On Thin Ice by Julie Cross

Brooke Parker never expected to find herself in the tiny town of Juniper Falls, Minnesota. Of course, she also never expected to lose her dad. Or for her mom to lose herself. Brooke feels like she’s losing it… until she finds Juniper Falls hockey. Juniper Falls girls’ hockey, that is.

Jake Hammond, current prince of Juniper Falls, captain of the hockey team, and player with the best chance of scoring it big, is on top of the world. Until one hazing ritual gone wrong lands him injured, sitting on the sidelines, and—shocking even to him—finding himself enjoying his “punishment” as assistant coach for the girls’ team.

As Jake and Brooke grow closer, he finds the quiet new girl is hiding a persona full of life, ideas, and experiences bigger and broader than anything he’s ever known. But to Jake, hockey’s never just been a game. It’s his whole life. And leveraging the game for a shot at their future might be more than he can give.

Book 3
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Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Lee’Anne – ☆☆☆☆☆
I was completely obsessed with this book from page one. I read book one in this series and felt that the middle dragged out a bit, that was 100% not the case with this book. I couldn’t put it down – I’m already excited to read the next book in the series.

Brooke has had her life completely flipped upside down – her father is arrested, her and her mother, who is a drug zombie most days, have had to move from their Texas home to live with her grandmother in Michigan, also meaning that she has had to start over at a new high school. Oh, and her entire life has revolved around dancing and her new school doesn’t have that either. All-in-all, Brooke is a super quiet girl who is just trying to get through life.

Jake Hammond is literally the town prince, star hockey player, and all-around popular dude. Until a hazing ritual that he didn’t even want to participate in goes terribly wrong and Jake ends up not only taking the blame but also with a broken collarbone. Now Jake is unable to play hockey, the town has taken his prince title, and his father is mad at him for not blaming the other players of his team for the hazing. Brooke quite literally saved Jake’s life and that combined with Jake coaching the girl’s hockey team Brooke joined means the two wind up spending a ton of time together and forming an unbreakable bond.

I really love that though the situations that happen to the kids in this book suck, they’re realistic and the author does a fantastic job bringing this story to life. This has definitely been my favorite book in the series so far. I’m really looking forward to seeing who the next book will be about!


Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
On Thin Ice is the third installment of the Juniper Falls series. This is a standalone series, meaning the books can be read out of series order with no confusion felt by the reader.

I'm a big fan of Julie Cross's writing style and the way she creates young adults who are believable and lifelike, their quirkiness a breath of fresh air rather than over-done or over-the-top. At the same time, Cross always manages to have me clicking the pages at a rapid rate, needing to know what happens next.

Brooke's numbness resonated with me. Her father is in prison and her mother has checked out, leaving Brooke to move in with her grandmother. But she doesn't adjust well, closing herself off instead of experiencing the chaotic emotions that would tear her apart.

Brooke doesn't believe she needs anyone, but she received unlikely support and attention from the most popular boy in school, Jake. Their connection is strong and realistic. Believable. She opens up and learns to trust again.

After a hazing gone wrong, Jake is thrust into Brooke's path. This is obviously a hockey romance, but it isn't pushed to the wayside like many novels do. Hockey is a supportive character in the novel, having its own voice. I actually didn't know anything about the sport, and I learned a bunch without it coming off as textbook or too much information. The delivery was perfect, an entertaining way to teach.

I highly recommend this novel, the series, and the author to fans of young adult, as Julie Cross is on my must-read list.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ disclaimer on hazing rituals gone wrong.

Julie Cross is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult and Young Adult fiction, including the Tempest series, a young adult science fiction trilogy which includes Tempest, Vortex, Timestorm (St. Martin's Press). She's also the author of Letters to Nowhere series, Whatever Life Throws at You, Third Degree, Halfway Perfect, Chasing Truth, Off the Ice and many more to come! Julie Cross was a longtime resident of central Illinois but has recently moved her entire family across the country to continue her academic studies at Stanford University.

Connect with Julie

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of On Thin Ice (Juniper Falls #3) by Julie Cross to read and review.

Hiding Lies by Julie Cross

Fans of Veronica Mars or Ally Carter will love the snarky, whip-smart former con artist Eleanor, in this sequel to Chasing Truth.

At Holden Prep, dirty little secrets always have a way of coming to the surface.

Eleanor Ames has never been what she seems. Average high school student on the outside, but reformed con artist trying to break free of her past on the inside. When Eleanor receives startling news about someone from her previous criminal life, plans for a new operation coinciding with her school’s upcoming field trip quickly consume her.

But operations rarely go according to plan. And this is one her irresistible teen FBI agent boyfriend, Miles, would never approve of.

