MELTING THE ICE is Book seven in Jaci Burton's Play-by-
Play
series. The two main characters are fashion fledgling
fashion designer Carolina Preston and star hockey player
Drew Hogan. The two have some history together. Drew is a
longtime good friend of her brother's and they had a brief
but passionate encounter in college. They are now thrown
together years later when Gray, Carolina's brother, suggest
she ask Drew to model and help promote her new fashion
line. Sparks fly right away.
The characters in MELTING THE ICE are very easy to relate
to and the dialogue between characters seems real and not
forced. In addition to the hot romance, this story seemed to
be
about two people reconciling who they were in their early
twenties with who they are today. From the beginning, Drew
tries to get Carolina to see him as the better, more mature
guy he's grown into rather than the cocky, thoughtless
young guy he was. Likewise, Carolina comes to the
realization that it might have been a good thing that she
and Drew didn't get into a relationship back then. She is a
more confident, independent woman now and that translates
into her being in a better place emotionally to get
involved with somebody.
I like both characters a lot. Drew
and Carolina are both very driven, but caring people. Some
of the story revolves around them trying to make a
romantic relationship work around their very hectic
careers. I think they both have a strong sense of family --
Carolina with her actual family and Drew with his family
made up of close friends and teammates.
I was happy that, in spite of the teasing when they first
meet up again, they don't have an adversarial relationship
throughout the book. Instead, their relationship becomes
very sexy and fun. The sex scenes in MELTING THE ICE are
very hot and written very well, but I feel like they are
also balanced with great character development and real
emotion. I enjoyed the supporting characters in this story
as well. I'd love to read a story about Carolina's friend
Stella and Drew's buddy Trick. I look forward to reading
more books by Jaci Burton in the future!
Everything's coming together for budding fashion designer
Carolina Preston. Only months away from having her own line,
she could use some publicity. That's when her brother
suggests his best friend as a model, hockey player Drew
Hogan.
Carolina and Drew already have a history, a hot one, back
in college. Unforgettable for Carolina, but for Drew, just
another slap shot. This time, though, it's different. His
perfect body would be for professional use only. This time,
she could use him.
Drew is all for it. He's looking forward to the exposure.
Plus, it would give him a chance to prove to Carolina that
he's changed. If only he could thaw her emotions, convince
her to let down her guard and let him in just one more
time...