Iced by Jacob Chance

Iced by Jacob Chance is a college romance. A story of Ava, a talented dancer who’s sworn off men, and Oliver Ice, a sexy hockey-player who’s determined to stay clear of everything female at least until graduation. But plans are made to be broken and when Oliver agrees to play the role of Ava’s boyfriend at a weekend family get-together, it’s the start of a friendship that has all the makings of becoming something more.

This is a really sweet story. Ava and Oliver are both reluctant to trust after being burnt, but then, when they stopped looking for love, love found them instead.

It’s a very well-written story and Oliver is truly the prefect boyfriend. And I think that’s one of the reasons I had trouble to enjoy this read. Both Ava and Oliver are just so perfect. Too perfect. They’ve both been cheated on by their exes, but that’s the only trouble in their paradise. It’s also in their past. So there was minimal drama, smooth sailing throughout and no particular emotional highs or lows to be seen, or felt, in this case.

Also, since this was a college romance, the story taking place at a college with, not surprisingly, college-aged characters, I would have expected some college-aged antics. Some humor. Some laughs. But most characters – and most especially Ava and Oliver – acted more middle aged than anything. They were just so freaking mature and (this hurts me to say but) boring. Well mostly. They didn’t feel like twenty somethings at all.

So, Ava’s and Oliver’s freakish maturity combined with the lack of humor and any real conflict had me feeling quite lukewarm towards this read. Not even the nooky was enough to cheer me up. The only book by Chance I had read before (Depravity, book 1 in the King University series) was hot hot hot. Meaning I was counting on some scorching action in Iced as well and was quite disappointed in what I got.

But despite my feelings about it (or, in this case, the lack thereof), Iced is a perfectly fine read. It just wasn’t for me. I require more angst in a story, more emotion and tension, more imperfections and some high quality naughty to enjoy myself. But it’s a really well-written story, albeit short, with lovely characters and a HEA. So, for me, Iced is a solid 3-star. The fabulous cover picture (love it!) might raise the grade to a 3.5 though. But either way, I’m quite positive that for someone more appreciative of sweetness, Iced will be a 5-star.