Now, more than just Ellie’s reputation is at stake. If she fails, it could be her life.

Book 2
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Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Thriller, Romance

This is the second book in this series and it doesn't disappoint. Miles, Ellie, and Dominic are all thrown into the story and you get to see them mature, develop their skills, and see their relationships grow.

Ellie is still reeling a little from the situation she found herself in at the end of book one. She wants to find a way to redeem her mom and put her dad where he belongs. When the opportunity presents itself, she'll need all of the people around her to pull off this con. You are given more background for Ellie and also get to meet a new family "cousin."

Miles and Ellie deepen their relationship all while trying to navigate their inherent conclusion to mistrust everyone. I liked that they were able to continue their relationship, despite being on opposite "sides."

Black and white don't belong in this story – it's all about shades of grey.

The character who surprised me the most was Dominic. He was a breath of fresh, humorous air. I liked how he was able to help Ellie do her job but kept things light and funny.

This story is full of twists and turns that you don't necessarily see coming. I can't wait to see what happens next.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
It has been 18 months since book one in this series and I was excited to finally be getting my hands on book two.

Hiding Lies sees Miles in Turkey with his parents, and Eleanor going on a three week field trip to New York City. But the field trip is just an excuse for Eleanor to go undercover in her father’s current con, working with the FBI in the hopes of getting her mother’s prison sentence reduced.

This story is full on from start to finish. Between school, her friends, her boyfriend Miles, her family, the FBI, and the mob, Eleanor has so many balls in the air. The collision of the different parts of her life keep Eleanor on her toes and we get to see her in her element, putting her skills as a con artist to good use.

The story has a few good twists and turns but I kept waiting for everything to go pear shaped. I loved seeing Eleanor working all sides and trying to decipher right from wrong and good from bad, but it is a lot of presure on one high school student.

Hiding Lies is an excellent, fast-paced action/mystery with a bit of family drama and some good solid teen romance and I had a great time reading it. I hope we don’t have to wait another 18 months for book three.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆
5 Stars from a young adult perspective
3 Stars from an adult perspective
4 Stars overall

Hiding Lies is the second and possibly final installment in the Eleanor Ames series. I'd strongly suggest against reading this as a standalone. I read the first pre-release as well, so it has been a long while for me. If you haven't read the first in the series, I'd suggest reading books one and two back-to-back to get the optimal reading experience, as I struggled to remember the finer details after so long in between. If you enjoy rereading, and it's been a while since you read the first, I'd suggest a refresher.

This is a spoiler-free review, where I will avoid major plot points, as this is considered a mystery and suspense young adult series.

It was a slow start for me, not to say I wasn't enjoying said start – just that I was having difficulty remembering what had happened previously after reading 500 books in between. There was also a lot of threads going on, maybe two or three too many for young adults to grasp, giving a chaotic feel. So many things that there was no way there were enough hours in the day for Ellie and company to pull off what they were doing.

I'm thankful my logical personality was tucked away while I read, not rearing its ugly head until after I had finished the book. After all, this is fiction.

Ellie is a con artist who accidentally put her mother away in prison on their last job, 11 months ago. Now she's trying to right the wrongs (and that's all I can tell you to avoid spoilers. HA!).

Ellie is not too stupid to live. She's not a damsel in distress. Ellie is logical, putting her feelings to the wayside to get through what needs to be done. This is where the emotions of the novel truly hit me hard. I'm a sucker for a punch to the gut sensation, where rejection and betrayals really tug my heartstrings and connect me to the narrator.

Ellie is ashamed of her past, how she treated others as a means to an end. In actuality, as the pages go by, it's Ellie who is a means to an end, for everyone on the pages. No one is putting her first. No one is taking care of her. After all, she is a seventeen-year-old girl, and she should be someone's focus. No matter who is helping her, they have an agenda – they all lie to her. From the title to Ellie's inner monologue, one would assume it is Ellie hiding the lies... from my perspective, it's everyone hiding lies from her, as they ask things of her they shouldn't.

There are two points that lowered my reading enjoyment, hence the three stars from the adult perspective. I feel young adults won't notice, as they will be swept up in the swoon-worthy teen romance and the mystery and suspenseful action.

However, the adult in me did notice how things didn't make any sense when we got to the ending. Had I reviewed this immediately, my rating may have been higher, but after mulling the book over, nothing tied together in a lucid, logical, or even rational way. It made no sense whatsoever. Ellie's con family, the FBI renegade group, and the mafia, added with several governmental agencies, absolutely nothing tied them together, all the way to a rushed ending that tied the romance in a pretty bow.

Truthfully, I felt the author was going to pull another trigger, that would have been an ultimate betrayal, but decided against it when it came time to do it. Otherwise, everything was illogical and too coincidental how everything fell into place.

