💙𝓞𝓷 𝓘𝓬𝔂 𝓖𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 - 𝓒𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓾𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 3 - 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀💙 

 

Author: Kristin Lee 

 

Couple: Brooke & Reed 

 

Tropes: hockey romance, reformed bad boy, tortured hero, coach’s daughter, single mother, friends to lovers, he falls first, inner cinnamon roll hero 

 

Review: Reed completely shoved everyone to the side for my favorite Campus Stallion MMC in his book, On Icy Ground. Krisitn completed her hat trick with this third book full of angst, turmoil and feelings. Reed and Brooke’s story was not what I expected but everything I needed and I loved how his story evolved throughout the book. While I loved Hagan and Harper’s book and HEAs, seeing Reed get his HEA hit a different spot since throughout this series he was more of a mystery surrounded in dark cloud. Kristin did him justice with Brooke and Caleb shaking up his life in the best of ways and I can only hope we get more sooner from the three of them! 

 

Reed was not a soft character in the first two books and the mystery surrounding him sucked me into his orbit from the beginning. I found that being in his mind in this book was truly heartbreaking since he is not what he portrays himself to be. The layers this man has in his story could write their own book on top of his romance and Kristin unraveled him in the best of ways. I loved how he was an antagonistic pr!ck most of the time but softened around Harper, who perhaps understood him the best until Brooke entered his life. The bond him and Harper had was my favorite friendship in this series since there is just something about two broken souls helping each other that sucks me in. I also adored the bond he shared with his coach. I found that Reed was a man of many secrets but one that held on to any good in his life with an iron grip. 

 

Brooke and Reed in my opinion are twin flames and two halves of one soul. I fell in love with his softer side that only comes out with Brooke but also loved his playfulness and flirty edge that he aimed her way. Brooke was not the typical single mother FMC I expected going into this book but I found that I adored her character all the more for it. I loved how she had people around her who supported her but also wanted her to grab her HEA and hold on to it. While the romance she had with Reed was the goal of the book, I found the way Caleb and Reed bonded to be my favorite part in their story. I loved the way Brooke did everything to protect Caleb from hurt and Kristin was terrific in growing the bonds between the three as the book went on. 

 

Caleb and Reed’s bond in this book is what did it for me. The way Reed effortlessly steps in and wraps himself up in all things Brooke and Caleb was surprising but also swoon worthy since no one expected it but at the same time was seen from miles away. The chapters where Reed and Caleb take center stage were everything I wanted for Reed and it was heartwarming to see them grow to love one another. Caleb was a close runner up for favorite character and seeing him claim Reed for his own “fatherly” like figure was the final trigger that did me in. Caleb, Reed and Brooke will keep a place in my favorite hockey romances of 2024 and are on the short stack of books to read again! 

 

Rating: 100+, I was not prepared for the emotional mess Reed would leave me in but find myself unable to be sorry it happened!