Simona's Corner of Dreams: Sugar and Ice

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Sugar and Ice is the first full-length novel in the Rinkside in the Rockies Series by Aven Ellis!

Josephine Rossi has recovered from a broken heart, but has vowed that she's all about the desserts now as a recipe tester for Bake It! Magazine. Cheesecake never breaks your heart. Unless it cracks on the top, but still, it tastes amazing if you bake it just right. She knows what to do in the kitchen as far as making luscious desserts. Men? Apparently she's not so good at figuring them out, so she refuses to bother. Josephine knows it is safer to stay in the kitchen than to take another chance with her heart.

Denver Mountain Lions forward Cade Callahan is passionate about hockey, but is also about finding love. He thought he had it once, but a disastrous romance last holiday season has him keeping his heart in check. While he’s fearless on the ice, he’s guarded with his heart. Cade is determined history won’t repeat itself again. He won’t let his guard down until he’s certain he’s met The One.

However, Cupid's arrow might just strike when these two least expect it. When an oven goes out, and a cheesecake for testing has to be baked, and Cade just happens to live in the same building with a working oven...Well, things other than cheesecake might just heat up in the kitchen. Can these two passionate people learn to trust their hearts again? Can love override fear for Josephine and Cade? And will they find the combination of sugar and ice is the sweetest one of all?

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

Sugar and Ice marks the first full length novel of Aven Ellis’ new hockey series Rinkside in the Rockies.

Josephine Rossi works for Bake it! Magazine, she is passionate about baking and she is still recovering from a broken heart.

Cade Callahan is a gorgeous hockey player, who loves the outdoors and adventures. He is passionate for hockey and a badass on ice. He hates the Christmas season and is very protective of his heart though.

Cade and Josephine have met before, because their best friends Sierra and Jude are dating and the live in the same apartment building. When Jojo’s oven strikes, the only solution is Cade’s oven. Jojo is wearing her family’s apron and the apron has a legend. According to her Nonna she is going to marry Cade, because he saw her in the apron. I just adore these family related details in this story and we also get to know Jojo’s family. Nonna is amazing and her mum is just so funny to read about.

Anyway, back to the story, the moment he sees her in that apron the sparks fly and their chemistry is unique, amazing and one of a kind. You can feel it through the pages, Aven Ellis’ writing captures it beautifully and has created a wonderful story around their chemistry.

Cade and Jojo have a natural banter and what they have is just special.

Of course there are some ups and downs in their relationship, but that’s part of the storyline and their personalities. Given their past both characters are careful when it comes to love and emotions. They have difficulties sharing their real feelings, but it’s totally understandable.

This book doesn’t have that many hockey related scenes, but it includes lots of baking and cooking. I absolutely loved these scenes and Jojo’s passion really comes through. She fights for what she wants, even though it’s not always easy in her job and she makes a great friend in the progress. We get introduced to Skye and later also Maxime, Cade’s and Jude’s teammate, and they way they have met practically calls for a new book in this series. I loved reading about Jude and Sierra again and they are both so great with Jojo. If you’d like to get to know them a bit better, read Hold the Lift a cute short story about how they met.

Cade and Jojo are both fab characters. Jojo is passionate, strong, sweet, caring, creative and she has a big heart. Cade is funny, caring, passionate and everything comes from his heart.

A big part of Aven Ellis’ books is the humor in her writing, it’s just fab. She manages to combine the humor with emotions, feelings, love, family and authenticity. Another thing I admired in this book were the outdoors Jojo got to experience through Cade. The writing was so vivid, descriptive and fresh, I felt like being in this setting with the characters.

I think one of the best words to describe this book is SWEET. It’s sweet on so many levels and ways, I devoured every single page.

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