Break the Ice

A Brother's Best Friend Sports Romance (Lakeshore U)

By: L A Cotton

Narrated by: Stella Hunter, Teddy Hamilton

From USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author L A Cotton comes a brother's-best-friend sports romance. Lakeshore U, where hockey is religion and the players are gods. Are you ready to fall in love with a Laker?

When Aurora Hart moves in with her brother and his two teammates, it’s only supposed to be a temporary fix.

Enter Noah Holden. Cocky. Heartbreaker. With enough game to have every girl on campus falling at his feet.

When Noah’s best friend asks him to look out for his sister, he doesn’t expect to find her so resistant to his charm. Or find himself so interested in his new housemate.

He’s Lakeshore U’s biggest player. She’s quirky, shy, and 100 percent not his type.

Can Noah help Rory let go of the insecurities holding her back from embracing life? Or will he be unable to break the ice around her heart?

Break the Ice is a 100,000-word stand-alone novel set in the Lakeshore U series. It deals with sensitive issues that may be triggering for some listeners. Recommended for listeners 18+.

©2023 L A Cotton (P)2023 L A Cotton

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was not a fan of the last 20% of the book. The groveling should have been the other way around. And I got so sick of all the nicknames. But I could really relate to Aurora. Gut wrenching to hear her inner thoughts.

Noah + Aurora, y’all! 🤍

I heart hockey rom, y’all. throw in some angsty new adult forbidden feels and I’m a goner!

Noah and Aurora are no strangers. in fact, he’s her brother’s teammate, right winger for Lakeshore U, and completely off-limits. this wouldn’t seem like a problem since they’re polar opposite—him with his chiseled abs and playboy ways, her with her generous curves and bookish quirks. but when Aurora is forced to dorm with her brother…and Noah (!!)…tension and attraction tumble into feelings and connection that neither can deny. this one is filled with all the new adult sports rom vibes we love! but also has depth and heart with Aurora’s deep rooted struggles with body image.

it was an absolute delight to read this story with my ears! Teddy Hamilton was a d r e a m and the duet style narration was perfection! 10/10 for all the audio goodness.

Emotional, aching and touching

Break the Ice will broke my heart.

Full of hurt, hope and heart, Noa and Rory stole my heart from the very first word. impeccably capture by narrators Stella Hunter and Teddy Hamilton, Rory's sass and strength combined with her scars make her so relatable and real, and Noa, though a little guarded is sweet and kind and exactly the right person to draw her out of her shell.
Special VIP mention goes out to Connor, for just being the bestest fake big brother and picking up the slack when Austin dropped the ball and needed a swift kick in the behind.

4.5 stars and a bookish T-shirt

You’ve got to read this!

Another hockey romance is in the books! This is my first time ever reading something by this author and I had no clue what to expect but I’m already dying to read more. Noah and Aurora won a little piece of my heart. I absolutely loved the banter between these two from beginning to end. The connection and chemistry that they have was so wonderful to watch blossom. Noah is your typically playboy hockey player who’s oh so dreamy! I mean what else can we ask for?! And sweet Aurora. I found Aurora so easy to identify with. She’s unbelievably kind, funny, and has a huge loving heart. I loved watching her confidence finally break free. This book was so easy to get into and I really want to read more books in this series, like right now. This group of friends is so much fun to get to know. I had the pleasure of being able to listen to this audiobook and I LOVE being able to listen to a book on audio. For me, it makes the reading experience, somehow even better. But obviously depends on who is narrating the book. Stella Hunter and Teddy Hamilton did such a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. I’ve listened to Stella Hunter narrate another book before and I just love her voice.Teddy Hamilton will forever be a favorite of mine, his voice is unlike anyone else, and is so comforting to hear.

4stars

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I love that the voices match the characters in my head. It brought the book to life for me.

Love Noah!!

Best thing about listening to this audio book is you can listen in the pool! I love the dual male and female part and both were amazing as Noah and Rory!!! I love hoe audio books bring good books alive! but most of all god narrators made the story also! they were easily to listen to!! If you have not listened or read this book you are missing a great story!!

I love this new series!

Yes! Yes! Yes!! Teddy Hamilton and Stella Hunter did these characters Justice. Their outstanding performance as Noah and Rory was phenomenal. This brother’s best friend, close-proximity, college sports romance was epic! The banter, the chemistry, the characters on top of la cotton’s story-telling… all of it was perfection! I am in awe of the author’s ability to make me fall hard for her characters as well as these amazing narrators bring them to life. This was such a great audiobook to get lost in!

Duet Narration is everything!

Duet Narration >>>>

I enjoyed listening to this story so much! Noah had the transformation I am a sucker for. He went from the hot, playboy hockey player to the swoony hero you can’t help but love. Rory has just as amazing character development with some pretty tough things she had to deal with. These sensitive topics were handled very well and in the right way for both of these characters.

Noah and Rory’s banter had me chuckling to myself while listening. Their chemistry was addicting and I loved watching them grow together and fall in love.

I have fallen in love with this whole cast of characters and I can’t wait for the next book!

The duet narration was absolutely fantastic in this story and they brought the characters to life in the perfect way!

Grateful to have received a complimentary copy to honestly review.

Loved!!!

Loved the dual narration by Teddy and Stella. They really brought the characters and the story to life.

Hockey romance, brother’s best friend!

Break the Ice is part of L.A. Cotton’s Lakeshore U series and this was such a fun hockey romance! This is a brother’s best friend, roommate setup as well, which I just love the forced proximity that creates.

Aurora was recently heartbroken and is looking for a fresh start when the story starts. So she ends up temporarily moving in with her hockey player-brother Austin and a couple of his teammates. One of them being Noah, who definitely has a bit of a playboy image! Noah and Aurora end up connecting and confiding in one another, he starts calling her “Shortcake” and even saves her from a bad date! They both have complications with their families as well, Noah’s dad was abusive when he was growing up and Aurora’s mother has always been hard on her about her body image/weight.

I liked the way they were both there for one another and of course the tension of sneaking around because he’s her brother’s teammate and friend, was just so delicious! The duet narration audio was soo good, I mean Teddy Hamilton and Stella Hunter…just a dream to listen to! This was a fun intro to the series for me and I’d definitely read more, I’m always down for more hockey romances!

CW: weight/body image, disorder eating, physical abuse

Thank you to Forever and Always PR for an audio ARC, all thoughts in this review are my own.