Book Review: Melting the Ice (Play By Play #7) by Jaci Burton

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Berkeley
336 Pages

The new Play-by-Play novel by Jaci Burton

BODY CHECK

Everything’s coming together for budding fashion designer Carolina Preston. Only months away from having her own line, she could use some publicity. That’s when her brother suggests his best friend as a model—hockey player Drew Hogan.

Carolina and Drew already have a history—a hot one, back in college. Unforgettable for Carolina, but for Drew, just another slap shot. This time, though, it’s different. His perfect body would be for professional use only. This time, she could use him.

Drew is all for it. He’s looking forward to the exposure. Plus, it would give him a chance to prove to Carolina that he’s changed. If only he could thaw her emotions, convince her to let down her guard and let him in just one more time….

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“People have fallen in love and have found forever together with much less than what they do for a living as a foundation.”

Budding fashion designer, Carolina Preston, needs male models to help showcase her designs during fashion week. When she enlists her brother for help, he immediately recommends his best buddy from college, hockey star Drew Hogan. The only problem is, Drew may have taken Carolina’s virginity one drunken night in college and then left before the next morning. That’s something that Carolina has never really gotten over…and something her brother doesn’t know.

This was my first book by Jaci Burton and I was a little hesitant going in but I will say, I was pleasantly surprised. What initially attracted me to this book was hockey. I am a massive hockey fan and can to attest to some of the players being drop dead gorgeous. So while I was going ‘yay hockey’, I was also wary about how the author would portray the sport. Thankfully, Burton includes just enough of the action that you feel as if Hogan is a legit player. It wasn’t just ‘game time’ and ‘game over’. No, Burton wrote scenes that were easy to follow for anyone reading – hockey fan or not.

Then there were the characters of Carolina and Drew. Once again, I thought that I had this book figured out – boy was an ass, girl holds grudge, brother finds out and freaks, girl still falls for boy, boy breaks her heart because girl misreads something that happens, etc etc etc. And yes, some of that happened, but not in the way I assumed.

Carolina was still hurt when Drew came back into her life, but she didn’t wallow in it forever. She accepted his apology and then even decided to play with him for a bit. I loved her determination and also that she didn’t let him rule her. Drew was also charming. He was your typical hotshot, conceited ass when you first meet him, but as the book goes on, you realize that he’s not actually conceited, just very comfortable with who he is and where he is in life. Both of them were strong individuals with careers and lives outside of each other, but the moments they shared were full of passion and love. I loved their chemistry and how they played with each other. Their banter was witty and entertaining, and the story was well rounded out with the side characters.

Nice, light, entertaining read. And I wouldn’t be opposed to reading others in this series. 

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion and review.