Breaking the Ice

by Julie Cross

Haley Stevenson is pretty, popular, cheer captain, the princess of Juniper Falls, and voted most likely to get things done. Haley might appear to have rock solid confidence, but her less than stellarGPA tells otherwise. Haley's determined to turn things around this summer by acingthe Civics class she's been forced to repeat. Angsting over ex-boyfriends is a thing of the past - in fact, Haley's sworn off all dating until college because the options in Juniper Falls are narrowed down to guys she's known her entire life. Unlike Haley, Fletcher Scott prefers to keep a low profile around Juniper Falls. In fact, he was fine with his mediocre status on the hockey team. That is, until Coach put him in during the state final lastseasonfora whopping thirty seconds. With the tension on the ice combined with Haley Stevenson's gorgeous legs visible from the seat in front of him, it's possible he won't survive the summer. Not as Fletcher Scott, invisible guy, anyway. Not with Haley constantly talking to him, and making him glittery invitations to join her study group. If he were a regular guy, maybe Fletch might consider asking her out. But he's not a regular guy. Even Haley can see that right away. There's something different about Fletcher Scott. Something that makes her want to work hard to break down all his guarded walls despite her pact to steer clearof local guys.

• ISBN13: 9781633758988
• Publish Date: 26 December 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Entangled Publishing, LLC
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 300
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

What a great YA romance this was. I adored every minute and can't wait to see who is next in the Juniper Falls world. I thought Fletch and Haley's complicated romance was sweet and super swoony. I shipped them hard and it was good to see Haley really grow into her own. She's heaps better than she was in the first book and I'm glad. Such a great story.

Full review to come.

[llamareads]

Content warning: This book has teen sex, (responsible) underage drinking, and lots of swearing.

A young adult romance with hockey?  Sign me up!

Haley is the Juniper Falls Princess (yes, that's really a thing) and Fletcher is a JV hockey player who keeps to himself.  Normally, they'd never even be at the same party, but they end up in the same summer school Civics class, and Haley decides that Fletch's nerdy self is the perfect project partner to bring up her GPA (she even gives him a project partner invitation, complete with glitter and calligraphy).  Haley is peppy, pretty and near-perfect, all those princessy words.  At first this seemed like just another popular cheerleader falls in love with the nerdy guy stories, but it's so much more.  Each time one layer of the story is peeled back, you find another layer underneath.  Why does Fletch keep to himself?  What happened in third grade?  Why's Haley in summer school?  Why does Fletch suddenly want to play on the varsity team?  What's Fletch's mysterious job?

“Can you promise me that if I kiss you, it’ll just be for fun? That I won’t keep feeling things after?”

And the angst, oh the teen angst.  Normally I avoid angst like the plague, but in this case, it didn't really bother me that much.  Haley and Fletcher are both facing serious issues, and the alternating view points of the chapters helped ground me in the story.  It was also surprisingly sexy, despite being a YA.  It takes for-ev-er for the main characters to kiss, and the slow burn will-they-or-won't-they was well done and had me trying to sneak in chapters whenever I could.   Fletch is just plain swoony!  There are also, of course, several Important Issues covered, most of which I won't mention to avoid spoilers.  I will say, however, that I especially enjoyed the thoughtful discussion around bullying, from both the bullied and bully's perspectives.

“Maybe if I say exactly what I’m thinking, stuff won’t build into big imaginary relationships inside my head. A guy can be hot and sexy without being a marital prospect or a soul mate. Right?”

Though this is the second in the series, I read it as a standalone.  It worked fine for me, but it was obvious there was some backstory with Hailey and some of the other characters of the previous book.  In fact, I enjoyed this book so much, I immediately went and put the first book on hold at my library as soon as I was done.

As for cons, it felt like some of the plot points (like Fletch and the varsity team and Haley's suspected issue) needed more closure.  Also, without going into too many spoilers, I found it surprising that none of Haley's friends or teachers suspected what Fletch figured out after working on a project with her for, what, a week?

Overall, this was a surprisingly lot of fun, and it kept me guessing how things would turn out.  I'm eagerly anticipating reading the first book in the series!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Sam@WLABB]

It was fun being back in Juniper Falls, and I couldn't have asked for a better couple to spend my time with. They may have appeared to be an unlikely match, but Haley and Fletcher were perfect together.



I read and really enjoyed Off the Ice, which was my introduction to the world of Juniper Falls. So, obviously, I jumped at the chance to visit again, and I have to say, it was fun being back in town, and I couldn't have asked for a better couple to spend my time with.

Who?

Haley was the reigning princess of Juniper Falls. Super popular, super social, and seemingly, always in the middle of things. She was still feeling the pangs of rejection following her breakup with Tate and unsuccessful foray into meaningless fling territory. Haley was trying to put all romantic entanglements behind her, as she worked on improving herself and reaching for her goals.

Fletcher was the quiet boy, who kept a low profile away from the spotlight. After his family became a main source of Juniper Falls gossip, and he was the victim of an almost deadly bullying incident, Fletcher developed some trust issues. He had no friends in town and kept himself emotionally detached when it came to romantic relationships. He was a nerdy loner with a goal of leaving Juniper Falls behind.

What?

Neither Fletcher, nor Haley anticipated what would happen when their paths crossed in summer school. Initially, Haley was just looking for a project partner, who could help her achieve her scholastic goals, but eventually, the feelings simmering beneath the surface came to a full boil, and when the sparks flew, Fletcher and Haley reacted in very different ways.

Why?

There are so many things I loved about this book, but since we don't have all day, here are my top five reasons I loved this book.

•I found Haley to be quite a wonderful character. She started to redeem herself in the first book, but in this book, we get to see what is really so special about her. She was loyal and often put aside her own feelings in order to help other people. She often showed a lot of maturity, that she really didn't get credit for, and she had a heart of gold. I was really elated when she was able to figure out some of her academic issues with the help of Fletcher, because I couldn't help but want her to achieve her goals. I also admired that she acknowledged her shortcomings, and she was addressing them and striving to be a better person. What more could I ask of her?

•Wow! I don't even know where to start with Fletcher. First, there were all the wonderfully nerdy t-shirts. I couldn't wait to see what he would wear next. Then there was the double life he was leading. There were so many things swirling around in my head, and I liked the way Cross slowly revealed those parts of Fletcher's life, piece by piece. Oh, and he was swoony too.

•This romance was a slow burn and at times, confusing, but I loved every second of it. I was excited every time Haley and Fletcher were on page together. Sometimes it was because the tension between them was delicious and palpable, but other times, it was because I thought they really pushed each other to be better versions of themselves. There was a lot of push and pull, but because the drama was kept to a minimum, I rather enjoyed it.

•Fletcher's world was sprinkled with some very interesting characters, but his family won my heart. His grandfather, father, and brother were all fiercely protective of Fletcher, but they were a lot more then just manly men. These guys were real men, who had experienced epic love, and passed on some really sage advice to Fletcher regarding how to treat and respect a woman.

•This book was fun, and filled with some great banter. I audibly laughed often and grinned a whole lot.

Overall: This was a really great trip back to Juniper Falls, where I got to know the gang a little better. I loved that Haley and Fletcher challenged the tropes with all their hidden layers and sort of kept me guessing in the best way. Fun, flirty, swoony, and a little bit spicy too.

*I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

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