Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

A cute hockey romance but felt similar to all the other ones out there. Wanted something a little different, so this just didn’t work for me

2.5⭐️ 4🌶️
The author is talented and good at storytelling but I didn’t like the relationship dynamic between the main characters so I dnf’d at 50%. The fmc complained when the mmc was rude (valid) but also when he was a gentleman… (not valid) Lots of lust + drinking which is typical for a lot of the popular college sports romances, but I just don’t like that romanticized. Also I read this on my kindle and felt like it should be ending soon but when I checked and saw I was only at 50%, that’s when I was like okay I can’t do this all over again, I quit 😂
There were a couple of times I giggled and swooned but not enough for me to spend my time finishing it bc I just don’t care about their relationship anymore since it seems like they won’t last together with considering how they are building the foundation of their relationship based off of looks and sex instead of care and chemistry.
If you like when the romance IS the plot, lust over love, heavier spice, college hockey setting, then you would like this but it was not my *personal* cup of tea. I will try out her future books though because it was mainly the couple that I had a problem with and not her writing.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this for review.

I’m so excited to read more books from this author!! I am always a sucker for sports romance and this one was great! I’m really looking forward to reading more of this author’s books and making content. Thank you so much for the arc!

Enjoyable story, predictably the plot is pretty much all romance. A couple side stories happen. The super smart girl nearly tanks her and her bf's careers for a poorly thought out revenge plot. Self sabotage happens and then they live HEA. If you hate dirty talk and only using the p word for lady parts you might want to skip

I absolutely adore this book and the emotions involved. Both characters have a lot of depth and personality.

I am so glad that every sports romance book that I pick up is out to prove to me that I like sports romance. This book was so unexpected but I loved it! When her thesis advisor poses an ultimatum, Summer is stuck in an unfortunate place with hockey hotshot Aiden. In order to graduate, she must work with the hockey team to fulfill her research project, graduate, and move on in that 25 year plan. Aiden couldn't care less. These two, from page one, scream enemies to lovers. They are so stereotypical and expected that I found myself yelling JUST F*CK ALREADY, but in the best way. Summer is so typical nerd and Aiden gives bad boy vibes and I am in love. This book was definitely not a read for the plot, but I loved everything about it. This book could have put a Taylor Swift playlist to shame and I am absolutely LIVING for it.

SHRIEKING. I love hockey romance and this one was ADORABLE. So cute. So giggly. Just a pure, unfiltered shot of fun. Right to simp city for our sweet little hockey hottie, Aiden.

I loved the reluctant class partners-to-lovers vibe and the sheer unseriousness of it. Please don't come here for the plot. This one is purely and utterly for the vibes. That is all, and they are *immaculate*

Thank you times a million to Berkley Publishing Group, the author, and Netgalley for the ARC. This is such a perfect, fun winter comfort read. Can't wait to dive into book two!

Rating: 3.5⭐️ | Spice: 3🌶️ | Audio: 4🎙️
What to Expect:   
College Hockey Romances
He Falls First & Hard
Research Partners
No 3rd Act Breakup

Recommended to...  
College hockey romance readers who love a self-sacrificing MMC.
Thank you so much @prhaudio and @berkleyromance for this gifted audiobook!

“To me you are. You’re beautiful, strong, kind, and so deserving of love that I hope I can prove it to you in this lifetime. Because that’s how overwhelmingly perfect you are to me.”

Review Title & Vibes:
{Clash, Boom, Bang} My first Bal Khabra book. Aiden and Summer CLASH instantly - neither wanting to work together on Summer’s research project to get into her graduate program, but Aiden quickly changes his tune once he realizes how beautiful, brilliant, and amazing Summer is. Aiden’s BOOMing personality works in his favor - he’s relentless in pursuit of the closed off Summer. Self-sacrifice, caring gestures, encouraging words, and prioritizing Summer are all green flags in the Aiden column. Summer’s backstory wasn’t as fleshed out as I wanted. Her family drama felt a little shallow, as did her constant need to rely on a certain ex to affirm her hard work. I loved Summer’s playful side and her aspirations. Their bedroom chemistry was BANGing. What started as physical only relationship became more. Aiden was the star of this story, and definitely worth the read.

Audio Notes:
{Dual} - I absolutely LOVED Max as Aiden. Playful banter, swoony scenes, and perfect spice. I also enjoy Julia as Summer. Character voices were mostly distinct, but some scenes lacked emotion. I would still very much recommend this audiobook.

She tries to distance herself from the hockey world due to her father’s status with the game. Her teache forces her to emerge herself in it.

She has to work with the captain of the team and boom sparks fly

Loved the development of their relationship

I love books set in college, and this story nailed the setting perfectly. The dual POV was a highlight, with two fantastic audiobook narrators bringing the characters to life. The banter was the ideal mix of cute and snarky, keeping me hooked the whole time. If you’re a fan of college sports romances, definitely add this one to your list!

