Melting the Ice

Portland Evergreens, Book 1

De: Beth Bolden

Narrado por: Darcy Stark

Brody’s got enough on his plate.

Recovering from a knee injury he hopes won’t keep him off the ice. His team, the Portland University Evergreens, have a brand new coach, and he’s hoping to impress the legendary leader. Plus, he's got to make a decision once and for all about playing professional hockey or using his love of science to go a totally different direction.

The last thing he needs is a sexual awakening at the large, calloused hands of his football player roommate.

Dean is big and brawny and taciturn, but he doesn’t need to words to woo Brody. He wants Dean, even if he thought he was straight. And Dean? Doesn’t matter that he’s never hooked up with a guy before, either.

They’re discovering new pleasures every night, while pretending during the day that they’re just roommates.

Except the heat burns so hot between them, it doesn’t just melt all the ice on Brody’s rink, it melts all his beliefs about who he is and what he wants.

But even more, it destroys the lie that he can’t fall hard for a guy. Because Brody is falling hard for Dean, and he discovers he’s not alone.

©2024 Earl Gray Publishing LLC (P)2024 Earl Gray Publishing LLC

When you win a roommate lottery 🙌🏼

I liked the narration a lot and I finished the book willingly which is a compliment in itself :)
3 ⭐️ for the story and 5 ⭐️ for narration.

It’s a double bi-awakening and I reeally like this trope so I couldn’t resist reading Melting The Ice! Forced proximity with sport players and sexy nerds thrown into the mix? Yes, it was a perfect combination for me right now 😁

And SIZE difference!! Looooved how big Dean was! Even though Brody is not small either 😃 Gentle giant awwwww I love him 🥹



I don’t know how the book feels when you read it yourself but when Darcy Stark read it for you.. Oh boy, it was good. Sooo good 🤭 Even not smut parts were hot at times 🔥

I loved Brody’s parents who were soooo sweet and loving; the coaches who intrigued me (I’m going to read a book about them too when it comes out) and hockey games (just because I understand it better than football which was there too).

I loved the very veeery end of the book, the call and sorta HFN.

And I want to read the book about Brody’s best friend. He is a wild card, I need to see how he finds his love too.

Swoony story between college athletes!

Brody had been injured while playing hockey the year before, so he had had a lot of time off the ice to recover and also to think about the trajectory of his life. Does he want to go pro? Does he want to do something else? These are the questions driving him at the beginning of the school year when he moves into a new apartment, expecting to see his best friend Ramsey, but instead finding a giant football player named Dean had moved in instead. As the school year progresses, Brody continues to question about whether hockey is still what he wants to pursue, but it turns out...he has some new questions as well. In fact, Dean shares some these questions too....such as, why am I finding my roommate so hot? Can we handle FWB? How can two pro athletes in different sports have a future together? Do we want a future together?

Dean's and Brody's queer awakenings are very naturally paced as is their sexual explorations. I wonder if maybe they're both also demi-sexual. They don't rush into sex nor into the development of their feelings and in fact, these develop together. There is a lot of intimacy and sexual tension in this book, but there is also tension about the future careers for these MCs and it is really well done. I could not put this book down because I wanted to know what was going to happen! Also, the spice is hot! Another thing that I really enjoyed is that the MCs spend time with their BFFs too and that's great to see.

I very much enjoyed this book and it definitely gave me so many feels! Yes, I had some tears, too. Darcy Stark is a FAB narrator the different voices were distinct and the spicy scenes were hot! He also made me *feel* what the MCs were feeling...just wonderful!

Friends to Lovers

MELTING THE ICE - AUDIBLE - BETH BOLDEN

I always enjoy reading anything by Beth Bolden, and love when characters from previous series appear in current stories.

Brody and Dean were roommates from two different sports backgrounds, but after spending time together as friends and eventually boyfriends, they knew they had found their person. While neither had dated guys before, or even thought about it, their chemistry was amazing and they enjoyed being with each other more than anyone else.

Darcy Stark brings these characters to life and the listener can hear this romance with all of the right inflections as he shares how they found their HEA.

