Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Ice & Ibuprophen
SERIES: Second Shots #1
AUTHOR: Katee Keller
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 464 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2026
BLURB:
One grumpy enforcer. One relentless physio. One very opinionated cat. Zero personal space.
Jaxson
I don’t do people. I don’t do guests. I don’t do feelings I can’t name at two in the morning while a guy I’m not supposed to want reorganizes my life one cabinet at a time. I had a system. He had opinions about it. I should’ve made him leave on day one. I didn’t. That’s on me.
Leo
He was supposed to be an assignment. Six feet of silence and controlled fury, a shoulder injury, and a cat he pretended wasn’t his. I told myself I was just doing my job. I was doing my job. Right up until I wasn’t, and by then his hands were in my hair and I’d stopped caring about the difference.
Gerald
The large human fell. The small, loud human moved in. No one asked me, but I approved anyway. They took far longer than necessary to figure it out.
If you like your hockey romance with slow-burn heat, explicit payoff, and a cat who saw it coming before either of them did, grab Ice & Ibuprofen today.
REVIEW:
I love a good hockey story, although this one mostly centers around the rehabilitation of one of the players more than the actual hockey. Jax is the injured top-line hockey player. Leo is the team physio who is tasked with rehabbing Jax into playing form. The team has asked him to stay with Jax to be on top of his recovery and to make sure he accomplishes same in the most expeditiously manner as possible.
Jax is someone who has basically kept to himself. He has not had a good family life and keeps his head in the game at all times. He is not very open to his new housemate, but the home is large enough that he thinks he can keep to himself, mostly.
Leo is hesitant at first as well, but he takes his job very seriously. He is determined to do everything possible to help Jax’ recovery. They work very hard daily to get this done. Meanwhile, Leo uses his other talents/skills to help turn Jax’s mausoleum of an empty house into a cozy home. This causes some clashes, but turns out to be one of the things Jax falls for. Neither are looking at this as a hookup opportunity. Leo is gay but keeps it to himself, and Jax is or was straight. Turns out, he ends up being “Leosexual.” When they do take things further, not until after 50% of the book, btw, they simply explore things and keep it on the down low as far as their professional lives outside the house. It doesn’t take long for that to change though, but it is all handled very well and ends up altering the plans for these guys.
I really enjoyed this story. I loved how they unknowingly adapted to each other and when faced with past issues, i.e. Gerald and his accusations, they conquered them with a fair amount of ease. It does end rather quickly after the long build up, but it all wraps up nicely in a satisfying ending. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.
RATING: 
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