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Off the Ice #1
Collide
She’s an honors student with ambitious graduate school plans and he’s a jock with only hockey on his mind, but once their worlds collide, their connection is hot enough to melt an ice rink.
An ultimatum from her professor thrusts Summer Preston into an unexpected collision with hockey captain Aiden Crawford. She’s caught in a delicate balance between fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and veering far away from this god-awful sport.
For Aiden Crawford, being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by his team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. Consequently, his coach nominates him as the subject of a research paper. It's the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.
Summer can't stand his blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn't understand her uptight, scheduled one. They are off to a rocky start, and provoking each other is what they do best, but defeat isn't something either of them is willing to accept.
An ultimatum from her professor thrusts Summer Preston into an unexpected collision with hockey captain Aiden Crawford. She’s caught in a delicate balance between fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and veering far away from this god-awful sport.
For Aiden Crawford, being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by his team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. Consequently, his coach nominates him as the subject of a research paper. It's the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.
Summer can't stand his blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn't understand her uptight, scheduled one. They are off to a rocky start, and provoking each other is what they do best, but defeat isn't something either of them is willing to accept.
416 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2023
7605 people are currently reading
182724 people want to read
About the author
Bal Khabra
8 books4,484 followersBal is a Canadian writer, romance enthusiast, and book lover. Before she decided to jump into the romance pool, she spent her time gushing about books on social media.
She loves reading about love, watching movies about love, and now, writing about it herself. There really isn’t much else that gets her heart fluttering the way HEAs do. She fell in love with writing and hopes to continue living out her romance author dreams.
She loves reading about love, watching movies about love, and now, writing about it herself. There really isn’t much else that gets her heart fluttering the way HEAs do. She fell in love with writing and hopes to continue living out her romance author dreams.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 17,800 reviews
June 29, 2024
ೃ⁀➷ 5 stars *ੈ✩‧₊˚
AidenSummer were so perfect to meee kahdjd everything in this book just hit and made me feel like I was living on clouds 🤸🤸🤸
When ur physically screaming “THEYRE SO FUCKING CUTEEE 👹👹” the entire time ur reading their scenes it speaks VOLUMES. And especially coming from me bc I never vocalise irl hm im loving a book. But this? I was FORCED to show my appreciation in every sense of the word. It’s that good like I cannottttttt 🤭🦋💕💘💅💞🤸
Also if ur looking to this book for the plot ur gna be heavily disappointed. This is all romance/fluff and vibes no solid plot, there’s no standard structure to this, which is what I abs LOVE abt it. Idc I will take the MCs being cute and adorable over random tropes thrown in, which don’t even help the romance but are there just to please the reader.
It was so refreshing to read thisss I cannot express hm it made me giddy just to see what would happen next.
Their progression was chefs kiss. Every scene was there to show them overcoming little milestones in their relationship. I don’t think I could ever get tired of themmmm I didn’t want the book to end 😭
Summer Preston, my precious adorable pookie. I love that she knew her worth and stood up for herself. I love that she grew in this book from taking everything on alone to sharing the burden and allowing others to handle the load with her. I’m glad she got closure from whatever happened with her dad and that he wasn’t made out to be the 2D villain like almost every other book.
I love how when she goes all in she doesn’t hold back on reciprocating the affection.
Tyler and summer’s friendship was so 🥹🥹🥹 like the way he would be so soft w her and then start bickering like siblings ugh I want a Tyler rfn
AND THE WAY SHE EASILY INTEGRATED HERSELF INTO THE GROUP 💅💅💅 the GCs were fucking hilarioussss they’re all a bunch of clowns, especially Kian 🤣 (he gave Seth/gibsie vibes so hardddd) and they read some of her smutty books 🧚🏻
When the team had her back 🥹 it made me wanna just drop to the floor and clutch my chest bc it was painfully adorable 😩 Eli and Tyler are MY MEN. They are MINE.
Aiden Crawford, my hot sexy kind bf was such a golden retriever it literally broke my heart. Him being a dad to his entire hockey team 🥹🔫 and also him volunteering to teach kids how to play hockey 🥹🔫🔫🔫🔫
He’s the dilf I never knew I needed.
