witchbuns

Peyton Corinne, 2026

4.5 Stars for tears, swoons and sworn commitment.

This series is hockey romance with deep therapy to address issues that are rising up in their college setting. It’s much more personal than Off-Campus or the Icebreaker/Maple Hill books, with each character working to reconcile neglect and trauma from the adults in their life. I’m a big fan of this Peyton Corinne series because it’s beyond the tropes of hockey romance without silly breakups or teams just winning cups as they commit to celibacy with the girl next door. There’s always a happily ever after, but it’s with a reckoning that is hard to read, full of sobs, and equally balanced between the two lovers who each have to heal. These books twist against the idea of hockey players as knights on skates, because they are very bruised with panic attacks, PTSD, or other mental health issues. They are almost hiding in hockey to tuck behind the stoicism of the sport, and the female characters hide in books or bars.

Although it’s possible to start with this book, I recommend reading the first one, Unsteady (or at least skip the second, if you must, because Ro/Freddy are not central in this story) to learn about Paloma in relation to the other characters. She’s the hot girl with curves that is playing at empowerment but seeing her nights in the bottom of a glass and a dorm room. We see her lashing out at characters with vivid self-hatred. Bennett is the gorgeous goalie with meticulous routines who interacts with her in secret. This book centres on their love story, their breakup, and their internal fight back to accepting and building a strong relationship together.

Paloma is a very layered character and my favourite of the series because of her confusion with sexuality and battle to find herself. Bennett is not a perfect boyfriend because he has trouble interpreting her behaviour, which leads to very literal communication that is swoony in all the stages of their relationship. Their families and supporting adults are key to their growth and acceptance, and we see them working at communicating with their peers and friends.

I recommend this as a romance book over a hockey romance, because the sport scenes are very light. We also see mature conversations even though they are 18 and later 21 in the series, making this less YA/New Adult and more true Romance fiction. Each of the books focuses on personal representations of mental health, and I recommend reading the trigger warnings at the top, but proceed with open eyes because Peyton wants to bring you close up to these characters.

Thank you to Peyton Corinne, Atria Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

(Reviewed Nov 3, 2025)