Thank you to Atria books for the eARC.

This book was not what I expected from the synopsis. I assumed it was going to be about Anatasia and Nate having to be partners and seeing their relationship develop through practicing and working together. However, the event that leads them to be partnered that’s in the synopsis didn’t happen until about halfway through the book, and them being partners was not as big of a plot line as I assumed it would be (and the synopsis leads you to believe).

I did end up liking the character dynamics and how Anastasia bonded with the hockey team. However. I think this book was longer then it needed to be as around the 2/3 mark I found myself becoming bored. At that point it the conflict with Aaron and some of the more fluffy scenes felt a bit too repetitive.

If you are looking for a steamy and fluffy college sports romance that’s more focused on the relationship than the sports this one might be for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for sending me an e-galley of ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace. All opinions are my own.

I first heard of ICEBREAKER through TikTok and while I generally did not enjoy sport romances, I decided to give this one a chance after falling in love with the cover. Boy, am I glad that I did! This is an adorable frenemies-to-lover narrative that is surprisingly insightful with its' frank discussions of therapy, eating disorders, abusive friendships, and self-imposed unrealistic expectations. Add to that the *hmm-hmm* scenes and the fact that you can tell that Nate and Anastasia actually like each other outside of their physical connection, and this is one book that I will be buying ASAP. If you are a fan of Ali Hazelwood, then you will like ICEBREAKER.

Icebreaker was such a sweet and spicy romcom!

Anastasia is a competitive figure skater, Nathan is the captain of the college hockey team. When issues arise with the ice rinks and the two teams have to start sharing a rink right before competitions and big games come up, neither one of them are very happy. But what first starts as a rivalry quickly changes to some deeper feelings and beautiful found family.

Nate is THE STANDARD. Please give me those strong, sexy, protective and hilarious vibes all day long. The entire hockey team just had me head over heels though really. Henry is absolute perfection and I desperately need a novel about JJ in the future. The way they all welcomed the girls into their home with open arms and were so dang protective of them, like a bunch of big brothers, omggggg I just love it.

The talk of THERAPY in this book was EVERYTHING. And not only therapy, but healthy communication, healing from eating disorders, trouble with friends and relationships and parents. All of it was done in such a spectacular way and I can’t speak high enough praise about it.

My only (personal) issue with this book was the college party lifestyle. All the drunken scenes started to bother me after awhile. And I get that they are obviously necessary in this college based romance, but it’s just something that I wasn’t able to resonate with at all and in moments had me really frustrated with Anastasia and the way she would be acting. But that is much more a reflection of my own personal opinions and not on the quality of this book.

This is definitely the most I have highlighted in a book ever before. Everything Nate said had me melting into a puddle, and the spicy scenes were absolutely FIRE

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book!

This book was very smutty which was surprising by the cover. If you're looking for a smutty college romance with, this is your book.

Loveeeedddd ICEBREAKER! This review will contain SPOILERS!
-
I will say if theres a "bad guy" in a romance, I will call it! I could tell from the very beginning that her partner was feeding into her eating disorder and it made me so mad! The way she talked about her eating schedule and habits at the beginning I was so hurt nobody was there to help her out. But that also feeds into the speaking of abuse, said friend who was helping them with a place to live was the one making her have an eating disorder its a classic tale of abuse. With all this said it was written so well, that some people may not even notice these things until so far down the line. I think the author brought to light some issues in young relationships that are so often overlooked and brushed off.
Then she met our main man, Nate. And we love Nate he is golden retriever energy and we love him for that.
All i'm going to say is the Uber scene had me sweating!
Love these characters, however the biggest flaw for me was they're in college but NOBODY IS STUDYING?? It just felt a little too much party time and sports and no studying or class? Weird but anyway fabulous book. Cant wait for the next one!

4.5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

50% through this book I preordered a signed copy from Strand. The way sensitive topics were handled, the story, the characters. It’s all chefs kiss. Nathan is the blueprint for a dream man. Truly just a phenomenal book. I will read more in this series.

This book had great promise. A typical rom com frenemies to lovers with a neat hobby background. Would recommend.

I mean, it was fine. If you're looking for a smutty college romance with a couple of fun characters and a lot of drama, this is your book.

read this during my (heheh) creative writing class.

not much to say. the synopsis is a lie; the "plot" is more like a thing that happens two hundred pages in for a few chapters. there's literally no romantic or sexual tension at all. the characters felt kind of boring, because I would've loved to read about two fierce competitors learning to appreciate each other's sports. I hated the epilogue. "stassie" felt like every 2000s era female TV show character - loves taking care of grown men like they're babies, cooks, cries fairly freely - these things aren't inherently bad of course! it just feels extremely bland and caricature-like when there's no nuance applied. Nate as well was surprisingly underdeveloped, and I'm sorry but no man is that grown by 21. none. no PERSON is, but DEFINITELY not a guy. i hate unrealistically mature guys, especially when they're the reasonable and responsible ones next to a girl who is more emotional, more extra.

