Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I am a huge hockey fan, and I really enjoyed this book! I didn't know it was part of a series when I requested it, but I looked up the summaries of the previous books and was able to follow this one just fine. I've never read a woman's professional hockey book, let alone a queer one, and I am hooked! Can't wait until the next one!!

Being a huge ice hockey fan, I have been wanting to read a book about the sport for ages. This book seriously didn't disappoint. It's not written amazingly but the series is so addicting! Collins has the ability to write such a great character driven novel. They are so in-depth, endearing, and just fascinating. I can't wait to continue in this series.

This was one of the best books I have read tis year. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. Any hockey fan would enjoy this book. I loved the characters and the idea of having women play professional hockey. I wish I knew more people who like hockey to share this with them! 5 stars is not enough!

Just could NOT get into this book. I tried several times and could not make it past chapter 3. There was nothing that "catches" the reader and draws them into the story.

I am a HUGE hockey fan, so I was disappointed when I could not connect with this story!

If you are a sports fan and haven't read this series from Breaking the Ice stop reading this review. Sophie Fournier has been through too much to allow you to jump into this fourth book in the series and fifth novel by K.R. Collins involving women in hockey.

It’s another tough year in the NAHL for Sophie Fournier, the first female hockey player to join an all male league and once again Captain of her Maple Cup winning Condors. She is a pioneer and a groundbreaker allowing other talented female players to play at this elite level. Her first contract negotiations open this story and are some of the toughest pages to read in the series. Pure hockey soon follows so persevere.

It's a Winter Olympics year and Sophie will be joining Gabrielle Gagnon on the Canadian women's team facing off against her linemate and best friend Elsa, who is representing Sweden at the Games. I did not play hockey as a kid but spent enough time at tournaments watching my son play to see a difference in the way the girls teams approach their games versus the boys. On the ice, hockey is hockey. The better coached teams with skilled skaters stand out and often win. The differences were noticeable when you watched the bench. The boys would be quiet and all business unless their team scored a goal. The girls teams would be chanting cheers, singing songs and supporting each other on and off the ice. We see that social side of women's hockey in Home Ice Advantage and it helps us understand Sophie Fournier and her need to be close (but not too close) to Elsa in their shared home. The Canadian team relaxes with a "cuddle pile" of blankets and bodies in a players hotel room. They braid each other's hair, they behave like women at a sleepover. It was so endearing, refreshing and supportive. Team building at its best. Don't get me started on the letters of encouragement Sophie writes to twelve year Emily, a future star in the making. The scenes at the Olympics gave me all the warm fuzzies which was good because there are rough times ahead for the captain of the Condors.
Back to the NAHL regular season, the uphill battle to prove herself continues for Sophie along with some frustrating conversations with her coach. The last few chapters are frustrating as it seems like the coach is sabotaging his own team. Now that I’m a diehard Condors fan, I can only hope the coach gets fired before next season. Poor Sophie could use a break.

Love this series. Keep ‘em coming Ms Collins

ARC received with thanks from NineStars Press for an honest review.

I love this series. The author has done such a great job in writing the hockey play by plays and creates such an outwardly controlled character with Sophie Fournier, readers -- just like the members of the media in the series -- are hungry to learn more.

In this book, I could see where the storyline could open possibilities: 1) A set up for the Coach and Captain clash in the next book (possibly like Kelly Jamieson's Must Love Dogs... and Hockey) and 2) setting up for up-and-comers like Emily (possibly another novella feature like her Glove Save and a Beauty).

There was a lot of rehash of past topics, just written with new words on the same themes: Her continued struggle with men in authority/dad/coach/chauvinistic reporters, hockey-sexuality, leveling the playing field for all, lonely being the only, leadership. While the author wrote of external milestones, such as buying a house, there weren't as many insights to internal growth/milestones.

I felt this book was a bridge for the next one, which should be a real showdown.

Yet another great instalment in this series. I find myself both loving the idea that this series is going to continue for some time as I enjoy the books so much, but also equally worried that we’re going to be kept waiting even longer for the thing I most want to happen!

I enjoyed that the narrative of this book takes place both in the main hockey league and at the winter games, breaking things up a little and ensuring that we aren’t revisiting the same thing over and over. The hockey scenes are always written well and this hasn’t changed in this book. There’s plenty of action off the ice in this book too, which provides a nice interlude.

