Book Review: Collide (Off the Ice #1) by Bal Khabra
Collide (Off the Ice #1) by Bal Khabra
Published: January 16th 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Genres: Adult, New Adult // Contemporary, Sports Romance
Quick Thoughts: Sexy, poignant and witty, paving a permanent path as my favourite hockey romance I’ve read. The romantic tension was chef’s kiss bliss in their story, never shying from being blush-inducing and yet side-splittingly humorous in the next second. Collide skated into my life and stole my heart.
I purchased this book myself, but have previously worked with this publisher. There was no obligation to post/give this book a certain rating. All views are my own. I remain entirely impartial.
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Reader Information: View Content Warnings.
TW: this book contains mentions of sex and open-door scenes, coercion, parental neglect, feelings of anxiety/panic and death of family members. Readers 18+.
Ice Hockey Captain
Sports Psych Student
Forced to work together
Enemies-to-Lovers
About This Book:
When Summer Preston’s professor issues her with an ultimatum, she finds herself on an unexpected collision course with hockey captain, Aiden Crawford.
Summer hates everything about hockey, for good reason, but she isn’t going to let that stand in the way of her becoming a sports psychologist.
Aiden loves being the hockey captain, except when his team’s reckless mistakes risk jeopardizing their entire season. When coach puts him forward for a research paper as punishment, he has no choice but to accept.
Summer can’t stand his blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn’t understand her uptight, scheduled one. They are off to a rocky start, and provoking each other – it turns out – is what they do best.
But losing isn’t something either of them does well. Maybe there’s a way for both of them to win?
First Thoughts
I already owned the Off The Ice series (and was slowly getting to it in my TBR stack after picking up sprayed-edge copies in The Works) when I was blessed with an ARC of Revolve, the third book in the series. I knew I wanted to catch up so I could read them in order, so dove straight into Collide—quickly realising that I’d been neglecting what is now my new favourite hockey romance book (and the author that is Bal Khabra!)
My Review
Summer doesn’t really hate hockey, it’s just that having a neglectful father who was a huge star of the sport (and still quite famed for being a big deal working in the industry) means she’s shied away from the image of being his daughter and following in the footsteps of being on the ice, preferring to dip into her true calling, sports psychology. But when Aiden, the Dalton hockey captain, takes the brunt of the punishment for his team’s stupid mistake, he’s given the not-so-happy pleasure of being Summer’s research paper subject. The two are nothing alike. Aiden is prone to not thinking things through, living in the moment and hooking up, whereas Summer is clear-headed, thoughtful and a meticulous planner.
But soon enough, after a somewhat rocky and tumultuous start of Summer being frustrated at Aiden’s free-spirited ways and his annoyance at her detailed composure, they fall into a pattern of not quite hating the other, building a relationship of respect, yet still thriving off that banter that keeps them falling into dangerously romantic territory. Summer knows Aiden is changing, yet her walls are still up. Aiden knows he has to earn her trust by showing up and putting in the work—on and off the ice. They find themselves orbiting one another through the seasons, dipping into friends with benefits, though verging on the cliff of so much more. And when Summer’s project and future prospects involving a rival put her future at risk, meanwhile throwing her relationship with Aiden into confusing territory, her carefully-curated plans are going off the rails. But where there’s a will, there’s an Aiden, and somehow, the two of them just can’t be kept apart for long.
Overall, Collide was sexy, poignant and witty, paving a permanent path as my favourite hockey romance I’ve read. I adored Summer and Aiden respectfully, but also felt this deep connection in particular with Summer. We share a love of chai, planning and being initially apprehensive, and I saw so many qualities of myself reflected in her. I deeply appreciated the underlying inclusion of loss and familial tension, which I know so many readers will see themselves echoed in. The romantic tension was chef’s kiss bliss in their story, never shying from being blush-inducing and yet side-splittingly humorous in the next second. The entire array of characters at Dalton that Bal built made for a world I didn’t want to leave. Passionate and pretty perfect, Collide skated into my life and stole my heart. What a firecracker of a book! Bring on book two and three!
RATING:
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Happy Reading!
