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Breaking the Ice: An Unconventional Romance
Who's gonna break first?
Once, JL Moreau coached the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL Playoffs. Now he's divorced, disgraced, and the only thing standing between him and one last shot at redemption is a losing girls' college team in rural Québec.
The Louves-Garous are a mess. Talented, feral, and going nowhere. But if JL can pull a real team out of them, he can get himself back into the game. There's just one problem standing in his way, and her name is Léa Rioux - the captain, entitled and sharp, who runs the locker room like her own personal kingdom and has never once been told no. By anyone.
Until him.
As the season heats up, JL learns the Louves-Garous aren't just testing whether he can tame their captain. They're wondering if he can do the same to Rosalie the goalie yogini, little overcaffeinated Charlie, the ever-watchful Priya... And these college girls aren't shy about chasing an older man who knows exactly what he's doing.
He's got one season to tame the wolves. By the end of it, he might end up with the whole pack...
Once, JL Moreau coached the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL Playoffs. Now he's divorced, disgraced, and the only thing standing between him and one last shot at redemption is a losing girls' college team in rural Québec.
The Louves-Garous are a mess. Talented, feral, and going nowhere. But if JL can pull a real team out of them, he can get himself back into the game. There's just one problem standing in his way, and her name is Léa Rioux - the captain, entitled and sharp, who runs the locker room like her own personal kingdom and has never once been told no. By anyone.
Until him.
As the season heats up, JL learns the Louves-Garous aren't just testing whether he can tame their captain. They're wondering if he can do the same to Rosalie the goalie yogini, little overcaffeinated Charlie, the ever-watchful Priya... And these college girls aren't shy about chasing an older man who knows exactly what he's doing.
He's got one season to tame the wolves. By the end of it, he might end up with the whole pack...
319 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 29, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 1, 2026
Absolutely Outstanding
I may have just discovered that I really enjoy sports books. Or perhaps Lacey Liu is just that good of an author.
This was a very fresh experience for me in multiple ways. I'm not much of a sports person... I wish I were, as it would make chatting to strangers about the football that much easier, but alas, we can not choose our own interests. I mean, I've seen Coach Carter (and I enjoyed it), but that's about the extent of my sports-media consumption.
And yet, I couldn't put Breaking the Ice down. I was gripped, dragged along for a ride with high highs and low lows and I loved every second. I was invested in the team. I was invested in the characters. I still am - I've already pre-ordered the sequel.
I think something else that made this book feel very original was the language that was used. I had to google a fair bit of it - unfortunately, my secondary school French leaves a lot to be desired - but I soon found the rhythm and was able to parse the meanings behind the foreign words and it gave the book a flavour that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I don't really have any complaints. The difficult I had in the first couple of chapters as I adjusted to the language and tried to quickly familiarise myself with the rules (spoken and unspoken) of ice hockey was soon rewarded.
I'll be keeping an eye out for other works by Lacey Liu.
5 out of 5
I may have just discovered that I really enjoy sports books. Or perhaps Lacey Liu is just that good of an author.
This was a very fresh experience for me in multiple ways. I'm not much of a sports person... I wish I were, as it would make chatting to strangers about the football that much easier, but alas, we can not choose our own interests. I mean, I've seen Coach Carter (and I enjoyed it), but that's about the extent of my sports-media consumption.
And yet, I couldn't put Breaking the Ice down. I was gripped, dragged along for a ride with high highs and low lows and I loved every second. I was invested in the team. I was invested in the characters. I still am - I've already pre-ordered the sequel.
I think something else that made this book feel very original was the language that was used. I had to google a fair bit of it - unfortunately, my secondary school French leaves a lot to be desired - but I soon found the rhythm and was able to parse the meanings behind the foreign words and it gave the book a flavour that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I don't really have any complaints. The difficult I had in the first couple of chapters as I adjusted to the language and tried to quickly familiarise myself with the rules (spoken and unspoken) of ice hockey was soon rewarded.
I'll be keeping an eye out for other works by Lacey Liu.
5 out of 5
November 4, 2026
Characters are alive and well crafted.
The players have different personalities; some are a facsimile of those mean girls, some of them are stoic, some are lively sprites, but they all merge into a good mixture of liveliness and spunkiness.
The story itself is not new to this genre, but it still holds up till the end.
Old bloke at the end of the ropes thrust into a University/College/Institution with majority are girls. He has authority over them, and he's vacillating whether to see the events as power abuse or genuine affection.
The spice is just right and not overly gratuitous.
Not so descriptive, but it holds enough, and is enough for me.
One problem, though: the expletives are not generally understandable, even with my college French; it made me search things online about why such religious words became elements of profanity, and it allowed me to have a glimpse of the culture of that geographical location and the religious connotation that holds power in that place for a time.
P.S.
Lessen the French; it feels like it was written for Québécois. The readers of this genre are not that many, and some of us have a tangential grasp of the language, like myself.
4.75/5
The players have different personalities; some are a facsimile of those mean girls, some of them are stoic, some are lively sprites, but they all merge into a good mixture of liveliness and spunkiness.
The story itself is not new to this genre, but it still holds up till the end.
Old bloke at the end of the ropes thrust into a University/College/Institution with majority are girls. He has authority over them, and he's vacillating whether to see the events as power abuse or genuine affection.
The spice is just right and not overly gratuitous.
Not so descriptive, but it holds enough, and is enough for me.
One problem, though: the expletives are not generally understandable, even with my college French; it made me search things online about why such religious words became elements of profanity, and it allowed me to have a glimpse of the culture of that geographical location and the religious connotation that holds power in that place for a time.
P.S.
Lessen the French; it feels like it was written for Québécois. The readers of this genre are not that many, and some of us have a tangential grasp of the language, like myself.
4.75/5
October 8, 2026
Real good book, some googling required
This book was fantastic. I devoured it in a day and kept picking it up on every break.
It's just raw with emotion and romance and sex. Very hot, very emotional storytelling.
Also just lots of fun. And I'm not a hockey fan! (But I'll watch a game or two)
This book was fantastic. I devoured it in a day and kept picking it up on every break.
It's just raw with emotion and romance and sex. Very hot, very emotional storytelling.
Also just lots of fun. And I'm not a hockey fan! (But I'll watch a game or two)
September 30, 2026
Stick with it!
The beginning of the book was rough, purely just because of the violently french-canadian setting. But after a few chapters I got used to all of the French and slang and the story really took off. I cannot wait for book 2!
The beginning of the book was rough, purely just because of the violently french-canadian setting. But after a few chapters I got used to all of the French and slang and the story really took off. I cannot wait for book 2!
October 27, 2026
Awesome Story, Worth the Read
This is an awesome story. Excellent execution, and buildup to the climax of the plot in the end. The only thing holding back my five star rating is that I have to go to Google to translate French every other sentence, it seems.
This is an awesome story. Excellent execution, and buildup to the climax of the plot in the end. The only thing holding back my five star rating is that I have to go to Google to translate French every other sentence, it seems.
October 12, 2026
This book is poorly written, and the MC smokes, which is an instant turn-off to me.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews