Schuss

Set against the high-stakes world of elite alpine ski racing, E.J. Noyes' *Schuss* follows Stacey Evans, a young Olympic medalist whose singular focus on her sport keeps her conveniently blind to her own feelings. Her closest friendship, with the warm and steady Gemma Archer, has always felt uncomplicated, until it doesn't. Both women are quietly carrying something unspoken, and the novel traces the slow, tender unraveling of that silence against a backdrop of competition schedules, complicated family dynamics, and the particular urgency of knowing that time and circumstance are about to pull everything apart.

Abby Craden brings a grounded, emotionally precise performance to the material, capturing the restrained longing that defines both leads without tipping into melodrama. Her voice suits Noyes' measured, character-driven prose well, letting the tension build naturally across the runtime. At just over eight and a half hours, the pacing feels earned rather than stretched, making this a rewarding listen for fans of slow-burn romance with genuine emotional stakes.