ELIAS 👏🏽 DOES 👏🏽 NOT 👏🏽 DISAPPOINT!

He’s so quiet and introverted, shoved into an auction date with a boisterous and affirming woman with her own dreams. So as he’s working through his rookie year with the NHL she’s killing it to get noticed by a ballet company.

I loved how proud they were of each other and their work - always understanding and motivating each other to do their best! Sage was a pleasure and I was so happy to see a female character be so self assure and talk about the journey to loving yourself.

I loved Aiden and Summer and now I’ve got Elias and Sage too!

🏒🩰

Read if you love:
• sports romance
• found family
• fake dating
• forced proximity
• slow burn

Elias and sage better be end game. This book was done so diligently and it was a joy to read. The trope of this book is fake dating which i loved. Shortly later, their feelings become so real that you can feel it through the pages.

i have never read a book that has resonated with me as much as this one. for starters, Sage is ME. 1000%. a young black ballerina with walls built so high she can’t accept the help she needs from those willing to give. and on a lighter note, my bf is also white so hello?? it’s me lmao.

Elias and Sage were written to perfection. Sage was determined, in all aspects of life except her own. Elias was so in control, except with his own emotions. they complemented each other so well. the fake dating trope couldn’t have crumpled faster with them, it was real from the beginning, idk why they even tried to fight it.

i absolutely adored the found family aspect for both Sage & Sean and little Nina. it was so full circle to see Sage care so much and be cared for simultaneously. and dont get me started on the spice bc ELIAS. SIR. IM SAT.

extra bonus points for incorporating Summer & Aiden so well into book 2 without overshadowing Elias & Sage. if there’s a book 3, i need it yesterday. Bal Khabra is a literary genius.

where do i even begin!!!! i loved collide, and i loved the snippets of eli’s character we got in it so i was so excited for spiral, and MAN did it blow my expectations out of the water. this is one of my favorite romances ive read. eli is a hockey player for the toronto thunder, who’s name is being slandered by the media and sage is a ballerina who is struggling to land any roles, due to her lack of social media content. eli and sage come up with a plan to help each other with what they need, create rules they need to abide by to fake date eachother, and man those go flying out the window. the vulnerability that eli and sage share with eachother was so beautiful to read. them slowly opening up to eachother!!!! and eli!!’ the man that you are!! and sweet spunky sage!!! fake dating is probably my all time favorite trope, and this book does it PERFECTLY!!!!!! this book is filled with vulnerability, slow burn, tension and so much fun! i love this one so so much.

thank you so much to netgalley and to berkeley publishing for giving me the honor of reading the arc of spiral!

Sage is a working ballerina who is trying desperately to land a principal role. Elias is a golden boy hockey player who has just signed with a pro team, and although he was a superstar in college, he has not found his rhythm as a rookie. These two meet at a charity hockey auction and begin a fake relationship to quell the rising pressure from Elias’ social media attention and develop an easy intimacy and support system for each other.

I loved Bal Khabra’s “Collide,” and jumped at the chance to read another of her books. I think that the writing is good and I enjoyed that it exists in the same world as her previous novel. I feel like the the relationship between the main characters is solid and has chemistry, but it is the sloooooowest of burns. I also feel like there is a lot of subplots going on - there’s an ex-boyfriend who shows up, both characters have estranged relationships with their parents, her uncle isn’t a fan of Elias, and both are trying to better themselves in their sport. It’s a bit much when looking at it all together. Even saying this, I still like Khabra’s writing style and characters and will immediately read anything she writes. I feel like her books add diversity to the hockey romance genre and it feels genuine and well-done. I adored that Sage was a ballerina! I am excited for future installments. (Can we say Kian?)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was cute!
I felt that this book did a really good job at building up all of life's usual twists and turns. The character growth didn't feel forced which so often happens in romance books such as these. I enjoyed getting to see previous characters and learn more about them. All in all, it was a solid book and I'll keep my eye out for more!

SUCH A CUTE & BINGEABLE BOOK! Elias is such a sweet cinnamon roll man!! He is so “in a world boys he’s a gentlemen” coded!!! Sage was such a fun character with so much depth. If you love a man obsessed, quiet love, and forced proximity this is for you!!!

