Unsteady by Peyton Corinne was the warmest hug and a gut punch all at once. It pulled me out of one of the worst reading slumps I’ve ever had, and once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down.
Sadie and Rhys’s story feels real. The trauma, the mental health representation, and the way they heal together hit harder than I expected from a hockey romance. It veers a little Lifetime in places and a few plot points wrap too quickly for my taste, but I devoured this whole thing and you couldn’t peel this off my claws even if you tried.
If you want your hockey romances to have real stakes but are tired of a dash of trauma sprinkles thrown in randomly in the third act, look no further. Peyton Corinne delivers real stakes in an authentic way.
Read our full summary and review of Unsteady by Peyton Corinne below. This post contains spoilers.
Unsteady
Description
Tropes
- Hockey Romance
- New Adult
- College
- Friends to Lovers
- Friends With Benefits
- Black Cat x Golden Retriever
Review
Who's your favorite The Undone couple?
Who's your favorite The Undone couple?
Overall Impressions 😊
Rhys and Sadie are kindred spirits meeting under dire circumstances. Rhys is working through PTSD and panic attacks from his injury, and Sadie’s existence feels like one big panic attack after being under pressure for so long.
They find each other in the worst storm of their lives. Rhys heals in Sadie’s presence, and his steady, golden boy aura is the thing that finally lets Sadie take a breath and open up. I love stories about two people who make each other their best versions.
His whole relationship not just with Sadie’s family but with everyone around him made Rhys a top tier MMC in my book.
My one real critique is that Sadie genuinely cannot catch a break. She’s a literally parentified eldest daughter, and the coach and figure skating arc started to feel like another one for the pile. That’s nitpicking though, because I ate this thing up.
The whole time I was reading I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I could not run to their happy ending fast enough.
Perfect For Fans Of… 🌟
First and foremost, this is a fantastic hockey romance. We have a charismatic, golden retriever MMC and an ice skating black cat FMC, a classic pair. If you loved The Deal by Elle Kennedy or Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, this should be on your TBR.
Speaking of golden retriever MMCs, Rhys goes to the hall of fame. I adored Only Between Us by Ellie K. Wilde and If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia, both of which feature calm, steady men who are pathetically down bad for the driven, ambitious FMCs.
If you want your hockey romances as light weight as they come and tend to use them as palette cleansers, you should skip this. The themes are relatively heavy, especially if you don’t want to read about parental neglect and mental health issues. This is very much grounded in reality, and that might make it hard to read for some.
And lastly, kind of random, but if Fiona Gallagher from Shameless was a hero to you, you’re going to eat this up.
Characters 👥
As a fellow eldest daughter, I get Sadie Brown. She’s under tons of pressure, hardened by her circumstances and trying to do her best. She doesn’t have the greatest parental figures around her, and she’s trying to care for two younger brothers. She’s angry and scared.
It feels like every moment of her life is stolen from her because she’s grown up too fast. Her resentment to everything around her is palpable. Did she come across too angry at times? Sure, but when you look at her through the lens of a parentified eldest daughter you understand her better.
To be frank, watching her soften and learn to accept help was hard to read because as a reader you see the barrier she can so easily overcome from the outside, but the hellscape she’s stuck inside… it’s relatable and impossible to not root for.
Rhys Koteskiy is just… SIGH, what a lovely, great fictional man. He’s hurt, and scared too. His panic attacks and PTSD are so well represented and you root for him from page one. I especially loved Rhys’s relationship with Oliver, I love younger characters bonding with main characters, healing and growing with them so it was perfect for me.
Then you mix in the nurture he’s grown under by Max and Anna (and can I say, it was so refreshing to see some great parents in a hockey romance for once), and the way he conducts himself with Sadie, Max and Oliver, he’s just sooo swoonworthy.
Oliver and Liam are the most perfect little boys. They’re tender and a bit messed up from how they had to grow up, but they’re such good kids, you just want them to be happy.
The side characters did such justice to this book. From Sadie’s relationship with Anna and Max, to Bennett’s relationship with Rhys, to Freddy and Ro. I would read stories about each and every one of these characters, even Paloma and especially Toren Kane. Good news is it looks like I get to!
Plot 🗺️
As a character driven hockey romance I couldn’t put this down, the plot is so so good. Every character in this series is charming so whoever is on the page you can’t stop reading about them. I almost had to stop myself in the last 50 pages because I didn’t want it to be over.
A few things that did make me knock down a star from this: Sadie’s skating career. I wish more scenes were explored about the relationship between her and Coach Kelley and her figure skating career in general. It almost seemed a bit like Sadie was just placed in the rink of Waterfell so that she could cross paths with Rhys.
