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Thank you to PRH Audio and Berkley for the copy, all thoughts are my own.

This was an extremely long slow burn of a book. I think it could have benefited from being shorter. At one point I could have sworn the story was almost done and I was only 2/3 of the way through 🙃 I didn’t really connect with the FMC in this honestly, and that could be why it felt so long. I did love a lot of the side characters though, and would keep reading a series to see them get their HEA.

❤️Tropes❤️
💋 Hockey Romance (college)
💋 reverse grumpy/sunshine
💋 slow burn
💋 opposites attract

Summer has her life planned out. She is going to graduate, get into grad school and then devote her career to sports psychology. Unfortunately for her, her big project stands in the way and her advisor assigned her a subject. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but Summer loathes hockey players and everything they represent thanks to her history (which her advisor is aware of). She can do this. She can get through this year, spending time assessing the captain of the hockey team. She can just ignore his sinfully good looks and be professional. Yeah…

This hockey romance is off to a rocky start, but as the story picks up so does the heat between Summer and Aiden. Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and I enjoyed the verbal sparring and banter that developed into real feelings as they got to know each other. They were definitely college age and at times seemed immature, but there was a sweetness and charm to them too. Hockey fans will appreciate the sports references and romance readers will fall for the love story.

I am giving this book 3.75 stars. I found this story easy to ready and easily bingeable. I had a great time throughout the entire story and really enjoyed getting to know more about our main (and side) characters. The main reason It doesn't get a higher rating is because I didn't connect with the characters so it took me out of the story at times. Overall, I enjoyed this world that Bal Khabra has created.

Okay, it’s time to admit I’m a hockey romance fan. ’ve tried protecting myself from the trope of the year, but Bal Khabra’s Collide has got me ready to obsess over another series of hockey himbos!

At first, this novel feels like a slow burn, but then it quickly ramps up! The chemistry between Aiden and Summer is strong (as much as Summer refuses to admit it).

While the plot does play on one or two overused tropes (looking at you, rocky parental relationship), it’s easy to put aside as the rest of the story has so much heart and connection. Needless to say, I’m ready for the next one!

Thank you Berkley for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Collide was a little long but I did enjoy it. The preview for book two at the end really caught my attention too. Can't wait to read it.

I loved this so much - the hockey romance I needed this week!! The banter and chemistry between Summer and Aiden was amazing. The secondary cast was also great (can’t wait for the other guys’ stories to come, especially Kian).

Fans of Hannah Grace and Helena Hunting will love this!

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this. All opinions are my own!

I enjoyed this book! It gave Ice breaker vibes which ain’t a bad thing lol. Summer is using the college hockey team as a part of her school assignment and Aiden is the captain and wakes up every morning to drive Summer crazy… in more ways than one. I loved all the guys on the team, they added good humor. Nothing super crazy happens but it’s not boring or dragging either. I’d recommend!

This book is much too long. As a long-time romance fan, it seems that most romance books can accomplish their goals in about 8-9 hours. This audiobook as a 12 hour run time and at 8 hours I realized that I was no longer interested in seeing how things worked out. While I loved the banter and the spice was super sweet and hot, that daddy-issues did not seem like a good enough plot point do drag out this long.

Thank-you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Bal Khabra for the eARC.

I don't know what sort of witchcraft was involved in this because this is SO not my usual type of romance (esp. HETERO romance) but oh my gOD the chokehold this book had on me LMAOOO. Had me giggling and kicking my feet up and shit. I loved it. Loved it loved it loved it and I already cannot WAIT for more books in this series. I love a chaotic found family and TBH if Miss Khabra decides she wants to write a book for every single member of the hockey team AS WELL AS Summer's roommates, I will be ready and sat for each and every one.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with the ARC of Collide! I thought that it was a fast-read, but I thought that the progression of their relationship was too erratic for me. I think it'll be well-liked, but just not for me!

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC!

Collide by Bal Khabra is a super fun black cat/golden retriever hockey romance perfect for lovers of Elle Kennedy & Hannah Grace! Summer and Aiden are forced to work together on Summer’s thesis project, much to both of their annoyance. Summer, a self proclaimed hockey hater, is not pleased to have to work with hockey team captain, Aiden. However, Aiden’s happy go lucky personality starts to chip away at Summer’s hard exterior, and the two find something like a friendship blooming. Once they start to like each other, it becomes increasingly harder to stay friends.

Khabra has created an endearing and lovely world within this book! I love a big friend group, and these characters did not disappoint. Their unique personalities coupled with witty banter amongst them really made me fall in love with the characters. Aiden & Summer were a cute duo that I was chanting, “just kiss!” to the entire time. This is a very classic hockey romance, though - similar to others that hockey romance readers know & love. It isn’t changing the landscape of hockey romances, but if you’re looking for a straightforward, quick-read hockey romance with spice, you’ll probably enjoy this!

Thank you, again, Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC!

