2.5 rounded up to 3. I so wanted to like this book but it fell short.

After a tragic accident, Nick is left homeless. He has a roof over his head, but he's never felt more alone. Meanwhile, Alyssa wants to create the perfect home for her clients because she knows what it feels like to not have one. When Nick hires Alyssa to decorate his apartment to prove to his Coach that he's fine, they initially butt heads but soon come to find they want the same things.

While this book wasn't for me, it might be for you. Here are some reasons why you might consider picking it up.
-Mental Heath/Therapy Positive
-Deep Emotions/Discussions of Trauma and Grief
-Found Family

Unfortunately, it did not work for me because of the miscommunication. The way the trope was used hurt so much that it undermined the romance for me and left me feeling like Nick and Alyssa would have been better off as friends.

I liked! Addicting, it was interesting to read. I liked a lot 🤭 there were also 🔥 scenes. Very serious topics were also touched. I liked the writing style. I liked the theme of friendship. Maybe it was annoying sometimes, the stubbornness of the characters. Because that was what prevented them from getting together, but at least in general, it was a very cute story!😍 #NetGalley

3.5 stars
During the first part of the book i felt the relationship between Nick and Alyssa seemed a little Insta Lovey. I felt like i had just started the book and all of a sudden they were kissing with no foundation of the crush. The writing felt a little choppy at times and jumping around a little too abruptly. after the 15% point i really started to enjoy the flow of the book. I really enjoyed both characters and their personalities. we watch both characters grow together and genuinely got to know each other. the communication between both characters was amazing and even as the reader i got to know them so well.

Nicks trauma was done really well. I felt like I could feel his sadness and see a lot of the reasoning behind his actions . I really enjoyed how Nick was not afraid to show his emotions and share his feelings.

I liked how Alyssa was also very open with what she experienced as a child. I also enjoyed the friendship aspect with Janet end Emma. those girls were ride or die kind of friends which i love!

i would have enjoyed more of the hockey aspect in this book! i feel like we went a lot of time is Nicks room and not nick overcoming his hockey struggles.

This book was good but not great. Just needed a bit more work. I love hockey romance, and appreciate that the author tried to address some big topics in this.

Hey there, fellow bookworms! 📚✨ Let's chat about Hearts on Thin Ice, the coolest ice hockey romance around! 🏒❤️

So, this book follows Nick, a pro ice hockey player who's bouncing back from a super tragic plane crash that wiped out everyone onboard, including some of his teammates. 😢 Meanwhile, we've got Alyssa, a gal with big dreams of owning her own interior decorating biz. 💼

Now, I gotta give this book 3.5 stars, but hey, let's round that up to a solid 4 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I'm all about those angsty romance vibes, but this one didn't totally hit the mark for me. 😕 While there were some feels sprinkled throughout, I was hoping for a deeper dive into the heavy stuff, especially with Nick's traumatic past.

The romance between Nick and Alyssa? Well, it was kinda like a lukewarm latte. ☕ Sure, they liked each other, and the steamy scenes were there, but I wasn't totally buying the whole "love" thing. Plus, the constant misunderstandings between them had me rolling my eyes harder than a pair of dice! 🎲

Oh, and can we talk about Alyssa's nickname for her own lady bits? Yeah, she called it 'Rip Van Winkle' way too much for my liking. 😳 Made those spicy scenes a tad cringe, if you ask me.

But hey, it wasn't all bad! This book was a breezy read, perfect for a lazy afternoon. It had its cute moments and kept me entertained, even if it didn't quite reach the stars. 🌟 So, if you're into sports romances that aren't heavy on the sports, a bit of trauma without going too deep, and some sweet, light-hearted romance, then this book might just be your cup of tea! 🍵💖

*2.75*

I really wanted to love Hearts on Thin Ice… I really did, the cover and tropes had me reading it so quickly but unfortunately this book just didn’t hit for me.

At a certain part in the book I think I just started skim reading, I can’t DNF books but I did think about it…

The two main characters, Nick and Alyssa lacked chemistry, in majority of their scene…
I also wouldn’t really call this a sports romance, it had a very (and I mean very) small part of hockey mentioned throughout it. I really don’t know if it could be called a sports romance.

Again, I’m sorry I couldn’t love this book. I really wanted to but it just missed the mark for me.

*Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press and Katie Kennedy for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

A hockey romance I adored! I absolutely couldn't put this book down! I appreciated the representation of PTSD in a light-hearted way but still accurate. Nick was my favorite character I hurt for him and the pain endured but man did he love well! I love when NetGalley blesses me with amazing reads like this!

Nick is an NHL player with a traumatic past who hires Alyssa, an interior designer, to make over his apartment after his coach insists that he make it more of a home.

Going into this I expected a light-hearted hockey romcom. However, this book was heavy. I did appreciate the author exploring topics such as grief, trauma, and PTSD but I thought I was getting a fun hockey romance.

The characters felt underdeveloped and immature, yet I loved the friendship they created and how they helped each other through their issues. I will admit I’m not usually a fan of 3rd POV so that may be why I felt a disconnect and the character development was off for me.

Nick was my favourite character and my heart hurt for him and the trauma he endured.
Overall, I enjoyed this book despite its flaws!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have been really loving hockey romances lately and this one is right there with it! It was a fun read that I read in just a few days!

I really enjoyed this one! I appreciated the way in which the heavy topics were handled, the grumpy/sunshine vibes from Nick and Alyssa, and their sweet romance. I loved the forced proximity and the dual POV, plus the hockey aspect was just 🤌🏼 looking forward to more from Kennedy!

As a fan of hockey romances, I was so excited to receive an arc for this book, and it started off promising but ultimately fell flat for me. Though I enjoyed Nick’s character the most, I felt that him and Alyssa’s relationship lacked chemistry and that the story overall just felt a bit rushed.

This was so cute!! Really wholesome, a great cast of characters and such super sweet heartfelt moments. Will definitely be recommending to my reader friends.

This was a good book I would definitely read more by this author. The story was a fun one to read since I am in the hockey romance era thanks for letting me read this book

I read Hearts On Thin Ice and enjoyed it. If you love a good hockey romance then this is it. However, there isn't a lot of the actual playing of hockey in this book. It does touch on ptsd and grief. Those are heavy subjects. This book wasn't anything out of this world but I did enjoy it!

Thank you to net galley, Katie Kennedy and the publisher for sending me an Ecopy of ‘hearts on thin ice’ to read and review.

The story follows the two main characters Nick Sorensen and Alyssa Compton both who face their own real life issues but find their way towards each other when Nick needs his apartment decorating.
What I enjoyed most from this book was the character development throughout the book. Both characters deal with some heavy topics and that mixed in with a sweet budding romance and bubbly banter made this a fun read!
This holds some of my favourite tropes of grumpy sunshine, found family and of course it’s a hockey romance!

Hearts on Thin Ice was a sweet sports themed romance. Unlike the popular Icebreaker, this one seemed to target a wider audience in terms of age. Nick, the recovered ice hockey player had a good amount of character development. I liked that he actually had a pretty substantial back story with regards to the plane crash and his recovery, both physical and mental. I had a harder time following Alyssa's backstory and the issues with her father. It wasn't super clear to me as I'd hoped in this book.
For me, I didn't enjoy the amount of misunderstanding between Nick and Alyssa that was taking place in this story. It seemed like a bit too much, though I do understand those issues stem from the character's pasts. However, after a while it made the story seem less plausible.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I'd recommend it to the romance crowd for sure!

thank you so much for sending me this arc i really loved it!! gave it four stars and can’t wait for it to come out in physical so that i can add it to my bookshelf! this had everything i love in a romance book!

Katie Kennedy's debut novel, Hearts on Thin Ice, is a good first offering. Her characters, Nick and Alyssa, weren't quite as fully developed as I would like and their chemistry never felt like it was working as well as it could have. She
included a lot of heavy topics which would be okay, but for a book advertised as a romantic comedy, it wasn't a great fit. I think this author has a lot of promise and I can't wait to see what she writes in the future.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this copy in advance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sports romance. It was quite intense with the thing our mmc went through. I liked how supportive they were of each other. I did miss an epilogue. The ending felt a bit sudden.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy. Going into this the premise sounded so good, and I loved the cover art. I just had trouble even reading to the end of the this one. I've never read any of the author's other work, but the writing just wasn't for me, nor was the character development where I wanted it for the two main characters. I ended up liking some of the teammates better than the main character. Some will definitely find it an enjoyable romance and I appreciated that author addressed mental health.