A review by tmadams88
Icebound by Meredith Trapp

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

SO OBSESSED with this hockey romance! After seeing teases of this book for months and months I could not wait to dive in and let me tell youโ€ฆ๐—œ๐—ง ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฆ ๐—จ๐—ฃ ๐—ง๐—ข ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—›๐—ฌ๐—ฃ๐—˜!! One of my top favorite hockey romances ever!

๐Ÿ’Hockey Romance
๐Ÿš—Meet Cute
๐ŸคซFake Dating
๐ŸซCollege Student
๐Ÿ’‹Reformed Player
๐Ÿ—“๏ธAge Gap
๐ŸฅฐHe Falls First
๐Ÿง Mental Health Rep

๐ŸคThere is so much I loved about Icebound that made it easy to read from cover to cover! Itโ€™s got ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ from the start, one of my ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, so many moments that will have you swooning/smiling/laughing, ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ, a fun yet also loving and supportive dynamic with teammates, and ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ!!

๐Ÿ“–The story all begins one night when Rhodes and Nina have a crazy chance meeting situation. Rhodes is a hockey goalie who is 33 years old and ready to settle down while Nina is a 22 year old art student in her last semester of college with big plans when she finishes. Now they both find themselves in a fake dating situation and from there the story has hockey games, raw moments, hot & sexy romance, and life issues plus all the funny and touching moments between teammates! The book is so perfectly paced and everything happens is such a realistic progression that never felt out of place or unnecessary which made it such an easy to read story!!

๐Ÿง The mental health representation in this book was beautifully written and incorporated! Nina struggles with anxiety and there were so many relatable moments that just made her feel even more authentic. Add in the support from Rhodesโ€ฆthis man set the standard!!! 

โœจ๐—œ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ! I easily read it cover to cover and instantly fell in love with everything about the characters and storyline! If you love sports romance at all, I cannot recommend this book enough!!!