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A review by amberisalwaysreading86
Icebound by Meredith Trapp
3.0
I jumped at the chance to receive a review copy of a new-to-me author, especially when it featured one of my absolute favorite sports romance genres.
There were several stand-out moments and highlights in this book, some of which made me feel agony, others saw me laughing out loud.
Rhode Tremblay is an amazing MMC! Reformed playboy, and Cat-daddy extraordinaire. I have to say, it was so refreshing to read a sports romance which featured an older star athlete (GOALIE!!!) who is at the tail ~end of his career, and not experiencing a rookie season.
So many transitional moments and themes were addressed due to this time in his career and life,and I loved exploring this aspect of sports media, the pressures star athletes face,& the downside of their lavish lifestyles.
The supporting cast of Rhode’s teammates provided some much-needed levity in a book which tackled heavy mental health issues, and they were the saving grace for me when this book became difficult to read at times. The author did such a great job developing these characters, and I found myself fully invested in them, as well as the main Love interests of the book. The Bromance that these men had made me so covetous!
That being said, I wasn’t absolutely hooked on our FMC,or the dynamic with her order sister.Instances of betrayal were seemingly swept under the rug and brushed off in favor of keeping toxic people in one’s life, and reading about that bothered me quite a bit. These issues were never truly resolved, so as reader, I didn’t feel I received an adequate amount of closure.
Additionally, at times the mental health issues actually made me,the reader,feel extremely anxious and unsettled. While I feel like representation is important, sometimes it can detract from the rest of the storyline, especially in a romantic aspect, as panic attacks and social anxiety were a little too prominent,in my opinion. I expected more romance, and calling this a slow burn is a VAST understatement. If you go into this book with that understanding, while managing your expectations, I think you will fully appreciate the way in which these issues are addressed.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, and I like the way the author seemed to wrap everything up in the end for our couple.
There were several stand-out moments and highlights in this book, some of which made me feel agony, others saw me laughing out loud.
Rhode Tremblay is an amazing MMC! Reformed playboy, and Cat-daddy extraordinaire. I have to say, it was so refreshing to read a sports romance which featured an older star athlete (GOALIE!!!) who is at the tail ~end of his career, and not experiencing a rookie season.
So many transitional moments and themes were addressed due to this time in his career and life,and I loved exploring this aspect of sports media, the pressures star athletes face,& the downside of their lavish lifestyles.
The supporting cast of Rhode’s teammates provided some much-needed levity in a book which tackled heavy mental health issues, and they were the saving grace for me when this book became difficult to read at times. The author did such a great job developing these characters, and I found myself fully invested in them, as well as the main Love interests of the book. The Bromance that these men had made me so covetous!
That being said, I wasn’t absolutely hooked on our FMC,or the dynamic with her order sister.Instances of betrayal were seemingly swept under the rug and brushed off in favor of keeping toxic people in one’s life, and reading about that bothered me quite a bit. These issues were never truly resolved, so as reader, I didn’t feel I received an adequate amount of closure.
Additionally, at times the mental health issues actually made me,the reader,feel extremely anxious and unsettled. While I feel like representation is important, sometimes it can detract from the rest of the storyline, especially in a romantic aspect, as panic attacks and social anxiety were a little too prominent,in my opinion. I expected more romance, and calling this a slow burn is a VAST understatement. If you go into this book with that understanding, while managing your expectations, I think you will fully appreciate the way in which these issues are addressed.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, and I like the way the author seemed to wrap everything up in the end for our couple.