This sport romance was an enjoyable read, mainly set in a bookshop. The story follows Sam and Nick through their romantic escapades.

I loved the characters however I found Sam slightly annoying with the whole “eggs”. The overall read was enjoyable, but I cringed quite a lot and rolled my eyes many times. I loved the plus size representation, but it felt slightly off as the new cover has a female character who is not plus size. I also felt like the lesbian rep was just weird, it felt like the only reason it was in the story was to help with character growth, it felt stereotype and much like sexuality is a switch you turn off and on. The whole discussion of fertility and motherhood was frustrating, it would have been wonderful to have a deep thought through discussion around the social pressures when turning 30 of becoming a mother, but it felt like it wasn’t the reason it was add, it actually felt like that is how you should feel as a women.

The writing style and pacing was well done and made the read easy and enjoyable. I felt like the characters were telling us how they felt and not showing us but that did not affect my read.

I wouldn’t class this as a sport romance as it doesn’t really mention his NHL career enough, but it was still a nice romance. I would recommend if you just want a bingeable romance.

So I enjoyed this but there were also things that annoyed me about it.

Sam & Nick kind of already know eachother at the start of the book when Nick's grandmother, Birdie, dies. Nick takes over the running of the book shop she owned, which was Samantha's safe space. She was also friends with Birdie. Sam finds herself needing a break from corporate life and goes to work for Nick in the book shop, and that's where the fun begins.

Samantha is described as a curvy girl but it's never actually mentioned exactly how big she is. As a larger woman, I find this quite stressful as it is easy to relate to all the diet culture bull shit but I find it difficult when I don't know how "curvy" this woman is. However, it is always refreshing to read about curvy woman.

I will say that I liked the slow burn of this book and, despite Sam and Nick admitting their attraction to each other, it was a whie before they acted on it.

I have become convinced though, that Amy Andrews will become a sports romance legend - due to Nick having an injury, there wasn't really any actual "sports" but it was still a running theme throughout that Nick was a hockey god.

I recently read another Amy Andrews book and felt that it was not long enough, only 19 chapters. This was a full-length novel but I still felt that it was too short and would really have liked an epilogue.

Now, my biggest issue with this book was around Sam wanting children. So, Sam wants kids, her eggs are "cheeping" (there was far too much talk of Sam's eggs throughout) and Nick doesn't want kids. Towards the end of the book, Nick realises that it wasn't that he doesn't want kids because when you love someone, you want to see them reflected in a child. I feel this wa a bit of a swing and a miss. I get that it worked for this storyline but I feel that the line in particular implied that people in love will always want children together for this reason. Not all women want kids. Not all couples want kids. You can be in love and not want to have children together and still lead happy, fulfilled lives.

Other than that, I enjoyed this and really liked Sam and Nick individually and as a couple.

4 stars.

Tropes:
- NHL legend
- Forced proximity
- Friends to lovers
- Lifetsyle change

Thanks for the ARC.
3.5*
We all know that THE dream is to run a secondhand book store with a coffee nook, right? Right.
Samantha gets to live out all our dreams after ditching her corporate high paying job, though that's only temporary (till she can get her eggs fertilized). The manager of the bookshop (NHL superstar ofc) is helping her on their mission, but like in any good rom-com, they realize it was them all along.

SPOILER

Man giving up his NHL career... v unrealistic.

Sports romances are a guilty pleasure of mine and so when I saw this I had to give it a go.
This is my first book from this author but will definitely not be my last I’ll tell you that!!
This book was such an easy read I finished it in one sitting, I loved the banter between the two main characters and how easily the plot flowed.

This is my second book I have read by Amy and she has a very unique writing style.

I find that her stories are a bit all over the place, which I get, life is messy, not organized.

There was a lot of talk about the eggs, which was honestly really odd at times, then the whole surgeon situation with her cup size. Just very off topic and random.

I thought this would be a cute rom-com, but there wasn't much dynamic between Sam and Nick and it honestly made me indifferent on their journey through the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my EARC.

In Breaking the Ice by Amy Andrews we have Damantha, a woman who has put succeeding in her chosen career above relationships and who suddenly finds her biological clock going off like crazy. She starts thinking about the career path she has chosen and life she is living, may not be exactly what she wants. Nick is the grandson of Sam’s late friend, Birdie, who owned a book store next door to Sam’s place. Oh, he is also a super hot NHL player recuperating from a knee injury and taking over Birdie’s store while the family figures out its next steps.

Sam and Nick are each at a crossroads in both their careers and lives and they find themselves fighting their attraction to each other while navigating the new phases of their lives.

This was a fun and easy read that I finished in one day. The characters are enjoyable and the plot moved easily along.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Nick is recuperating from a potentially career ending injury and Sam is not the distraction he needs.

Love the Nick and Sam banter. Terrific chemistry. Enjoy every one of their scenes. A terrific fun sports romance.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

This book was an easy and enjoyable read. The whole egg thing was a bit odd but at times funny but all round it was a good book that I was able to finish in a day.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me this ARC copy

2.5⭐️


Es el segundo libro que leo de Amy y llegué a la conclusión que su escritura no es para mi.


Sam es una mujer que está concentrada en ascender en su trabajo, es feliz con su estilo de vida hasta que ve que su ex va a ser papá. A partir de esa noticia, se le mete en la cabeza que debe tener un hijo y que debe ser ya.


No hay química o mínimo atracción entre Sam o Nick. Al final me daba igual si quedan juntos o no.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.