Icebreaker: A Novel (The Maple Hills Series)

Icebreaker is a popular new adult romance that follows Anastasia Allen, a dedicated figure skater determined to make it to the Olympics, and Nathan Hawkins, the captain of the college hockey team. Their worlds collide when an unexpected incident forces the hockey and figure skating teams to share the same rink. What starts as an inconvenience slowly turns into a flirtatious, slow-burn connection between two driven athletes. The book is full of witty banter, chemistry, and emotionally grounded moments that give the characters real depth. Nathan is charming, respectful, and refreshingly wholesome for a romance lead, while Anastasia is strong, competitive, and layered. The story mixes sports culture, college life, and romance in a way that feels modern and relatable. It’s definitely on the spicy side, so it’s best suited for mature readers, but it also touches on mental health, trust, and personal growth. Fans of rivals-to-lovers or forced proximity tropes will likely love it.

Tropes/Key Points: ✨Sports/College Romance ✨Enemies to Lovers ✨Warped Love Triangleish ✨Dual POV 3.5⭐️ 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Blurb: Anastasia is a junior in college on track to be an Olympic Figure Skater. It’s all that she has worked towards since she was five years old. She managed to get a full scholarship, but her pairs partner wasn’t interested in furthering his career. So, as a freshman she was paired up with Aaron who was in the same boat. Stasis comes to win and nothing will get in her way. She has a meticulous schedule, regime and diet that will not be put off track for anybody or anything. Until she gets summoned along with the entire sporting department for a mandatory meeting that disrupts her day. This disruption continues when they are informed that Rink Two, the Hockey Teams Ice, is out for the count and they all have to share one ice rink. Nathan is the captain of the schools hockey team. He has never met a problem he couldn’t solve, that is until his ice rink is flooded and they have to share with the figure skating team. He sees Anastasia arguing with her coach after the meeting, and his attempt to smooth things over backfires in his face. Anastasia’s partner gets injured so Nathan steps in to fill the role. Swapping out a puck for a toe pick, the pair find themselves stuck together and closer than ever. Review: I don’t even know where to fully start here. The premise is amazing and reminded me of the movie “The Cutting Edge”. It’s a semi-accurate comparison but only in certain spots. I give this author credit though as she made it her own and it didn’t feel like a rip off of a timeless classic. I’m not even mad at the execution of the story, as it kept me hooked. One complaint though is the spice level. It comes out of the gate swinging and while it does calm down after chapter two until a bit later in the book, this was just too much for my personal preference. Not to mention that the first sexual encounter between Anastasia and Nate left much to be desired. She just used the bathroom dude and you knelt…. Well. You get it. 🤮 My second complaint is the epilogue. It just wasn’t needed. I got to the last chapter of the book and thought I was done only for there to be a very predictable epilogue. I think the epilogue actually ruins the story and rushes achievements for the Main Couple. It felt out of place from what we learned through the book, like the author wanted it so it happened. The lady chapter would have been the perfect ending. One thing I absolutely loved about this story was the cast of characters. It wasn’t just about the main duo, it included such lovable hockey players on Nathan’s team and an amazing best friend for Anastasia. The author managed to flush out these characters and give them their own personalities and problems. It really felt like I could be in a room with a group of friends. Banter is also my weakness. Coming in strong with not only enjoyable back and forth between Ana and Nate, the way the hockey team comes together and ribs on each other was so perfect. There were multiple spots outside of the main couple that had me laughing. The team even accepted Ana and Lola into their group and they joined in on the fun of driving Nate crazy. I have to say that the way the author really delved outside of the romance to introduce complex backstories and emotions for these characters was really well done. Anastasia is in therapy and we see how her anxiety and obsessive planning became established. We see how it affects her daily life and even those around her. It wasn’t just a throwaway plot point, the author actually disperses it throughout the story in a great way. We also get to see some healing in regards to how Ana looks at food. This is such a delicate subject and I think it was handled so well. Of course, I’m coming at this from someone who has (luckily — but no shame to anyone who hasn’t been so lucky — I support you) never experienced trauma with food. I hope that the author truly did portray it in a healthy way and if not, can someone please educate me? The climax of the story was pristine but there were some moments that had me rolling my eyes. Development that we worked through only for it to be torn down to further the plot. But, that’s the way the stories are written so what can you do? Overall there were some really great moments through the book but it wasn’t enough to overpower the ending. The ending really ruined it for me and unfortunately that’s a big ding taking away from the rating.

First, the physical book itself is so visually appealing. I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover, but these books are so cute! I loved this story, and found it to be cute, lighthearted, and fun to read. Reading as a hobby should be fun and these books were so much fun to read! I love a silly little romance novel and this book series I couldn’t put down. If you’re looking for a fun, easy to read romance novel, this series is for you!