It also had the feel of an ending for the series, yet nothing was resolved.

"We're going to let the adults handle it."

I enjoyed being inside Ellie's mind, as I feel she was the most rational character of the bunch. The rest of the cast acted as if they too were teenagers, even when grown adults in high positions. That's where the book fell flat for me. Those in charge were all too bumbling, written so to allow teenagers to shine, which makes me fear for our country if that were the case.

Dominic was a shining star, more so than Miles. By the way, what happened to Oscar?

I have no idea if this is the conclusion, even though it had a feeling of finality. New breath could be breathed into it if the focus shifts to a new narrator, or if Ellie got away from everyone and started over. Ellie is an amazing narrator but being inside Dominic would be eye-opening.

I highly recommend to young adults. For the more detail-oriented adult, I'd suggest reading quickly, then not mulling over how things got from point A to point B, all the way to point Z.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ due to violence, kissing, and fade-to-black sexual situations.

Also Available in the Eleanor Ames Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our Chasing Truth post.

Julie Cross is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult and Young Adult fiction, including the Tempest series, a young adult science fiction trilogy which includes Tempest, Vortex, Timestorm (St. Martin’s Press).

She’s also the author of Letters to Nowhere series, Whatever Life Throws at You, Third Degree, Halfway Perfect, and many more to come!

Julie lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. She’s a former gymnast, longtime gymnastics fan, coach, and former Gymnastics Program Director with the YMCA.

She’s a lover of books, devouring several novels a week, especially in the young adult and new adult genres.

Outside of her reading and writing credibility’s, Julie Cross is a committed–but not talented–long distance runner, creator of imaginary beach vacations, Midwest bipolar weather survivor, expired CPR certification card holder, as well as a ponytail and gym shoe addict.

Connect with Julie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Hiding Lies (Eleanor Ames #2) by Julie Cross to read and review.

Off the Ice by Julie Cross

All is fair in love and hockey…

Claire O’Connor is back in Juniper Falls, but that doesn’t mean she wants to be. One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again.

Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good.

It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love.

For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart.

Book 1
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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Lee’Anne – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 Stars

This was an okay read, I feel like the story just dragged a bit in the middle. It was really slow at parts, but I will say the writing is good and the parts that weren’t slow are great!

Tate is a goalie for his high school’s hockey team, which in his tiny town is a huge deal. Since he was a kid, he’s had a crush on this older sister’s best friend, Claire, and right before she heads off to college she witnesses his father’s drunken abuse and the two have an unbreakable connection. When Claire goes away to college Tate lets his feelings go, but when Claire comes home to help care for her very sick father, old feelings come back to the surface. Tate is fighting to earn his place on his team, get a spot on an NHL team, and battle his father’s strong-arming him and his friends. While Claire is fighting to keep her parents’ business afloat, earn enough money to pay for college and keep her dreams alive. The two have a lot going on and have to really fight at a relationship.

My favorite aspect of this book was that Tate has a long-time girlfriend, Haley, who is perfect – gorgeous, smart, cheerleader, etc. Only, she’s kind of awesome, and I found that refreshing. Usually that character is written as catty and mean, but Haley is awesome and I honestly think I wound up liking her mother then Claire (like I really hope she gets her own book – *hint, hint* LOL). This is a book that really covers it all and though I think a few of the details could have been cut out to make this a more fast-paced read, I did enjoy the author’s wide variety of characters.


Jordan – ☆☆☆☆
This was my first time reading any of Julie Cross' books and Off the Ice (Juniper Falls #1) was a nice introduction. The story flowed well and the characters were developed. I will definitely be looking to see what's in store next for Juniper Falls!

Claire O' Connor takes time off from college to return to her small hometown of Juniper Falls and help take care of the family's hockey bar while her father begins to recover. She has zero intentions of sticking around, but running into to Tate Tanley has her questioning everything.

I never knew I was such a fan of hockey until after reading Off the Ice. Cross does a lovely job of weaving hockey and romance. I often times forgot I was even reading a young adult book because this one seemed to straddle the line between young adult and new adult. Off the Ice was a solid 4-star read for me.

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author of Halfway Perfect, Whatever Life Throws at You, Tempest, optioned by Summit Entertainment, Letters to Nowhere, and Third Degree. Julie lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children.

Connect with Julie

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Off the Ice (Juniper Falls #1) by Julie Cross to read and review.

Chasing Truth by Julie Cross

At Holden Prep, the rich and powerful rule the school—and they’ll do just about anything to keep their dirty little secrets hidden.

When former con artist Eleanor Ames’s homecoming date commits suicide, she’s positive there’s something more going on. The more questions she asks, though, the more she crosses paths with Miles Beckett. He’s sexy, mysterious, arrogant…and he’s asking all the same questions.

