Article contributed by Alexandra Vargova
Figure skater Anastasia Allen has worked hard her whole life to reach her athletic dream of going to the Olympics. With her precise plan, strict schedule, and a no-nonsense attitude, she’s fully focused on accomplishing her goal—there’s no time for a distraction.
Nate Hawkins, a six-foot-something, gorgeous captain of the university’s hockey team, is exactly the type of complication Anastasia doesn’t need. However, due to a prank gone wrong, Anastasia and Nate are forced to share a rink together, and after her partner gets injured, Nate steps up to be the replacement. With their goals within their grasp and their future on the line, falling in love is a tremendously bad idea. But the more time Anastasia and Nate spend together, and with each new wall broken down, keeping their hands—and feelings— to themselves seems impossible.
Lovers of sports romances and enemies-to-lovers, as well as fans of Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series should keep an eye on Icebreaker. It also features the sunshine x grumpy dynamic, however in a slightly different way than we are usually used to seeing it—here, it’s Anastasia who has the hardened exterior and strict, almost terrifying personality; and Nate is this kind and cheerful goofball. The story reminded me of Cutting Edge so fans of this film will definitely enjoy this read with this classic being given a modern and a much spicier tone. I’m not a big hockey or figure skating nerd, but the book explains all the necessary details about both of the sports cleverly without it being overly complicated or too info-dumpish. The sports are woven into the background as kind of a stage on which Stassie and Nate’s relationship takes a place. While they are relevant for the duration of the novel, this is romance first and foremost and you can rest easy because Hannah Grace properly delivers on this front.
To be honest, after the first couple of chapters, I was worried that Anastasia won’t work for me as a heroine. The way she was cold-shouldering Nate made me think that she will be the kind of female lead who keeps her emotions bottled and never lets the hero close enough. Unnecessary drama and miscommunication is a pet peeve for me when it comes to romance novels and that’s why I have a love-hate relationship with this genre. However, their mutual dynamic and especially the hilarious banter and delicious sexual tension urged me to keep reading and I’m honestly so glad that I didn’t let my first impression fool me.
Both of the protagonists grew on me with every next chapter and it felt like I was getting to know them, layer by layer, as Nate and Stassie were getting to know each other. Their chemistry is off the charts and once the tension between them finally explodes, you can be sure that you won’t want to be caught reading it in public. While the novel can’t be really labelled ‘erotica’, the sex scenes are incredibly hot and graphic; undoubtedly one of the best spice I’ve ever seen in a New Adult book.
Nate is such a sweetheart, caring and tender, he was giving this ‘overprotective older brother’ vibe, but behind closed doors, he easily put machos like Christian Grey or Gideon Cross to shame. He blended the qualities of a good boy and a rogue together so well that I guarantee that every single girl’s expectations will grow exponentially after reading this. Grace truly created an amazing boyfriend MMC in Icebreaker.
As much as both Anastasia and Nate are truly well-written and are an enjoyable duo to read about, it’s definitely the secondary characters that steal the show. Personally, I love a wide arrange of characters, and there’s something so inexplicably appealing when it comes to big groups/crews in stories. Nate’s whole hockey team was an entertaining bunch, their bromance and loyalty was spectacular and felt realistic. Besides, with so many collage guys thrown together, you can be sure there will be some chaos and hilarious shenanigans. The guys were Nate’s greatest support, yet also the greatest menace, giving him a hard time. Not only does this book succeed in making you blush, it will also cause some stomach ache from laughing so hard. It has been announced that there will be more books in this universe, so there’s a high chance that these guys will get their own stories. There’s still hope for more if you end up falling for these fools like I did.
All jokes aside, while Icebreaker is in no sense a heavy novel, it still deals with serious topics such as body image and eating disorder, depression and anxiety and toxic relationships. They fit into the story well, without affecting the pacing, quite the contrary; they flow along with the plot and serve as a welcome juxtaposition to all the humour and romance. It shows real life, where everything is often far from ideal. It made the novel that much more relatable. There’s also a fair disability and different culture representation. Even though they were all side characters, it’s always great to see the underrepresented groups of society be featured in fiction.
What I would fault the book for, however, is that it didn’t have to be dragged for so many chapters. Although there’s still a solid plot and problems that need to be resolved, the pacing could have been a bit better. Nate and Stassie’s disagreements seemed to echo one another and were starting to get a bit repetitive. On the other hand, I applaud the author for writing them as mature and rational adults that dealt with all their issues directly, and communicated properly which seems so rare in romance genre. In this regard, I’d say Icebreaker is quite unique.
Overall, this romance was a pleasant surprise in many ways and I’d never guess that this was Hannah Grace’s debut novel. The plot, the writing and the characters as well are done excellently and the book reads swiftly and easily, and even people who don’t usually enjoy romances like I do, won’t be disappointed. If you are looking for a satisfying read with wholesome characters, great banter and 50 degree heat, Icebreaker should definitely have a place in your to-read list!
Icebreaker is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Icebreaker? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.
Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.
Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.
But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.
Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried…because she could never like a hockey player, right?