Pros
- [ ] Book with an accompanying playlist !
- [ ] Diverse cast - especially for hockey romance
- [ ] Focus on consent in sex - important in college with drinking, and commendable when it's between two characters who clearly want to be together
- [ ] Aiden's grandparents!
- [ ] Overall the characters were likeable as individuals and the FMC and MMC banter and stubbornness at the beginning and gradually becoming friends was fun
- [ ] Summers relationship issues with her father felt unique to a hockey romance genre. Especially as a FMC.
- [ ] However, I didn't think the relationship history was particularly well explained and the dialogue with her father felt jilted and unnatural.
- [ ] A hardy cast of side characters for spin-offs
- [ ] However sometimes too many side character storylines that didn't substantially add to the plot

Cons

- [ ] Author didn't include strong visual descriptions of places or people's appearances and clothing.
- [ ] Story telling felt immature / under developed/ unnecessarily convoluted
- [ ] particularly the back and forth on the coop / post grad application process, and Donny & Langston's involvement + the break-in saga
- [ ] The plot lines didn't feel succinct or crisp nor did they feel fully developed or well described. It felt like some relationships and character development and overcoming obstacles happened way too fast. While other aspects were way too drawn out.
- [ ] There was too much going on - too many side characters and sub plot lines picked up and dropped.
- [ ] Her behaviour with Donnie Rai and his whole character and how things played out with Langston was unnatural and odd.
- [ ] Book felt drawn out with lots of plot lines half-baked or like they were forgotten and picked up / re-addressed/ closed out much later than they should have been. Almost like conversations or scenes were edited out but at a cost to the story telling
- [ ] Examples: Summer's poster crumpled in the library for an event for athletes put on by the psychology group she was thinking about not doing after unsuccessful last semester. Then all of a sudden chapters later Aiden is bringing people to "Summers carnival" - not sure how this relates to athletes and psychology ? Also a huge event with a literal Ferris wheel that she never spent any time talking about planning.
- [ ] Example: Kians date and obsession with Summers roommate Cassie being a focus for several chapters. Then he comes up loads of times more without that relationship being a main point. Then several chapters later it's summarized as fizzling out and he's sad.
- [ ] Example: summers project being on burnout and Aiden being the primary subject to help. But they literally never have any conversations in detail about his burn out or what her findings are. In general - Her being a psychology student and never talking about psychology at all.
- [ ] The first half of the book felt like there were scenes and conversations borrowed directly from other hockey romance novels I've read
- [ ] In general some things just felt overall unbelievable as a reader (in addition to examples above)
- [ ] Not sure I understand MMC constantly saying FMC is "sunshine personified" when her personality is much more fiery - they argue for sport, and she's fiery and sarcastic
- [ ] Characters having sex in a roommates room by accident. "Turning left instead of right". In a house they have had sex in multiple times and one of the parties LIVES in. Also no mention of them being drunk - only being horny and getting carried away and entangled in each other.

I just recently started getting into hockey, so this book was particularly fun because it is one of the first hockey romances I have read (I may have read one or two before this I believe).

Collide follows a student named Summer, she has had her life planned out since she was eight and absolutely despises hockey. So it is much to her chagrin that the one thing standing in the way of her getting into the masters program she has always dreamed of is writing her thesis on hockey. We are also following Aiden who is captain of the team and whose only constant in life has been hockey.

The pair are matched to work on Summer's paper and are the classic opposites DONT attract/enemies to lovers. I had a lot of fun with their banter and slow burn.

I really enjoyed their dynamic and think they did a great job at the character arcs for a lot of the characters. <spoiler> We see Summer let go of her five year plan, we see Aiden care about more than hockey, I also particularly loved the character arc for Summer's father - it seems like he truly started to *get it* in the end. </spoiler>

I would say my main complaint about the book is there were times that Summer was literally the WORST and I like when my main character has character flaws but there were times I just truly didn't even like her.

Overall a really fun book though, I would recommend to those interested in sports romance, college romance, or chicklit films.

this was cute! it reminded me of the deal and icebreaker with the hockey romance and all. 3.5/5 stars! not a huge fan of hockey romance but it was cute nevertheless

3.5 stars- Overall I liked this book. I liked the characters and the storyline, I just felt the end was a little unnecessary.

I love a good tutor/player hockey romance, but this wasn’t one of my favorites. Something about the relationship never felt real or deep enough for me, and the third act breakup was unnecessary (as usual). Entertaining with some good scenes, but not a favorite or super memorable.

Loved this so much. I am a huge fan of hockey romance and this checked every box, made sure every i was dotted and t crossed.

This book had great characters I fell in love with immediately. The chemistry between the main characters was on point and red hot. Definitely swoonworthy, with enough spice that it didn’t overpower the plot and become the focal point in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Collide by Bal Khabra!

Collide by Bal Khabra is another wannabe trendy hockey romance book. But these characters just fell so flat to me and were lifeless. Sticking with tropes, this was a "grumpy meets sunshine" dynamic. But it was just so boring.

Collide follows Aiden and Summer as they work together to complete Summer’s research for graduate school consideration. As the neglected child of an NHL star Summer has made it her life’s mission to avoid hockey at all costs until she’s forced to accept Aiden’s help and he becomes determined to win her heart.

This loses a star for me as it definitely could’ve been one hundred pages shorter, but I had a really good time. Aiden is somewhat of a reluctant golden retriever where Summer is a grumpy Queen of self sabotage. I also appreciated some of the more realistic aspects of hockey. If you enjoy hockey romance I think you’ll gobble this right up!