I find Sophie’s feelings about her career, her family and Elsa both immensely frustrating and completely relatable. I love that whilst Sophie is an adult, with a high pressure career, she’s experiencing the feelings that many feel when discovering their sexuality as teenagers and it’s here where I most love Collins as a writer. Her writing about hockey is fantastic and also shines, but her ability to bring out Sophie’s feelings without making her appear as a whiny child are great.

I love that Collins doesn’t write all of the characters to be the same, just because they are hockey players. She teases out parts of each of the women in the league so they are both great friends and foes for each other. I also really liked that this book explores the relationship Sophie has with her coach in more depth.

I enjoyed the discussions about ensuring the locker room was inclusive and the addition of some bi representation as well as a gay male character.

If you’re a fan of the series you’ll enjoy this instalment, and if you haven’t started this series yet - pick up Breaking the Ice as you’ll need to start at the beginning.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let me preface this by saying that I have not read the other Sophie Fournier books. I just love hockey, books about hockey, and books about girls playing hockey, so I couldn't not pick this up. Now I'm curious enough to go back and read the rest of the series.

For the similarly uninitiated, Sophie Fournier is a kick-ass hockey player, the first woman to break into the majors (known in this book as the NAHL - North American Hockey League), winning a Maple Cup (think Stanley Cup) the previous season. She also comes into this book with a gold medal from the last Winter Games (as of the Olympic variety) and is gearing up for a back-to-back run. She is a consistent scoring leader, but a playmaker first and foremost. Drafted last overall, she is still playing with a bit of a chip on her shoulder, but has since been joined in the big leagues by three other women, including one on her own team. Not to mention, she is now the captain of her major league team, and to her surprise, finds herself captain of Team Canada going into the Winter Games as well.

Home Ice Advantage opens with a frustrating contract negotiation (that honestly sounds like she is lining herself up against the Connor McDavids of the world, although that's maybe not where I would have pegged her comps and led to some initial puzzlement for me). While she sees her initial ask as conservative, her agent is preparing her to go for an offer closer to half of it--because she is woman and no one knows how she will "age." Asked if she would prefer to compromise on term or value, she chooses to favor term, yet ends up taking a substantial hit on both ends. Faced with a no-win situation with the media, where she is either holding up the process and jeopardizing a solid start to the season or undervaluing her worth and consequently ruining negotiations for the generation of women players who will follow her, the pressure is a lot. But eventually she signs and locks into the next six years in Concord, despite half-expecting to be dumped midway.

While there is some discussion of what this cap space allows the team to do in other positions, that aspect quickly fizzles and we move into learning who Sophie is as a captain. Unsurprisingly, she is a cool-headed and affirming leader. Although her coach doesn't really seem to trust her on strategy and they only move further apart as the season progresses, she is a respected presence in a locker room where she is clearly an "other." The boys follow her lead and even enforcers new to the team are willing to drop the gloves for her over the most questionable of slashes. The locker room and media dynamics early on and throughout reminded me of Pitch, although all of Alex Baker's edginess clearly went to Lexie. I want to read more about her.

As Sophie trains up the younger players and gets their confidence where it needs to be in preseason, her line can't seem to get the chemistry it needs to earn back-to-back Cups. Coach keeps messing with the lines, under the guise of "spreading out the talent," but it seems clear that he is out for her, or worse, Elsa. Off-the-ice, Sophie is secretly elated that Elsa has agreed to live with her again, but is trying to play it cool. As new players are welcomed, Sophie is working hard to keep the team vibes up, but it seems like her main skill in that regard is forcing them all to go out to a bar or club after a game.

About mid-way through the book, the NAHL season is interrupted for the Winter Games -- well, officially for the men's Winter Games of course. I'm actually genuinely surprised that after all the emphasis at the beginning on contract negotiation, the issue of Sophie missing two NAHL games for the Winter Games was never brought up. Especially after the NHL refused to release players for the last Olympics and created a shitstorm of a CBA negotiation. But who knows, maybe the NAHL CBA accidentally covers releasing female players for the Winter Games because it never occurred to them to plan for it? But I still would have expected some discussion around whether she would be fined for missing the games. The NHL at least has made clear they place no value on patriotism. Ok, ok, I'll read the rest of the books before I wade too far into detailed complaints like this though.

The awkward break for the Winter Games originally felt unnecessarily juxtaposed into a book that seemed primarily about Sophie's NAHL season. It felt like an extended tangent about women's team dynamics. I still think it maybe got more emphasis than it needed, although as part of a series, I recognize other players may have liked seeing familiar characters making an appearance. But by the end of the book, this apparent tangent bears a little more relevance when her dumbass coach puts his foot in his mouth with a journalist again and basically insinuates that women don't have the emotional or physical stamina to finish an extended season with multiple peaks. Guess he's never heard of multiple orgasms. (sorry, I'm a bit buzzed as I'm writing this up.)

Honestly, I came for the hockey, but I stayed for super well-done demisexual representation that doesn't end in sex. Sophie and Elsa cuddle and banter and hang out the whole book and have zero sex and I AM HERE FOR IT. (well, ok, Elsa has sex with other people.) Sophie is starting to feel some pangs of jealousy as Elsa is looking to other people for support and fun, but isn't at all envious of her sexual relationships or looking to sex to create emotional intimacy between them. For her, their chemistry on the ice is all she could ever ask for, and a Maple Cup ring is the only ring she will ever want to wear. Some people may tell her that she just hasn't met the right person yet or whatever tired bullshit, but she knows better and I love it. I love that she and Elsa can have the kind of friendship they do and yet there is no pressure between them to have sex. Hockey is better than sex and provides all the intimacy and chemistry you could ever desire and it is glorious. More books like this please.

I did feel like the team vibes were lacking in this book, especially under Sophie's leadership, although that was somewhat addressed. Maybe I'm just biased because my team has the best team vibes. But team vibes don't just appear because you all have weird pizza traditions and go to the club after games. You have to get upset over bad plays and work through that and learn to respect each others' high caliber play. You have to show up for each other in the rough times. You have to deliver better speeches to rookies than, "It's just hockey. You know how to do this." Team dynamics are a work of art, and that seems to be a lost one here. The women's team under Stewie seems to have much better team vibes and it just felt more authentic and real.

Lastly, I don't really get the title of this book. I could go a few different ways with it (e.g., Sophie settles into Concord as her home as she signs a long-term contract, Sophie buys a house with the intent of making it a team hangout space, Concord seems to only be able to win at home in the post-season, etc.), but nothing really sticks out. Minor point, but it bugged me all the way through.

Overall, solid hockey action, but if you're a hockey fan, you will find that the action cuts out just when it's getting good and that the most important details are glossed over. Character development seems to be mostly relegated to previous books, and I would have rated this much less highly as a standalone. But taken for what it is, hockey action is decent and demisexual representation is great and so needed. Sophie is annoying af sometimes, but she is a solid character and I really appreciate her. Will definitely be checking out the rest of these books.

Much appreciation to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the eARC in exchange for the review.

4.25 Stars. This was another excellent sports book. This is the fourth book in the Sophie Fournier series (plus a novella) and the series is as solid as ever. While this series can be a bit frustrating, it is super addictive and I don’t think I could stop reading even if I wanted to. Before I get any farther, I wanted to wish everyone who celebrates a Merry Christmas. I’m having a pretty low-key one due to covid but I did have too much wine and got some fun board games in so I can’t really complain. For whatever reason, maybe since this book takes place on ice, but I ended up enjoying finishing this book today and it kept me in the festive mood.

After reading the novella, Glove Save and a Beauty, I feel like it gave this series a nice kick in the ass. It reenergized this series for me and I was really happy to spend even more time with the star of Glove Save, when her and Sophie played on a team Canada together. Knowing more about that other player added a level of depth that wasn’t in this series before. I even found myself rooting for Canada over the USA -if anyone brings this up I will deny it- just because I liked the players in these books so much. I know Collins is planning on writing more Sophie books, I just hope she will consider writing more staring other characters since branching out was so successful.

This series actually has the slowest, slow-burn romance in the history of WLW books. These two characters care for each other and they keep acting out to get each other’s attention and they keep getting hurt, but they just can’t move forward. I don’t need a hot and heavy romance out of this series, this series is all about characters and hockey after all, but I hope Collins will stop teasing us eventually and give them some actually romance.

