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Sophie Fournier #7
Line Chemistry
Coming off a season of professional highs and then lows, Sophie is looking forward to a fresh new season. A season without a new coach or long-term injury. A season where everything returns to normal. But even though Sophie has recovered from tearing her ACL, she isn’t back at the top of her game yet.
All her life, Sophie’s father has told her if she isn’t the best, they won’t let her play hockey. On the ice, she has to rely on her teammates more than she’s used to. She has to learn that there is a place for her on the roster, even if she isn’t setting franchise records for points scored in a single season.
And off the ice, Sophie learns that some relationships go beyond hockey. She and Elsa are teammates, linemates, but their partnership is more than that. And maybe, all this time she’s been telling Elsa she wants them to be Condors for life, she’s been asking for something else.
All her life, Sophie’s father has told her if she isn’t the best, they won’t let her play hockey. On the ice, she has to rely on her teammates more than she’s used to. She has to learn that there is a place for her on the roster, even if she isn’t setting franchise records for points scored in a single season.
And off the ice, Sophie learns that some relationships go beyond hockey. She and Elsa are teammates, linemates, but their partnership is more than that. And maybe, all this time she’s been telling Elsa she wants them to be Condors for life, she’s been asking for something else.
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First published November 29, 2022
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About the author
K.R. Collins
13 books53 followersK.R. Collins went to college in Pennsylvania where she learned to write and fell in love with hockey. When she isn’t working or writing, she watches hockey games and claims it’s for research.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 4, 2023
Hockey, hockey hockey hockey. Line Chemistry is book seven of this excellent series and must be read in order, eh!
Being Canadian, I have watched and played hockey for most of my life. It is ingrained in me and my culture. Collins writes what she knows and her hockey knowledge is top notch. Add in a seven book slow burn romance and you have my complete attention.
Being Canadian, I have watched and played hockey for most of my life. It is ingrained in me and my culture. Collins writes what she knows and her hockey knowledge is top notch. Add in a seven book slow burn romance and you have my complete attention.
January 29, 2023
Do not read this review if you haven’t read the previous books in the series. I’m not spoiling this book itself, not more than the blurb does, but this part of the story is the result of everything that happened in the six books before. Go read them, it’s an excellent series.
Finally! There’s slow burn and there’s slow burn, and this has to be the slowest of all. Here we are, in book 7, the second to last of the series (if I’m not mistaken), and finally Sophie looks at Elsa’s lips and wants to kiss her.
Let’s be clear about something: I’m not judging anyone’s feelings, attraction, desires, or lack thereof. I love romance but I don’t need it in all the books I read. I loved every book in this series despite the lack of romance and got carried away by the ice hockey of all things – if you know me, you know how improbable that was. Yet for some reason (which I guess is the author’s gift at blurring lines), I’ve always felt there was more to Sophie. When we first met her at the beginning of the series, she appeared as a block but as she grew up, as she grew older, as the story moved along, she showed herself to be more complex, more and more interesting as well. This evolution is what makes these books amazing. The character growth and how it translates in the way Collins writes it. Because the books are written in the present tense, with a lot of detailed descriptions, of games most notably, yet the big picture is there as well. And in the big picture of Sophie, there’s always been room for love, romantic love as well as friendship love (this she’s had for a while). For not only a life beyond the ice rink but appreciation for this life.
Over the course of the series, Collins goes deeper and deeper, from the outside in. In the first books, we see Sophie as she works to be seen: the first woman in the NAHL, a hard-working athlete, focused and talented but bland. Then, book after book, we’re shown a bit more, layers are unveiled, one by one. We learn more and more about her as an athlete, as a captain, then as a person, as a woman, a friend, a daughter and sister as well, and now, as a lover. “For so long, Sophie has defined herself as a hockey player, and only a hockey player, writes Collins. Complete dedication was the only way to advance and carve out a space for herself in the sport. But she’s more than an athlete.” Each book brings new insight, and how wonderful is it that there’s still more to learn even as the end of the series is near? I’ve been calling this series “the hockey books” but they’re so much more than that (and even if they were only that, they’d be great), an in-depth study of one very special person and through her of sports, group dynamics, family, expectations.