Coach Kelley storyline was a bit rushed for me at the end. There were like 50 pages or so left and I was wondering when that would get dealt with. So the pacing felt a bit off there.
And while I loved the ending, and them becoming a big found family, it did give me pause that the boys were adopted by Rhys’s parents. That part felt a tad bit Lifetime movie to me and left me conflicted.
It seemed like Sadie worked so hard to care for them and become their guardian but I also liked seeing that she got to be their sister and not their mom like every child should be. So I guess I’m neutral about that part.
My Favorite Quote 📣
“I’m not gonna leave her, Oliver. Never, okay? She may ask me to go one day, but I will never be the one to leave. Not her, or your brother, or you. Tell me you understand that.”
Peyton Corinne, Unsteady
Synopsis
Which hockey romance series is your favorite?
Which hockey romance series is your favorite?
Meet Rhys Koteskiy, The Golden Boy on Thin Ice
Rhys Koteskiy is the captain of the Waterfell University hockey team. He’s the golden boy on campus, with brown hair and dark brown eyes. He’s a serial monogamist and an NHL legacy, drafted by Tampa.
During a game, Toren Kane lands a dirty hit on Rhys. Rhys loses consciousness and his vision for a little bit. He’s left with a bad concussion.
Three months pass. Rhys spends the whole summer locked up at his parents’ house working through his PTSD with a sports therapist. His parents, Max and Anna, are madly in love with each other.
Physically, Rhys is back to normal. Mentally, he isn’t. He can’t get on the ice without having panic attacks.
Sadie Brown Is Holding Everything Together Alone
Sadie Brown is the eldest daughter to two younger brothers. Her parents were a fairy tale once. Her mom was rich, her dad came from nothing, and they fell in love. Then things got hard and her mom bailed.
Her dad is an alcoholic now. He keeps begging Sadie for money. Sadie is working multiple jobs, going to school on a figure skating scholarship, and caring for her brothers Oliver and Liam on her own.
Oliver is her full brother, a teenager and a hockey prodigy. Liam is her half-brother. They share a dad, but Liam’s mom is a different woman, a high school dropout who is fighting Sadie for custody. Sadie is trying to win custody so Liam can stay with her and Oliver.
Her figure skating coach, Coach Kelley, is stern and emotionally abusive. Sadie sees him as the only man she’s ever been able to look up to. She gets her ice time in the mornings.
Two Strangers Meeting in an Empty Rink
Rhys starts sneaking into the rink in the mornings during Sadie’s ice time. He’s trying to work up the nerve to skate. Sadie finds him having panic attacks almost every morning.
She starts helping him through them. Breathing first. Then grounding exercises. Then eventually music. The two of them start skating together.
Rhys, feeling vulnerable and numb, starts having feelings for Sadie. Sadie has too much going on and too much anger about the hand she’s been dealt. She has trouble opening up to him.
They become friends. Sadie’s brothers are in Foundation Hockey, a program for kids from non-wealthy backgrounds, and they start bonding with Rhys too. Even Rhys’s dad takes an interest in Oliver, who’s gifted.
Rhys Wants More, Sadie Can’t Afford to Want Anything
Rhys’s relationship with his dad is complicated. His father isn’t mean or abusive. He just has really high expectations, and Rhys doesn’t know how to live up to them anymore when he’s not feeling well.
Rhys and Sadie keep spending time together on campus. Rhys is trying to get Sadie to go out with him. They share a couple of kisses here and there in the moments.
Sadie doesn’t have time for a relationship. She doesn’t think she’s good enough for one. Rhys, as a serial monogamist, doesn’t think he can do random hookups.
Then Rhys finds out Toren Kane, the defenseman who nearly killed him, has been picked up by his own team. He and Sadie hook up in a locker room. Sadie offers a friends with benefits arrangement and Rhys says he’ll take what he can get.
Toren Kane Joins the Team and Old Wounds Come Back
Sadie and Rhys keep spending time together. Rhys gradually starts going back on the ice and even playing a few games. Toren Kane is now on his team and Rhys is struggling.
Toren is actually a good player. He has no intentions of making things right with Rhys. The team bands around Rhys, but it doesn’t really matter.
Paloma, a long time hookup of Rhys’s from a while back, approaches Sadie. She tells Sadie she needs to save Rhys from her. Rhys has too much going on for him and Sadie can’t bring him down with her.
Paloma and Sadie have history. They’ve competed for the same guys in the past and have a rivalry friendship going on. Sadie agrees with Paloma, but tells her she’s already broken things off because she texted Rhys to say they shouldn’t see each other anymore.
A Drunk Confession and a Door Sadie Can’t Close
Rhys is devastated. He gets drunk at a party, almost blackout. Bennett, his goalie best friend, calls Sadie because Rhys refuses to leave the party without her.
