Author: Cassandra Diviak

First Published: 17 January 2024

“I hope you always stay my happy ending.”   

I will start by saying that I wI will start by saying that I was given an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank so much Cassandra for sending a copy my way!

Two athletes, one shared rink, and a rivalry heating up on and off the ice.

LOGAN BECKETT has one final season to secure his pro or college hockey dreams. As the team captain of the Waybrook Winter Wolves, the USHL’s worst-performing team, Logan works tirelessly to transform his teammates from the league’s laughingstock into the next Anderson Cup champions. With the upcoming season and some promising performances under his leadership, all eyes are on him to take the underdogs to victory.

But when a world champion figure skater moves into his small town, taking up rink time and snatching the spotlight away from the team’s efforts, Logan’s determined to hate her. Yet that becomes more of a challenge than he expected when facing off against a gentle, graceful skater like Ava.

AVERIE “AVA” LAURIER plans to spend her first independent season living with her coach in the small town of Waybrook, dreaming of a fresh start. Without her parents looming over her every decision, her hopes to reinvigorate her love of skating seem promising. For the first time in almost nineteen years of life, she has a chance to taste true freedom from the expectations befitting a former world champion and the darling of Team USA.

She doesn’t understand why Logan dislikes her so heavily, but she commits to ignoring him and scoring an all-gold season. However, Waybrook isn’t a big enough town to stop their paths from colliding.

When the gold-medalist skater and the underdog hockey captain clash, it’s only a matter of time before ice-cold hostility melts into passion.

The Signature Move is a sweet, rivals-to-lovers romance with a sneaky emotional punch. The balance between the sports – both ice hockey and figure skating – and character and romance development was so good.

Logan Beckett has one season left in the amateur hockey league to secure a pro hockey contract. He has been working overtime to turn his team from the league’s laughingstock into a team that can win the championship cup. He is determined to let nothing get in his way. However, things get shaky when world champion figure skater, Ava Laurier moves to Waybrook. Ava takes Logan’s press coverage and shrinks his access to the rink. Ava does not understand why Logan dislikes her so much but she is committed to ignoring it. Ava needs to have a perfect season if she wants to find her freedom. She has moved to Waybrook, with her coach and his family. It is the first time Ava can remember where she feels she can breathe. Her parents dictate all her decisions from her routines and her image to who she dates. She can not lose focus because her parents have promised to give her some autonomy, but only if she brings home gold at every event.

Ava was such a sweetheart. Her mother is a former professional skater whose injury ended her career. Ava’s mother is determined that Ava will be the best skater currently competing despite the pressure she places on her daughter. The way Ava’s family treated her as just an object to make money, and they had zero care about how they might be harming her, gave me Brittney Spears’ conservatorship vibes. I adore how her coach, Korin, Logan, and the whole town help her escape her parents’ control. That way Korin and his husband shower Ava with the unconditional love and support she does not get from her own family just broke my heart. Watching Ava grow and being able to find her voice and find people who will support and love her unconditionally was one of my favourite parts of this book.

Logan comes from a poor family. He helps his mother raise his kid brother while she works 2 to 3 jobs to keep the roof over their heads. I adore his relationship with his mum and how she supports him to follow his dreams, even if quitting hockey and finding a full-time job would be the smart financial move. Logan places immense pressure on himself to be the best in the league in hopes a talent scout will notice him. Logan instantly dislikes Ava as he believes she’s had every success bought for her due to her family connections. Also, Ava moving to Waybrook means the team’s rink time is reduced, which could impact their chances of winning. I adore how Logan slowly comes around and realizes that Ava’s life might not be all rainbows and sunshine just because her family comes from money.

The romance in here is a super slow burn. It is a true enemies to friends to lovers. I’m talking about it’s 50% through before they start to become friends. And this pacing was perfect for the story. Logan is frustrated that Ava’s fame keeps interfering with his goal and deadline for going pro. And Ava is trying to find out who she is out now that she is living away from her parents’ control. If the pacing of romance developed any quicker, it would not have made any sense. I adore how Logan stood up for Ava against her slimy ex-boyfriend even when they hated each other. This is a low-steam book which I feel felt appropriate for small town vibes.

Call me picky, but when I read a sports romance, I want there to be sports on the page. I am thrilled to say The Signature Move is filled with all the hockey and figure skating. I appreciate all the rehearsals, practices, games and events Cassandra Diviak threw in here. It makes sense that their chosen sport dominates their lives as Ava is a professional athlete and Logan is trying to land a contract with a pro hockey team. The first half mostly takes place at the rink, which makes my heart so happy. I adored how supportive they were of each others’ careers – Ava takes time to attend Logan’s games with his brother and Logan secretly enters and wins a competition to go overseas to see one of Ava’s competitions.

The Signature Move was a joy to read. I adored the news article about Ava and Logan in the epilogue since interviews pop up throughout the story. If you love super slow-burn romances like in Mariana Zapata’s books then The Signature Move is for you.