Sophie Reads YA: 2025

Stacking the Shelves: August 30th 2025

10:00

ARC Review: Clear The Ice (The Breakaway Love Series #1) by L.C. Reagan

10:00

Clear The Ice
Series: The Breakaway Love Series #1
Author: L.C. Reagan
Published August 1st 2025

Goodreads Synopsis
Maddie Hart just landed her dream job—digital content manager for the Titans, a pro hockey team known for drama, fan devotion, and one very grumpy captain.

Liam Callahan is everything she didn’t expect.
A man of few words. All scowl and no interest in the spotlight.
And definitely not interested in being filmed by the new girl.

But when a behind-the-scenes media project throws them into close proximity, Maddie starts to see the cracks in Liam’s armor—and the soft center beneath the scowl. The more they’re forced to work together, the more the tension starts to heat up… until a single kiss changes everything.

Now, Maddie’s caught between professionalism, pressure, and a man who keeps pulling her closer.
And Liam? He’s never been good at playing it safe.

She’s behind the camera. He hates the spotlight.
Too bad chemistry doesn’t follow the script.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via BookSirens. This in no way impacted on my view.

Maddie Hart has just started her new job with the Thunder Bay Titans, and is ready to do whatever is needed. Social media posts, photographs, videos, you name it. The team welcome her with open arms, except from captain Liam Callahan. Liam is broody and aloof, and seems to want nothing to do with both Maddie and her camera, but there’s something brewing beneath the surface that neither of them can deny. However, a candid shot of Maddie talking and laughing with the alternate captain, Jordan, soon takes Maddie from behind the lens, and into the story herself.

Well, this was an extremely quick book, which I read in about an hour. Maddie and Liam were decent characters, and there was definitely a tension and chemistry between them that showed that the relationship would work. I wasn’t that keen on the way the storylines kept jumping about, or that fact that Maddie was being blamed for things out of her control. The pacing of the book felt off, and there were times when it almost repeated itself, and others where it seemed like scenes were missing. The final chapter felt more like an epilogue than regular chapter, and though it did say “months later” at the beginning, the audience missed so much which could’ve been great content for the storyline.

Dates Read:
August 4, 2025

Rating
2 Stars

August

Stacking the Shelves: August 23rd 2025

10:00

4 Stars

Review: Gloves Off (Vancouver Storm #4) by Stephanie Archer

13:00

Gloves Off
Series: Vancouver Storm #4
Author: Stephanie Archer
Published June 25th 2025 by Orion Publishing

Goodreads Synopsis
The only way to get my inheritance? Marry Alexei Volkov—the grumpiest enforcer in the NHL, a brutally handsome jerk, and the last man I’d ever fall for.

In public, we act as besotted newlyweds, but in private, we’re at each other’s throats. He’s competitive, arrogant, and surly. The guy’s never cracked a smile in his life. He’s jealous of my ex, he glares at my high heels, and insists he’s not attracted to me. He’s only marrying me for citizenship.

Fighting with Alexei is more fun than expected, though, and beneath his grouchy exterior, Alexei is surprisingly caring, protective, and generous.

He cooks for me and worries about my safety.

He sends me flowers with secret meanings and spends way too much money on me.

He makes me sleep in his bed and calls me his wife. For a guy who said he’d never fall in love with me, Alexei’s doing a good impression of it… and now I’m wondering if this marriage is fake after all.
Goodreads

Review
In Gloves Off, enemies Alexei and Georgia soon discover just how thin the line between love and hatred is when they are forced to marry. Alexei Volkov has been one of the greatest hockey players Canada has ever seen, but he's approaching the end of his career, and he still hasn't been able to secure his Canadian citizenship. An off the cuff comment soon leads Alexei to making the one choice he never thought he would - voluntarily marrying Dr Georgia Greene, the woman who has made his life hell for the last few years. For Georgia, she hates Alexei's guts, but she needs to marry in order to gain her inheritance and use the money to save the research programme she leads at the local hospital. And how hard can it be to pretend to be madly in love with the handsome hockey player for a year, max?

I loved the first few books in this series, and the snarky little comments and looks between Alexei and Georgia made me desperate to read their story. I'm a sucker for an enemies to lovers story, and that was done so well in this book. Because of the way they met each other years ago, a bad first impression has tainted their every interaction since. I loved the way that they would pretend to be happily in love with each other one minute, and then make comments about how much they hated each other the next. It was obvious to everyone that they were slowly falling for each other, and I liked how easily it was for their friends to see right through them and call them out on their lies. Both sets of families were so loving and invested in Alexei and Georgia's happiness, and it was wonderful to see them grow closer to each set of in-laws. The rest of the Vancouver Storm gang had really big parts to play in the story, and it's always a joy to see how past couples are still so in love when you have companion series like this one.

Dates Read:
August 15, 2025

Rating
4 Stars