This was pretty dang cute! It's got all the best things from popular hockey romances - definitely with Rule Number Five by Jessa Wilder and Icebreaker by Hannah Grace vibes, but also uniquely it's own entry into the genre.

I like that they don't like each other right away, that it starts with antagonism, and that he has to grovel before they even become more than projects to each other. It's nice that while Aiden initially comes off as an ahole, he truly isn't one, and reveals that throughout the book. He's invested in himself and frustrated with life situations, but takes accountability. That's a guy we can all get behind and support going for our girl Summer.

Summer...is supremely stubborn and it's what brings a lot of the humor to the book. I loved her ambition, commitment to her dreams, and honestly, her commitment to herself. The walls are SO HIGH, and I appreciate a lead who is careful about keeping them up until being let inside has been earned.

And ooo baby, the spice. The spice in this was unexpectedly steamy, but also led to one of my favorite sweet moments from Aiden. These two have excellent chemistry, and Aiden never loses sight of believing in their emotional chemistry alongside the physical. It's very sweet.

In the grand scheme of hockey romances I really enjoyed that this one had more POC characters, which is not super common in both fictional and real life hockey. Summer is a really stubborn character, almost to fault at times and Aiden is protective, also almost to a fault. Overall I liked the plot of not standing each other than becoming friends to Lovers. I also adore a hockey romance no matter how cheesy.

This was a cute, sweet, and spicy hockey romance that I really enjoyed. I loved the dual pov, all of the side characters, and the relationship between everyone. I thought all of the characters were well fleshed out and multi dimensional, and as usual in these types of books, the side characters really made it entertaining. I laughed out loud a few times at some of Kian’s antics.

While I do find hockey romances to all be pretty similar, and I kept drawing similarities to The Deal and Icebreaker in particular, I still appreciated this story for what it was.

4.25/5 stars

I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing an arc copy of the newly traditionally published version of Collide! I had a few friends who had read and loved the book when it was out indie and who had recommended it to me, so I was really excited when I was able to get the arc for the trad published version! If you are a college hockey romance fan, you are going to love this one!

Summer is finishing up her application to go to grad school for sports psychology and has to do a final research project on an athlete. Low and behold, Aiden, the hockey captain with a heart of gold who takes the punishment for his teammates mistakes, is selected by his coach to be Summer’s research subject as part of his community service. The only problem? Summer absolutely despises hockey players and wants nothing to do with him.

This book was exactly what I look for in a college hockey romance. We had the hot hockey hunk of a MMC falling for the smart, focused and a tad grumpy FMC. The tension between them was iconic. Their banter and interactions were absolutely delicious and I was squealing at them throughout! I loved how their relationship developed over time and the back and forth they had with each other. Aiden is literally to die for and Summer is so relatable and has such a great journey in the story! Their chemistry was really off the charts and I died when they finally got together!

The only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me is that I wish there was a little bit more development of plot and pacing. There were a few times where it felt like things stretched on or I wanted it to be wrapped up faster, but that is really just my personal preference as slow burns tend to kill me 😆

There were also some great side characters to the story, which I wish we could have seen a teeeensy bit more of, but it makes me so excited for future books in this series! I know Bal is gonna knock it out of the park with their stories as well!

R E A D I F Y O U L I K E
🏒 College Hockey Romance
🏒 He Falls First
🏒 Cinnamon Roll MMC
🏒 Black Cat FMC
🏒 Found Family
🏒 Forced Proximity
🏒 SO MUCH TENSION

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Will post review to linked bookstagram on release day.

This college hockey romance book was so freaking good. I will admit I was a little hesitant as the first 30% or so feels both slow and little played out. Then again, I’ve lost count of how many college hockey romances I’ve read by now. But little by little unique(and well written) characters and plot points kept coming together to build this world of DU set within New England.

I’m a sucker for a black cat x golden retriever love story. When he falls first and sees through her icy demeanor? Whew. That’s exactly what Aiden Crawford does. This hockey captain comes off as kind of aloof, like everything must come easy for him. This man has been working his ass off to get to the NHL and is a very caring captain issuing discipline to his teammates while also publicly taking the blame for their antics in front of the coach. Where you’d assume the hockey house the guys live in would be dirty and out of control there is actually a sense of order. Yes they are college boys who inherently are gross, but they truly care for one another. They’re always looking out for the problem child while never missing out on a good time.

