Andy Harris wasn't even supposed to go to the Olympics.
He certainly wasn't supposed to win a bronze medal in figure skating. But a fearless, nothing-to-lose performance launches him into the limelight of an Olympic podium and brings him to the attention of someone he never would have imagined.
Elena Chekova was supposed to win.
However, a competitor's outstanding free skate means that Elena's dreams will have to wait four more years. Regardless, Elena's performance is one of the most beautiful things Andy's ever seen on the ice.
After meeting in the waning hours of the games, they return home to Los Angeles and Moscow.
But in the years between two Olympics, mutual curiosity takes root and grows into friendship before blossoming into... something neither wants to admit.
In Elena's encouragement Andy finds the inspiration to become the competitor he never believed he could be. Through Andy, Elena glimpses a life outside the sport as fulfilling as the joy she feels on the ice.
But Andy still wrestles with self-doubt, both athletic and romantic. Because there's no way someone like Elena Chekova could possibly be interested in a guy like him. Right?
Meanwhile, Elena's own problems keep mounting. There are the pressures of being one of the most famous young women in Russia in an age of social media. Frenemies in training leave her struggling to keep her place on the Russian team. Her relationship with her coach is disintegrating, but the other "best coach in Russia" talks like Yoda and Zen masters.
So many questions swirl around Elena: can she regain the skills she once had? Will that mean staying where she is and having no voice in her art? And is the immortality of Olympic gold worth having if it costs you the best person who's ever happened to you?
