Cold Day in the Sun is about how Holland struggles against her feelings for the mean coach on her boys varsity Ice Hockey team.

Reading a Sara Biren book is like hanging out with an old friend — you think you know what to expect with good laughs and a lot of heart. Yet, sometimes, that old friend can surprise you by filling you up with such unexpected emotions. Her storytelling has done it again — it snuck up on me & pulled so delicately, yet urgently, on my heart strings. This book may come across as just a sports YA, about a girl trying to play hockey among the boys. But it delivers something so much deeper, so much richer, about the injustices of sexism & unfairness when it comes to gender bias among sports. I really felt myself standing up, right alongside the main character, urging her to fight for her rightful place. There’s power in this story & so, so much glory. There’s also a very sweet, & very swoony, love story that’s woven throughout. And let’s not forget the beautiful scenery of what winter brings to the beautiful lakes of Minnesota. I fell in love with Sara Biren’s debut & have found myself falling again, once more, with this novel, too. The Foo Fighters sprinkled throughout may have a little something to do with it, too. What can I say? This author knows how to write exactly to my heart.

Holland has played on the boys hockey team her whole life. Not to prove a point but because that is all she knows. When she starts to get attention for this, she finds reassurance from the last person she expects, Wes. Wes is one of the captains of her team and one of her toughest critics on the ice. She can't have feelings for him, or could she? With all of the music and Princess Bride references a person could want, this was easily one of my favorite reads of the year. I couldn't put it down! The characters are complex and real and the story sucks you in so easily. I will be adding it to my collection!

Give me a story about a girl on an all boy sports team who's feisty, strong willed, and determined to not only prove to herself, but to everyone that she deserves her place while hitting me with a delicious slow burn of hate to love and I am weak. Give me that same girl throwing out playlists every few chapters or so of some of my favorite music genres including '80's hair metal (thankyouverymuch!) and not only name dropping my favorite movie of all time - The Cutting Edge (Bless!), but also discussing the movie's soundtrack and I am putty in your precious hands. Do with me what you like. I cease to exist. 

Holland Delviss - hockey player and avid Foo Fighters fan - is "living in a man's world" so to speak and using the negativity that comes along with it to fuel her fire. She uses their ridicule as a mantra to keep her focused and on track, to show all the naysayers that the conversation shouldn't be about how she's on a boy's hockey team, but about how she's a hockey player, period. She soon has her chance to do just that when she is chosen to be the lead story as part of a team feature for the annual HockeyFest. But as the interview nears, Holland's once frayed and tenuous relationship with team captain Wes (who she sees as her biggest enemy) starts to shift into something different and completely unexpected. 

I loved (loved, loved, loved) Cold Day in the Sun. It was everything that I need and want (and neeeeed!) in my book world - characters to connect to and root for, a thought out and well executed story, angst (gimme all day!), conflict (yes, please!), and swoon worthy chemistry that will melt your face off and make you wish it was part of long, drawn out series. Ugh, I'd hate it if I didn't love it so much! And if you couldn't tell by my first long winded paragraph the music aspect of this book is top notch for me. I mean, even the title of the book is a title track from the Foo Fighters! This is one of those where I will reread my arc until I have my hands on the finished copy...and then reread that until my little heart's content. I only hope that there is preorder swag! *bats eyelashes*

I can not recommend this book enough! If this isn't necessarily your scene..yolo!..and try something new. Don't miss it!

What's not to love in Sara Biren's new book Cold Day In The Sun. This book had me hooked from page one. Holland is an amazing character she's a tough, driven, and plays hockey on a boys team. I was rooting for her throughout this entire adorable book. The romance between her and Wes the co-captin of the boys team is everything I hoped for. Great book and a must read!!!

3.5/5...I loved that the main character was a girl who played hockey. I wanted a little more hockey, a little less romance, but it was still a cute book I would recommend to fans of Huntley Fitzpatrick or Kasie West.

(3.5 stars) There’s really not much to say about this book: it was short and sweet, and although the ending was good it was slightly unsatisfying. If you liked Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally, you’ll love this too.

I don’t want to talk much about the ending, though. Not just because of spoilers, but also because I recognise that not all books HAVE to be escapism and have that perfect, unshakeable HEA. Especially a YA novel! I’m the first person to loudly say that 99.999% of all high school couples break up, so it would be unfair and unrealistic of me to expect my teenaged book couples to be perfection. It just felt like there were a couple of issues left unexplored – by the end of the book, Wes and Holland have barely agreed to become a couple, let alone discussed their plans for university (and we already know they’re going to different universities).

But I don’t want to give the impression that the romance in this book is unsatisfying. It isn’t, it’s really cute! Wes was awesome, and although Holland messed him around a little, he never gave up on them. The family dynamics were also awesome. Unlike Catching Jordan, Holland’s dad is 100% behind his daughter doing whatever she wants, which was very refreshing to see. Holland’s relationship with her mum and three brothers was also TOTAL GOALS.

Now for the crux of the story: Holland being the only girl on her school’s boys’ team for ice hockey in Halcyon Days, Minnesota. I understand that school and university-level sports is a MASSIVE thing in America, which I personally find a little weird because the only thing in England that comes remotely close is the Oxbridge boat race. And that’s barely. But anyway, there’s a lot of media attention on Holland for her position – is she saying she’s too good for the girls’ team? Her two older brothers were captain – does she think she deserves to be captain too? There are a whole lot of people out there who think she’s taking a spot away from a more-deserving male player.

Holland also has a lot of supporters. Sometimes a few too many: it felt like everyone and their dog was telling her to ‘hold her head up high’, even when they didn’t even know her. It started to feel a little didactic and made Holland look weaker than she really is.

While the ending was slightly unfulfilling on the romantic front, its open-endedness in terms of Holland’s life (like, does she ever make captain?) definitely means the book will stick in my head for a while longer than it otherwise would have done.