How Does Skate It Till You Make It End And Why?

I got totally hooked by the setup and the way the story leans into both the Olympics pressure and a fake-dating rom-com vibe—Ari is unexpectedly thrust into captaincy for Great Britain’s first women’s Winter Olympics hockey team, and Drew is this risk-averse photographer who shows up at the Games trying to jumpstart his career. The novel builds that tension around the tournament, family complications, and a gnarly ex that Ari needs space from, which is exactly why the fake-dating premise makes sense in the first place. The ending itself lands as a tender, earned, ‘happy-for-now’ close rather than an over-the-top fairy-tale finale. By the final act, the fake arrangement has broken down in the best way: the two have to reckon with real feelings, messy truths (including a secret connection that complicates things), and their professional ambitions. The emotional pay-off is that both characters grow—Ari steps fully into leadership and boundaries, and Drew faces his fears and family responsibilities—so when they choose to stay with one another the choice feels mutual and plausible. Reviews and blurbs frame the finish as satisfying and hopeful rather than definitively ‘forever now,’ which fits the characters’ arcs through the Games. Why it ends that way, to my mind, is thematic: the author keeps the focus on career, identity, and learning to let people in, so a neat happily-ever-after would’ve undercut that realism. Giving them a hopeful, somewhat open future honors both the rom-com warmth and the book’s attention to the real-life push-and-pull athletes face. It left me smiling and relieved—like watching two people finally stop hiding and start trying, even if the road ahead is still real life rather than a tidy montage.

The finale lands on a hopeful note: after the fake dating unravels into real feelings, Ari and Drew confront their personal baggage, sort out the immediate threats to their trust, and choose to stay together in a realistic, ‘for now’ way. The ending isn’t a full, absolute promise of forever; it’s a compromise that acknowledges careers, family issues, and the fact that both leads still have work to do. That tonal choice makes sense because the novel is as much about Ari stepping up as a leader and Drew facing his fears as it is about their romance. I came away thinking the author wanted the reader to celebrate growth and mutual choice rather than a saccharine, instantaneous happily-ever-after—so we get warmth and hope instead of a perfect, unambiguous closure.