Hearts on Thin Ice is a delightful sports romance that pulls you in from the start! Nick and Alyssa’s chemistry is undeniable, and their emotional journey is both heartfelt and swoon-worthy. The audiobook narration is absolutely fantastic, bringing the characters and their story to life in such a fun, engaging way. A perfect blend of romance, humor, and emotional depth that’ll leave you smiling!

Not your typical hockey romance. Nick used to be the fastest on ice until he was in a plane crash that killed his teammates and best friends. Now he has been traded and he is deep in a depression. His coach is at a loss and while visiting tells him to hire a decorator to get out of his funk. He cannot live with a chair and cardboard box as furniture any longer if he plans on playing. That brings Alyssa into his life. She is an up and coming interior decorator who is keeping her own secrets. Two souls that need healing, can they heal each other or will their hurts be too much. PTSD and trauma are a running theme but if you can get past that this is a lovely story.

DNF 50% through wasn’t my favourite hockey romance. The plot wasn’t for me I didn’t love the characters at all.

I never would think grief and love would make a good romance, but Katie Kennedy did it well Starting over after tragedy, finding a new found family, and letting in love. This is a story of hope, kindness, and unconditional love.

I just finished reading this incredible book, and I can’t stop thinking about it! The story completely swept me off my feet—it was like stepping into another world where every page was a new adventure. The characters felt so real, like I knew them personally, and their struggles and triumphs made my heart ache in the best way. The writing was gorgeous, filled with vivid imagery and lines I’ll carry with me forever. I didn’t want it to end but also couldn’t stop reading. It’s one of those books that changes you, leaving you richer for having read it.

3.5⭐️ I couldn’t resist this hockey romance debut, featuring pro hockey player Nick Sorensen and interior designer Alyssa Compton, who team up when Nick hires her to decorate his apartment.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-workplace romance
-hockey romance
-mental health rep
-themes of belonging and self-discovery

*many thanks to Alcove Press, Dreamscape, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Thank you to @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Touching and Heartwarming Sports Romance

Hearts on Thin Ice is a captivating sports romance that explores themes of healing, love, and second chances. Nick Sorensen, a talented hockey player grappling with the emotional aftermath of a tragic accident, finds solace in the company of Alyssa Compton, a dedicated interior designer.
As they work together to transform Nick's apartment, a genuine connection forms between them.

The author skillfully balances the intensity of professional hockey with the tenderness of their budding romance. The slow-burn romance is both heartwarming and frustrating, mirroring the characters' own journeys of healing.

The audiobook narration by Scarlett Everdeen and Nick Mondelli is exceptional, bringing the characters to life and enhancing the listening experience. Their performances capture the emotional depth and chemistry between Nick and Alyssa.

Overall, Hearts on Thin Ice is a delightful read that will appeal to fans of sports romance and those who appreciate stories of personal growth and redemption.

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #dreamscapemedia #heartsonthinice #katiekennedy

This book had all the feel! I laughed out loud, snort laughed, cried, & bawled.
This was the perfect mix of emotional, sweet & fun. It was a beautiful romance all about healing from trauma and finding your people.
I absolutely loved the chemistry between Nick & Alyssa. There was amazing banter, sweet & swoony moments, awkward moments, heartbreaking situations, found family, hope & healing.
I adored the whole team, they were caring, and supportive. Alyssa’s friends were sweet, loyal & full of snark.
This was an adventure and I loved every minute of it.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED Nick and Alyssa! They were great characters and I loved how this book explored their individual traumas and how they came together to help each other. I wanted to sob after hearing about Nick losing all of his friends in the plane crash and how he struggled after he survived that crash. The spice in this book was great and the romance was on point. Nick and Alyssa had me giggling and kicking my feet with their antics and banter.

Hearts on Thin Ice is a heartwarming sports romance that blends the intensity of professional hockey with the softer side of love and healing. The novel follows Nick Sorensen, once a star hockey player who finds himself physically fit to return to the ice after a devastating plane crash that claimed the lives of his best friends—but his mental recovery is lagging. Living alone in an empty apartment, his coach worries that Nick hasn’t fully addressed the emotional trauma of the crash.

To prove he's mentally sound, Nick hires Alyssa Compton, an ambitious interior designer, to transform his barren apartment into a real home. Alyssa, eager to secure her job and make a name for herself, takes on the challenge. However, Nick's stubbornness and difficulty accepting help make the task more than just a design job. As Alyssa pushes through Nick’s emotional walls, she begins to see the vulnerability behind his tough exterior, while Nick starts to find solace in Alyssa’s presence.