It would be easy to be irritated by the studious and ever academic focus of Summer Preston. I’ve definitely read characters modeled similarly who had very few redeeming qualities. Yes, Summer has a chip on her shoulder when it comes to hockey players. And yes she turns down social invitations to focus on getting into grad school but she’s also a really great friend. She’s a fully formed FMC made with equal charm and flaws. Also can we talk about how we got an Indian FMC dating a hockey player? She’s not blonde and tiny. I swear if I read one more book where she’s a dainty little bird of a thing I’ll scream. I should also add that her desire to do well in academia isn’t driven by her parents. She legit likes sports psychology and is good at it.

This book is an ideal introduction to the hockey romance world. For a new reader this book should be a guide of how well a college hockey romance book can be written. This book has wonderful characters who communicate and overcome obstacles together, avoiding the third act break up. I wholeheartedly believe that this couple would actually make it past the epilogue.

I completely inhaled this read.

I could not put it down for a second.

Summer and Aiden are in their last year in college. Summer has to work with a hockey player for a sport psychology project that will determine her acceptance into a very competitive continuation program at Dalton. Only problem is she has daddy issues and they involve a true hate for hockey.

Who is she teamed up with for this project? Aidan Crawford, the captain of the hockey team and honestly one of the best book boyfriends I have ever read about (adding him to my book boyfriend collection, thank you).

There were some points where I felt like he was too good of a guy for Summer (she got a little annoying) but it all balanced out at the end.)

There are so many layers to this book and i was there for each and everyone of them.

I really enjoyed this book, it took me out of a reading slump. I love that this ice hockey romance wasn’t too in-depth with the hockey details, it was the perfect amount. The spice was GREAT — it wasn’t overdone to the point of cringe, or underdone to where I wanted more.

I do think the book could’ve ended around the 90% mark as it started to drag out at that point. The two epilogues were a little overkill.

I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Collide by Bal Khabra is a delightful blend of spicy and sweet that sets it apart from other works in its genre. Khabra skillfully intertwines witty banter, a captivating cast of characters, and humor that will have readers laughing out loud. The result is a charming and timeless love story that had me rooting for Aiden and Summer from the very beginning and left me thinking about the characters long after I reached the end.

This book unfortunately was just not for me. I really disliked both the female and male main characters and found the over plot to be slow and boring. I also really struggled with this being labeled an enemies to lovers but they were enemies for perhaps 5 seconds. I also thought that Summer’s reason for not liking hockey players was such an overreaction.

oh I just absolutely adored this one! I binged this in less than 24 hours and honestly had a blast. it had a nostalgic 2021 hockey romance vibe and it me love it that much more. Aiden is a top tier man - even if he is still a senior in college haha. my only reason for docking a star was Summer got on my nerves sometimes LOL. she got mad very easily and over the weirdest stuff.

read if you like:
- hockey romance
- he falls first (and hard).
- black cat x golden retriever

thank you Berkley romance & Bal Khabra for this arc!

This book felt like a hodgepodge of every other hockey romance I have read. Overall, it's okay.

So, things I liked:
✅ Aiden-I don't normally love the golden retriever MMC, but I'll make an exception for Aiden.
✅ He falls first
✅ Hockey romance
✅ There's a lot of secondary characters that have funny banter.

Things I didn't love:
❌ Summer-I found her difficult to like. The whole plot of the book is she hates hockey because her dad plays hockey and she felt he didn't give her enough attention growing up...so that would naturally make you hate all people associates with hockey. She came off as rude a lot and I just wasn't rooting for her, sorry girl.
❌ The Epilogue. This book was WAY to long and there was 2 pointless epilogues. Yes, you heard me: two epilogues.
❌ The pacing is very slow. The author could of eliminated 150 pages and we still would have got to the same place in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

the last thing summer wants to do is include hockey in her graduate admissions research. however, her advisor has made it clear that if she doesn’t, she’ll need to find another advisor, which could upend summer’s plans to become a sports psychologist. enter aiden, the school’s hockey captain, who’d rather do anything else than be the subject of a research paper, but such is his punishment for a party-shaped mistake. as they push through their differences to check off their respective responsibilities, summer and aiden start to realize that maybe there’s more to the other person than they initially thought.

i know it’s become somewhat of a cliché, but academic girl/athletic boy will get me every time. (however, as i mentioned before, there is a lot more to them than those descriptors.) i loved that this was a dual pov romance so we got to see into both summer’s and aiden’s minds. i also appreciated how they both had complicated family situations that were explored throughout the story.

i’d recommend this to NA romance fans and i can’t wait to read more books by bal khabra!

The plot for this one has been done before, but there was something so special about the characters and writing that made this a new favorite hockey romance. Aiden was sweet and attentive to Summer and while she had a tendency to push back, watching her slowly tear down her walls and be vulnerable made me swoon. The whole cast of secondary characters made the college setting comet to life. I’m now ready for books featuring the rest of the gang.

