Even though I don't play sports as does no one around me, I really enjoy a few different sports stories. Ones about hockey is one of those. I had hope for this one, but unfortunately I didn't love it. I ended up stopping it because it just wasn't working for me. The characters felt immature and things that were happening in the story just didn't make sense.

Ice Hot by Tracy Goodwin is the first book in the New York Nighthawks hockey series. I love hockey books and the blurb intrigued me. Sadly, it didn’t work for me.

Christian has been called up to lead the new NY Nighthawks expansion team. He’s building it from the ground up, and it’s a lot more pressure than he anticipated. The only bright spot turns out to be dumping an Icee on an unsuspecting woman in a parking lot. Serena isn’t big on one night stands, but when she runs into Christian again (not literally this time, thank goodness), she can’t help but take him home. He might be a player, but she wants him between the sheets. Only Christian wants more from Serena. She thought she was getting a one-night stand. He’s determined to make it last.

I ended up quitting this book around page 70. The characters were both really immature and the writing drove me crazy. Christian would say and do things that were so silly and strange, it pulled me out of the story. He was supposedly a killer hockey player, but he lacked confidence.

I toss a hundred-dollar bill on the wood-grained counter to get the bartender’s attention. She orders a Gray Goose on the rocks with lime. I order the same. I probably won’t drink it, though. I ordered it to impress her, or to fit in with her. I can’t quite figure out which.

The way the heroine acted in the beginning didn’t make sense to me, either. She had attitude for days, and immediately accused him of trying to grope her. Then later, she hides in her bedroom to talk to him on the phone, while her friends listen at the keyhole. These are adults who own their own business. Not teenagers.

I wasn’t curious enough about the romance to power through. I’m pretty sure this is a debut novel, so I might try something by the author in the future.

Rating: DNF

After a meet cute at a gas station in which hockey player Christian dumps his slushy on Serena, the two spark a steamy romance. The problem is that Christian is always in the spotlight, and Serena may not be able to handle having a social media target on her back constantly. Add in a team member that is causing drama for Christian, and the couple may have more than they can handle.

I really enjoyed this first title in the new series. I loved both characters and found them realistic and the social media aspect highly relatable. I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book did not lack for the steam factor that is for sure. And the writing was okay. This book however did not catch my interest quick enough. I am honestly afraid as a reader, I am getting a bit burned out on hockey romances. No matter how steamy.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Rarely do I “DNF”, but this one was just too immature for me. Couldn’t engage with the characters...if this was classified as YA, it would have made more sense.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Loveswept for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

4
I enjoyed this romance between Chris and Serena. Serena’s sass and her mission showing the world that “real is beautiful” was what made me love her. Christian is broken and all about hockey, but meeting Serena is fate and just what he needs.
The emotional roller coaster was great but I do think some of the things were drawn out a bit and wordy.
I would recommend this book.

Truly enjoyed this book. entertaining plot, characters I actually liked, and a satisfying ending. I look forward to more books by this author.

I love Tracy Goodwin books. Always a fun read to get your mind off of your life going on. Another great book. Excellent character development and the settings were perfect.

I kindly received an arc for an honest review

Overall it was an okay read. I really love sports romances, but I had a hard time to really get into this book.
Christian is the hockey star, hot, rich, and everything every woman wants. And he can have anyone he wants. Serena is a not size 0 lady, but a lady with curves (which I really liked), but she's has some self esteem problems with her own size. She got duped by a boy when she was 16, and apparently that still bothers her. A lot.
In my opinion, my feelings, the author exaggerates a bit too much with the H and h. They are both too much for me. He is the best of the best , she is way too ‚whiny‘ for my liking....

This book is all about a new expansion hockey team in New York. (Think something like the Vegas Golden Knights.) Serena is a plus-size clothing designer who happens to literally bump into a very hot guy at a gas station. A guy who spills her blue slushy all over her. Disaster. That hot guy is Christian, the team captain of the NY Nighthawks hockey team. Serena describes Christian as "Natural. Strong. Fierce. A hurricane." Chris describes Serena as "...beautiful, smart, and gets me like no one else... I want to be the only guy for her." There are some very hot and sensual sexy times between the two. I loved the middle part of this book for that. Hard times surface as social media goes after Serena for being curvy and not the right woman for Christian. And Christian has a member of his team that's causing trouble for him on the ice, and off.

I enjoyed this book. I feel like it could've been novella length and still been a great book. It was a little wordy and repetitive in some spots. I felt the ending was a little cheesy/formulaic, but it was cute. I really liked the characters and the steamy scenes with Christian and Serena, so I'm giving Ice Hot 4 stars.