Sadie goes to the party in her pajamas with Ro, who has just broken up with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Tyler. Freddy, the team’s resident slutty boy, helps Sadie get Rhys up. Sadie takes Rhys home.
In the car, Rhys drunkenly confesses he’s in love with Sadie. Sadie doesn’t know what to do with it and leaves.
A few days later, Rhys sees Sadie outside with Luke, a guy from her figure skating world she has history with. Rhys is jealous. When Luke approaches, Sadie mentions being scared of training, hinting again at how intense Coach Kelley has gotten.
Rhys Sees Sadie’s Real Life for the First Time
Rhys asks Sadie what she needs. She says she needs someone to pick up her brothers and take them to Ro at the dorms. Rhys agrees, tells her he’s just her friend, and Sadie runs off to training.
Before she goes, Luke tells Rhys that if he cares about Sadie, which he clearly does, he needs to watch out for the coach. Coach Kelley over trains and abuses her. Rhys says he will.
Rhys picks up Liam and Oliver from their house. He sees the state of the place. He sees Sadie’s dad passed out in the front yard.
He takes the boys to his own house instead of dropping them with Ro, because he knows Sadie would be embarrassed if she found out he’d seen all that. Oliver is a little embarrassed too. Liam is just excited that Rhys “lives in a castle.”
Anna and Max Open Their Door, and Rhys Opens His
The boys meet Anna and Max. Liam is mesmerized by Anna because he’s never had a real mom. They spend the afternoon together.
Rhys realizes Sadie has been taking care of these boys alone. He swears to himself he’s going to help her. He doesn’t want her to be alone in this.
That same day, Rhys tells his father he’s not okay. He’s having panic attacks, struggling with his eyes, and worried about disappointing him. He overheard his dad in the hospital after the injury talking about how he’d be devastated if he lost his son, and that’s been putting extra pressure on him.
Max is more than supportive. They hug and have a small cry. There’s nothing to make up about, but their relationship gets even stronger.
Sadie Stops Running
Sadie shows up at Rhys’s house and scolds him. She doesn’t need his charity. Rhys doesn’t budge.
He tells her he’s going to help her because he wants to. He understands her better than she thinks, and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure the boys are never alone and she isn’t dealing with this alone.
He’s fully convinced Sadie is about to slap him or reject him again. Instead, Sadie kisses him.
From Friends With Benefits to His Girlfriend
Sadie and Rhys spend the night together. After that, they’re a couple. When they go down to the kitchen in the morning, Freddy asks what’s going on with them. Sadie says she’s Rhys’s girlfriend. Rhys is elated.
That morning, Rhys also tells Sadie he’ll tell her anything she wants to know about him. He pulls up the video of his injury, sets it up for her, and goes to take a shower.
Sadie watches the video alone. She sees Toren Kane land the hit. She sees Toren walking off after the fight like nothing happened. She’s sad, infuriated, and shaken.
When Rhys comes back, they share a tender moment about how he almost died.
Game Day Scares, Halloween, and a Birthday Sadie Hides
Sadie starts going to Rhys’s games wearing his jersey. Ro is always at the games wearing Freddy’s number, but the book doesn’t get into that.
During one game, Rhys gets hit and Sadie rushes to the locker room terrified. He’s sitting up and fine. Just had the breath knocked out of him. She’s still shaken.
Halloween comes around. Sadie hasn’t let Rhys come to her house before, but he shows up anyway. The house is cold. Oliver and Liam are ecstatic to see them both.
Rhys finds out it’s Sadie’s birthday and she didn’t tell him. He’s a little hurt. Oliver pulls him aside and tells him something traumatic happened to Sadie on her birthday when she was younger. That’s why she doesn’t tell anyone.
Oliver also tells Rhys he’s worried Rhys is going to leave because of all this. Rhys reassures Oliver, again and again, that he isn’t going anywhere. He’s not leaving until Sadie tells him to. He hugs Oliver.
A House Sadie Has Been Hiding
Rhys goes to find Sadie. She’s sad he’s seeing her broken-apart house. She’s also happy he showed up.
They talk about her birthday. Her mom abandoned her twice. Once when she was a baby and tried to drop Oliver off. Then again on Sadie’s birthday years later.
Rhys realizes Sadie isn’t trying to keep him out. They spend the night together.
At three in the morning, Rhys wakes up to a thumping sound. He finds Oliver standing at the top of the stairs, also up. Oliver says it’s their dad, wandering in drunk.
Rhys Faces Down Sadie’s Dad
Oliver says their dad sometimes gets violent. He doesn’t want to get in the way. Sadie’s purse is downstairs and their dad steals from her all the time.