now, I didn't HATE this. it's not a one star rating just for the above comments, nor is it because the writing is objectively not...great. the author isn't claiming to be writing nuanced contemporary thoughtful romance. her bio at the end of the book literally says that she likes to write fluff fiction as a hobby and damn if I don't love the hustle in making money off that. you know what you're gonna get when you read that bio, and I admire that. the reason I gave it 1 star is that this book did the same dance for almost FOUR HUNDRED PAGES. that's way too much! I was so bored! the drama was pointless, it just came in every sixty pages so you didn't get too bored with the pointless banter and sex. this book was just a circle of constant interaction with no intention. I requested the arc not just because I've seen this book everywhere but also because I thought the plot had potential, and it's legit a lie lol. it's not what the book is about. the book isn't really ABOUT anything, it's just word vomit.

anyway, I broke my five star streak of 2023.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Icebreaker. I'm not a fan of angst, and quite dislike romance novels where the third act trouble is caused by bad communication. This was absolutely not the case here - both characters were vocal in their wishes and feelings, which made this a breezy enjoyable read.
I loved the spice, it was easy to read and a lot of fun.
All in all, 4.5 stars from me!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

I don’t know how to start this, especially knowing this book is trending like CRAZY. But i’m gonna keep this short and sweet (unlike this book).
Here’s what i did like:
1) Henry
2) That’s it.

Here’s what i didn’t like:
1) This book spent more time introducing characters than actually introduce a plot for itself. nothing was inherently BAD about them, but i wasn’t fond of any of them (except Henry).
2) I must’ve thought: where is this going? at least 30 times reading this. WHERE IS THE STORYLINE?
3) I’m a fan of grumpy/sunshine (especially reversed). However, Stassie was just plain rude in the beginning. But hey, nate thinks she’s pretty.
4) Speaking of Nate and Stassie, they had ZERO chemistry. Nate had some good one-liners, don't get me wrong, but they ultimately felt like romantic cliches being shoved down my throat trying to convince me it was chemistry.
5) Why. was. it. so. long. it could have easily been 200 pages shorter. everything that needed to be said was said at the 40% mark.
6) The epilogue. Why. Those last pages were harder to read than the rest of the book, and that says a lot.

I reallllyyyyy need to stop reading romances that are popular on TikTok. They’re always too gritty and sexual for me, and the characters are too weak. My apologies, but I won’t be reviewing this one since it’s just not my type of read.

Thank you SO MUCH NetGalley and Atria Books for this fantastic arc!

I'm not normally one for sporty books, but my read this previously and recommended it to me, and I'm so happy I got an arc of this as it was SO GOOD!!! Their chemistry was fantastic, the found family was heartwarming, and the way it handled the heavier topics of the book were handled really well. The spice was also very nice ;)

I hope she writes more soon, she's definitely going to be an author I'll be excited for whenever I see her name pop up!

The characters in this story were sweet and had a lot of potential, but there was just truly no plot here. It was a lot of cuteness and sweet nothings. I would have liked to read this with a bit more plot development in mind. Maybe next book?

WAYYYYY to spicy for my taste. Why isn’t anyone talking about how spicy this book is? It is straight erotica not romance … disappointed and had to quickly abandon it.

I loved everything by Elle Kennedy and was so excited to read about this story. The minute I got it, I binged it. Such a great book, Nate and Anastasia were great together and I loved their relationship and banter. The plot was well developed and I found myself rooting for all of the characters. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced copy. I will definitely be purchasing this book soon. I give this book 5/5 stars.

I’ll start off by saying that I love the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy, so I feel like I went into reading this with high expectations. But I have to say I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this book. Hannah Grace did an amazing job capturing the stresses of anxiety and mental health and the toll it takes on your relationships with not only yourself, but others. Her ability to weave it into the little character details made it seem not forced or sudden when both main characters were going through their own issues. This to me made the characters a little bit more relatable in an over romanticized setting (but it’s a romance so I’m here for all the drama and romance).

Nathan does give big golden retriever energy, but I think that's what Stassy needed to balance out her life.Their story line wasn't rushed and had a good layout of time between chapters/events happening to really make it feel like their story wasn’t an instant meet-cute at the skating rink. It is a classic sports romance, but one thing I love is that both characters have their own highly competitive sports that they're passionate about, as opposed to just Nate playing hockey.

The book had some great humour, and some great spice so if you're looking for a romance you can laugh with, I highly recommend Icebreaker. It looks like this will be a series following different characters, so all I can say is, I hope that we have more Henry in the rest of the books <3

Spicy! I’m not a sports lover, but this book kept me interested. I enjoyed how the story could have gotten very dark, but it just rode the line. Also, I enjoyed the use of consent in the book.

OKAY WOW...

Nathan is perfection love him. Also Aaron is a piece of garbage!
Anastasia!!! Love her!

This was a fun, steamy sports romance that had me swooning!! Fun enjoyable read!

This is a good one for Elle Kennedy fans. It was a quick and easy read that I very much enjoyed. I would definitely recommend this book .