Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


Keenan Avali is an alpha, but he just wants to play hockey. He has no interest in being tied down to a mate, which would then mean the end of his hockey career. Keenan has been fine so far as he takes suppressants to block the scent of omegas and he follows the protocol he learned from an early age. It was all fine until Cartwright “Carry” Johnson stepped onto the ice.

Carry is an omega who wants to play hockey. He has no interest in finding an alpha and his experiences with them have not been positive. His family doesn’t understand that he would rather play hockey than find a mate and, while they tolerate his decision, it is most certainly frowned upon. Carry is determined not to let anything derail his hockey chances and he’s armed with suppressants to control his heats and a focus to keep his eyes on the puck. But when he meets Keenan, the men are so in sync on the ice and can read each other effortlessly. Keenan has never been interested in a man before and Carry is not making the mistake of trusting an alpha again, but the men may not be able to stay away from each other.

Cracking Ice is a multi-part serial with the episodes coming out every few weeks. It will be one long story that will follow the relationship between Keenan and Carry. As this first installment opens, Carry has been traded to Keenan’s team and there is protocol surrounding an omega joining a team with an alpha. Carry just wants to play hockey and be known for his skill on the ice, but the media only wants to focus on the fact that he is an omega. Keenan has never been attracted to a man before and has to figure some things out for himself as he’s not sure if he’s really attracted to Carry as a person or just his pheromones.

The world building wasn’t completely clear to me for some aspects. Carry is taking suppressants so he doesn’t go into heat. But I do not think this world involves mpreg, so I then had to wonder what was the point of him going into such uncontrollable heat in the first place. Both men are conditioned to believe certain things about alphas and omegas and they react accordingly, so there is then a distinct lack of communication at this point. We are told about some of the ways the men have grown up being an alpha and an omega, but there was either something in the delivery or a lack of information that left me with a lot of questions and not completely sure what was happening with everything. There is also mention of Carry having hooked up with a former alpha teammate that didn’t go well, but the details are slim.

Keenan and Carry had great chemistry, but it was mostly the heat talking at this point. The men have a ways to go and when this installment ends, they are more confused about their feelings than anything else. I will pick up the next installment to see how the story progresses as it difficult to come to any type of conclusion at this point. Stay tuned.