The Favorites

When she was four years old Katarina Shaw watched the Olympic champion Shelia Lin win her second gold medal on t.v. She looked up at her father and told him she wanted to learn to ice skate. The beginning of Kat’s journey was anything but easy. Living in an obscure town on the outskirts of Lake Michigan, the family did not have much money. Her abusive, addict brother Liam and loss of her mother left little happiness in the home. But her father supported her dream and managed to do everything he could to get Kat lessons and skate time at the local rink. She met Heath Rocha at ten years old. A sad sweet boy in foster care whose intense eyes watched her every move. Skating became their obsession and their friendship saved his life. Heath moved in with the family and as their dreams of competing became reality Heath would follow Kat to the ends of the earth to make her happy. Landing in Los Angeles at the Lin Academy was the ultimate coup. Grateful to be there Heath and Kat stopped questioning why Bella and Garrett, the famous and wealthy Lin twins would want their competition right under their noses. Apparently keeping their rivals close became another complicated drama within the intensely theatrical ice dancing community. Kat’s fixation on Olympic gold trumped all emotions and decisions. Friendship, betrayal and dreams of victory - these young skaters would do whatever it takes to get the gold. I thoroughly enjoyed the ice skating, romance and twisted relationships but A LOT of skating detail that not everyone will love, this novel easily could have been a 100 pages less. Releases January 14, 2025. ⭐⭐⭐⭐