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.

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

Two high achievers and champions and a great love story about love blooming and glowing in the midst of obstacles, interference and top notch performances in two different sports. The star hockey team caption and champion trust fund good guy wins more than he bargained for when his path crossed with the figure skater of his dreams. Lovely book about two people whose dreams could not have been more entertaining to read about. Hannah Grace, please keep writing love stories. If you write, we will read.

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 such a great story! I couldn’t put it down and finished it in less than 24 hours. Spicier spice than I expected, I reread this for my 17 year old. I think we’ll hold off for a few years for her. This is a solid add to the TBR if you haven’t already.

My book came with some dirt marks, but that's not the issue they can be erased, the book is damaged(there is a tear in the bottom of the cover!!) My books always come in the best condition so i hope amazon gets me a replacement :(

Ma fille aime bcp

Goed en op tijd binnen gekomen ben er blij mee

Best

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 💖