Both struggling to find belonging—Nick on the ice and Alyssa in her career—their shared journey of healing turns into a love story. But the road to love is as treacherous as the ice Nick skates on, and it’s going to take teamwork for them to navigate their complicated feelings.

Tropes
- Sports Romance
- Mental Health
- Workplace Romance
- Slow Burn Romance

Readers who enjoy sports romances like Icebreaker or Set on You, or emotional love stories where personal growth plays a key role, will find *Hearts on Thin Ice* an irresistible read.

Scarlett Everdeen and Nick Mondelli bring life to Alyssa and Nick, with their narrations adding depth to the characters’ emotional struggles and romantic tension, making this audiobook an immersive experience for listeners.

It is a charming debut romance that captures the vulnerability of healing, the importance of support, and the unexpected ways love can find its way into our lives. With its blend of humour, heart, and the high stakes of professional sports, it’s a compelling story about finding love—and yourself—when you least expect it.

Nick Sorenson is trying not to become a pro-hocky has-been, and to prove to his coach that he's not wallowing, he hires Alyssa Compton to decorate his apartment. Alyssa is trying to make a name for herself, and she wants to prove her mettle with Nick's apartment, even if she has to get fired to do so. When personalities clash, one steps up for the other time after time, proving that teammates don't have to just be on the ice.

This was my first Katie Kennedy book and I really enjoyed it! The writing was engaging and the characters were fun. I'm always in for a dual POV romance, and the chemistry was definitely there. There is a mental health aspect to this book that was well-written with care. I will be looking for more of Kennedy's books!

CW: loss, grief, plane crash

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book for review!

Something I love about the romance genre is that it never holds back the tough feelings. All feelings are welcome (with a proper disclosure for those who may choose lighter themes) and anyone can see themselves in a book like this. We may not be professional athletes, or interior designers, but we all feel loss, anxiety over appearances, and love at some point in our lives.

This book had me hooked early, because we enter Nick’s trauma head on. The loss, the injury, the guilt, and the rebuild of a life that is irrevocably changed after a plane crash that cost the lives of his very best friends. The empty apartment with one chair, and a mattress on the floor that brings Alyssa into his life - Nick doesn’t need help decorating, because he’s fine, totally fine. But it was interior designer or go to therapy (where they would not let him drone on about the incredible Wayne Gretzky, thank you very much).

But when Alyssa digs in after drawing up a blue industrial space that Nick hates because he gave no structure, she finds the man he left behind after the plane crash - an art enthusiast, drawn in by colour and lines; someone who refuses to make more than one trip, arms completely filled; a man who is kind, willing to step in, but who doesn’t know how to ask for help because he doesn’t know he needs it.

Alyssa’s job isn’t a dream, but it looks good for her career progression. She also believes her stepdad’s fibs about chickens and potatoes being core hockey lore, doesn’t know Gretzky’s first name, and earnestly designs spaces that feel comforting and inviting for her clients, because she knows what it means to not have a place to call home.

And through all the big feelings, the peeling back of layers of scar tissue, this book has the glimmer of hope and promise that all great romances have. The anticipation, the butterflies, the trust built over Monet and Michelangelo. All the beautiful feelings that are even more beautiful for the contrast they hold with hard pasts. Whether it’s new teammates who are waiting to support Nick when he’s ready, someone stepping in to fill vases with water or don a silly costume simply because you ask, or the fizzle of attraction between two people who both feel a little too messed up, or not ready, or that the timing is all wrong. That’s romance, baby.

Plus, despite the overuse in the genre, many will appreciate the rippling hard muscle of a star athlete described in filthy, naked detail. While I’m over the “ideal male body” romance hero in every book, even I can appreciate the spicy scenes.

With enough hockey knowledge for the sports fan, but not so bogged down for the unfamiliar, this hockey romance is bound to clear your sinuses, make you blush, and kickstart a redecorating plan of your own. I’d highly recommend this is whatever format you prefer, but the audiobook was a blast!

CW: grief, loss of friends, plane crash, survivors guilt, homelessness, mentions drug use, and PTSD.

This book took me on a feels trip that I was not prepared for. It starts hard and just keeps going until the end.

I was blown away by this book. I always say that a good book, romance especially, is only good if it makes me feel my feelings. I definitely felt many feelings reading this. Not only was there saddness but there was also happiness. There was a great balance between the darker notes and happier times. Definitely will be reading more by this author.

Thank you Netgalley for proving me an audio copy of this book.