Eleanor might not trust him—she doesn’t even like him—but they can’t keep their hands off of each other. Fighting the infuriating attraction is almost as hard as ignoring the fact that Miles isn’t telling her the truth…and that there’s a good chance he thinks she’s the killer.

Book 1
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B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
4.5 stars
M/F Mystery
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

This was a great YA story. It was complex, developed twists and turns, and great characters.

Ellie, Harper, Aiden, and Miles are all well developed and have complex relationships. They all feed off each other, support each other, and love each other.

It was a hard thing for me to get around, the fact that Miles has this image of how the world should work. However, from where I don't really understand how he's come to be that way, especially given his parents' careers. So, while I enjoyed the dialogue between him and Ellie, he was the character I had the hardest time believing.

Ellie and Harper have had a difficult childhood. I do wish that we had known more about Harper, but hopefully, she'll get her own story. The relationship that they have, the connection they share is something only siblings can truly share. I love how they support each other, even when Harper knows that Ellie is hiding something.

Ellie is struggling to find her place. I felt her hurt when she recalls her friend Simon. The guilt over surviving. She knows in her heart that Simon would not have left her. When she begins her quest, she knows that she'll have to draw upon her skills – but she's apprehensive about this, because she has worked hard to hide those abilities.

The internal struggle that both main characters go through is interesting. One is trying to find the right side of the ethical dilemma while the other is trying to decide where the line is – good versus bad.

The story takes a lot of twists and turns – the secondary characters help Ellie and Miles seem a little more "normal," but I think that they were somewhat distracting because you knew how they belonged together – their relationships, you were able to see how they wove together to create this community of people – their click.

Overall, this was a great mystery. Despite guessing the who did it – before the big reveal – I still found that the story was great. I can't wait to see what this series has in store.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Chasing Truth is the debut in the Eleanor Ames series. Truth be told, I have no idea how to review this book without it being a massive spoiler, so I think it best if I avoid the plot altogether, and just state the writing style and the way it made me feel...

Fast-paced, with a good withholding of information, which was delivered in healthy doses along the way to keep the reader fully engaged and eager for more. Chasing Truth is the mystery surrounding Ellie's friend, Simon.

Ellie's a teenage girl, but she's so much more than that. As the daughter born into a crime family of grifters, con-artists, her view of the world is tainted. She has no roots, no identity, not even a birth certificate or social security number. Ellie is a ghost living a lie until she's able to obtain documentation. There is an edge to Ellie that removes the usual vapid, TSTL (too stupid to live) mentality 'some' YA heroine's personalities are written. Ellie has depth, a great backstory, insecurities, and confidence in her skills. She tends to use her wit and intelligence more so than her feminine wiles. Ellie's #1 in life is survival, not clothing, and trends, and being popular, and boys. Ellie may be morally bankrupt by society's standards, but she does have loyalty and ethics she lives by.

In walks Miles into Eleanor's life, which is the start to a push-pull, love-hate, slow-burn romance as the two justice-seekers chase clues about what happened to Simon. Miles is Ellie's complete and total opposite, Mr. Black & White with no shades of gray. You're either right or wrong, with no room for redemption.

Eleanor learns to drop her emotional shields while Miles evolves through humility while shedding his self-righteousness.

Chasing Truth is a who-done-it style read that had me clicking the pages all through the night. When I got to the very last page, my Kindle battery died. No joke, talk about perfect timing. I read the book from page one until the end in one sitting, when I should have been sleeping. It's now 7 in the morning, and I'm starting the day with a book-hangover.

As an adult reading a Young Adult novel, I believe this book will appeal to all ages (13+) and genders, as long as they like a thrilling mystery with a thread of romance riding the surface – something for everyone.

I look forward to reading more by Julie Cross, and more from this series.

Julie Cross is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of New Adult and Young Adult fiction, including the Tempest series, a young adult science fiction trilogy which includes Tempest, Vortex, Timestorm (St. Martin’s Press).

She’s also the author of Letters to Nowhere series, Whatever Life Throws at You, Third Degree, Halfway Perfect, and many more to come!

Julie lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. She’s a former gymnast, longtime gymnastics fan, coach, and former Gymnastics Program Director with the YMCA.

She’s a lover of books, devouring several novels a week, especially in the young adult and new adult genres.

Outside of her reading and writing credibility’s, Julie Cross is a committed–but not talented–long distance runner, creator of imaginary beach vacations, Midwest bipolar weather survivor, expired CPR certification card holder, as well as a ponytail and gym shoe addict.

Connect with Julie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Chasing Truth (Eleanor Ames #1) by Julie Cross to read and review.