Short and very sweet. I like the glimpse we had of them before and was very happy to revisit them. I like how they complemented each other. It was a fun story and nice to have guest appearances from people from the previous books. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A hockey player and dancer have always kept things casual, but can they win at love?

Opening Sentence: “Patrick “Trick” Niemeyer walked into McGill’s, his favorite after game bar hangout, with several of his fellow players.”

The Review:

Patrick and Stella have an on and off casual relationship. Lately it has been off, in fact when Patrick sees her in his favorite bar it has been several months. They fall back into a casual relationship, but both of them begin to wonder if it’s something more. Stella is fighting that the best that she can, she is carrying her secret heart around like armor for years. Patrick really hasn’t ever had a serious relationship, so he is a bit thrown off when he realizes that this is exactly what he wants with Stella.

As time passes and they spend more and more time together outside the bedroom; they both realize that they want to give this a try. But can Stella let the past go? Can she truly trust another man with her heart again?

This is about novella length, just slightly longer, but a super quick and lovely read. I really enjoyed Stella and Patrick. I am not a fan of instalove or fall into bed and fall in love, but the author set up the casual past and it really made sense for them. The relationship just worked, and quite possibly because Patrick might be the perfect reformed player boyfriend. Honestly, Stella made my eyes roll more than Patrick did! Although he might be too perfect! Honestly, the only thing that is slightly unbelievable is that a guy who has never been in a real relationship would be so good at it, but that’s just my jaded view.

I think I have to acknowledge that I might have a thing for hockey players, it seems like even though romance isn’t my go-to genre anymore, I always love any romance novel I read that involves a hockey player and this was no exception. I enjoyed their banter, the relationship and the between the sheets times was totally smoking!

Notable Scene:

“He wanted to say something to her about wanting a relationship with her, but figured maybe now wasn’t the right time. She was tired and that was a conversation to have when she was more clearheaded. Besides, her breathing grew deeper, and when he looked down at her again she was asleep. Okay, definitely not the time for that conversation. He pulled the covers over them both and reached to turn off the light. He liked having her in his bed. In his life. He wanted to keep it that way, see where things went between them. But Stella always having one foot out the door didn’t make for a relationship.”

FTC Advisory: InterMix/Penguin provided me with a copy of Holiday on Ice. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )