Collide is a delightful new-adult hockey romance by Bal Khabra

Hockey romance books are back in fashion and one I’ve had my eye on is Collide by Bal Khabra.

Whether you were drawn in by the tropes, the cute cover, or saw it in a TikTok, this book has been everywhere since its release. That’s why I was so excited when Berkley reached out to me about reviewing this one.

While I’m past new-adult age, I sometimes can enjoy a college romance and that’s even more true when it comes to sports romance. Thankfully, Collide ended up surprising me in more ways than one and I’m so happy to talk about it.

I’d like to thank Berkley for sending me an ARC so I was able to read and review this one for all of you.

Collide is the new-adult hockey romance you’ve been waiting for.

In a world full of hockey romances, Collide feels like a breath of fresh air. The story follows Summer, a sports psychology student who is applying to a graduate program. However, things get intense when she’s forced to work with the hockey team. The only problem is that Summer is not a hockey fan in the slightest.

Despite that, Summer decides to give it a try and is paired up with Aiden Crawford who is the captain of the team. While Aiden is used to getting what he wants from anyone, it’s clear things won’t be as easy with Summer. Regardless, it makes the romance all the more refreshing and realistic for the two.

While I adored the romance between Aiden and Summer, the thing I enjoyed most was how much we learned about these characters. The two were dealing with a lot of past trauma and emotional baggage they had to work through. In particular, it felt like Summer had such much to unpack and deal with especially when it came to hockey.

Once you find out about Summer’s past, everything truly starts to fall into place and then learning what happened to Aiden, it’s all so heartbreaking. Despite those tough topics and emotional moments throughout the story, the mood never felt somber. If anything, Bal Khabra made things feel light and fun.

Collide was also incredibly sexy as the tension between Aiden and Summer was just delicious. I do feel like sometimes new-adult stories can go overboard with steam. However, this was just enough and made the story feel even more believable. Considering that I’m not much of a new adult reader these days, Collide surprised me in the best way.

Collide by Bal Khabra is out now where books are sold.