herself. Eventually, Harper and Jason talk about their issues with the ice, and decide to try to help each other out. They are good friends, but as they spend more and more time together, they become fonder and fonder of each other. Will they be able to return to the skating that they love, and will they be more than friends?
Strengths: I'm trying not to spoil some of the plot twists here, but yes, the two start dating... after Harper asks Jason out! Loved that part! I also appreciated that they really did start out as friends, had a lot in common, and talked to each other for support. It's also fun that Harper is a hockey player with deep ties to the sport, and Jason is a figure skater, since it's often the other way around. Bronte is an interesting character to have, and Harper trying to be a positive role model is great. I'd love to see more tweens mentoring slightly younger kids. Both Harper and Jason seemed like they were high schoolers (especially since Harper has a job), and the illustration style on the cover is similar to some of the Young Adult titles I have seen, which will encourage even 8th graders to pick this up. This was a generally positive story with no dead relatives, a new kid in town who is fairly well adjusted, and a supportive sports environment. The budding romance is super sweet and involves a kiss. I would love to see SO MANY more stories like this.
Weaknesses: Kids today. They whine a lot. While this is completely on trend for whatever this younger generation is called, it makes an old person like me want to slap them a tiny bit. Blitt's titles are solid middle grade stories, but often seem to get stuck in some kind of publishing purgatory. This came out as Cocoa Crushes about 2020, but maybe only through Scholastic book orders. I also couldn't seem to get a hold of a copy of Carols and Crushes. Scholastic's WISH books are so popular with my students; I don't understand why they are so hard to get for my library.
What I really think: If I can find a prebound copy of this, I'll definitely purchase it. I've bought some paperback titles because I couldn't get them any other way, but for whatever weird reason, my students are reluctant to check out paperbacks! Fans of Suzanne Nelson's and Taylor Garland's WISH titles will drink this one up like a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows!

[middle_schoolers_read Lindsay P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harper is a hockey player who hasn’t stepped on the ice in over two months, since an accident that she blames herself for. Jason is a pairs figure skater who doesn’t have a partner anymore, and has some decisions to make about his future. They end up bonding when they both become mentors in the skating rink volunteer program.

This was a sweet grade 7 romance where the reader can tell both Harper and Jason like each other, but they still don’t know they like each other. I loved how the ice rink was the central setting where both Harper and Jason spent the most time together learning about their passions and fears. I liked how supportive they were of each other when they were trying to overcome their fears, and that neither of them insulted the other person’s sport of choice. Special shout out to the Zamboni scene that every skater wishes they could experience!

Who will like it?

✅ Fans of #sportsromance
✅ Fans of #middlegraderomance stories
✅ Fans of stories about overcoming your fears

[Brielle Berenyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

hockey player Harper is a 12 year old girl but since the promblem she never goes on ice again, Harper is terrified since the day she fell into her friend bea now from that day the ice is harpers enemy. her 3 older brothers all played hockey never had a promblem that harper know's of. Now Harper chose to never go on ice. When a famous cute figure skater , Josh lol haha Josh, Harper calls him as a friend he believes in her ,, when Harper helps a girl that loved hockey even though her dad does not care , bea becomes friends with Harper after all it was a addicent but still people this day say Harper shaul never go on ice, can harpers friends help Harper face her fear and at least make Harper try again, fight her fear, but Harper through the way starts to fall in love with Josh can Harper go through this fear or will it also go through kissing, bleugh!

[Lisa Hoppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the hot chocolate that figured so heavily in this book, this was a warm, sweet comfort read. No beating you over the head with issues, but trying to resolve some conflict. And just a touch of age appropriate romance. I wanted more of Jason’s backstory and maybe more hockey versus figure skating. Would I recommend this as a G-rated hockey romance (that I was kinda hoping for)? No, but it was a cute read, especially for this age group.

[Latte Hyacinth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute, very quick read.
Content is completely clean. No language, the worst they say is “crap”. One brief, nondescript kiss, and Harper has to squeeze into a small seat with Jason, and ends up pretty much sitting on his lap. Ages 10+.

[EYEKON_MAKNAE_EATS_first · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to read at first and went into a reading slump but about 2 days ago I opened the book to page 76 and started reading it and finshed it today I found the book okay but not my fav but I would recommend it for a good winter/sport read 3.5 stars

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with my 7th grade son…it was cute but boring and too dragged out

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little story about getting over fears and frustrations.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super sweet! Although I DID think something more needed to be done about one of these characters, I still enjoyed it. Real review to come to my blog.

[Emily Haage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, cute middle grade novel. Hand to tweens looking for romance (crushes, meet cutes, hand holding, first kiss), plus friendship stories.

[Bailey Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book totally recommend it’s a sports fiction and middle aged romance

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet read about conquering your fears and healing past trauma. And there’s a cute Cush situation too 😉

[Emma Niewedde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book I wish Harper were more confident in herself though. Otherwise I loved the spice!!😝

[Abigail McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cute but for me it was very short and the text was big but other than that I loved it

[Emma Litvan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐️

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it was a wholesome read. I picked it up at the store mainly based on the cover. I know that hockey romances are popular now, and I thought this would be a nice short read to dip my toe into the genre. I didn't expect it to be a target more for the tween audience. Still it was a nice, easy read if you’re in the mood for something light and comforting.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a great book.It has very interesting details and i got really glued to the book..😜

[kaelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

did I just read a book meant for an 8 year old? Yes. Do I regret it? No.

[Gracie Childress · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite.

[rio ⋆🐾° · Rating 3 out of 5]

again my eleven year old self reads 😭

[Kennedy Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a perfect mix of romance,friendships,and hockey