by Bal Khabra
Part of Off the Ice, book 4
First published 2026
Kian Ishida lives for parties and hockey at Dalton University. The star player has his sights set on the NHL, but he faces a problem that threatens everything. He needs those final credits to graduate and honor his late father's dream of seeing him earn his degree. Desperate, Kian joins a study group run by brilliant Scarlett Kilner. She's beautiful and smart, exactly the kind of distraction he doesn't need. What he doesn't know yet is that she's Coach Kilner's daughter. Scarlett wants nothing more than a quiet senior year. She's worked hard to rebuild her reputation and refuses to embarrass her respected father again. Then Kian walks into her study group and changes everything. Their academic sessions become something deeper. Stolen looks turn into lingering touches. Neither expected the connection growing between them. Now Kian must choose between the NHL career he's chased his entire life and the woman who makes him question everything he thought he wanted.
Genres: romance, coming-of-age, contemporary, contemporary-romance, sports-romance, college-romance
Vibes: emotional, heartfelt, intimate, romantic, tension-filled
Tropes: forbidden-romance, forced-proximity, friends-to-lovers, second-chance
Setting: Dalton University
400 pages · Paperback · BLOOMSBURY