I nearly DNF'd it!! I set it down for 4 days because it starts slow and not very well-written. Icebreaker is about 100 pages too long. It's desperate for an editor, so it took a while to get into, and even when I did get more interested in the book, it never gets GREAT (2.5-3 stars at most). But I finished it! It's such a popularly read book that I wanted to read it to get the Book Boyfriend cultural references. Literally pumped my fists in the air when I finally made it to chapter 50! PROS: -Nathan IS a pretty dreamy Hero. Like a sassy cinnamon roll. He'll do anything possible to make your life better and make you feel safe and spoiled, but will also tell you when you're being annoying. Plus he maintains excellent male friendships. -Some surprisingly emotionally intelligent dialogue occurs throughout this book, particularly towards the end. There's really good modeling for healthy communication between not only our MMCs, but their friend group too. -Henry -It's very spicy but sometimes it's a bit obnoxiously spicy. ( Saying that as someone who wants her spice open-door and in detail lol). CONS: - The FMC Anastasia (Stassie) is hard to like for awhile. She is SO petulant and unreasonable. This enemies-to-lovers trope is completely one-sided, and I find it tiresome that female authors write FMCs with this reactive personality type. -Wear some underwear Stassie!! It is not cute or sexy to be at a party or club in a microdress that is barely past your butt while you're not wearing underwear! It's a borderline sex crime cuz the risk of bystanders being flashed is too high. PLUS, that cannot taste good or fresh for when oral invariably happens. -For half the book, Stassies horny-juices are described as spreading down her thigh. That's not cute. Is she a baboon?? Put on underwear! -There is too many unnecessary scenes and detail. It's just far too long and it doesn't move the story forward. -Peonies do NOT come in light blue?! HG could have just looked up their color variation instead of making up a color that felt like "appropriate boy color" flowers. What a dumb and gender normed reason to be pulled out of a story.

This is the second book by Hannah that I have read. The first, was actually Daydreamer, the third book in this series and honestly I'm so glad I picked that book up. I went back to grab the other books in this series and binged them as soon as they got in. The chemistry between Anastasia and Nate pull you in, bringing fire and ice to a whole different level. Anastasia who is a figure skater and Nate who is the team captain for his hockey team start off on kind of a rocky cliff. Stasia has goals of going to the Olympics and Nate is covering up for a team mate who accidentally got their hockey rink damaged and there for made the figure skaters and hockey players have to share one. What's worse is that Nate lied to Stasia who then held that against him- fighting their chemistry. This book gives you everything, a good story line, world building, and the perfect balance of building up to the smut before it explodes. The tension can be felt on the pages, making you want to flip every page faster in hopes to get to the end, all the while wanting more and being sad to see the story end.

ICEBREAKER - HANNAH GRACE (MAPLE HILLS 1) RATING 4 out of 5 stars REVIEW: You know it's a great romance novel, when I have it on Kindle and paperback, right? And when I finish it in under two days. And when there's a Book Boyfriend Badge I'd gladly pin on Nate's chest. Anastasia Allen has her whole career mapped out in front of her. As one half of a promising duo on the ice, she's determined to reach for the stars and dance amongst them. Nothing can deter her from achieving her dreams - as nothing in her personal life feels important enough to give up on her dream. Not even a cocky hockey captain with a heart of gold and eyes of a darling puppy. Even if a one night stand from heaven is looping around her head, daring her to get lost in him. Nate's agenda is playing hockey and enjoying his college years. Seems easy, right? But no, captaining a bunch of idiots comes with consequences, consequences which almost sabotage the training time of one pretty girl, he can't and don't want to forget. So, naturally, the forced proximity does its job, and things get pretty serious and exciting and fun and complicated quite soon. As Nate infiltrates Stassie's life from practice to the bedroom, they have to try to sort out their budding feelings, betrayal and the aspects of playing house, growing up under intense pressure. The smut is smutting in this one, so be prepared for the explicit content! I loved the tight-knit group of friends, the banter and cute domestic scenes! This is what a smutty, sweet romance novel with low angst should and could look like! Nothing else while reading, just immersing yourself in a sweet story! TROPES: - forced proximity - golden retriever/black cat - found family - sports romance - hockey romance - hockey player/figure skater - banter (!!!) - book boyfriend badge - college/ new adult romance

