*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!*

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

❝Who are you and what have you done with Summer?❞
❝She fell in love.❞

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Alexa... play Streets by Doja Cat

0:00 ♡──────── -3:48
↻ ⊲ Ⅱ ⊳ ↺

"Cause you're a one in a million, there ain't no man like you"

"Everything about her feels like it's one in a million. Being able to be this close to her makes me feel like I'm one in a million."

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

જ*⁀➷Includes:
➵enemies to friends with benefits to lovers
➵forced proximity
➵sworn off relationship
➵rejected as unworthy by parent
➵grumpy x sunshine
➵smut

જ*⁀➷Summary In the Form of a Quote

❝Her five year plan has been thoroughly dismantled, but mine has just begun, and she is its focal point. Summer is my sun, and I'm the simple planet revolving in her orbit.❞

જ*⁀➷Themes
Unexpected love can arise from the ashes of ruined plans.
Love sometimes comes when we least expect it.

જ*⁀➷Characters

Summer
It sometimes surprises me when I read new adult books and the main characters are actually interesting. Like, Summer had a backstory, she had actual feelings and thoughts I could relate to, and she didn't annoy me at all (except when she was supposed to). She wasn't a pick me (Autumn, I'm GLARING at you) and her chapters were actually entertaining. But in contrast, she wasn't anything special either. If I'm being honest, she was just kinda meh, but not in any type of bad way!

"She makes a face. 'You're nauseatingly perfect. I think I really like you.'"

Aiden

AHHH this MAN!! 🤭
Now, if we're talking perfection that's basically the best way to describe him. He was sweet, thoughtful, caring, and just so amazing. He quite literally made me kick my feet and giggle every time he opened his mouth. WHERE CAN I GET ME AN AIDEN CRAWFORD???

"What happened to never losing?"
"I'm fine with it if you're the one winning."

Kian

HONORABLE MENTION TO MY BABY KIAN!!!
His roommates were actually so mean to him throughout this whole book, with creating a separate group chat, to telling him to shut up every time he opened his mouth...
LET HIM BREATHE
And he was so nice too!!
Justice for Kian!!

"Hey, you never told me what it was like."
"What?"
"Being dropped on your head as a child."

LEAVE HIM BE 😭😭

જ*⁀➷Plot
I was fairly surprised with this one! I expected it to be fully stocked with smut, but it honestly wasn't! The smut itself didn't even start until about the 20% mark, and the last 50% was smut free. This book mainly focused on growing Aiden and Summer's relationship in an emotional way instead of physical, which was really surprising and I really appreciated it! They had so many cute moments oh my lord! 🤭

"I forgot how much you feel like home." 🤭🤭🤭

જ*⁀➷Quotes
🌷"Well, you said it's your favorite thing. If it makes you happy I'd do it."

🌷She adds the latter suggestion purposely, but her smile is so pretty I have a hard time focusing on anything else.

🌷It's her sated smile when she drops her forehead to mine that cracks my chest wide open.

🌷He nods and leans in to kiss my forehead. Once, twice, three times. Each kiss causes a devastating flutter to erupt in my stomach.

🌷This girl is fucking sunshine embodied, and she has no clue.

🌷Because that is what Aiden does-he makes me feel safe even in moments where I've never felt more alone.

🌷"I can't understand how someone so fucking amazing is bound up into one human being. You make everything so much brighter, Summer, and it drives me crazy that you can't see that."

🌷"You make it sound like I'm perfect."
"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."

🌷This fucking guy. He's ridiculously attractive and sweet. I didn't stand a chance.

🌷"Of course you would say something like that. You just had to be everything I wanted."

🌷Never did he make my feelings seem less than because of his own experience. No one has ever understood me like he does.

જ*⁀➷Rating

Characters: 4.25/5 ⭐

Plot: 4/5 ⭐

Quotes: 5/5 ⭐

Ending: 4/5 ⭐

Overall: 4.30/5 🌟 (Rounded down)

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

❝I love you. Like, a lot.❞
❝I love you, too, Preston. Like, a lot.❞

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

This was such a fun and light hearted read! It's the perfect palette cleanser between really heavy books or if you're in the mood for an easy contemporary! I will say that there were a few things I had trouble digesting about this. While i loved the romance, it might have been due to Aiden being too perfect? Where were his faults? This book borderlines on unbelievable sometimes because I was kind of taken aback at how easy it seemed. And then the student professor relationship was so glossed over we got an exposition of those consequences. What was the reason of Donny being so…… ugly? Reminded me too much of Icebreaker with the other ugly character.

However, despite the unbelievable relationship this may have had, I was still rooting for those sweet moments. The banter was a lot better than I expected and that is why I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 3!

This was my first hockey romance and I really enjoyed it! I found both the FMC and MMC likeable, and I really enjoyed Summer's relationship to her bestfriend, Kian, and how that played into the role of everything. I docked one star because I felt like it took a little too long for me to really start enjoying it, but overall it was so cute and I would recommend any romance lover to read it!

love the cover love a hockey romance i did enjoy the book but there were parts on the second-half where I felt like the story got lost for a bit and took a while to find its way back to the the point. Also these characters did come off young so if you don't enjoy reading new adult this is not the book for you.

I had high expectations for this one, but it let me down. I didn't feel attached to the characters! Disappointed, it sounded promising!

While this wasn’t the most unique of romances, I did find COLLIDE to be very enjoyable - this is definitely a feel good guilty pleasure romance! This wasn’t super plot heavy but still very enjoyable. The chemistry, banter and relationship between Summer and Aiden was engaging and the side characters were hilarious. Definitely worth a read if you are into sports romances!

I am 100% unapologetically in my hockey romance era, so I was glad to get a chance to read TikTok sensation Collide by Bal Khabra. Aiden and Summer definitely have an opposites attract romance, and it makes for an engaging read.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

*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.