I have really enjoyed the Love on Thin Ice series, but I really struggled with this title. Enemies-to-lovers isn't my favorite to begin with, and this was a highly stereotypical take on the trope. This was my first experience with this author, and I regret that I did not enjoy the writing style, which I felt read as immature and repetitive. Breaking the Ice may have been a miss for me, but I highly recommend checking out the other books in this series!

Thank you to XPresso Book Tours for gifting me with an ARC to review! All opinions are my own.

I’m such a sucker for small town romance series by multiple authors. I always read them in the fall for some reason but it makes me all cozy on the inside.

I absolutely loved this one, of course. It was just a very sweet read, can’t wait to read the rest!

She works for his brother. He's being bombarded with negative publicity by a woman he casually dated. When he comes to town and wants to stay on her property she's not pleased. What happens when things start to implode with the press? Who will she believe? How do they get to the truth?
I received a copy of this book from the author. Review voluntarily given.

3.5 stars

I have conflicting feeling on this book. Primarily because the start of the book wasn’t as good as the ending. Let me explain.

This book is insta-love on the MMC’s side, but insta-hate on the FMC side. The moment Zach sees Ellie he knows she is the woman for him. As for Ellie, she doesn’t like rich people and holds the playboy billionaire stereotype against him. Soon the two are working together against our villain Yolanda as they try to expose her lies to the world.

I didn’t like how Ellie automatically disliked Zach simply because he was rich. However, I did love that the author gave Zach a backstory and made him giving and caring throughout the whole book, so Ellie quickly discovered he is not the man she thought he was.

I did like Zach. I’m not sure if I believe in his insta-love, but I believe in chemistry and being attracted to someone before even speaking to them. I liked how he proved himself and not only looked after his own family but helped Ellie with her mom.

This was a short, cute story. It does have depth, despite being a quick read

I really like this series so far (I’ve already read book 2), and I can’t wait to continue this journey.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

Breaking the Ice, the first book in the Maple Falls, small town romance series, kicks it off just right. Ellie is strong and independent and determined to make it on her own. She loves her mom and doesn’t mind taking care of her, she just wants more. Enter Zach, who brings out her feisty side, and makes her want things she was not even aware of as possibilities. Zach is about as a down to earth as any book hero can be. He is smart, handsome, so very rich, and so very drawn to Ellie. Ellie is convinced he is just like all the tabloids make him out to be, until she gets to know the real him. That’s when sparks truly start to fly! Zach is determined to win her over and shows her, own genuine act of kindness at a time, who is really is, not the version the press has created. It is a romcom short novel, so some parts felt a little rushed and underdeveloped, but in the end, the HEA shows up and my heart was happy with a smile on my face. Plus, it happens in the fall season, so all the romantic fall vibes are totally used!
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

This was a cute short read of Zach and Ellie. Zach has a PR problem with Yolanda, another celebrity that is trying to scandalize Zach’s name for her career gain. Ellie helps Zach clear up his problem but not without some doubt along the way.

🍁BOOK REVIEW: Breaking the Ice by Whitney Dineen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍁 synopsis:
Breaking the Ice is an autumn billionaire romance! Ellie is struggling to pay the bills, work and take care of her sick mother and just to make matters worse, she’s now going to have to host a selfish, playboy billionaire who’s coming to stay in town for the charity hockey games. Zach has ended up with some bad press and he’s desperate to show everyone that the press is wrong. Unfortunately, the woman who owns the cottage he’s staying in, actually hates him because she’s heard all of the rumors about him.

🍁my thoughts:
This was a great start to the autumn hockey romance series! Zach is a total sweetheart and how he pursues Ellie and handles the press was just amazing. Ellie wasn’t my favorite FMC for the pure fact of I don’t understand why she would believe everything she sees on the internet. The autumn vibes were immaculate in this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!!

🍁 read this book if you love:
🍂 autumn vibes
💰billionaire romance
🏡 small town

🍁content ratings:
🍭 - no spice
🤗 - no explicit language

Breaking the Ice is the first book in the Love on Thin Ice series which is a multi-author seven book autumn romance series! You can read them out of order but I really recommend reading them in order!

Thank you so much Whitney Dineen and NetGalley for this ARC!

A hockey book but it is really about the people in a small town and how they are coming together for a hockey fundraiser. Ellie agrees to rent her cottage out to her friend's brother who is coming into town. Zach will do anything to help out his brother and sister-in-law as long as it gets him out of California and away from the press. Being a billionaire has a plus and a minus. Ellie only thinks of him as to what she hears and reads in the press and is slowly surprised when she begins to see him differently, when someone comes into town wanting to create a fake story she must decide whether to help the fake or to help Zach. An excellent book with wonderful characters.

This is a fun sweet romcom. A lot of famous people are converging on the small town of Maple Falls, Washington. The local ice rink and lodge owners are hosting a hockey tournament as a benefit for children in need. In this book, we have a wealthy billionaire that will be coming to sponsor the tournament. Zach Hart is trying to get away from some bad publicity so he thinks going to a small town will shed some better light on his charitable contributions. Ellie is an ice-skating instructor who happens to have a small cottage behind her mother‘s home that they used to rent out, when she was approached to rent said cottage to Zach, she is infuriated because she has seen the publicity and thinks he’s just a heartless billionaire. My first opinion of Ellie is she seems pretty judgmental without knowing him personally. I did warm up to her throughout the story and I enjoyed the relationship that started to develop. There was some good banter, some sweet and tender moments helping her mother, and some clean but sizzling kisses, along with some heated drama. Overall, I thought it was a fun easy read. It is part of a series. I had already read the second book, but there’s no problem reading them in any order. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is the perfect start for the series. It shows that a romance series can contain all the fluffy romance you need without any smut.

