Book Review – Icebreaker

First Published: 2022
Author: Hannah Grace
Language: English
Genre: Romance
My rating: 1/5

This book is clearly beloved by many readers; unfortunately, it didn’t align with what I personally look for in romance.

Anastasia Allen, a competitive figure skater looking to secure a spot on Team US, and Nate Hawkins, the hockey team captain, must put aside their difference when they are forced to share a rink.

Truth be told… the spice in this book wasn’t all it has been hyped up to be. Maybe I’m too old; who knows. But I just found the whole thing rather dull. And the romance is way too cliché. For a romance so heavily driven by intimacy, I expected more variety and tension in the intimate scenes.

There’s no conflict. None of the romantic relationships in this book go through any real hardship, so there’s no tension.

The pacing was too slow for me. The “drama” happens over 50% into the book, but by that time, the blurb question has already been answered: Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried . . . because she could never like a hockey player, right?

I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. I didn’t care about their lives or their day-to-day conflicts. There were some attempts at making the characters authentic, but they just fell flat. Most of the character arcs felt like second thoughts and weren’t developed enough for my liking. There were so many missed opportunities to create more rounded characters. I wanted to know more about each character’s backstory. It was hinted at so many times, but never fully developed, which I found rather frustrating.