Cold as Ice

Portland Evergreens, Book 2

By: Beth Bolden

Narrated by: Darcy Stark

Malcom has got a plan, and slowly but surely, year after year of college, he’s executing it.

He’s made it to the first line on his hockey team, the Portland Evergreens. He’s made the Dean’s List the last four semesters. He’s right in line to graduate on time, and head to the pros. All steps on the ultimate goal of becoming the best front office guy in the NHL.

Elliott is the only fly in his ointment.

The younger, wilder forward parties every night, sleeping with everything with a pulse and barely attending classes or practices.

It’s annoying, but Mal’s dealing with it, until their new coach insists Mal tutor him to help him pass a class.

Until Elliott discovers that Mal’s a virgin. That he’s been too busy checking off points on his life plan to get laid.

They’re fire and ice. Bad boy and virgin. They shouldn’t work at all. But the more time they spend together, on and off the ice, the more irresistible their chemistry becomes.

The more desperate Mal becomes to beg Elliott to tutor him in bed.

To melt some—or all—of the ice he’s wrapped himself in.

©2024 Earl Gray Publishing LLC (P)2025 Earl Gray Publishing LLC

Cold as Ice is hot

In the first Evergreens book, we got glimpses into the dynamic between Mal, one of the wingers on the college hockey team, and Elliot, the other winger on his line. Mal, who is pretty guarded like a porcupine, hardworking and goal-oriented, is a total opposite of Elliot, who seems carefree, outgoing, and confident. They seem to have a lot of conflict on the ice, but of course, that conflict is really the embers of the fire that is ready to ignite between them. Elliot has had a secret crush on Mal for awhile. Mal, on the other hand, does not trust that someone really like him for him and kept himself away from any romantic entanglements as a result. HIs father raised him very strictly and this has a lot of bearing on Mal's attitudes regarding school, love, and himself. Elliot was raised very differently and it shows in his outlook on life. Unfortunately, his outlook isn't going to change the fact that he's going to need help to pass his Stats class and be able to continue to play on the team. This opens up the door for Mal to tutor him in stats....and eventually for Elliot to tutor Mal in something else entirely. I love the slow buildup between Mal and Elliot as the embers are stoked and eventually, things really heat up between them. And as cautious as he was, when Mal lets go, he really lets go and is all in - I melted right along with him. He and Elliot are just wonderful and I am so glad they get their HEA - with a tiny bit of assistance from the same person who motivated Dean (and Brody) - Ramsey himself. Love the friend group and side characters too. The sister chat was a fun element. I also liked that we got a bit more of Zach in this book and I am eager to see Assistant Coach Zach get an HEA too someday. This book is another winner in the Evergreen series and I can't wait for the next one.

AUDIOBOOK: This is a reread but first time to listen.I really listening to books narrated by Darcy Stark! His voice is very pleasant and I could always tell which MC was speaking. His female voices are pretty good as well. I always know I'm in for a treat when he is narrating. He does a good job with the spice as well (though for some reason I felt like in this book there was an unusual emphasis on a certain c word for a male appendage...*snicker*).

Frenemies to Lovers

🎧I absolutely love listening to the audio version of a favourite book I’ve previously read. It gives you an opportunity to really get into the MC’s heads and POV’s.

Let me tell you this did not disappoint!!! I already adored Mal and Ell together and listening to them made it that much better.

Darcy Stark was a fantastic narrator as well!!!

This was a fantastic addition to Beth’s newest series. I love her sports books so much, hockey being my favourite so this is right up my alley.

Mal and Elliot were so sweet and hot together once they got over the animosity/pigtail pulling. 😂 I’m so here for MC’s being super protective of each too. So hot!!! Loved the banter too.

🏒 Grumpy sunshine
🏒 Frenemies to lovers
🏒 Bad boy/goal setter
🏒 Virgin MC
🏒 Ramsey the relationship guru
🏒 You tutor me, I’ll tutor you 😉😉🔥

Highly recommend!

Loved this book!

I love Beth Bolden and I love a hockey romance so I knew these two things together was going to be magical. I loved the back and forth between Mal and Elliott are fire together and seeing them find their HEA was just so good. I can’t wait for the rest of the series! The narration was fantastic and I will definitely look out for this narrator in the future.

Beth Bolden always writes an excellent sports rom

This book was super enjoyable! Elliott and Malcolm are exactly the perfect complementing opposites. Malcolm is super focused, maybe a little too tightly wound and Elliott is wonderful at loosening him up and showing him he can still achieve his goals, even if he takes time to relax and enjoy life. Elliott can be a little too relaxed and not taking things as seriously as he should sometimes, and Malcolm shows him there’s nothing wrong with being more focused when time calls for it.

The prologue shows us their very first meeting a few years earlier which wasn’t exactly favourable for Elliott, so there was definitely an uphill battle for him to get Malcolm to see his other side but when he does it’s lovely. The way they are forced together by their coach off the ice was the perfect plot point to get them to see each other in a new way than just teammates. The way Malcolm learns a healthy respect for him and the next organic step was the attraction.

Darcy Stark, as always, gives a strong performance. Highly recommend!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Packs a punch!

This is a great story about second chances - Elliott makes the worst possible first impression on Mal the first time they meet and they become teammates-but-enemies for the next two seasons. Until a situation forces them to work closely together. Sounds like an easy setup, right? But this is a Beth Bolden book, so nothing about it is easy. Elliott wasn't ready when they met first, and he's still got some growing to do. Mal has to let go of some bad experiences too, though, and realign his understanding of Elliott to be a little more, well, understanding. And even after all that - how can they be together and play hockey? It's a great story with a bunch of ups and downs, no easy fixes, but a guaranteed HEA.

Darcy Stark is great. His range is fantastic, and his delivery - he just Gets the Bolden vibe. It's a pleasure to listen to him perform this book as the characters run the gamut from impatient misunderstanding to caring defenders of each other. The side characters are great too, he clearly puts the time in on the entire production. Another win from Beth and Darcy!