Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Icebreaker

Once I read past 200 or so pages, it’s like the author found the plot and the story actually began. I started to enjoy the characters the romance, and everything else more. Nate and Anastasia are really cute. I enjoyed how they supported each other and their character growth, together and as individuals. The hockey team guys are funny and sweet too. I loved their found family dynamics.

- Nate punching Aaron was really satisfying.

I’m curious to read Wildfire to see how it compares to this one and I liked the characters enough to continue reading in the Maple Hills book world.
The ending was astronomically better than the beginning of the book. Overall, I eventually liked Icebreaker and I could see why it’s popular. There are some aspects that bothered me about it though…

What I disliked:
- Aaron The Asshole sucks and I hate him, especially the way he treated Anastasia.

the beginning is a mess. There’s no direction or storyline. The characters are just partying and having sex, talking about sex, or insinuating it. I don’t mind sex scenes and they don’t bother me. However, they don’t need to be so frequent and in every moment the main characters are together. It was just too much in one book. That’s something that I don’t like about adult romance books.
British phrases in a book set in the USA and the characters are American? So weird. I guess it could be the quirky thing that the author writes but it seemed so odd and out of place to me.
The book is written in dual pov, which I usually prefer and love, but it did feel repetitive at times in this one.

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tgreene507's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.75

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kristicanread's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful relaxing 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

3.5

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emhaze's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.0

The only thing I have to say is, if I hear the name Aaron one more time I’m fkn punching whoever said it.

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

If this book had been about a hundred and fifty pages shorter, I might have liked it. I still would have found it completely overhyped, but I would have been far less disappointed.

The biggest issue is that there is basically no plot, and when the plot does finally kick in - 40% of the way through the book - it's somehow sidelined. Don't promise me something in the summary and then make me wait 210 pages for it. Because of this, the book dragged on. I found that it had far too much filler and not enough plot. It needed more hockey, more skating, and far less drinking and college students hooking up. On top of that, I found Anastasia to be a whiny and unlikable character. She didn't act like a college senior with Olympic aspirations, but a middle school girl. The book has a perfect set-up for a slow burn, not-quite enemies to lovers, and blew it by having no plot.

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maddysoup's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

if this would have had an editor it would have benefited so greatly.

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abidavisf's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I was prepared to fall head over heels in love with Icebreaker and it did capture my attention, but I found myself feeling like, for such a long book, a lot of scenes were rushed.

I’d heard a lot about Icebreaker: that it’s spicy (I would say it’s spice adjacent), that’s its emotional (I would say it could have been had the more serious scenes been broken down more), and that it’s addictive (I have been thinking about it a lot but more in a ‘why did it play out like that?’ kind of way).

Icebreaker is an easy read if that is what you are looking for. It touches on some really important and hard topics and handles them well. It also has a diverse cast of characters which is refreshing. I would say, however, that it lacks depth and you may find yourself wanting to know more than you are being given.

I’m definitely interested to read Wildfire so stay tuned for my thoughts on that. I’ve heard it’s a lot more thorough.

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