A Bookish Life In AK

The Final Book in the Love on Thin Ice Series came out this week. I had the privilege to be on the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) team for all but one of the of the 7 book series.

7 authors worked together to create a community called Maple Fall and the charity hockey team, The Icebreakers, to play a tournament to raise money for Happy Horizons Ranch for underprivileged children. The hockey players are from all over the NHL, some are coming back from injuries, the investor is the billionaire brother, and a single dad coach. The ladies run a farm, the farmer’s market, an ice skating instructor, a bookstore manager, friends, cousins and family members. All the stories intertwine and involve the characters and scenes from the other books, you really get the chance to meet the characters and the town.

The first book is “Breaking the Ice” by Whitney Dineen. Ellie moved back home to take care of her mom when her arthritis got worse. She teaches ice skating in town and rents out her mom’s cabin to make money for them. Zach is a billionaire dealing with the press calling him cheap, and now there’s a journalist who is out to completely ruin him. Troy calls his brother Zach about backing the Icebreakers charity tournament to help his image, and because he genuinely wants to help out his brother and the ranch. Troy rents out Ellie’s cabin for Zach and when they meet, Ellie can’t see past his portrayed image. Zach works hard to prove himself to Ellie. I thought this was a great beginning to the series. You get a chance to meet the first few characters, and watch them fall in love and overcome some pretty interesting challenges. My favorite quote is from Ellie, “ It’s an intense thought to realize that Zach doesn’t hold himself above me. That in the land of love, we’re on equal footing.”

Book 2 is “The Rebound Play” by Kate O’Keefe is Dan and Kiera’s story. They were high school sweethearts before Dan took a full ride scholarship to Yale to play hockey which led to him being drafted to the NHL. Kiera stayed behind and lives with her sister to help her out and runs the farmer’s market. Keira is all that Dan has thought about since he left. When Kiera finds out that Dan is coming back to play she doesn’t think she has a chance to win him back. He gives her his jersey and asks her to wear it. He also is spending time with her nephew teaching him to play hockey. My favorite quote is “I know it’s been a long time since we’ve been together. A lifetime. But I wanted you to know that I’ve never forgotten about you. I’ve always held you here with me.” He places his hand over his chest. “The truth is, no one has ever compared to you, my kind, beautiful, smart Kiki.” page 168.

Book 3 has been possibly my favorite one, “The Friend Face Off” by Grace Worthington has Emmy, Dan’s little sister running the “Falling for Books” bookstore as well as a Booktok page @Romcombook she’s a bit cynical and wonders if there are any guys out there that can measure up to book boyfriends. Dawson is Dan’s best friend and has been to Maple Falls several times, one time during a Halloween party they hung out in the basement hiding from people and made a pact that if Emmy needs a boyfriend when she’s 25, Dawson will be there for her. Well, she’s 25 and her boss’s son is making moves while Dawson is there. Dawson also reads her book club’s current read, (he even took notes!) and helps her out in so many different ways. Then there’s @Golddog who is answering her back on her Booktok account and they become friends. There were so many great quotes in this book. my favorite Dawson quote – “ “Emmy, I want to be the guy who supports you in your dreams. I don’t want you to sit on the sidelines anymore.” My favorite Mimi quote- “The man is a good goalie because he’s been trained to keep track of small but important things. And you’re important to him.” And finally my favorite Emmy quote- “My heart is telling me to kiss you, so it’s clearly misguided.”

Book 4 is “Love in Overtime” by Melissa Baldwin is the one that I did not get an Advanced Reader Copy for. It is Cooper and Blair’s story. Cooper is not happy about his current publicist decides to retire at the same time that he is roped into this charity tournament. Blair is his new publicist and is feisty and Cooper is a challenge.

Book 5 is “ Love in Overtime” by Elsie Woods is the single parent book. Angel is the owner of Happy Horizons, the ranch in Maple Falls that is for kids. She’s also the single mom to Alec and she does not like hockey players, at all. Scotty MacFarland is the assistant coach to the Icebreakers and a single dad. Happy Horizons needs repairs and help to support the kids. Scotty and the team are there to help. Scotty and Angel start working together and become friends and eventually more. Scotty is so sweet and lovable and Angel is a a strong and wonderful. They compliment each other so well.

“Love at First Skate” by Ellie Hall is the 6th book. Harlow was a lawyer and just got dumped over text, and a knock-knock joke no less. While at a conference with her smarmy boss she wins a couples weekend in Maple Falls. Her best friend, Ted “The Bear’ will be in Maple Falls at the same time so they agree to meet up and share the cabin. Both have feelings for each other that they keep trying to ignore. With quotes like, ““A whisper escapes, “Where have you been all my life?”
He kisses my forehead and then presses his to mine. “Right here.” How could I put this book down? The banter between these two was fun and lovable as much as the characters.

The final book is “Penalties and Proposals” by Anne Kemp. And what a final wrap up it is. Noah is the last person Willa ever wants to work with. After causing a huge scene on her photo shoot, she kicks him off her set and gets blacklisted. To say she’s a little irked still is an understatement. Noah has been through rehab and got new PR people and is working on his comeback. When an opportunity for to get a Willa to get a promotion for an sports magazine comes up, she jumps at it, but there’s a hitch, she has to work with Noah. Noah is determined to appologize to Willa for what happened and earn her trust, anong other things. I think my favorite quote has to be “This isn’t just a handshake to clear the air—it’s a chance to rewrite my story with her, to prove that I’m not the reckless guy she once crossed paths with. ” I just could not stop reading this book, I love a good redemption story and this was a great redemption story.

This whole series was so much fun to read. Each one had the characters from all the books and the Maple Falls Fall Fest not to mention the games to tie everything together. Everything about this series was so well done. I really am sad to see it finished. But now that it is done, I’m going to go buy all the paperbacks:-)