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for Ice Hot, mostly because I thought the pacing was off. The story itself was excellent which is why I rounded up to 4. The series has a lot of potential. Perhaps Ice Hot suffered from the need to introduce so many aspects of the series. The romance at the center of this book is lovely. The love scenes are placed well and seem to move the story along as well as providing passion. The hero and heroine are layered compelling characters and I had no trouble rooting for their happily ever after. I really appreciated Ms. Goodwin's sense of humor and her dialogue was crisp and sharp. I was a little disappointed in the villain of the piece, hopefully he will be redeemed in future installments. I would read more from Tracy Goodwin.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Christian/Chris is the biggest NHL star and captain of the newest franchise. Although from an uber wealthy family, Serena is a fashion designer who is independent and strong minded. One of the biggest themes of the book is size and women being comfortable with their bodies.

There’s not really any push/pull between them. He has a reputation as a player, but that’s not really him and once he meets Serena he’s all in. The climax of their story involves her role in his life and dealing with fat shaming and bullying from the press and social media.

The story was low key and simple. I found myself skimming long passages of explanations or overthinking. I felt it mostly set up this world and the teammates for future books. I kept thinking there’d be a twist with the “bad guy.” Maybe he’ll show up in a later book in the series and have a redemption or explanation.

ICE HOT is the first instalment in Tracy Goodwin’s contemporary, adult NEW YORK NIGHTHAWKS hockey, romance series focusing on the NHL’s newest expansion team the New York Nighthawks. This is New York Nighthawks team captain Christian ‘Cyclone’ Chase, and fashion designer Serena Ellis’ story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Christian and Serena) ICE HOT follows the building relationship and romance between New York Nighthawks team captain Christian Chase, and fashion designer Serena Ellis. Having met accidentally over a spilled ice-blue slushy, Christian Chase couldn’t get the curvy blonde out of his mind but a team get-together at a local bar found our hero face to face with the woman who rejected his teammate, the woman who has starred in all of his recent fantasies and dream. Enter fashion designer Serena Ellis, and the woman with whom Christian will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Christian and Serena, and the fall-out as jealousy, the media, and the social pariahs of the internet take turns destroying our leading couple.

Serena Ellis knows she isn’t a rail thin model, a fact pushed home on more than once occasion, but it is her curves that have made our heroine a fashion success. Struggling to get out from the controlling thumb of her well-to-do and judgmental parents, Serena finds solace in building her own brand, one curvy girl at a time. Christian Chase is a successful professional hockey player who finds comfort in the simple things like hockey, his friend and his dog. Making a name for himself places a target on his back, a target one of his fellow teammates is determined to hit every single time.

The relationship between Christian and Serena is one of immediate attraction but an attraction tempered by sins of the past: issues of trust, rejection and the possibility of failure. Trying to keep their relationship of down low, Serena and Christian will become the leading story when jealousy, betrayal and vengeance for Christian to push Serena out of his life. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the New York Nighthawks. We are introduced to Serena’s brother Lucas and his husband Charlie; her best friend and business partner Becca, as well as Serena and Lucas’ parents Harrison and Kathryn, and feisty grandma Savannah Ellis.

The world building focuses on our heroine’s low self esteem. As a woman of size and curves Serena has struggled to fit into the mold her parents have always wanted her to fit. An teenaged rejection followed by humiliation and pain have caused emotional scars for our story line heroine, and social media body shaming continues to focus on her insecurities wherever she goes. Christian Chase never knew the pain of destroying a woman’s heart but trying to protect Serena from the fall-out of jealousy and betrayal meant Christian was forced to push Serena out of his life.

ICE HOT is a story of jealousy, betrayal, heart break and love. The premise is sensitive and spirited; the characters are real and animated; the romance is dramatic and moving. ICE HOT is an impassioned look at one woman’s struggle to fit society’s mold, and one man’s struggle to protect the woman he loves.

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A brand new hockey team to steal our hearts! Tracy Goodwin's new series has a lot of potential with a solid group of guys to draw from as future heroes. We start out with the team captain Christian and his new lady love. They are pretty adorable together, and the book is a lot of fun. Enjoyed it!

Hockey sensation Christian Chase is on top of his game and living the high life with a different lady anytime he pleases. A move to New York's newest expansion team means buckling down and gathering a group of unknowns together enough to form a winning team. He's getting pushback from a few hot heads, but he'll win them over before all is said and done. Just when he thinks life can't get any better, he stumbles into a woman who he knows is going to change his life!