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 The book as a whole gets 4 ⭐️ but Nathan Hawkins as a book boyfriend gets ♾️⭐️!! I loved him and his dirty mouth so so much! I enjoyed the rest of the book a lot, but I adored Nathan. So when I saw that this was a Hockey Player and a figure skater, I immediately grabbed it. The Cutting Edge from the 80s is one of my favorite movies and so I had high hopes with this one! And it mostly lived up to it! Anastasia is a figure skater who suddenly finds herself having to share her rink with the Hockey team after a prank gone wrong renders their rink unusable. She immediately butts heads with their captain Nate Hawkins, but that spark of annoyance soon turns to chemistry as things heat up between them. I loved the premise of the meet ugly between the two main characters and their progression from rivals to lovers was very realistic and the way they treated each other stole my heart. Well mostly Nate, Nate stole my heart. I loved that there was no miscommunication and no third act break up. I love that Nate was just all in and completely present for Stassie, and I loved that Stassie was able to open up and relax a little with Nathan and his teammates. The found family aspect of this book was wonderful. And Henry, OMG, best side character ever, please give him his own book! I also REALLY enjoyed Nathan’s dirty mouth and how great the spice was even from the beginning.🔥🔥. That Uber scene lives rent free in my head. I also have to say that the way the author handled healthy communication, consent, disability rep and mental health was really well done, especially knowing a lot of new adult readers will pick this up. What I didn’t care for as much was the conflict between Stassie’s skating partner and the way it seemed uh to drag on and seem a little bit unrealistic. The premise was good with that, but I didn’t care as much for how it played out! Overall, I see why this book is so popular and I’ll happily add my name to the list of people who enjoyed it for what it was, an uncomplicated spicy sports romance with a swoony male lead! It definitely ranks in the top third of hockey romances I’ve read but just fell a little short of being fantastic. RECOMMEND!

Easy, juicy read! Did not want to put the book down. Coming from a non reader

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Este libro me sorprendió bastante, lo empecé a leer sin esperar mucho y termino siendo uno de mis libros favoritos 💖 cuando les digo que la historia de Nathan y Anastasia es hermosa me quedo corta. Su romance es suuuuper sano, tienen excelente comunicación, sus personalidades son encantadoras, sus bromas chistosas y su química envidiable. 🫶 No se los puedo recomendar lo suficiente, si te gusta el romance universitario deportivo este es tu libro. Ambos personajes son súper centrados, emocionalmente maduros, competitivos y dispuestos a trabajar por lo que quieren. Se apoyan muchísimo entre ellos y sacan lo mejor uno del otro. 💕 Además Hannah nos consciente y nos introduce a muchísimos personajes igual de hermosos que harán que tu corazón estalle de amor. 💕 No se dejen engañar por la portada tierna, ya que contiene bastantes escenas spicy descritas de una forma encantadora, los temas que tratan pueden ser sensibles para ciertas personas entonces please lee los TW antes de leer ya que es un libro 18+. 🙌 Este es el primer libro publicado de Hannah y el inicio de una serie 🤩 y no miden lo emocionada que eso me pone al saber que habrá más de todos los personajes maravillosos que nos presento en este libro. Thank you @hannahgraceauthor for this amazing wholesome story and the loving outstanding characters. I can’t wait to read more about this world you’ve created 💖

I’m always a little one foot out the door with TikTok books just because I find so many of them that go viral just are basic and kind of the same story over and over again type books but this book is worth it. First…It’s characters, despite there being a lot more than average in my opinion, we’re very well thought out and honestly so interesting I could read their stories too. The way she portrays communication in a relationship especially for the ages they are is actually amazing, I don’t see it often really with a good story line that I can keep reading without knowing the ending. Communication like this is rare and deserves the hype so these younger smutt readers (don’t lie to yourself please we know when it starts) can experience a relationship like this. One where from pretty much the beginning have great communication. I would mention something else but that would also ruins it so I can’t say it. I was very annoyed sometimes at some very obvious “Why?what the point” moments as everyone does but the fact I was blushing kicking my feet like a 13yo girl balanced that out and overall I will be putting this on my books to re-read in a year or two. Great amazing book especially if your in the moon for a light hearted, actually way funnier than expected, and blush inducing with some great surprises kind of story.

This is the perfect book for someone who loves romance, well constructed and imperfect characters, and sports stories. This book made me laugh so hard I embarrassed myself on the bus. A few times. The plot is captivating and it's so easy to fall in love with the characters and get hooked in their struggles. To me it was refreshing seeing them dealing with complex, troubling topics and emotional conflicts in mature and realistic ways, while maintaining the feel of being college kids. One thing you do not need to worry about is the miscommunication trope, which for me is amazing because there was no screaming at the screen wondering why don't they just sit down and talk, haha. Overall a great, light and funny read. Totally recommend it!