This spicy and sweet romance was a ton of fun! I loved all the characters, main and minor. The antics everyone got up to made me laugh and how much the two MCs grew together made me want to hug them 💕

For those who love stories with….
LOTS OF SPICE(with good girl, dirty talk vibes) 🥵
COMPLICATED FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
BANTER
HOCKEY MEN
HE FALLS FIRST HARD
GREAT MINOR CHARACTERS
FOUND FAMILY/GREAT FRIENDS
DUAL POV
NO THIRD ACT BREAK UP

A proper and fun sports romance. Very much enjoyed this title. Bal Khabra knows how to write a likable FMC and MMC. Definitely recommend if you’re looking to get into contemporary romance!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. This was a typical hockey romance book. Easy to read, entertaining, spicy and sweet.

As soon as I saw this was a hockey romance where the smut was smutting - it was the perfect book to devour! This was so freaking good and I could not put it down! I will always read grumpy and sunshine books, but put them in a college setting and make him fall first and HARD - you'll catch me running. As a bonus, this amazing book doesn't have a third act break up and it was the cherry on top of an already delicious cake! I had such a great time reading this one <3

This plot was a similar formula to several college hockey romances I’ve read, but why fix what isn’t broken? I love Summer and Aiden together, and the journey they go on together to heal broken parts of themselves. The banter and spice was chef’s kiss! The dual narration by Julia Knippen and Max Meyers was excellent and really brought the book to life.

Thank you to PRH Audio for providing me with a copy of the audiobook, and to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy. This review is voluntary, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc.

I have been in my hockey-girl romance era so I was excited to get approved to read Collide by Bal Khabra. I think this book was middle of the road for me. I didn't completely love it, but I didn't outright hate it. I wish the book was a tad shorter, especially because the characters fell pretty fast for each other. There wasn't a slow-burn intro like most books that are over 400 pages. Summer was a hard character to love. Her daddy issues felt stupid to me. He was constantly reaching out and she denied every aspect. And then to deny any contact with any hockey players because her dad chose hockey over her was dumb, Aiden was cute and I did enjoy his characters, however, his decision at the end of the book was stupid. Despite not loving all the characters, the banter was good.

I am looking forward to future releases in this series, as I see a lot of potential.

This is an entertaining and steamy hockey romance. The characters are really well done, less stereotypical than in other hockey romances I’ve read. I liked reading about the details of the sport, and I enjoyed this book, 4 stars.
Summer is forced to work with the captain of the hockey team, Aiden, on her grad school admission thesis. His coach volunteered him for the job as punishment after he took responsibility for something his teammates did.
As they spend time together their relationship gets decidedly less hostile and much more romantic.

From the publisher:

An ultimatum from Summer Preston’s thesis advisor thrusts her into an unexpected collision with the hockey team’s captain, Aiden Crawford. She’s caught between conflicting desires of fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and staying as far away as possible from the god-awful sport. And once she meets Aiden—well, let’s just say he confirms all her worst assumptions about hockey players. 

Summer can’t stand Aiden’s blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn’t understand why she’s twenty years old with a twenty-five-year plan. But their bickering soon turns to bantering—and once they let their guards down, there’s nothing to check their feelings.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of [this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I had such a good time with this college hockey romance! Aiden and Summer shared such fun chemistry and their banter was SO MUCH FUN

Summer is working on her grad school application for sports psychology and finds herself paired up with the hockey captain, Aiden, much to both of their displeasure. Aiden is working on community service after a team issue and has no choice but to help Summer or face probation. The catch, Summer hates hockey players and refuses to change her mind.

Aiden and Summer are your classic cinnamon roll and black cat personalities and I loved them. They have some of the best banter and the spicyness between them was HOT HOT HOT. Aiden falls first and he falls hard for Summer and his little acts of service from her tea order to caring for her during her time of the month were so sweet. Summer has good reason to be hesitant and I could definitely find myself relating to her at points. I loved her progression as a character and the progression of dislike to friends to lovers for her and Aiden.

Other things I found myself really enjoying were the friendships and found family vibes between the hockey players and also between Summer and the guys. It has me invested in seeing how the rest of the series goes. The epilogue and the bonus scene for the new Berkley addition were PERFECTION! All the sweet and tender moments really got me 💕

Read it you love:
- black cat fmc / cinnamon roll mmc
- found family
- college hockey romance
- hockey captain/ psych student
- hilarious banter
- top tier spice
- caretaking
- he falls first & hard
- no third act breakup
4.5⭐️
3🌶️

*thank you so much @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the arc 💖 #netgalley #berkleyromance #hockeyromance

I would give this one a solid 3/5 stars. I enjoyed it and thought it was a cute read but it reminded me a lot of Icebreaker and I felt myself become bored in some areas of the book. Summer is our fmc that has overworked herself with school work. Our mmc is the captain on the hockey team and gets in trouble due to covering for his team mate. Summer and him are forced to work together during his punishment.

-golden retriever man x black cat girl
-daddy issues
-college hockey romance
-angsty