*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This might be a hot take, but I think it was 50 or so pages too long. The sex scenes were great and I did enjoy their enemies to lovers story. I just also feel like with a 400 page novel that we should get more character development. There also wasn't much fallout with Donny towards the end which kind of cheapened his villain ARC. Ultimately the moral of this story is that money can get you out of anything (not that it's inaccurate, but still)

That being said, I can't wait to read Eli's book because he just seemed so sweet and tender. I'm hoping that there'll be a bit more editing in Spiral to make it really tight.

This was a DNF for me. The characters felt super young and I honestly found the FMC to be extremely unlikeable. It was just cringy. I couldn’t do it anymore.

I instantly fell in love with both of these characters! I identified many of my own family issues with Summer's character, which allowed me to dive deeper into my own conflicts and for that I will always be grateful to the author.

This is one of my first "hockey romances" and I understand the craze around them now. Adrian's character was the perfect blend of confident, heart-warming, kind, generous, and guarded. I loved learning more and more about the characters just as they were learning more about each other!

I will definitely be recommending this as both a great introduction to hockey romances as well as a great romance for all fans of the romance genre. Khabra is one to watch!

Unfortunately, I wanted to love this book so badly but it may just be that hockey romances are not for me. I did love the fun interactions with the side characters, the complicated relationship Summer had with her dad, and Aiden was definitely a GREAT book boyfriend. Sadly though, I just couldn't get intrigued enough by the plot to fully finish the book. By the 70% mark I felt like I didn't particularly mind what happened to the characters, and the way Summer was leading Aiden on while remaining incredibly stubborn about letting him in really grated on me... especially since it dragged until 70% of the way through the book.

I loved Bal Khabra's writing and certain elements of the story, sadly it just wasn't for me!

Don't let the cute cover fool you- it's super spicy. I'm a sucker for hockey romance, espeically college hockey romance and Collide didn't dissapoint. Aiden messed up, and to cover for his team, he needs to serve as the test subject for Summer's sports psychology study. Summer can't stand hockey players after being put on the back burner by her hockey player Dad her whole life. When Aiden decides that hate is the last thing he feels towards Summer-he has to change her mind about hockey players, even if he makes many, many mistakes along the way.

Did not finish.

I love hockey and have never read a hockey romance before, so I was looking forward to it! Unfortunately I found the characters too immature and frustrating. I also thought the pacing was a bit off and that it could’ve been a lot shorter. For these reasons I decided not to continue.

This was really cute overall, though the plot starts to meander and lose focus in the second half.

Collide follows Summer Preston, determined to fulfill her dream of becoming a sports psychologist, as she clashes with Aiden Crawford, captain of the hockey team when he is forced to become the subject of her research paper. He thinks she’s uptight; she thinks he needs to care more. And one more thing: she can’t stand hockey players.

The premise is actually really promising, and the way the main characters are brought together is believable. I really enjoyed their banter, and even while “insta-attraction” isn’t my favorite thing, I didn’t really mind it because it was clear there was so much more to Summer and Aiden.

As the story continued, some of the expected plot beats ended up not really playing out. On one hand, this was because the main characters actually communicated, which was very refreshing, but on the other hand, it made some of the things we were building up to anticlimactic. There was one conversation and then all the tension just...fizzled out.

There was also kind of a general disorganization because once the main leads were together, it felt like we were haphazardly bouncing between simple romantic scenes or addressing subplots. By the end, some things not really clear, like what Summer’s research was about or how Aiden was even involved.

With that being said, I think the main characters are set up decently. We understand why Summer is the way she is, and the same goes for Aiden, and we even got little domestic scenes that showed us they were bigger than their problems. I think if the plot arcs were more organized, the character development would’ve been even stronger, but overall, it was fine.

The side characters are the complete opposite — I don’t think books HAVE to have subplots for their side characters, but with how many this one had, I found most of them forgettable and unnecessary.

Ultimately, I think being more organized with Summer’s project and family issues would’ve elevated this book, but honestly, if you’re just expecting a light-hearted college romance, it’s not a deal-breaker by any means and this is still an enjoyable book. The writing is easy to enjoy, and while the book isn’t necessarily memorable, it’s a fun time.

BAL KHABRA WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE???

This book was a solid debut and only made me even more obsessed with hockey romance! The way I devoured this book should be illegal. I mean, he falls first? And HARDER? Yes please, sign me up! The banter was top tier and the cast of side characters was so fun. They made me so excited for the next book! If you're a fan of golden retriever book boyfriends, then be prepared to fall head over heels for Aiden. SWOON-WORTHY! This book was just so fun to read, add this to your summer TBR immediately!

Thank you Berkley Romance and Bal Khabra for the gifted copy!

Decent hockey romance. Enjoyed the chemistry and the college setting of a hockey romance follows so many others so it felt familiar. The story itself was a bit lackluster and resolutions seemed to come very quickly. Interested to see what comes next in the world.

Okay got a few mixed feelings about this book.

Since reading A Code for Love by Bal, I’ve been looking forward to more from her. This however was a little disappointing as to what I might have been expecting. It started off great but there isn’t really much happening in this book after like 45% of it, I started to get really bored and basically just wanted to skim to the end.

Summer and Aiden are forced to spend time together where she is doing her grad school proposal on him but we don’t really get to see what that really is. The sole purpose of them spending time together was because of that so maybe a few reports or maybe questions that she was getting him to answer added to the book would have been a better touch.

For a hockey romance book there really isn’t much hockey. It was a fun read for the first half but then meh. However, if you’re someone who likes that — no heavy drama in a book, then this might be for you!


Things you might like:
-hockey caption x smart girl
-opposites attract
-fmc with daddy issues
-south Asian rep
-smut
-no third break up act not much drama really


Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

This was such a cute one! Loved the whole college scene and it felt so familiar. I'm really into hockey romances and especially when the brainy fmc doesn't like hockey athletes even better.
They had such great chemistry and loved all the crazy guys he lived with too. So excited for more of their books.
Liked that he helped her reconnect with her family. It's always good to have someone on your side to speak for you.
They had such spicy scenes.
Aiden definitely was a good guy. He would take the fall to protect his friends.
That epilogue was so sweet! ,😍

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Beware of possible spoilers.

I DNF'd this. I wish I hadn't had to, but I couldn't make myself continue. All this book did was make me so frustrated beyond belief.

Romance isn't really one of my genres. I WANT to love it. I love Rom-Com movies, so why do the books always seem to fall so flat for me? Sometimes, I hit the jackpot. Sometimes, I get books like this one...that make me want throw it again the wall.

There isn't really a story. Or, well, there almost WAS a story until everything became a mess. The mc was fine. Sort of. He wasn't the worst I've read. Sure, he's arrogant and he sleeps around, but you know what? People can sleep around if they want to as long as it isn't hurting them or anyone else. Arrogance? Whatever. I don't think Romance will ever get away from this and in this novel it isn't the worst part. He doesn't have a thought that isn't about the fmc's looks or getting her into bed, really, which makes his POVs rather boring and icky to read.

The fmc, though? There's this thing in novels where authors try so desperately to make the fmc "stronger", which usually results in them being one of the worst. The prejudice, the rudeness...absolute frustration to read. She gave up a friendship because the guy was a hockey player?? Nothing about this character came out right. And the part that really had me stop was when she used a guy SHE KNEW LIKED HER to make the mc jealous.

Miscommunication is my enemy, but sometimes it can work. Them disliking each other for stupid reasons, I can maybe ignore. Using people to make someone jealous knowing that this person likes you?? Absolutely not. That's where I draw the line. That's mean and unnecessary. And, not going to lie, some of the smut scenes felt toxic? The communication was practically non-existent and I really needed more consent to feel okay about them.

