Shining Through

Books, Coffee & Passion
Shining Through is the fourth book in the Red Hot Russians series but it can be read as a standalone. I've read the second book in this series (you can read my review of Turning it on here) and honestly, after reading Shining Through, I think I need to go back and read the complete series!

Tabitha is America's golden girl, some call her The Ice Princess and she has a high chance of winning a gold medal on figure skating. The ultimate dream of any athlete. But Tabitha is starting to slip, after all everyone's expectations are high, her trainer, her family, her country, but the highest of them all – her own. She wants to make it up to her family, after all that they sacrificed for her career, but she can't seem to find her passion while performing, she's struggling to connect with her inner self and to let her emotions shine in the rink. Even though her technique is flawless, she finds herself at odds with her program and she knows she has to get it all together to really have a chance to win gold. She's aiming for perfection but she feels she is still far from it.

Daniil is the hottest bad boy in the rink, a figure skater too, he's known to get in trouble from time to time, oh well – most of the time. But Daniil is determined to succeed, he wants nothing more than to compete at his best level yet and to get a place at the Winter Games. He knows he's far from perfect but his competitive nature, his anger, his passion sets him apart from his competitors. He takes it all and leaves it all, flawlessly executed, in the rink. And he absolutely loves to prove people wrong!

Tabitha watches Daniil practicing and loves his passionate and emotional performance, she knows Daniil has in his program what she's been lacking and she's drawn to him even before knowing who he really is. Daniil watched one of Tabitha's interview during a troubling moment in his life and thinks she is stunningly beautiful, he actually hopes he gets to meet her and when he does... sparks are flying and their chemistry is undeniable. But... can they have a future together?

I loved how Elizabeth Harmon characterized both Daniil and Tabitha physically and emotionally. I have both of them perfectly pictured in my mind! There were a lot of secondary characters which some times could be a little distracting, even though I really enjoyed Tabitha's sister and the coaches/choreographers moments. Daniil and Tabitha's love story is unique, I loved the figure skating world: the pressure, the hard work, the competitiveness, the hopes and expectations. And mostly I loved how two strong characters that were fighting to reach their dreams, deeply needed one another to achieve something even more important than that: their true selves. Absolutely delightful!

If you love a heart warming romance I highly recommend Shinning Through: with hot Russians, intense chemistry, well developed characters, a not so glamorous figure ice skating world and a Winter Games competition, you won't be able to put it down.