Icebound Hearts by A.C. Motuga

The first book in the delicious, icy-hot Pleasant Oakes University series!!

Aiden Knight
Hockey is the one thing I can control. On the ice, everything makes sense the plays, the pressure, the expectations. As captain of Pleasant Oaks University’s hockey team, I know my role, and I own it. Off the ice? That’s a different story. The weight of leading my team, the battles I fight in silence, the parts of me no one sees, it’s all starting to pull me under.
The rink is supposed to be my escape. My safe place.
Then she shows up.
A figure skater with sharp edges and a mouth that never backs down. She’s a distraction I don’t need, a complication I never saw coming. But from the moment she crashes into my world, something shifts.
She gets under my skin, challenges me in ways I don’t expect. And the more I try to keep my distance, the harder it gets to stay away.
I thought hockey was the only thing that mattered. I thought I had everything under control.
Turns out, I was wrong.

Katerina Hart
There was a time when I was unstoppable. When the ice was mine, and the world watched with bated breath. Katerina Hart Russia’s golden girl, a name whispered with awe. Until one fall, one moment, changed everything.
The 2022 Olympics were supposed to be my crowning glory. Instead, they became my downfall. A disastrous mistake, a scandal I never saw coming, and just like that, the future I had sacrificed everything for slipped through my fingers.
Now, I’m here, Pleasant Oaks University. A far cry from the world stage, but a second chance to prove I still belong. A top coach, grueling training, one final shot at reclaiming my dream. But pressure weighs heavier than ever, and the cracks beneath my surface are starting to show.And then there’s him.
The hockey player. My roommate. The infuriating, cocky, maddening presence in my life who makes me want to strangle him half the time and kiss him the other half. He pushes my buttons, challenges me in ways I don’t expect, and worst of all, makes my heart race every time he looks at me.
A new father figure I never asked for. A health issue I refuse to acknowledge. The relentless fear that no matter how hard I fight, I’ll never be enough.
I came here to rewrite my story. To take back what was stolen from me.
But what if I’m the one standing in my own way?
As their late-night arguments turn into something deeper, they’re forced to ask themselves: Is love worth the risk when everything they’ve ever worked for is on the line?
Because falling for each other was never part of the plan and in their world, love could cost them everything.