Hockey player + ballerina, fake dating, forced proximity, found family, like what more could you ask for😩🤩

Elias and Sage’s story was so incredibly wholesome🥰🥰 The slow burn was BURNINGGGG!!! I don’t want to spoil anything about this book, so I’ll keep my review short and sweet.

The character development both of the characters went through😚🤌🏼 Seeing them both vulnerable with each other healed something in me😌

So much teasing and unfiltered dirty jokes, like why was I smiling at words on a screen?!! Don’t even get me started on the found family😩 The epilogue WILL make you tear up🥲

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!!

4.5⭐️

I read this in a few hours! I simply could not put this book down. I’m obsessed!! This was such a sweet and heartwarming sports romance book with fake dating, forced proximity, and dual pov.

Eli is a hockey player struggling in his career and Sage is an aspiring ballerina with hopes of joining a ballet theatre. Eli had me swooning. He is so thoughtful and a cutie!! His love language is acts of service. The little things he’d do for Sage were everything and had my heart melting.
Their banter and chemistry was 10/10. I felt like they connected really well. They both have gone through things that have shaped them into who they are now. I loved that they were able to share vulnerable parts of their past with one another.

I personally enjoyed this one a bit more than Collide.

A must add to your tbr!! As soon as this is out in bookstores next year I will be running to the bookstore for a physical copy.

Thank you so much Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for an Arc!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for this arc! I’m so incredibly grateful.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw this book and got a chance to read it. The cover is everything to me! Hockey player & ballerina? It’s like this book was written specifically for me.

Listen, this one goes out to all the slow burners out there. Eli and Sage will be your next obsession. Their build up was phenomenal and the angst and tension was played out to perfection. Toss in forced proximity and you’ll be on your knees for Eli.

Overall, this was the cutest read I’ve had in a long time and I definitely recommend it to all the sports romance girlies out there!

I couldn't finish this. I'm just jot feeling the chemistry between the characters. I just think it all started happening too fast and couldn't feel that tension I like in romance books, so I will have to give up. I don't feel like it's worth enough to keep reading, maybe I'll pick it up again some time.

I really enjoyed this one and I haven’t enjoyed a hockey romance in a WHILE so I’m extra thrilled! I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t loooove Collide but the cover for this is so adorable I decided to give it a shot (pun intended).

It was so much fun! I absolutely adored Sage, I thought she was a fantastic protagonist; very strong and confident. Her and Elias were sooo cute together! Elias made me want to strangle him multiple times and I thought the celibacy plotline wasn’t great, but he was really sweet to Sage and I loved their interactions. I also REALLY loved Summer and Aiden and both of their friendships with Sage. I may need to go back and reread Collide to see if a second read will change my tune.

I read this is two sittings but the pacing of the ending was a little off. The drama at the end with the ballet and Elias’s dad seemed a bit tacked on, but I did enjoy the epilogue and getting to see Elias and Sage as a real couple for a bit! Overall very fun!

A Toronto story is exactly what I needed! Sage and Eli are two very different characters than Aidan and Summer, and I loved them all of the same. So much tension before any resolution of the sexual needs between them, but the emotionally intimacy was top freakin notch. Thank you so much for access to an advanced copy!

Loved! You know, I often laugh about the huge amount of hockey romances there are on the market. It always confused me why this became such a thing? It's caused me to be very picky about which sports romances (mostly hockey) I actually pick up let alone enjoy. But this was definitely one that got me.

I thought Sage and Eli were both compelling characters, and there was just enough tension and pining that gets me hooked on a fake dating romance. I've also read Bal's other hockey romance and really loved that as well, she may be a master of the niche subgenre!

If this book was half as good as the epilogue, it’d be 5 stars without a doubt but unfortunately until we got to the good part the journey was veeeeeery long. I really liked Sage, for me she was the perfect protagonist BUT I can't say the same about Elias, although he had some good moments he had some (a lot) attitudes that made me want to throw my kindle at the wall 🥰🎀

The plot was the most cliché of all clichés (a girl with a bad family & financial problems and a rich boy with daddy issues) but what pissed me off the most wasn't even that, it was Elias's celibacy. And don't get me wrong bc when he finally breaks this "vow" (as he calls it) gets even worse!!!! The spicy scenes really weren't for me, there's a sentence (I won't give spoilers but it involves his piercing) that I almost CRIED with embarrassment when I read it 💀 btw Sage is definitely an angel bc her patience seems to be the size of the world, every time HE started making advances and then said he was celibate before leaving I wanted to punch him.

