Cross Check Book Club Questions
by Chelsea Curto
These questions assume everyone has finished the book and contain spoilers, including the ending.
Cross Check gives book clubs a lot to sink teeth into. It's a hockey romance with high stakes, but it's also about ambition, double standards, loyalty, and what happens when love gets tangled up with public image. The questions below are meant to get you talking about both the swoony moments and the messy ones.
You don't have to answer them all. Pick the ones that spark the best debate, or let each member choose a favorite. Some questions are about the league, some are about Grant and Amelia, and a few focus on the friends and family around them. There's plenty to disagree on, and that's a good thing.
Grant and Amelia's Romance
- 1.Grant sees Amelia on TV for only a minute at the frat house and tells James he's in love. Did you believe his instant infatuation, or did it feel rushed?
- 2.Early in the book Amelia says she doesn't want children, doesn't want a relationship, and is content alone. By the end she is all in with Grant and building a life with him. Did that change feel organic or contradictory?
- 3.Grant keeps multiple notebooks filled with Amelia's favorite things and daily notes about what he loves about her. What did that detail reveal about his love style, and did it feel romantic or too much?
- 4.Grant confesses to his teammates that he is a virgin and asks for advice before his first time with Amelia, and they respond with practical, supportive guidance. How did that scene challenge or reinforce your expectations of locker-room culture?
Career, Ambition, and the League
- 5.Amelia repeatedly chooses her career over Grant, asking him for distance in the April flashback and later ending things after the league suspends her. Did you agree with her choice to protect her reputation at those moments?
- 6.The league gives Amelia an eight-game suspension and Grant only one game for the same relationship. How did that double standard affect your view of the league and of Grant's decision to fight the ruling?
- 7.After the league forces them apart, Grant rallies his teammates and lawyers to craft a CBA addendum that allows their relationship. Did this resolution feel earned or too convenient?
- 8.Amelia is offered the women's Olympic head coaching job after not making the men's staff, and later she is named head coach of the men's Olympic team. How did that progression speak to her arc from the sexist date in the first chapter?
- 9.Grant declines his Olympic roster spot and wears a 'Mr. Green' jersey so Amelia's historic coaching moment gets the spotlight. Did you agree with his decision, or should he have accepted both honors?
Conflict, Family, and Friendship
- 10.Grant punches Brady Williams after Williams calls Amelia a whore. Was that act justified, or did it take away Amelia's ability to defend herself?
- 11.Riley's accident and leg amputation shift the book's emotional tone. How did that event change Grant's arc and deepen his bond with Amelia?
- 12.When Grant learns Hannah is dating Coach Saunders, he tells Brody 'you're dead to me' and later apologizes. Do you think Grant was right to oppose the relationship, or was he overreacting?
- 13.After the breakup, Amelia's friends fly to her apartment to clean, cook, and comfort her, while Grant's teammates fly to Italy to check on him. How did these friendship scenes balance the central romance?