I wouldn’t have been disappointed if romance hadn’t taken over in this seventh book. I’ve come to see this series as an inexplicable delicacy, something I shouldn’t enjoy but actually love. Sophie and Elsa becoming Sophie and Elsa is the icing on the cake. As cliché as it sounds, this book was everything I hoped for and more. I’m very excited about the next one even though I’m already sad that it will be the last. As unexpected as it was for me, this series has turned out to be a masterclass in character growth, and definitely one of my favourite series. I can’t recommend it enough, including the novella Glove Save and a Beauty, focused not on Sophie but on goalie Gabrielle Gagnon, whom I also love, for radically different reasons.
I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Read all my reviews on my blog (and please buy from the affiliation links!): Jude in the Stars
April 16, 2023
Book 7 of the Sophie Fornier series and I am screaming my lungs out to the Blackhawks’ Chelsea Dagger goal song in celebration. Sophie and Elsa hockey duo are now Sophie and Elsa in the real world. If you have made it this far, this news is not a spoiler, only an affirmation.
The series is an epic telling of a teenager who gradually morphs into a full blown adult, conquering sports along the way but who struggles to be whole. In Book 7, Sophie is now a grown woman who is centered and ready to accept other aspects of life besides hockey, most especially love. The author refuses to cheat on the story. There are no shortcuts so each book in the series is a chapter in Sophie Fornier’s life and if you are willing, the books paint an expansive mural of someone growing into their life. It’s addictive and incredibly satisfying to read. The hockey is always there but the character building remains the main event.
I believe Book 8 will complete the series and I am, of course, looking forward to it. My wish list also includes a prequel. I would love a book describing Sophie’s teenage years at Chilton Prep and her relationship with her father.
The series is an epic telling of a teenager who gradually morphs into a full blown adult, conquering sports along the way but who struggles to be whole. In Book 7, Sophie is now a grown woman who is centered and ready to accept other aspects of life besides hockey, most especially love. The author refuses to cheat on the story. There are no shortcuts so each book in the series is a chapter in Sophie Fornier’s life and if you are willing, the books paint an expansive mural of someone growing into their life. It’s addictive and incredibly satisfying to read. The hockey is always there but the character building remains the main event.
I believe Book 8 will complete the series and I am, of course, looking forward to it. My wish list also includes a prequel. I would love a book describing Sophie’s teenage years at Chilton Prep and her relationship with her father.
April 15, 2023
At last, at last. Fans of this series ( which must be read in order to appreciate the growth in Sophie) are rewarded for our patience. The ending felt rushed but the emotional impact, terrific hockey knowledge and hope we all have for the final book in the series make this another five star read.
June 29, 2024
The slowest slow-burn on the planet finally gets somewhere! I LOVED almost everything about this. The one issue is there seemed to be missing. It jumps from "here are my feelings" to "oh, yeah, sex has been happening for a while now" with no middle. I'm not even the type that needs details or fade-to-black, but some information, discussion, self-reflecting feelings would have been nice in that empty spot.
Nothing about Sophie, even in this book, reads as demisexual. She's clearly demiromantic, so that's annoying. Romantic orientation is always overlooked and assumed sexual. Action doesn't equal attraction. Despite the label issue, we all hoped this would finally happen, and it did!
Nothing about Sophie, even in this book, reads as demisexual. She's clearly demiromantic, so that's annoying. Romantic orientation is always overlooked and assumed sexual. Action doesn't equal attraction. Despite the label issue, we all hoped this would finally happen, and it did!
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June 17, 2024https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...
Sophie Fournier from Breaking the Ice is demisexual!
Sophie Fournier from Breaking the Ice is demisexual!
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October 2, 2024peace and love but this book was not written well at all there was no character build whatsoever
March 13, 2025
Took me three years to read this book. And that's after reading each book of this series, including side book that followed a different character, immediately after the book appeared. What finally got me to read it? The publication of book 8. And, frankly, I'm quite happy I was able to read book 7 & 8 right after each other.
Okay, so, other than deciding to wait until book 8 to read this book (which isn't what I was doing), why did it take me three years to read this one? Well, it has been 3 years, so I can't say for certain, but I imagine it has to do with what I found when I started to read this book. The book had a odd rough start. Like it had originally been written in Swedish by someone who doesn't really speak Swedish, then translated into German, then back to English. Okay, maybe not that, but there was this oddness to the way the words were being conveyed, to the way the action was being conveyed. Mostly went away as the book proceeded, and I didn't really notice it in book 8 (and it has been too long since books 1-6 to recall if this was a consistent issue with the books).
