A review by parklandmom
Fire and Ice by Carolyn Miller

3.0

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars)
Read: September 2024

Series: Northwest Ice Division, #1
Format: Kindle e-book
Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #40 of 50 — “featuring a journalist” (main female character is a sports journalist)

Book #87 of 2024: [I am a hockey fan. I have to be honest, this Calgary stuff for an Edmonton Oiler fan was a stretch. Lol. So allow me to make note of the line about retro Calgary uniforms being like those they wore the “last time” they won the Stanley Cup. Calgary has only won it once. Sorry, but as a true hockey fan and a lifelong Oiler fan, I had to set the record straight! Lolololol!]

REVIEW: i have mixed feelings about this book. I do see how female sports reporters have been treated poorly by some. However, I’m just so weary of the entire, woke “toxic masculinity” talking point. There are some toxic males and females out there but that doesn’t means masculinity or femininity is toxic. At all. In fact, a truly masculine man is the character of Franklin or the character of Mike. 

Personal side note about sports reporting in general: 
Female sports reporters in men’s changing rooms is wrong and hypocritical. It doesn’t empower women sports reporters at all. Do we want male reporters in the female changing rooms then? We now have boys and men going into girls’ women’s changing rooms and calling it their right. This is all very broken. 

I just didn’t really connect to the story as a whole. I didn’t really feel invested. Some parts didn’t really strike me as believable. Some of the resulting drama felt contrived and overdone over a comment. I did love  Franklin & Cassie’s family and their ranch. I did love the chemistry and history between the two main characters.