Rhys says he’ll go deal with it. Oliver doesn’t want him to get into a fight. Rhys tells Oliver he can handle it because he’s a big hockey player.
Oliver says one more time that he doesn’t want Rhys to fight, because he doesn’t want Rhys to leave. Rhys is so good to them and to Sadie. Rhys reassures him again that he isn’t going anywhere.
Rhys goes downstairs. Sadie wakes up to screaming and runs down. Her dad has broken a glass and is threatening Rhys. He’s drunk and crying.
Sadie tries to get Rhys to leave. She’s embarrassed and ashamed. Rhys refuses. He deescalates the situation. He’s furious at Sadie’s dad for making Sadie go through all this.
He tells Sadie to go upstairs and that he’ll deal with him. Then he goes upstairs and tells Sadie he’s not going anywhere. He’s going to help her deal with this, and he loves her. He just wants to be there for her. Sadie needs to start accepting his help, because he isn’t going anywhere.
Sadie is grateful. She goes to bed. Rhys spends the night.
The Gala, the Hospital, and Max Throwing a Punch
Rhys invites Sadie to a gala with his family. They all go, they have a good time, they hook up. Then Sadie gets a phone call.
Her dad drove the boys drunk and got into a car accident. Sadie rushes to the hospital. Her dad is strapped to a chair. Anna and Max are there.
They confront Sadie’s dad. They tell him a child isn’t supposed to take care of a parent. He needs to get it together or get out of their lives. Sadie’s dad screams a bunch of stuff and gets violent.
Max punches him. He protects both Sadie and Anna.
Sadie realizes Rhys is going to love her the way Max loves Anna. It’s a healthy relationship. She’s ashamed.
Sadie Asks for Space
Sadie goes to check on the boys. She steps away. When she and Rhys are alone again, she tries to break up with him.
She says Rhys has a bright future and she’s trying to figure out how to get custody of Liam and everything else. She doesn’t want to drag him down. Rhys refuses.
Sadie says she doesn’t want to break up. She just needs to slow things down. She doesn’t want to bring Rhys down with her.
Rhys loves her so much. He tells her she can have her space, but she’s going to start taking help from him, his parents, and Bennett’s dad, who is a lawyer. She isn’t doing this alone. Sadie reluctantly accepts.
Rhys isn’t even mad. He understands she’s overwhelmed and doesn’t really want space. She just needs to feel stable enough not to break him down with her.
Help Is Showing Up Whether Sadie Wants It Or Not
Sadie and Rhys take a “break” but not really. They’re still together. They’re getting some space and Rhys is helping her out as much as ever.
The boys go to Rhys’s parents’ house regularly. Sadie has a figure skating tournament out of town and asks Rhys to watch the boys. Rhys is ecstatic that she asked for help and agrees immediately.
He decides to surprise her by bringing his parents and the boys to watch her compete. At the tournament, Coach Kelley gets physical with Sadie, grabbing her from the back. Rhys realizes Sadie is being over trained.
Sadie skates and does well. When they get back, she’s in training again.
Coach Kelley Crosses the Line
After Sadie says she’s hurt and can’t keep going, Coach Kelley grabs her arm and nearly breaks it. Toren Kane steps in. He punches the coach off her and brings Sadie home.
Rhys, Max, and Anna get involved. They get Sadie out of the situation. Sadie reports the coach.
After that, Sadie realizes she’s never going to let Rhys go. She starts taking him to training. She starts being with him fully and stops keeping him away. She starts going to therapy. Sadie begins healing.
Unsteady Ending Explained
Three years pass. Sadie and Rhys are still together. Rhys is drafted by the New York Rangers.
Sadie is working with Max to teach figure skating to underprivileged kids. Oliver and Liam are adopted by Anna and Max. Sadie gets to be just their sister.
Rhys is making pancakes one morning with Sadie’s brothers. Liam blurts out that Rhys is about to propose. Rhys proposes anyway. Sadie says yes.
Spicy Chapters
How Spicy is Unsteady: (The Undone Book 1): 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Whether you want to get to the heat or want closed-door modifications here’s the list of spicy chapters below.
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 41
Tinfoil Hats On: My Unsteady Book 2 Predictions
- Freddy x Ro, duh
- We should get a Bennett book, right?
- There’s so much more to Toren that meets the eye!!
A concussion took Rhys off the ice. Custody hearings, two younger brothers, and an alcoholic father are running Sadie into the ground. They find each other in the middle of it. 🏒⛸️
I’m going to be thinking about all the ways Rhys showed up for Sadie for so long. I’m almost scared to read Unloved, because what if Freddy and Ro can’t hold a candle to the angry tired girl and the golden scared boy? I guess there’s only one way to find out.
That being said, if you have any thoughts on how excited I should be about the next books, please do let me know.
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