9 Books to Get in a Winter Olympics Mood!

I mentioned having a Winter Olympics reading list in my BEING SLOANE JACOBS review, and Bookworm1858 asked for more detail.  So I decided to actually post my list instead of burying it in the comments.  This list will be heavy on the figure skating, since that's my favorite.

Let's start with a new book I haven't read before but want to read. GOLD MEDAL WINTER by Donna Freitas is the story of Esperanza, who is advanced to the Olympic team when another skater is injured.  She's younger and less experienced than her teammates, but just as determined.  This title promises lots of competition, a bit of flirting, and a Latina heroine.  It's definitely aimed at the younger crowd, but that means it should be easy to fit in when I have a spare moment!

Now let's move on to some winter sports romances!



BEING SLOANE JACOBS by Lauren Morrill (review linked above) is a cute story about a figure skater and a hockey player who switch places.  Both girls mature and fall in love during their summer of intense sports practice.

THE EX GAMES is one of the books Jennifer Echols wrote for the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies line.  Two exes decide to have a snowboard competition with each other that also ends up reigniting their old flame.  It's not as deep as Echols' later novels, but it's still got her spark.  (And the ex thing works better than it should because they "dated" back when they were 13.)

OUT OF PLAY by Jolene Perry and Nyrae Dawn is another one I haven't read yet.  It's a New Adult/Young Adult romance from Entangled Teen about a rock star drummer and hockey player who fall in love.  I've heard good things, and BEING SLOANE JACOBS certainly put me in the mood for more books about female hockey players.

Now for four childhood favorites, which includes a trilogy about the Olympics!



SKATING SHOES by Noel Streatfeild was out of print when I was a child, meaning that my mom paid around $40 for a copy from eBay!  Streatfeild, if you're not familiar with the name, is an English author famous for her stories about young girls in the performing arts.  This is about two young girls who become friends on the rink, but start to drift apart as one loses interest and one becomes serious.

Melissa Lowell's Silver Blades books were the thing to read back when I figure skated, but they're out of print now.  (They switched on me.)  The Gold Medal Dreams trilogy featured two skaters from the series: Tori Carsen and Jill Wong.  They've both reached Nationals and hope to go the Olympics, but there are complications.  Namely, Tori has just been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and it's getting harder for her to walk every day, much less skate.  If you can find copies of this trilogy used, it's pretty fun even if you aren't familiar with the characters.  (The series was meant to be picked up at any point.)

And finally, a touch of nonfiction.


There  are books about almost all of the Olympian winners out there.  (I should know; I own a lot of them.)  Ekaterina Gordeeva was a successful solo skater, but first she was part of a team with Sergei Grinkov.  They were a husband-wife team who won gold at two Olympics and four World Championships in pairs skating, before Sergei died of a heart attack at 28.  The memoir MY SERGEI: A Love Story by Gordeeva and E.M. Swift stands out from the crowd of Olympic books because it is very personal and tragic, rather than a pat tale of triumph.  (Also, it's a nice look into the USSR and their training methods.)

I hope that at least on of these nine books catches your eye!  Are there any books you read to get into the Winter Olympics mood?  Or just a book about a winter sport that you love?