Right, so. As another review pointed out: this is a slow burn series. Great series that was published by NineStar, a LGBT publisher and, so, the early books might have been confusing to readers looking for LGBT. First six or so books involved a character (well, the ones that followed Sophie Fournier) who was called a hockeysexual. Someone who was a lot more interested in hockey than sex; and, how to put this, tended to rub one out to hockey rather than to people or other. I do not recall hockeysexual to be in the LGBT universe, but someone that doesn't appear to be that interested in romantic attachments to others, and/or sex with others, certainly fall within expanded LGBT, under the heading of 'Asexual'.
This book here found out where exactly Sophie falls on the spectrum, and the good news for those who care about this specific issue: it also shows that Sophie is not aromantic.
Right, so, the book continues to follow Sophie's hockey career, coming back from injury that cut short her season, and possibly continue a point streak that was active when Sophie became injured. Also continues to follow Sophie and her relationships with her teammates, and, new to this specific book in the series, new revelations about her specific desires and the like that she gets help with from the doc who worked with her during her injury and recover (mind-doc, therapist).
As others noted: this is a series that needs to be read in order to get the best out of this book here and book 8. So, go do that. *nods*
Great book, and I suggest if you liked books 1-6, push through any issues you might have with the beginning of this book. At the very least, do not take 3 years like I did (I mean, book 8 is already published so . . .).
Rating: 4.25
March 13 2025
Okay, so, other than deciding to wait until book 8 to read this book (which isn't what I was doing), why did it take me three years to read this one? Well, it has been 3 years, so I can't say for certain, but I imagine it has to do with what I found when I started to read this book. The book had a odd rough start. Like it had originally been written in Swedish by someone who doesn't really speak Swedish, then translated into German, then back to English. Okay, maybe not that, but there was this oddness to the way the words were being conveyed, to the way the action was being conveyed. Mostly went away as the book proceeded, and I didn't really notice it in book 8 (and it has been too long since books 1-6 to recall if this was a consistent issue with the books).
Right, so. As another review pointed out: this is a slow burn series. Great series that was published by NineStar, a LGBT publisher and, so, the early books might have been confusing to readers looking for LGBT. First six or so books involved a character (well, the ones that followed Sophie Fournier) who was called a hockeysexual. Someone who was a lot more interested in hockey than sex; and, how to put this, tended to rub one out to hockey rather than to people or other. I do not recall hockeysexual to be in the LGBT universe, but someone that doesn't appear to be that interested in romantic attachments to others, and/or sex with others, certainly fall within expanded LGBT, under the heading of 'Asexual'.
This book here found out where exactly Sophie falls on the spectrum, and the good news for those who care about this specific issue: it also shows that Sophie is not aromantic.
Right, so, the book continues to follow Sophie's hockey career, coming back from injury that cut short her season, and possibly continue a point streak that was active when Sophie became injured. Also continues to follow Sophie and her relationships with her teammates, and, new to this specific book in the series, new revelations about her specific desires and the like that she gets help with from the doc who worked with her during her injury and recover (mind-doc, therapist).
As others noted: this is a series that needs to be read in order to get the best out of this book here and book 8. So, go do that. *nods*
Great book, and I suggest if you liked books 1-6, push through any issues you might have with the beginning of this book. At the very least, do not take 3 years like I did (I mean, book 8 is already published so . . .).
Rating: 4.25
March 13 2025
November 28, 2022
Very much not a typical book for me to pick up, but the writing was smart, clever, and well-constructed.
I found myself actually rooting for the hockey team and needing to see the players get their win, and for the two main characters, Sophie and Elsa, find their version of a happily ever after.
If F/F Romance and sports are your thing...I would suggest picking up this series.
I found myself actually rooting for the hockey team and needing to see the players get their win, and for the two main characters, Sophie and Elsa, find their version of a happily ever after.
If F/F Romance and sports are your thing...I would suggest picking up this series.
January 17, 2023
OMG it finally happened and the payoff was wonderful. the build up to over the last few books was worth the wait. can't wait for the final book to finish this amazing series out.
May 20, 2024
Incredible. Sophie's journey has been such a joy to be given this front row seat to. The emotional payoff has been building for years, and doesn't disappoint at all.
February 25, 2025
it just gets better and better i fear
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews