I didn't like much about this. I disliked most characters in the story. The book took so long to get anywhere and when it did get going, it wasn't good. The beginning was so chaotic - too many people. Stassie annoyed me. Nate was okay. Disliked Aaron fully. Idk. There were just so many sexual scenes that felt cringey to me. It didn't feel done right to me.
2.5 stars rounded up

A big thank you to Attica Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. A honest review was requested but not required. I was super excited about getting to read this one since I had been seeing it all over Instagram recently.

I really enjoyed this book. It absolutely gave me some vibes similar to the movies The Cutting Edge and Dirty Dancing, but set in college. This is a long book but it’s obvious that it is setting up a series with the different characters. Overall, I liked the story. Anastasia is a pairs skater that forms an unlikely “friendship” with hockey player, Nate. From their unlikely friendship start they begin their relationship.

I really liked the character development with the main characters and the supporting characters. Henry and JJ are the best and I cannot wait for their stories! I also appreciate the spotlight on mental health in this story. I also really appreciate the fact that when Nate and Anastasia faced difficulty they worked through it and didn’t have the break up/get back together storyline.

Now a few downsides: the dialogue is a little bit unrealistic in some scenes (that’s been mentioned by some). I also did not love Anastasia at the start of the book. Her character did grow on me. But at the start she is almost too aloof and cold while Nate is a saint.

Overall, this was a fun and well-written book, even if it was on the longer side. For sure can’t wait to read more about this group of friends!

I really enjoyed Icebreaker. It was cute and funny, I found myself logging out loud a few times. The characters are sweet, with full personalities and made me want to give them lots of hugs. We love a female mc who reads, especially ones that are down with the dirty. I really liked the positive representation of therapy, and it's helpfulness too. It overall had that same vibe that people love in Elle Kennedy's books.
My only little thing with this book was the way the other characters treated Nate towards the end. He was unbelievable wonderful and sweet, and just all around a near perfect boyfriend and the other characters didn't seem to realize that, and would call him out on his ego getting in the way, which I just didn't really see and I thought was a bit unfair.
What all this means is, I love Nate, and he's perfect, and I want to bundle him up and keep him forever.

Sorry. I saw The Cutting Edge too when I was a teenager and this was too similar with dirty sex scenes scattered throughout. I didn’t finish it. Sorry.

Go read this book now if you are a contemporary romance lover! Hannah Grace creates a funny, snarky, and downright spicy story.

This book was perfect. I loved the characters and the banter between them. Aaron was obnoxious and I'm glad the book went in the direction it did. Anastasia and Nate were perfect. Such a fun concept and storyline.

Icebreaker is the first in a new college spicy romance series. I kinda liked the characters but there was so much of this book that didn't need to be there, it was just unnecessarily long and for a book this long there was basically no plot at all. This one was not for me.

A sweet and spicy ice skating romance! I heard about this one on TikTok and was glad I was able to snag an ARC! Anastasia, an ice skater, and Nathan, a hockey player, get thrown together when an incident at the hockey rink means they have to share the ice. Throw in a manipulative skate partner, and a whole lot of misunderstandings, and you have a recipe for a great story!

I loved this story, devoured it in one night in fact! I appreciated the disabled minor characters and the frank discussions of mental heath under stresses.

Icebreaker sends me all the Dirty Dancing vibes, but on ice! Such a cute read to send you through all the emotions. Definitely recommend!

All the recommendations are correct, Icebreaker is a winner! I liked the characters, the storyline, and the swoon worthy moments!

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Ms. Grace for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

So apparently Icebreaker was a big hit on BookTok and is being re-released. I have to admit, I was unaware of this book (or this author) prior to reading Icebreaker.

This is definitely one of those books that’s setting up a whole series: there are a LOT of side characters which can be difficult to keep track of. The plot is also implausible and, as frequently happens in NA books featuring collegiate athletes, doesn’t portray collegiate athlete life in a way that seems authentic to me. (And NO: I was not a collegiate athlete, but I lived with four division one athletes for two years, tutored MANY college athletes, dated a couple, and married one. In my experience, none of the student athletes in this book spend anywhere close to enough time in the gym, in practice, or in class, let alone studying.)

There’s also Anastasia, whom -sorry, not sorry- I really didn’t like. She holds Nathan to IMPOSSIBLY high standards while completely excusing Aaron’s transparently awful behavior. I mean. This was obvious from practically page one to me. Nathan, meanwhile, is a literal saint amongst men and grovels abjectly every time he slips up, even when (especially when) it *isn’t his fault*. Anastasia cuts him very little slack when he stands up for his team and his teammates, and has to be persuaded by literally every single hockey team member, her friend with benefits, and her bestie that he’s actually a good guy. Ugh. As another reviewer pointed out, one would think that a woman with “hundreds of hours of therapy” under her belt would be better at recognizing abuse. Sigh.

On the plus side, the writing was very well done, with very little cringey unrealistic dialogue. The text exchanges were hilarious (and, I will say, the boys’ Puck Bunnies group chat felt super authentic to a group of guys). Nathan, as I mentioned, is pretty much a saint and I would happily take him home. I just wish Anastasia was a little more likable. I appreciated that mental health and therapy were portrayed so positively. And of course, the sex scenes were HOT. The one in the Uber was… *fans self*. Whew. I’ll be looking into other books by Ms. Grace and frankly I am very much looking forward to Nathan’s sister Sasha, should she make an appearance in a future book.

⭐⭐⭐1/2

This was so fun and steamy. Love the enthusiastic consent!

It was a bit on the younger side, but I guess that makes sense considering it's a college romance.

On the negative side, some of the food stuff and calorie counting was difficult to read. I'm sure it's realistic for a figure skater, but it was just unpleasant.

This was my first hockey romance and it did not disappoint!
Don't let the cutesy cover of this book fool you, there is some steam amongst it's pages. Really loved the character growth of Anastasia, she was hard to like in the beginning , but man was I rooting for her in the end. Thank you Hannah Grace for NOT giving us the third act breakup with our couple, was so nice to read how Stassie and Nate worked through their problems while staying together (once that finally happened) versus running away!
All the hockey guys were great supporting characters, as well as Stassie's bestie Lola. Loved the honest diagloue about disordered eating, therapy, pressures of making parents proud though that was done very well. Excited to see where this series goes.

Critiques for this book would be wish got a couple chapters before the epilogue post Nate graduating college and Hannah still being at UCMH getting some more content of Nate being in the NHL and Stassie's work up to getting that gold medal. Would have liked a check in with Lola and Robbie in the epilogue. Also wanted to know what happened once Aaron went to UCLA. Def didn't want him and the girls to be friends again, but wanted to know what happened to the slimeball.

A steamy romance about an ice skater and a hockey player. The best parts of this book are watching Anastasia learn to speak up for herself, and Nate learn to listen to her. They both grow a lot throughout their relationship. Is it entirely realistic? No, but it is fun with a cast of supporting characters who are hilarious hockey players. TW for those who have been in or experienced abusive relationships. Stasia takes a long time to extricate herself from the one that she has with her skating partner, and Nate has a hard time dealing with it. In the end, the two of them work things out, and you can see how much they love each other. So, if you're into ice sports, college dynamics, and want some sexy scenes, this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

This is great and absolutely entertaining, witty, addictive young adult/ college sports romance for the fans of Elle Kennedy sport/ romance series with Mariana Zapata’s From Lukov with Love.

There’s so many things I enjoyed about this book overweighted the negative parts. Firstly, I want to talk about why I liked this book:

-It’s fresh, sex positive book with so likable MCs: finally we are introduced a badass, determined, strong, smart, talented heroine: let’s make some noise for Anastasia, quick correction: Stassie!

Let’s not forget caring, patient, sarcastic, charismatic, great boyfriend Nate who is into Stassie since the first time he set his eyes on her.

-Chemistry between the characters is perfect, palpable, sizzling, hot as hell.

-This book is also best of the best kind of supporting character: ladies and gentlemen, may I announce you Henry: the sweetest boy who deserve his own sequel! I even thought to give this book five stars for my love of Henry!

-This book has also a great, most hatable, punchable, narcissistic douche/ villain named Aaron: unfortunately he’s skating partner of Anastasia and, I hate the guts of him since he tries to discredit my poor Nate at the first chapters.

-This is realistic, moving sports romance discussing important and sensitive issues including diversity, sexuality critical sports injuries.

-As for the last: even though I liked the steamy parts between Stassie and Nate are pant- melting but I also loved to read their honest connection, healthy bounding, the evolving and self growth of their characters.

Now I have to admit there are parts that hold me back to give five stars;

-The book advertises as Nate and Anastasia will find themselves as sharing partners but it takes only a few pages in this book and this is not the real plot line!

-I also found the book a little long, some parts are repetitive that makes the pace slower. Some parts in the middle made me bored.

-I found the epilogue a little exaggerated. The last chapter seems like better ending option. At least that’s how I felt.

Overall: this is absolutely fun, enjoyable, smart, realistic sports romance. Definitely I recommend to the genre fans!

A very special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I’m not into aggression sex. The characters flip between overly possessive to angry and irrational and I can’t get into their romance. The spice is there if you’re into the dominating hate sex thing. Just not my trope. Fun personalities on the hockey team though, just get ready for all the stereotypes.

This book has all the vibes of the movie The Cutting Edge, which I love! Enemies to lovers involving a figure skater and a hockey player, that alone had me completely sold on this book! I also liked the plot points of the book, having to share a rink, the tension between Stassie and her skater partner, as well as, between her skating partner and Nate. All around this was an incredibly fun read and I can't wait to see what Hannah Grace writes next.

This was a bookstagram phenomenon that seemed to be everywhere I turned, and my FOMO wouldn't let me pass it up.

Truth be told: I don't like romance. It always feels super forced, or cliche, or cringe. BUT this was a refreshing change of pace. I think the college setting made the escapes much more believable, especially in terms of language and events. Are there some far-fetched ideas? Sure. But that's why we read, isn't it?

This is also a unique read in that the cast of characters (Robbie, Henry, JJ, Lola) was engaging. I liked the group scenes because they brought so much to the table.

My biggest downfall--undoubtedly--the length. There was just so reason for this to be 400+ pages. The tediousness of the story constantly continuing knocked my enjoyment down a peg.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, sex, trauma, physical and mental abuse, violence, drugs, alcohol, language, mature sex scenes

**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Highlights:
- sports romance
- enemies to lovers
- found family

Triggers:
- Emotional abuse
- physical and emotional manipulation

Anastasia is a highly motivated, highly organized, highly competitive college figure skater. Nathan is a laid back, but highly driven, college hockey player. When pranks gone wrong throw the two of them together, Nathan spends a lot of time trying to get Anastasia to stop hating him for his team's mistakes. The pair go through so many different phases in their relationship, but my favorite by far is Nathan's support of healthier lifestyle choices for Anastasia. Instead of judging her for not realizing what her skating partner (my most disliked character) is putting her through both mentally and physically, he chooses to help her see the value in healthier choices and supports her through an extremely rough year. Both characters have traits that I relate to, but Stassie's anxiety is the most relatable. I appreciate how therapy is normalized and even supported by her friends and family and that therapy is layered at one point. I will definitely recommend this one for any fans of sports romances, but especially those of Elle Kennedy and her Off Campus series.

I have had my eyes on this book for a long time and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it. I have always been into sports romance books. I really enjoyed this one because the characters were so relatable. Anastasia as a character reminded me so much of myself. I too love lists and planning (part of the reason I became an educator). I enjoyed the college romance between Nathan and Anastasia too. Nathan is a great boyfriend and the hockey player, figure skater romance was too good.