I did mention this series is frustrating and it is in some ways. Sophie feels she needs to be perfect all the time and can’t rock the boat. It is so frustrating seeing her constantly undervalued and seeing her not stand up to people like her coach, father, and even the media. We do get to see Sophie get pushed a bit harder in this book but I want to see growth. This is a major series and it is only halfway done. That is a lot of time left and it means Sophie has to actually grow. She has grown as a player over four books but not much as a character and person and that is what I want to see out of this series. As a character driven reader, I need that growth. Hopefully, like the romance, Collins won’t wait too much longer too show that growth either.

This series is really one of the best sports series I have ever read. The hockey scenes are incredible and the book is so gripping that it is very hard to put down. The romance is super slow and barely there so I can’t recommend this to romance fans. But, I can recommend this to people who like to read about women shattering glass ceilings and kicking ass in sports.

Great story! Sports and romance! What could be better. This is about a star ice hockey player. A woman playing in the (mostly) men's league and having success. The author has a successful formula here and I hope to read more of their adventures!

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
I don’t have much interest in Hockey but i love this Book Series very much and this installment was no different. I can’t help but be drawn in to the suspense of each game as the author brings them to life. I loved that Sophie comes into her own even more in the installment as she continues to thrive and shine under pressure and i can’t wait to read more of her growth on and off the ice, this is book 4 of 8 so we have a ways to go. The side characters are well written and their interactions with Sophie are interesting and engaging.
I blew threw it and couldn’t put it down 5/5 my Favorite of the series so far….

I love books about sports and this one was refreshing. I enjoyed it and would definitely check the author’s other books.

Honestly, I do not understand why I love this series so much, what it is about it that keeps me captivated. It’s about a sport I have zero interest in, there’s barely any romance, and yet I can’t get enough. Which is lucky as only half of the series has been released so far, or will have been next week with this book.

Sophie has won everything there is to win but she’s still not considered as valuable as male players. Home Ice Advantage opens on a rather strong and infuriating scene (which you can read on the publisher’s website), with Sophie arguing with her agent over how much to ask for and how many years when her contract is renewed. If she asks for too much, she’s ungrateful. If the amount she agrees to is too low, she’s making things more difficult for other female players. On this, she can’t win so she does her best. As she tells Lexie, “I’m the one who cracks the door. You, Elsa, Gabrielle, you’re the ones who kick it open”, referring to the other women playing on NAHL teams.

Sophie’s careful facade on these issues comes down slightly more often now. She’s still as talented at not answering journalists’ questions, but she’s not as scared of the fallout. And she’s still one of the best players on ice, a smart captain who leads by example. I have no idea how the author managed to make me look forward to game descriptions, but she did.

Beyond hockey, the focus of this fourth book is on Sophie’s relationship with Elsa. The shared bed, the snuggles, the closeness. No wonder some of their teammates think they’re together, especially after Sophie takes a powerful stance against any kind of homophobic trash talk in the locker room. Sophie laughs the rumours off but when Elsa brings a woman home, she’s faced with her jealousy and her contradictions. Basically, she’s okay knowing Elsa isn’t hers but she doesn’t want to share her, be it with teammates or lovers. That their coach messes up their line, leading to a lot less time together on the ice, or that they have to play opposite each other at the Winter Games in Helsinki doesn’t help. I loved seeing that side of Sophie, the vulnerable, human young woman. In the first books, Sophie had so much to prove, to others but also to herself, that she sometimes came across as cold, closed off. She was determined and driven in an almost hard way. As she grows older, more confident, not in her strengths but in the way she’s seen, she opens up. First to Dima, the Russian player the NAHL tried to pitch as her rival, then to some of her teammates, then to Elsa with whom she couldn’t wait to play. There’s something extremely touching in being allowed to witness that.

And with the Games, she gets to experience – and the reader with her – what being part of a team where everyone is “like her”, a team of women feels like. She gets to play while entirely focused on her play, not on how a woman in a men’s game will be judged. She gets to have a taste of shared locker rooms, evenings spent cuddling with the team, kisses that convey respect and kindness. She gets to be herself.

And I think I enjoyed this episode even more because I had the opportunity to read Gabrielle’s story a few weeks ago. Not only did it allow me glimpses of Sophie through someone else’s eyes, but it also – and mostly – introduced me to another character, a very different player and a very different person, another journey. I think I’ve written it in reviews before, I really love this series as much as it frustrates me. It’s only frustrating because I care so much about the characters. Beyond sports, beyond everything that’s on the surface, K.R. Collins writes in-depth, fascinating, endearing characters. For someone who’s as character-driven as I am, there’s nothing better.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.