Serena Ellis isn't down for one-night stands but when the king of hockey sets his sight on her after a couple of arbitrary run ins, she just might have to break her own rule because he is smoking! Imagine her surprise when he sets out to woo her into a relationship instead of just a one and done! Being with him manages to bring her a bit of scandal, but if she can find a way to forge through it all, they just might have a hope of forever.

Overall, it felt like this book just tried too hard. The beginning of the book tried way too hard to "set up" all of the ancillary characters at once and set up future books in the series. It was like a fire hose of characters and personalities. Likewise, the first encounter between Serena and Christian seemed rushed – not that something like that can't really happen, but it didn't seem organic/real to me and everything about their "immediate connection" seemed forced. I think that Christian was supposed to come across as smitten (and I love a good, smitten Hero), but instead he just kind of seemed dorky. And then I feel like there were some sexytime scenes that felt like they were just thrown in for the "heat" factor. And while I do truly appreciate the overall message re: body image/self confidence, I felt that in order to further that, several of the characters were represented very stereotypically.

*Advance copy provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Loveswept for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This.is a romance between Chris a hockey center and Serena a clothes designer. Her parents are just odd. Cute story, fun and the characters are flawed.but.likeable. I rate this a 4. I think if you like romantic sports stories you will enjoy this!

This is the first book I have read by Tracy Goodwin and wow what a magnificent, fantastic read. Ice Hot is book 1 of A New York Nighthawks series and personally I can't wait for more books in this series. This book captivated me from page 1 and I couldn't put it down. I might love the genre of sports romance specifically ice hockey and be partial to this genre BUT I can definitely say this book is tremendous and the genre only added that much more for me. Regardless of genre, I would have certainly given this book a 5-Star rating. I don't want to say much because this book is so worth reading and I don't want to give any of the excitement away. 110% definitely recommend one-clicking Ice Hot by Tracy Goodwin.
I did receive an advance copy from the author & publisher via NetGalley, but am voluntarily leaving my own opinion with my voluntary review.

The New York Nighthawks have placed their faith in Christian Chase and backed it with a contract worth millions to be the Captain of the new hockey expansion team. He’s supposed to bring the team together to ensure they win the Stanley Cup at the end of the season. His team has other ideas. They lack structure and the true love and respect of hockey that Christian thrives on. Even though it’s only preseason, they have a long way to go. When pranks aimed at Christian reach an all-time high, Christian leaves the arena stressed.

Serena Ellis, daughter to the wealthy Ellis empire, is having an unbelievably bad day. Only to be topped off by an incredibly good looking guy smashing her blue slushie into her white shirt. A couple of weeks later, Serena happens upon the same sexy guy in a bar. Not looking for a relationship or even a one-night stand, Serena comes to his rescue by kissing him in front of his jerky teammates. The kiss that has her rethinking her position on one-night stands.

If you haven’t read a Tracy Goodwin novel, like myself, I’d start here! I loved, loved, loved this novel and it’s message. In life, curvy girls are generally insecure. Society places far too much importance on being thin and outward appearances. So many athletes are photographed with models or other arm candy, so it’s shocking when one truly shows interest in a curvy gal. Soooo relatable! If one has money, it only complicates matters further as you don’t really know if you’re wanted for who you are or what they will gain in the relationship. I loved that Christian kept true to himself and his roots. I loved that his best friend had his back, even when he acted stupid. Even though Christian plays hockey, you won’t get lost in hockey terminology as it’s more a love story. I received a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.

Ice Hot: A New York Nighthawks Novel by Tracy Goodwin
Sexy, fun, romance
A must read, sexy and fun romance. Characters are totally relatable, you can almost picture yourself in the story with them. Steamy, passionate romance that sucks you in. I didn’t want to put this down once I started.
I am looking forward to reading more of this series.
I received an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Serena Ellis has done a great job of establishing herself away from her family name. Her demons have haunted her and pushed her to be a better version of herself. Being in the spotlight is something she never wanted.

Christian Chase is a hockey god and being the captain of the NHL’s latest expansion team comes with a heavy burden. Having his face plastered everywhere, has minimized his options when it comes to dating, so he doesn’t. Finding the spitfire was never in his plans.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled on this little gem. I would greatly like to read more about this group of hockey players and hope to see more in this series.

The hero was a bit of a conundrum as he was very possessive of the heroine in most instances while trying to hold onto his bachelorhood and maintain his focus on building his team. I loved the fact the heroine wasn’t portrayed as a model who is under size six. She had curves and was happy about her body size. I wish more authors would embrace this ideology.

I look forward to reading more by this author.