There are other minor details that bothered me like the fact that he didn't score a goal for several games and then scored 3 in a row in the most important game, the fact that there was unnecessary drama involving the ballet with like five chapters left (seriously, what was the purpose of that? Sage had suffered enough at that point), but these smaller things I’d totally ignore if it weren't for everything else.

Last but not least……. The “I should go”………. I screamed the loudest NOPE ever 🤺 I swear I was this close 🤏🏻 to dnf when I read that.

Positive points: Sage's brother (cute) and the epilogue. I swear, the epilogue made me want to cry even though I didn't liked the rest of the book.

I devoured this book in one day! wow! I did a whole re=read of Collide in preparation, and I loved that one even more the second time. Bal did a lovely job with sharing Sage and Elias' stories, I fell so hard for them and their fake-dating shenanigans (a favourite trope of mine).

Elias is struggling in his first season of the NHL, despite being a fantastic player, he cant get a single score on net. With the threat of a being traded lingering over him, and the media trying to turn him into a ladies man, he is truly at his wits end. Enter Sage, a ballerina struggling to make ends meet, and facing the fact that companies are now judging potential leads based on their follower counts on social media. Fake dating becomes the answer to both of their problems (at least partially) and they fall in love along the way.

I will 100% be reading anything Bal writes in the future, and I can't wait to reread this one once it is published.

After the majestic masterpiece that was Collide, I knew I would love this one and I absolutely did. Elias and Sage stole my entire freaking heart and I'm just overly joyed for the next one.

PLEASE RECONSIDER NOT DOING A THOUSAND OF THESE BOOKS.

This was honestly a cute hockey romance! I loved Eli and sage from the very start, both of them had trauma and I loved seeing them grow through the book. And when Eli said he would do anything for Sage, her meant that, that man did everything for her and I loved it!! I honestly loved the little slow burn that we got, it was definitely worth the way! Overall, I am a sucker for hockey romances and loved reading this book.

Eli's hockey debut is not going as he expected. Instead of making news for his game, he's making headlines for unfounded romantic relationships. Meanwhile, Sage's lack of social media popularity is making it difficult to get the attention of the directors of various ballet troops. When a chance encounter at a charity event places Eli and Sage together, they decide to try fake-dating to sell a new story for each of them. Neither of them could know that they are exactly what the other needs.

A second solid book by Bal Khabra. I enjoyed the characters in this one even though the stakes were relatively low.

4.5 rounded up!!! bal khabra absolutely redeemed herself for me with this book.

i am super excited to say that though i strongly disliked collide, i LOVED this book and i am so happy i decided to give bal another chance. eli and sage were just immaculate start to finish 😭

the only reason i knocked .5 off of this is because around 70% it felt like the book was hitting a point of “ok what could possibly happen for the next 30%” and made it feel as though the book could have been about 50 pages shorter because in that last 30% concluding every pilot point that was left felt a little rushed (aside from sages ballet, that pacing was awesome) but i did feel like if there were some trimmed pages in the first half to give the last half more room to breathe it wouldve been perfect.

one of my favorite things about this book was the tension my god it was THICK and palpable, the slow burn in this was so ridiculously good. this book will give you blue balls over and over again as their right on the cusp of explode just for something to snuff it out and i DEVOURED.

eli is the perfect man in like every form possible and sage is chaos personified yet so graceful and beautiful inside and out 😭

there are SOOOO many things that i want to absolutely go in on gushing about but i think theyre so much better left to reading yourself in the book so until next january i am refraining and barking & gnawing at the gates of my enclosure like a rabid dog trying to get to elias myself 🐕🐕🐕

lastly because i just cant help myself and feel the need to say it - if this summer that was in this book (amazing beautiful wonderful kind to my sweet sage) was written in collide i would have no doubt in my mind rated that book 5 stars. i cannot describe to you how much i wish that collide summer was the same girl as spiral summer.

PS as a hardcore canadian hockey team hater and tampa bay lightning stan absolutely side eyeing bal for her comments against my tbl. only in your wildest dreams would we be the lowest ranking team in the eastern conference 🤺