Reviews with content warning for Death - Icebreaker

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ This book contains contents about : Emotional abuse, eating disorder, gaslighting, death of a loved one, and body image issues ⚠️

I had a love hate relationship with Anastasia at first, with her attitude and how she treated Nathan I couldn’t stand her 😂 BUT I loved how that girl knew what she wanted 🫡💗 She was unbelievably hardworking, insanely stubborn, organized and definitely VERY sassy/grumpy while still having her sweet moments 🫶🏻

And then there is Nathan Hawkins…𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑭**𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒂𝒘𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒔 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻..This man definitely made himself #1 on my fictional boyfriend list 😍 The way he unconditionally loved Anastasia was just *𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒇𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔* 🤌🏻 He’s confident, thoughtful, dedicated, and loyal 🥹💗 𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑬𝑺𝑫𝑶𝑵’𝑻 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑳 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑯𝑨𝑾𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑺 😭💗💍

Now I do want to say that THE ONLY reason I gave this book 4⭐️’s was because the story was definitely dragged out which made it to where it took me FOREVER to finish this book 😭 I started in December and finished in February 🫣🤦🏻‍♀️ I still very much enjoyed the book but I started to lose interest 😕

The side characters were absolute perfection as well 🥹🫶🏻 Without giving too much away, I absolutely LOVED Henry! I’m sorry, but the fact that he kept a box of women’s essentials in his bathroom…𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷- I would read any book about that man in a heartbeat! Can he get his own story?! 👀💗

And since we are on the topic of side characters…Aaron….I have never disliked a character as much as I disliked him 🤢 I want to take my hat off to Hannah Grace for being able to write an absolute phenomenal “𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏” 👏🏻💗

Now finally, if you want spice…THIS IS YOUR BOOK! 🥵📖 When I say this book had me 𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮, hot, weak at the knees, and embarrassed when reading a spicy scene in public 🤭🌶️💗 Oh my goodness..🫠🫣🤌🏻

Overall, I recommend reading this book if you’re looking for a reverse grumpy/sunshine trope 😠☀️, love college sports romance 💗, hockey/ice skating 🏒⛸️, and dual POV 📖

Content Warnings

r3ader's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: Icebreaker
Author: Hannah Grace
Series: UCMH, #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: August 23, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Trendy • Delightful • Spicy

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Anastasia has been a figure skater since she was five years old. Now competing with her partner Aaron at Maple Hills, she dreams of landing a spot on the US Olympic team. Her determination and drive to win means she diligently schedules every minute of her day, yet she's a commitment-phobe.

Nathan is the captain of Maple Hills' hockey team, a responsibility he takes very seriously. When an incident forces the closure of one rink, Nate takes the blame to avoid his whole team being benched. And this forces the skating and hockey teams to share a rink - much to everyone's dismay. Benched yet again, in the aftermath of Anastasia’s partner getting hurt, he finds himself swapping his stick for tights.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Romance isn't one of my go-to genres, yet every now and then the mood strikes, and I find myself looking for something lighthearted. That mood struck mid-January, and as an avid hockey fan, Icebreaker felt like a perfect winter read. I was right!

This novel has very good representation including mental health, disability, and LGTBQIA+. Not only that, but it also opens up much needed discussion surrounding relationship consent, as well as therapy things that are often overlooked in literature. It also demonstrates the importance of open and good communication in a relationship, which I loved.

There are a lot of characters introduced, yet it seemed quite straightforward to keep everyone straight. Both protagonists felt well-developed and layered. And don't even get me started on Henry! Everyone needs a Henry in their life. And even though it played a smaller role, I loved the encouragement Nate received from Stassie's dad. It just felt so genuine, and like something he'd been missing out on his entire life.

My main complaint for this one is the length. Because so much happens, it felt quite a bit longer than it needed to be. I think it could have easily been shortened by 80-100 pages and still accomplished what it set out to do. Additionally, the college aspect felt a little immature and like the author was capitalizing on Tik Tok trends. Lastly, I wished her friendship with Ryan had continued into the second portion of the book. There was something about the relationship that I gravitated toward.

For me, this was a solid romance with quite a bit of depth, and some sex scenes that made me blush. It tries to tackle a lot, yet I think Hannah Grace did a fair job putting it all together. I've heard this is going to be a series, and I am definitely looking forward to a second book. I am secretly hoping book two will follow Ryan or Henry.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for a new book boyfriend
• fans of sports romance

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"We’re still individuals, but we’re individuals together, and I never knew relationships could be like this."

Content Warnings

av0universe's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Content Warnings

dianaschmidty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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