Collide (Romance Revisited #2)

The day her longtime boyfriend proposes, Maggie Hale sees a vision of her future if she stays in her hometown, so she does the only thing she can do. Run. Unfortunately, moving to Vegas to join the Essence Dance Theater doesn’t go well, and she ends up as a waitress in a diner, again. 

Jay Thornton desperately wants to buy his mentor’s boxing gym, but he knows the loan shark who saved him as a kid won’t permit it. When Maggie promises to cover a friend’s loan, she unwittingly places herself in Jay’s crosshairs. Though Jay knows Maggie doesn’t belong in his world, somehow, she walks into it anyway. No matter how much he tells himself she’s beyond him, he can’t help but want to protect her. Can a dancer and an enforcer reach their dreams, or will reality cut them down once more? 

A contemporary romance on the streets of Vegas, “Collide” is the second book in the “Romance Revisited” series and a stand-alone novel. Among contemporary romances this book stands out with an unlikely duo, a preacher’s kid and an enforcer. The smooth pace, and excellent characterization actually revitalizes the “North and South” plot.  The romance itself is interesting as it mostly consists of physical attraction that he hides and she denies until the conflict increases and the passion does as well. The ending  leaves the story with a bit of hope but without the steam it hints at. Overall, this is one contemporary romance worth reading.

Sarah E Bradley