If you’re just as obsessed as me with Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker and Wildfire then you must read Collide by Bal Khabra, otherwise it’s a crime against hockey romance novels. When I say this book if filled with all the feels, cute moments and steamy romance to boot, I’m not joking.
“You want to take care of me?” “As long as you’ll let me.”
BLURB:
An ultimatum from her professor thrusts Summer Preston into an unexpected collision with hockey captain Aiden Crawford. She’s caught in a delicate balance between fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and veering far away from this god-awful sport.
For Aiden Crawford, being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by his team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. Consequently, his coach nominates him as the subject of a research paper. It’s the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.
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 is what they do best, but defeat isn’t something either of them is willing to accept.
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REVIEW:
“I can’t deny that he feels like home.”
I had so much fun reading this book, to the point I finished it in two days on kindle. The writing was easy to read and engaging, at times I was laughing out loud at the humour throughout this novel.
Summer Preston is such a flawed but interesting heroine. She felt so real with her stresses and pressure surrounding her degree, her fierce friendships and the vulnerability she shows to those she trusts (when she learns how to trust). There was so much depth to her character that made me want to cheer her on as she dealt with all the crap in her life; her poor relationship with her father, her shitty ex-boyfriend trying to sabotage her academic career.
Aiden Crawford was the epitome of a ball of sunshine. He was funny and kind, and his never ending protectiveness when it came to protecting both the hockey team and Summer from harm was everything. He was so romantic too, the scene where he buys Summer her favourite Chai – *Chefs kiss*
They have a relationship that is a bit of a slow burn to evolve. He falls first, she’s reluctant to trust people. They’re forced to work together on her major project… genius. They had great chemistry, top tier banter and it was really enjoyable to watch them go from enemies to friends, then from friends to lovers. Aiden sticking up for Summer when she’d been let down so much in the past, particularly with her family, really cemented how much he cared and loved Summer. Also, no third act breakup which was great!
I enjoyed this book so much, I am still in believe I read it in two days. It was such a fun time getting to know these characters Bal created, and I can’t wait to read her next book in this series, Off The Ice. I wonder who we will get next? Kian, maybe Eli? Time will tell, but you know I’ll be there lining up to buy it on release day. If you love sports romance do yourself a favour and add Collide to your reading list this weekend.
“So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses. “Took me three tries.” “For what?” “To find this one.” “The others didn’t have what you were looking for?” I smile. “Not even close.”
“Yell at me all you want, Summer, but I wouldn’t change what I did.“ “This is your career!” “And you are my future.”
Tropes
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Grumpy Sunshine
- No third act breakup
- College romance
- He falls first
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Sports Romance
Series: Book One
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