Happy Release Day + ARC Review: ‘Iced’ by Cala Riley
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Love Notes PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Iced
by Cala RileyPublished by Self-Published on September 19, 2024
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: eArc
Pages: 335
Source: Love Notes PR
Audience: 18+/Adult
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ClaytonBeing the star player on the Walker Wolves has been everything I was working towards.That is, until my grades slip, threatening to take it all from me.I have to do something drastic to keep my dreams alive, so I hire a tutor.That’s when I met her.Grace Myers.She is the complete opposite of me. Shy, innocent, kind.She’s meant to tutor me on school, so why does it feel like she is schooling me on life?
GraceI have spent half my life in love with Kellan Cooper, but he has never felt the same.If friendship is all he can offer, it’s what I’ll take from him.I thought life was simple.Until I met him.Clayton James.He is everything I’ve always hated. Loud, arrogant, a player.So why do I find myself unable to stop thinking about him and his lips?
When opposites attract, will they have a fairytale ending or are they destined to crash and burn?
I’ve read several Hockey Romance stories in the last several years, and most of them have been Dark Hockey Romances where the MMC is a morally grey character, but that’s not the case with the MMC in Iced. Clayton, the Captain of the Walker U Wolves, is the sweetest Cinnamon Roll MMC ever. He also isn’t a player like the rest of them on his team are. He may have stolen the FMC, Grace’s heart, but he stole my heart too, while reading their story, especially when he stood up to her best friend, Kellan Cooper, who was only breaking her heart.
Grace was such a sweet girl, too, and I loved that she found someone like Cooper who saw right through Kellan and how he treated her. Grace and Clayton’s relationship is a slow burn, so it will take a bit for these two to admit they have feelings, but it’s because they don’t want to get their hearts broken, and their friendship with one another means so much. Clayton also has to make up his mind if he’s going into the draft (play hockey professionally) or stay another year to finish his degree.
Grace definitely found a better best friend in Clayton, and even with Clayton’s hockey player teammates/roommates. Not only did the main characters win me over, but the other hockey players did, too, especially with how they became protective and caring for Grace. They all knew how special she was, and they didn’t want her heart to be broken, even by Clayton, who was secretly falling for her whenever he went to his tutor sessions and hung out with her constantly. This was the perfect ‘found family’ that Grace discovered.
I give this book four stars, and I hope that Cala Riley writes more Hockey Romances, especially in the Walker U Wolves world. Please give me more of these books because I need everyone on the hockey team to find their HEA, as Clayton and Grace did.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, especially if you enjoy reading Hockey Romance stories where the Hockey Player tries not to fall for his tutor after they become the best of friends. 😉 It’s low angst, and the only drama you’ll have to deal with is the fact that Grace’s friend, Kellan, gets jealous of her and Clayton. =)
Book Quote: I could easily become addicted to this woman. Looking down at her, I know that she is everything I never knew I wanted.
What to Expect:
🏒Sports/Hockey Romance
🏒Opposites Attract
🏒Slow Burn
🏒Friends to Lovers
🏒Found Family
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About Cala Riley
Cala Riley, better known as Cala and Riley, are a pair of friends with a deep seated love of books and writing. Both Cala and Riley are happily married and each have children, Cala with the four-legged kind while Riley has a mixture of both two-legged and four. While they live apart, that does not affect their connection. They are the true definition of family. What started as an idea that quickly turned into a full-length book and a bond that will never end.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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