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A review by sunstarandsea
Frozen Heart Face-Off by Siena Trap
4.0
This was a REALLY good read and very layered, given the breadth of topics that it was addressing; infertility, difficult pregnancy, teenage adoption, plus size representation against an athletic backdrop (amongst others) wrapped in the a fairly light veneer of a hockey romance.
Evie and Jenner. He's a professional hockey player and she is his college sweetheart; they marry early and quickly realize that their path to having kids and the family of their dreams is basically an almost-vertical uphill climb on rocky cliffs. They hit crossroads when Evie wants to continue with their IVF journey and Jenner doesn't - so she leaves and files for divorce. Four years later, she finds herself back on his doorstep as the only path to having the children she so badly wants - is through adoption - for which she needs to still present as married aka she needs him. He agrees to help, they get remarried and this is their journey through adoption and navigating their own surprise pregnancy situation, while healing their marriage and relationship in the process.
What I loved - the portrayal of the fertility journey. Almost every one of Evie's experiences, either one of my friends or I have been through. How it starts as a simple "we're thinking of starting a family" into a full bloom obsession and chase to figure out why it's not happening, and the helplessness of knowing so much is out of your control. The pain of watching other people's families grow and never being able to escape it (because babies are everywhere!). There is so much pain, shame, guilt, embarrassment, anger, depression - it's a vortex of emotions but thankfully, I didn't find it as triggering because the other storylines step in to ease some of the emotional gravity in this book.
It's also a marriage in crisis (SO MANY OF MY FAVORITE TROPES!!) and a big part of this is repairing Evie and Jenner's marriage. The book kicks off when they're both at a point of exhaustion - and with the time apart - they've come back clearer on what they want for themselves and from each other. So it's their journey in navigating their way back to each other, while reconciling what having a family means.
Overall, reading this book was an experience. Even with such a heavy topic at the core, Siena has layered on different frames of hockey, romance writing, found family etc - so while there is a lot going on, the heart of it is about understanding that even if one door closes, there are others that open; you need to evolve your perceptions and expectations, to see them.
Evie and Jenner. He's a professional hockey player and she is his college sweetheart; they marry early and quickly realize that their path to having kids and the family of their dreams is basically an almost-vertical uphill climb on rocky cliffs. They hit crossroads when Evie wants to continue with their IVF journey and Jenner doesn't - so she leaves and files for divorce. Four years later, she finds herself back on his doorstep as the only path to having the children she so badly wants - is through adoption - for which she needs to still present as married aka she needs him. He agrees to help, they get remarried and this is their journey through adoption and navigating their own surprise pregnancy situation, while healing their marriage and relationship in the process.
What I loved - the portrayal of the fertility journey. Almost every one of Evie's experiences, either one of my friends or I have been through. How it starts as a simple "we're thinking of starting a family" into a full bloom obsession and chase to figure out why it's not happening, and the helplessness of knowing so much is out of your control. The pain of watching other people's families grow and never being able to escape it (because babies are everywhere!). There is so much pain, shame, guilt, embarrassment, anger, depression - it's a vortex of emotions but thankfully, I didn't find it as triggering because the other storylines step in to ease some of the emotional gravity in this book.
It's also a marriage in crisis (SO MANY OF MY FAVORITE TROPES!!) and a big part of this is repairing Evie and Jenner's marriage. The book kicks off when they're both at a point of exhaustion - and with the time apart - they've come back clearer on what they want for themselves and from each other. So it's their journey in navigating their way back to each other, while reconciling what having a family means.
Overall, reading this book was an experience. Even with such a heavy topic at the core, Siena has layered on different frames of hockey, romance writing, found family etc - so while there is a lot going on, the heart of it is about understanding that even if one door closes, there are others that open; you need to evolve your perceptions and expectations, to see them.