This contains slight spoilers for “Icebreaker,” “Wildfire” and “Daydream.”
The “Maple Hills” series by Hannah Grace is an adult sports romance series which contains three books that can be read as a series or a standalone book. Each book follows a different couple, and each male main character is a part of the same hockey team as the other male leads.
This series contains romantic relationships, and it emphasizes the importance of platonic relationships as well. Additionally, it contains themes of self-love, body positivity and found family.
This series as a whole is simply incredible, but each book is unique and amazing on its own too.
“Icebreaker” is the first book in the series. It follows two main characters. The first character is Annastasia Allen, a figure skater on the University of California Maple Hills team who is aiming to make the Olympic team.
The second character is Nate Hawkins, the captain of the hockey team at Maple Hills who is working to keep his team in line. When the hockey arena gets trashed, Nate and Annastasia are forced to share a rink, despite Annastasia’s disdain for Nate. However, when Annastasia’s skating partner ends up injured, she must work with Nate to keep alive her dreams of making Team USA.
“Icebreaker” does a nice job of touching on difficult topics such as eating disorders. For example, when Nate finds out that Annastasia’s skating partner is essentially keeping her underfed, he explains to her that why it’s unhealthy. Nate and his friends help Annastasia realize that it isn’t good for her, and they help her get better.
Overall, Nate and Annastasia’s relationship is simply perfect. Nate makes sure Annastasia knows she’s perfect the way she is, and Annastasia makes sure Nate can find support from her even if his own family doesn’t support him.
The next book, “Wildfire,” follows Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts who meet at a party at the start of summer break. After Aurora slips out of Russ’ room, neither have any intention of seeing the other anytime soon.
However, things don’t always go as planned. The two end up working at the same summer camp as counselors as a means to escape their home lives. The more time they spend together, the more they discover their feelings for each other. The only problem is the number one rule for camp counselors: no fraternizing with other counselors. However, Aurora isn’t known for following rules.
This book is masterfully done. It put a different spin on a sports romance that isn’t normally seen. Because, while it does often mention that Russ is a hockey player, it doesn’t have most of the other elements of a sports romance. This allows for this book to stand out among other sport romance novelss.
Russ and Aurora are an adorable couple. The way Russ not only risks his job for Aurora but also tells her things that it took him years to tell his other friends is adorable. Also, the way that Aurora puts him first when no one else ever has makes their relationship incredibly heartwarming.
Russ and Aurora aren’t the only amazing characters. JJ, who is one of Russ’ college friends, and Xander, who is another camp counselor, are simply hilarious. Some of their comments had me trying not to laugh out loud.
However, the best characters are Fish, who is a golden retriever that roams around camp freely, and her puppies.
“Daydream” is the final book in the series. This book focuses on Henry Turner, who is an artist and the new captain of the Maple Hills hockey team, and Halle Jacobs, who is an aspiring writer who has recently gone through a breakup.
The two meet when Henry is dragged to a local bookstore, the same where Halle was havinghad her first book club meeting. When Henry begins struggling in one of his classes, Halle offers to help him. In exchange, the two begin fake dating to give Halle material to write her book with.
This is the best book in the series. Halle and Henry are phenomenally written and incredibly relatable. Henry struggles a lot, likely because he is neurodivergent, which is something many can relate to. Meanwhile, Halle is relatable for oldest daughters because of the responsibilities that that she handles for her family, despite the stress it causes.
Together, the two make the perfect pair. Halle is constantly trying to find ways to help Henry manage everything, while Henry is trying to remind Halle to put herself first sometimes.
Their relationship isn’t the only good one either. The platonic relationships between Annastasia, Henry and Aurora are adorable. The girls act like the sisters Henry never had, and they are part of the reason Henry values platonic relationships so much.
Overall, this book and series are spectacular and worth the time it takes to read them.