I liked how Zach stayed true to his morals and didn't stoop to the level of Yolanda. Truly the man Ellie deserves.

I didn't really like Ellie in the beginning, because she trusted Yolanda so fast. Like, why would you believe something a drama journalist is saying online. She didn't even know Zach at that point and already didn't like him.

It felt like a rushed dislike storyline, which I didn't fully enjoy.

I had such a great time reading Breaking the Ice by Whitney Dineen! What really made this book shine for me were the characters, Zach and Ellie. Ellie is that perfect mix of strong-minded and caring—she’s someone you can’t help but admire. And then there’s Zach, who’s just the kind of guy you’d want in your corner: down-to-earth, protective, and totally swoon-worthy.

The chemistry between them felt so natural, and I found myself completely wrapped up in their story. Whitney Dineen has a way of creating characters who feel like real people, the kind you wish you could meet in real life. If you’re in the mood for a romance that will make you smile and leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy, this is a must-read!

Such a great read!

I enjoyed reading this book and really like Zach and Ellie. They both were great characters and I was rooting for them the entire time. It was hard to not want them together. I really was hooked on their romance journey the entire time!

I recommend giving this a read! :)

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie is doing everything she can to keep up with her mom's medical bills without losing their house. Zach is a playboy billionaire currently making headlines for all the wrong reasons. When Zach comes into town to help with a charity hockey event Ellie feels an instant attraction to him. She tries to avoid it because of the publicity but what if that reporter has a vendetta against Zach?

Check this one out if you enjoy: small town romances, billionaire romance, kissing only

DNF. I cannot stand Zach. He is awful. There are no ethical billionaires, but that is something I would normally put aside for a billionaire romance for the ~fantasy~ of it all. However, this literally starts out with people complaining Zach doesn't donate enough of his money (he doesn't, proven by the fact that HE IS STILL A BILLIONAIRE) and Zach feeling like he DOES donate enough, he just does so ~anonymously~ so I feel like the "there are no ethical billionaires" thing has now become fair game. BTW, Zach feeling like it's not charity if it's not anonymous is...absolutely ridiculous. He is also a CRYPTO-BRO. Absolutely terrible. Then he ponders how, because his highly-competent assistant doesn't fawn over him, it must be the case that no men want to date her. And then as soon as he lays eyes on the heroine, WHO HE HAS STILL NEVER SPOKEN TO, he compares her to a pin-up girl. Gross. THEN, when he has showed up earlier than agreed upon and Ellie insists that the place he's supposed to stay in isn't ready yet (because, again, he's a day early) he just railroads her into agreeing to let him stay anyway. Him literally saying he'd stay at a hotel for one night, it's not a problem, could have saved this for me, but as it is, this behavior was the last straw. I don't get the vibe that Zach's character is actually going to change at all, just that everyone is going to figure out he had a heart of gold (he doesn't) all along, so I am out.

4⭐
🧼 Clean Romance

She's a small town woman who teaches kids how to skate and is her mom's caretaker. He's her boss's billionaire brother with a bad reputation.

This is a super cute, short and fun romance. It's great to pick up as a quick read. (I had it finished in under 3 hours and it left me excited for more of Maple Falls in future books!). With it being shorter in length, it is pretty fast-paced. I would have loved this as a longer, more fleshed-out novel, but I still adored it as a quick read!

✨ Enemies to lovers
✨ Forced Proximity
✨ Billionaire
✨ Clean Romance

Calling them "enemies" is pretty generous, but Ellie definitely started out with a strong distaste for Zach due to his recent bad publicity.

I'd recommend this to any romance reader who enjoys a fast, easy read with cozy small-town vibes.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC copy for review. My opinions are my own. 💕

Thanks to Partners Publishing and NetGalley for the digital eARC of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I needed a palette cleanser after reading a slew of in-depth non-fiction books and discovered this "clean" romance (I hate the term because it implies sex as something dirty, but I digress), combining an enemies-to-lovers as well as a sports romance.

The book was good for the most part. Ellie's character was totally unlikeable. She judges before getting to know Zach, based on social media rumors, which makes no sense, because she knows his brother, who can vouch for him. So, in that aspect, the "hate" felt forced, and I had a hard time rooting for her.

This is the start of a series, and depending upon which sports are represented, I may or may not seek out more. I don't give a whit about hockey, but figure skating, Yes!

I also liked knowing going in that this book wasn't trying to replicate Icebreaker.

This book is so cute and acharming contemporary romance that combines humor, warmth, and engaging characters. The story focuses on the evolving relationship between the protagonists as they navigate personal and professional challenges. Dineen's writing is light-hearted and relatable, making it an enjoyable and quick read for fans of romance.

Breaking the Ice is book one in the Love on Thin Ice series by Whitney Dineen.
This was such a charming and witty romance.
A fun small town hockey rom-com that I devoured.
What does an entitled billionaire and small-town ice-skating coach have in common?
Well here we have Ellie and Zach who I just adored.
I loved their personalities and whit.
This was a wonderful small town romance read, with plenty of humor and swoon.
I can’t wait to jump right into book two!

Thank You NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I'm loving this hockey romance story with Zach and Ellie. The small town feel is perfect and the characters stories apart and together really brings the warmth in this book.

Thank you netgalley for Breaking the Ice by Whitney Dineen

Breaking the Ice is the first of a new series and it did not disappoint! This is my first book by Whitney Dineen and it will not be the last, I have already purchased a few of hers after reading this one! You can't help but Love Zach and Ellie! They are the main characters, but the minor characters are all so much fun to read, and there is a lot of set up for more stories to come! I can't wait to read the rest of this series. Thanks #NetGalley for this ARC!!!!