Read if you like:
-College hockey player
-Slow burns
-Grumpy heroine/ sunshine hero
-He falls first
-Icebreaker/ The Deal

This book was really cute and fun to read. My only critic is that the main FMC, Summer, was one of the most unforgiving characters I have ever read about. She got mad at everything and everyone. Aiden was incredible and a dream, so he evened out the field.

Read this if you like:
•hockey romances
•grumpy sunshine
•college setting

This book is a bit of a slow burn but once it heated it up, it was chefs kiss. This was a really fun, solid debut. I am a sucker for hockey romances. I can’t wait for the next books in series too!

Thank you Berkley romance for eARC!

Read if you like:
🏒 Sports Romances
🔀 Opposites Attract
🏫 College Settings
🌶️ Spice
🦮 Golden Retriever MMC
🌥️ Grumpy x Sunshine

For fans of Icebreaker or hockey romances in general, run, don’t walk to read this one!

I enjoyed the South Asian x Canadian rep that we got through our FMC Summer, but wish we got more of her culture in the book as I was really excited for it, and felt like we didn’t get as much as I had hoped.

I loved that Aiden and Summer were pushed together for her project for her grad school application and so that Aiden could stay playing on the hockey team after taking the punishment for his whole team when a party got out of hand.

This pairing gave immediate tension with Summer hating Hockey (her dad is a famous hockey player) and Aiden not having the time nor interest in helping the cute but grumpy Summer with her project.

This one has some good spice, but takes a slower build to get to it which I enjoyed!

Thank you to Berkley Romance and PRHA for my gifted ARC and audiobook copies!

Collide is a hockey romance worth feral reading all night with a flashlight or an ereader under the covers; from the beginning the new adult voice of the college age characters reads authentic, as does their steaming chemistry. Summer is doing sports psychology research competing for a graduate spot and Aiden is the captain of the school’s hockey team. Neither one of them do relationships well, but when they have to work together for her project and his community service, they’re both taken aback by how immediate the attraction is. This is hot and fun!

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Romance, and Bal Khabra for this eARC. This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cute romance with enough to keep you more. With how booktok is this days this will for sure blow up.

I read this OBSESSIVELY. I couldn't stop my fangirly updates on goodreads and insta stories while I was reading, I felt like screaming from the rooftops about all the magic, writing, dialogue, characters, story, vibes, everything.

I ate it all up. I was giddy, kicking my feet, aww-ing, telling about it to everyone who would listen and fanning myself because these two are so hot you can feel the chemistry even when they are not together.

One of my favorite sports Romance ever, very Elle Kennedy and other classics of the genre type.

The black cat/golden retriever dynamic, the banter, the spice (omg so much spice!! So not complaining), the communication and beautiful natural development of their relationship... top tier. I melted by the end.

Aiden is the new standard (for both real and fictional bf), if I don't get that I don't want it.🥹🫠🫶😮‍💨🫡

Also, NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP. 👏👏👏

[And already OBSESSED WITH THE NEW COUPLE BECAUSE OMG I LOVE THAT TROPE YOU ARE NOT READY. I am not ready, but pls Berkley I'm begging you for an ARC of that as soon as it's available. TY ILY]

Thank you Berkley for the ARC 🫶

In a world full of hockey romances, Collide feels like a breath of fresh air. The story follows Summer, a sports psychology student who is applying to a graduate program. However, things get intense when she’s forced to work with the hockey team. The only problem is that Summer is not a hockey fan in the slightest.

Despite that, Summer decides to give it a try and is paired up with Aiden Crawford who is the captain of the team. While Aiden is used to getting what he wants from anyone, it’s clear things won’t be as easy with Summer. Regardless, it makes the romance all the more refreshing and realistic for the two.

While I adored the romance between Aiden and Summer, the thing I enjoyed most was how much we learned about these characters. The two were dealing with a lot of past trauma and emotional baggage they had to work through. In particular, it felt like Summer had such much to unpack and deal with especially when it came to hockey.

Once you find out about Summer’s past, everything truly starts to fall into place and then learning what happened to Aiden, it’s all so heartbreaking. Despite those tough topics and emotional moments throughout the story, the mood never felt somber. If anything, Bal Khabra made things feel light and fun.

Collide was also incredibly sexy as the tension between Aiden and Summer was just delicious. I do feel like sometimes new-adult stories can go overboard with steam. However, this was just enough and made the story feel even more believable. Considering that I’m not much of a new adult reader these days, Collide surprised me in the best way.