Breaking the Ice
Portland Evergreens, Book 4
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Breaking the Ice
Narrated by:
Darcy Stark
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Narrated by:
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Darcy Stark
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By:
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Beth Bolden
Coach Gavin Blackburn has been through hell.
Three years ago, he was on top of the world, courted by the best teams in the NHL to coach their players.
His wife’s unexpected death destroyed him, and sent him running from hockey. He thought he’d left the sport behind forever, but when his ex-player shows up at his remote cabin, begging him to return to Portland University to coach the Evergreens again, he agrees.
The last thing Gavin expected was their mentor-student relationship to turn into something entirely different now that Zach is grown up. He certainly never expected to feel attraction again, or to feel it for a man. For Zach.
Or for Zach to want him back, with a passion Gavin couldn’t deny even if he wanted to.
He’s too old, too washed up, too destroyed by grief, and has no intention of dating ever again, but maybe it’s own assumptions that need to be broken and re-made.
Maybe it’s Zach who needs to be the one who break him down and make him into something new. Give him something new: a wild, unexpected and unprecedented love affair.
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Love after grief
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Listener received this title free
I cannot believe the Portland Evergreens are done, but I loved Gavin & Zach's story! Their hard-earned HEA was a sweet, slow burn, but still very spicy. I loved the way the men interacted as friends, even though the tension between them existed since the beginning.
I was hesitant at first when beginning the story, but I really enjoyed getting the before, during and after of their entire relationship and how it correlated with the other 3 books in the series. It was easy enough to pinpoint the moments in the previous books that overlapped.
I think at this point, many of us just want to know when Ramsey will get his book. 🙃 I know there's one in the works for Morgan & Hayes, but we're all invested in Ramsey's love life like he was for all his teammates.
Breaking the Ice is a beautiful ending to the series, saying goodbye to the seniors on the Evergreens and enjoying the lasting relationship between their coaches. This book is best enjoyed as the last of an incredible series.
I received an authorized copy of this book and am volunteering my honest review (June 2025).
Audiobook Update (July 2025):
Narrated by Darcy Stark
It's a bittersweet ending for the Portland Evergreens series, but I loved listening to Gavin & Zach's story. Their dynamic is so different from the rest of the couples in the series, and I loved Darcy's take on their love story. He does such a fantastic job with the personalities and characterizations that Beth writes, it's easy to step right into their story/ies. It's a tough call because all four books and audiobooks have their merits and fantastic moments, but I think I have to give my favorite to Gavin & Zach in Breaking the Ice, with Malcolm & Elliot in Cold as Ice, in a decently-close second.
I received an authorized copy of this audiobook and am volunteering my honest review.
Finding love after longtime grief
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Listener received this title free
🌲🌲🌲
It was so cool seeing the players issues - from the first 3 books - from the coaches perspective and to see their relationships develop.
I really liked Zach’s patient pining for Gavin and his commiserating with his friend Hayes (the book I’m now REALLY looking forward to!) when it looked like Gavin would not be into anything with Zach. Gavin’s groveling was pretty great too when he figured out how much he messed up.
This was a fantastic conclusion to a favourite series! Not surprising as I love all of Beth’s sports romances.
Highly recommend.
Zachy & Coach B!
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Listener received this title free
It goes without saying that I devour audios like cookies and I couldn’t get my hands on this one fast enough cause this story is SO freaking good (the whole series is eyeball meltingly good imo) and oh my GOD darcy just took this one into the stratosphere with Gavin and zach’s personalities WOW. The UST, the coziness, the pining, THE SMEGGSINESS! He took it to the NTH degree people! Hahaha I definitely rewound and re-listened a number of chapters for this exact reason; AI YA!
So if you didn’t read the paperback, lets get you caught up
Zach is a 28 yo Portland alum who is now the asst coach of the evergreens and in need of a head coach. But there’s only one man he wants for the role. A man he’s been obsessed with since he was 18. Gavin Blackburn, his former college coach who he then played against in the NHL and who had been AWOL since losing his wife.
Zach is determined to go find him in the wilds of Michigan and drag him back to society in hopes that he’ll take the position as coaching with him would be a dream come true, a seggsy dream since he’s been in love with him for ten years.
Gavin is determined to block out the world hit when Zach shows up on his cabin’s doorstep his heart of ice melts just a little and he doesn’t have the heart to turn him away. Zach is grown up, confident, determined and gorgeous. There’s a weird unspoken chemistry between them and despite all his alarm bells going off, he takes the job Zach offers.
It’s so fun to see how they quickly these two men end up in a domestic partnership without even realizing it. They live for each others company, and even though Zach is patiently waiting for Gavin to figure out they’re attracted to one another… he’s also willing to push him in the right direction here and there. And a pushy, dominant Zach is a very SEGGSY Zach (Gavin knows this all too well, let me assure you!)
Of course, Zach is also gentle and sweet as Gavin works through his widower feelings and returning himself to the land of the living but my goodness the whole thing is perfect and hot and seggsy.
5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Smoking hot Coach Seggs!!!!
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Listener received this title free
AUDIO BOOK UPDATE: First: the order of the chapters has now been fixed and the audio is perfect! Darcy does such a lovely job narrating this as well as the other books in the series! I really felt the emotions and the pining. And his narration of the spicy parts? Woof - sooo hot! I can't wait to listen again!
I'll be frank - I am not generally a fan of sloowww burns (though I read slow burn all the time), but in this case, it felt so natural and necessary - like, of course, this has to go like this! Gavin is a widower still mourning the loss of his wife. Zach used to be a hockey player coached by Gavin and is now working with him as his Assistant Coach. Oh, Zach has been absolutely pining for Coach Gavin for so long - I felt for him so much and cried for him! It takes time for Gavin to come to terms with his loss, but Zach is there for him and together, ever so slowly, they come together and it's just lovely. And while this is a slllloooowww burn, when the burn hits, it is so HOT!!
Loved the banter, the hockey, seeing all the boys again (oh, Ramsey, someday love will hit you so hard!), and the support Hayes offered Zach as well. Thank you, Hayes, for being there for Zach!
Now to go back and reread all the books while I wait for the new series :)
Sexy slow burn !
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Wonderful story!
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My favorite of the series!
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Thank you to the author for the free copy in exchange for a review.
Fun & steamy sports romance
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Zach has loved Gavin since he was his coach years earlier, but now he’s been through his own trials and wants to help Gavin move through his grief.
Gavin doesn’t want to move on and live, he’s too guilty about leaving his wife behind. With his therapist John, who confronts him on his own unwillingness to admit his feelings for Zach, he comes to accept it’s OK, lucky, in fact, to find two loves in his life.
It takes Zach resigning for him to stop denying his feelings, and once they’re together they never want to be apart. They bring the team to victory and finally get all they wanted, each other and hockey.
This was an OK read, but the slow burn became glacial rather than fiery. The last third of the book was better, and I like Zach, but Gavin giving his anniversary a brief thought before moving on seemed too far from his immense grief and didn’t seem credible.
I received this ARC for free and am pleased to provide my honest review with appreciation.
audiobook
Big grief and big love make room for each other
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