Take time to read/listen to Beth Bolden books, they are always guaranteed to make your heart smile.

Double bi-awakening - by Shana W

3.5 stars. I listened to Darcy Stark narrating the audiobook. I like his narration, but at the beginning of the book his portrayal of Ramsey really rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. It got better halfway into the book.

In general, I found the first half of the book dragged a bit and I'm a little on the fence about whether or not the change in Dean's and Brody's relationship felt forced and unnatural. I like the two MCs just fine but I never grew to love Ramsey and some aspects of the plot continued to drag in the second half. However, this was an entertaining book and I have always enjoyed Beth Bolden's writing. The resolution was good, albeit a little brief. And there are definitely a lot of spicy scenes, so if you enjoy that plus a bi-awakening plot with hockey and football, this is the book for you.
I received an audiobook copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Roommates to More

Brody & Dean
Rating: 3.6 ⭐

- Hockey/Football
- College Romance
- Roommates
- Friends-to-Lovers
- Double Queer Awakening
- Forced Proximity
- Cute Nicknames
- Miscommunication
- Size Difference

Beth always tells a good sports story

This was that. A good book story. But it's more than hockey. It's a mix of sports - hockey and football - and the guys that go with them. A switch in roommates through these two guys together. The double bi-awakening is a great troupe as they both get to explore new sides of themselves and the uncertainty that comes with it. Really enjoyed this story and sunk into with Darcy Stark's voice. Look forward to more stories in this series.

So good!!!

The story, the narrator, and everything. Beth Bolden has another hit. Love this new couple and the nods to other players in the whole Bolden universe.

Steamy and heartfelt

This was an absolute showstopper! Darcy Stark performance really did justice to the entire depth and complexity of this story.

Brody is easy to relate to. Most of us have faced a decision between two future paths & it's never easy. Beth's awareness of the dark side of sports has always been something that draws me to her stories, and while this is overall a very light book, the decision to go pro or leave a sport you've dedicated your entire life to still resonates deeply with me.

Dean is a broody but sweet behemoth of yes, please. Imo, he's one of her sexiest MCs yet, and that's saying something. Darcy's narration was smoking hot!

Brody and Dean mirror each other in a lot of ways, both of them struggling to find joy in their sport for different reasons. Dean needs to be successful in football to have a chance at a better life and he drives himself relentlessly in the pursuit of that.

These guys were perfect for each other. The decisions they made felt right for them and I adored the callbacks and cameos. (Just no sacking my fav QB, Dean 😅) And oh boy, the set ups! I can't wait for the rest of this series!

12/10 recommend!

Sweet!

Sweet and swoony college sports romance! Double awakening! It was also very well performed ! Great easy audio listen!

Excited for the new series!

Brody & Dean
I love starting a new series, and I knew I couldn't ask for better than a new Beth Bolden series! ❤️
I've read most of her football romance novels, so I knew Dean would be a well-thought and well-designed character. I was really excited to get her take on a hockey player now too! Brody is such a smart character and it's great to have another example of a fascinating athlete that knows how to be himself and understand what it is he really wants with his life. It's really easy to forget that these characters are still in college, because they're written with a high level of maturity (at least the current MCs are, anyway. I can't really answer for Ramsey 🤣 ).

Great fun to connect with Ian from the Condor's series as well. It took me half a second to recall why I knew & recognized his name, but once I remembered after the mention of Carter, I was grinning at the awesome cameo. I always always love interconnected series by authors, and Beth is fantastic at that. I can't recall one story of hers that doesn't connect to another in some small way.

I absolutely loved Melting the Ice, and I'm so excited to see how the new series continues!

Audiobook Update:
Narrated by Darcy Stark
This is the first Beth Bolden book I've had the opportunity to listen to, and definitely the first narration by Darcy Stark. He does an amazing job pulling depth and characterization from Beth's MCs. Dean and Brody are similar in that they are both strong, masculine athletes, but they are different enough that they definitely needed a narration that identified them clearly. Darcy does a fantastic job separating Dean and Brody with regards to their voices and personas.

I received an authorized copy of this story/audiobook and am volunteering my honest review.