Sparks and serious competition, on and off the ice.
Author: Marianne Suntio
Finnish original: Yhden kesän pelisuunnitelma
Publisher: S&S 2026
Genre: commercial romance
Number of pages: 369 pp.
Ilona goes down injured at the Olympics, and her shot at professional hockey in North America goes with her. Jonas – an established NHL star, and the boy she grew up with – comes home to Finland to get out of the media’s line of sight. What they have now is one summer, one rink, and a training programme that puts them within arm’s reach of each other.
Jonas is getting Ilona ready for a tryout camp at the end of July: her way back onto the national team, and from there, maybe, into the PWHL. Neither of them is prepared for how fast the temperature would rise as they start working this closely, or for how much the other one is carrying. Ilona is willing to give up anything for the career she is still chasing. Jonas already gave up everything for the one he has, and is starting to wonder what it bought him.
How do you let yourself be vulnerable when your job is to be the hardest player on the ice? As the summer ends and the games begin, Ilona and Jonas have to decide whose side they are on.
Marianne Suntio’s years of reporting hockey show on every page. She is funny about the world of professional sport, and honest about what it costs the people who give their lives to it.
“The themes delve deep into homophobia and the status of women’s ice hockey. The novel is not only gripping but also moving. “ – Anna Magazine
About the author:
Marianne Suntio