Nothing about these characters drew me in. I didn't believe their chemistry. And I'm just so disappointed...It could have been a good book, I think. It just...didn't work for me at all.

This one wasn't for me. I was drawn in by the cute cover and the description listed but it fell a little short for me. I think if it was shorter and a bit less repetitive in certain actions/scenarios I might have liked it more. The beginning was okay and I liked the ending, but I lost interest in the middle for a lot of it. I didn't dnf because I did want to see how it would end and I'd heard the last chapter was promising. I'm pretty sure this is the author's debut novel so I'm going to try her next book too when it comes out to see if maybe this one just wasn't a good fit for me. There are definitely some good quotes to highlight and funny moments, and if you like a lot of spice scenes there are a ton of those from midway to the end. The sneak peek into Bal's next book Spiral is promising and I'll definitely check it out when it's published next year. It follows Eli who is a smaller character in Collide but one I liked while reading this one.

Thank you Berkley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am a sucker for hockey romances so there was no way I wasn’t going to adore Collide by Bal Khabra!

Summer Preston, an honors student and self proclaimed hockey hater, is given an ultimatum from her academic advisor and finds herself observing Aiden Crawford (the captain of the hockey team) for her grad school thesis application. Not one to derail her carefully laid plans, Summer finds herself in close quarters with charming, flirtatious Aiden, and her disdain for the captain starts to transform into something new. As Aiden and Summer get closer, they discover how wrong their first impressions were and how good they might be if they gave into their growing attraction.

Summer and Aiden had me wrapped around their fingers! I was so obsessed with this couple, and their sizzling banter, that I was internally begging for them throw caution to the wind and give into their budding interest. Khabra delivered on the intensity, and once the spice kicked in, I was fully captivated. I loved the side characters so much and see a lot of potential for continuation in this universe. Khabra laid some groundwork for subsequent potential couples and I need to see if my existing theories come to fruition.

Read if you love sports romances, grumpy x sunshine trope, or college-set stories!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Overall the story was cute, the first 55-60% felt like I was slogging through a will-they-won’t they ping pong as they went from I like you to I hate you to I like you again which left my head reeling a bit. The last part made up for a lot of it, very cute, and touching in points. I think the story was too long for what it was and I felt some plot points were shoehorned in. A decent debut but I ultimately wish the story was streamlined and the characters were less surface-level.

Thank you Berkley for the eArc!

IT’S A HIT.

This book gripped me from the first chapter. I could not put it down. A stay-up-late, kicking-my-feet romance. I cannot wait to read more of this authors books.

Five stars. I will be telling all of my friends to pause their current reads to pick this up immediately.

This may be one I come back to. I love the premise but wasn't feeling our MCs. There just seemed to be something that made them seem even younger than they were and I couldn't get through it.

Thank you Berkley for the opportunity!

This book was a solid addition to my bookshelf while I am in my hockey romance era. This book was a solid four-and-a-half-star read until I reached the end and knew that five stars was the right choice after all. I initially thought that the progression of their relationship in the beginning was not very convincing but, in the end, there was no doubt about their relationship regardless of how it started. The romance and falling in love in this story was so satisfying. I thought that some of the female lead character's actions and choices were annoying but by the end, I could see that it was all part of her character development. Both main characters were so multidimensional and fleshed out with distinct personalities. I loved all of the secondary characters but admit to having trouble keeping them straight in my mind at times while reading. I really hope to see more of them in future books in this series. Overall, this book was very addicting and put a huge smile on my face. I will definitely read this author again.

I originally was interested in this book because I loved the cover but after reading it I’m just as obsessed with the story too! I absolutely love Aiden and Summer too! They have such a sweet relationship and I also love their friend group! So happy this one was picked up by a trad publisher!

Another fun hockey romance. There wasn’t anything new or revolutionary to the genre, but it made my hockey romance heart happy.