RATING 3/5

"Hearts on Thin Ice" offers a fresh take on the hockey romance genre. The story revolves around Nick, a professional hockey player who is not only grappling with the pressures of his career but also carrying the emotional weight of being the sole survivor of a tragic plane crash. This aspect adds a profound and unexpected layer to his character, making his quiet and closed-off demeanor more poignant.

The premise is compelling, with Alyssa, an interior designer, hired to transform Nick’s apartment and help him regain a sense of normalcy. However, while the book has a strong foundation and an interesting setup, the execution fell short for me. The writing struggled to maintain momentum, and I found myself dragging through the pages. To put it in perspective, a book usually takes me a few days to a couple of weeks to finish, but this one took an entire month.

Although "Hearts on Thin Ice" wasn’t unredeemable, it didn’t quite hit the mark to warrant more than three stars. I did appreciate the exploration of moving forward after a significant tragedy, but I was disappointed by the reliance on miscommunication tropes, which seemed out of place for an adult romance. Healthy relationships should be built on clear and open communication, and the constant misunderstandings felt frustrating rather than engaging.

In summary, while the novel brings an intriguing premise to the hockey romance genre, its execution left much to be desired. If you’re a fan of the genre and interested in the unique angle of dealing with trauma, it might be worth a read, but don’t expect a flawless experience.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions in this review are mine.

Hearts On Thin Ice was unexpectedly heart wrenching to read. Nick Sorenson is just starting to play hockey again after an accident that killed his best friends and left him the sole survivor. His coach, concerned for his mental wellbeing because of the fact that he doesn’t have any personal effects in his new apartment, orders him to get his apartment decorated and go to therapy if he wants to play again. So he hires an interior designer named Alyssa Compton to decorate. Alyssa wants to prove to her overbearing boss that she can handle an important assignment and finally have financial stability, but Nick is stubborn and hot and cold with her and she’s dealing with her own personal issues, so she’s not sure if she can finish. Eventually they find even ground to stand on and start helping each other through their problems, but is it enough?

This audiobook really pulled at my heartstrings. The narrators, Scarlett Everdeen and Nick Mondelli, were fantastic! The narrating definitely aided in some of the tears that escaped while listening. They matched the plot and writing very well and I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. The changing of chapters was clear, so I wasn’t confused about where we were in the book. I never felt like the audiobook dragged or the pacing was off. The narration really pulled me into the world they were building.

The writing was also really well done in my opinion. I really liked Nick and Alyssa as people and when things were going well I really liked them as a couple. I really loved the side characters, specifically Nick's teammates and their significant others. I also really enjoyed Nick and Alyssa’s individual growth throughout the story. They aided each other in their growth but they each individually had to seek change for the real growth to happen. The only thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was miscommunication. There were so many moments where if they had just said exactly what they were thinking, things would have been resolved. Instead they avoided each other and talked in circles without actually talking about the issues or clearing up misunderstandings. Besides that, I really liked this story and the narration only added to the experience. It was heavy, but seeing two people who seem lost find themselves and each other was really beautiful, even if the way they got there was a little messy.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this e-audiobook arc.

There were really cute and funny moments throughout the book. 

Unfortunately for me, it started going downhill midway through the story. Nick frustrated me at times. And I really didn't want to feel that way, considering what his character has been through. The miscommunication made me slightly mad, but I was glad it got resolved. My focus was mainly on Alyssa and her family dynamics. I was really rooting for her. Pink cookies and all. 

I understand that sometimes with rom-coms, there are situations that are suspended in disbelief. But there were times when it was a bit outlandish in the story. And that's how I feel about Nick and Alyssa's relationship. 

Although I liked how the story ended, there were some parts that were a bit drawn out. I will continue to follow the author's journey. And hopefully, the next book I will vibe with.

Very demure, very mindful, very cutesy

This was a very cute book to listen to!

Thank you netgalley for my arc!

For a cutesy book cover this packs a sad punch. With so many hockey books on the market right now, you really have to do something different to make your book stand out. Katie def did this!! I just wish it didn't hurt to much lol. I'll deff be thinking about this book for a while after.

i think i’m half half on this book

there’s certain parts of this that i feel like is super cringey and frustrating to read, to the point where i feel like skimming

but the last 30% is so good? especially when they decided to flesh out the backgrounds of the characters (plus petty nick is the BEST)

i’m not sure what i feel about the relationship - the constant miscommunication is so annoying, plus i don’t know if i feel the chemistry much

but all the mental health talk & scenes were so good and i’m so glad those had a full story arc!