I love how he just sits there admiring how silky her hair is likeee pls that’s just too fucking quteeeee 🦋🦋
Sometimes the authors make the mmc’s say ‘I will do anything to keep u happy’ and then never make him follow thru or never put them in a position where he actually proves that BUT MISS KHABRA?? She has Aiden MF Crawford jumping thru fire and crawl up mountains for her. He makes mistakes but he GROVELS and he does it right 💅 He always puts her first and makes her his priority without fail. I just wanna hug him so fucking tight for the next 296384 years 😩💗💘💕💞🦋🧸
The way he’s so unapologetically himself and secure in what he feels has me gagged. He never questions how he feels but patiently waits for her to catch up LIKEEE 😭✋ he says all the right things to get my heart skidding and slipping into his hands 😣❤️🩹
And he’s so fucking funny pls their banter was TOP TIER. It had me laffing like a hyena on acid ✋
My cheeks are actually trembling from hm I’ve been giggling blushing grinning the entire book like stop being so fucking ADORABLE 😩
This has ALL the small moments you could ever want from a romance. Everything. The small pecks on the temple or jawline, the acts of service, the thoughtfulness, the cuddles, playing w each other's hair, watching “their” tv show, the hurt-comfort, him making a playlist for her ugh I wanna reread alr just recounting it 😭
AND THE SMUT IN THIS GOT ME 🤰🤰👩🍼
The way Summer gave back as good as she got 🤭🤭
The epilogue was so scrumptious my serotonin levels went 📈📈📈📈
All in all this book is gna be one I remember and cherish for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to see whose book is next in the series! (IT BETTER BE ELI OR TYLER👺)
𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:
I ship TyAmara sfb. I love Eli but I want them to happennnnn 🤞🤞🤞
And Donny can go die in a ditch 🧚🏻
𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀: 🎧
Mr brand new — Donnell Shawn
RockYaBody — Donnell Shawn
Summer too hot — Chris brown
Musta heard — Charlie Wilson
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: I have TOO MANY and this is only a fraction of what I’ve highlighted in the book but I just couldn’t help myself 🤭
♥︎ “What changed your mind?”
“Your desperation,”
“Pity? I’ll take it.” He beams.
♥︎ “So, you want to marry a robot.”
“I want to marry a stable man.”
“A stable man who probably can’t make you come.”
~THE GASP I JUST GUSPED
♥︎ “Last one in the pool has to pay for the other’s dinner,”
Just as I’m about to hop off the edge and dive into the pool, Aiden’s arm hooks around my waist, and we spin into the water, his back hitting it first. I’m engulfed in chlorine-treated water and him. When we break through the surface I’m still trapped against his hard body.
“I don’t lose, Preston,” he whispers against the shell of my ear.”
~SCREAMINGGGG
♥︎ A large hand encircles my arm and stops my rapid movements. Aiden pulls me in so we’re only a few inches apart. Concern is etched on his features. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Summer.”
~🥹🥹🥹
♥︎ “I haven’t talked to you all day. I’m thinking this punishment is a bit cruel,” I whisper against her ear.
She shifts to look at me. “Not talking to me is punishment?”
“The worst kind.”
~ nahhh I can’t take it anymore ✋
♥︎ Summer: Why are you in my room?
Aiden: Practice ended early. Amara let me in before she left.
Summer: Don’t touch my stuff, and definitely don’t look in any more drawers.
Aiden: Too late. You’re kinkier than I thought, Preston.
Aiden: And your bed is super comfy. I’m exhausted, I think I’ll take a nap.
Aiden: Naked.
~ILHSFMMM
♥︎ He made me tea.
Forest green eyes watch me. “Good?”
“It’s…it’s—yeah. It’s good.”
His eyes flicker, and the curve of his smile does something swirly to my chest before it starts to burn. Thought that might be the spoonful of cinnamon I just ingested.
~STOP ITTT WHY IS HE SO ADORABLE FOR MAKING HER THE MOST BITTER TEA 😭✋
♥︎ “Aiden, I’m not running with you.”
“Don’t. I’m just running the path over there,” he calls over his shoulder.
“That’s my path!”
“What a coincidence.”
I stare at his back. “You said you were exhausted.”
“Did I? I feel great.”
~STOP IT 😩😩
♥︎ “Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind a tip.”
“Come here and pull it out yourself.”
~ HAHAHAHHAHAHHA I WAS NOTTT EXPECTING HIM TO SAY THATTTT OMG IM LEGIT BLUSHING RN 🤭💞💕💗🤸♂️
♥︎ “So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses.
“Took me three tries.”
“For what?”
“To find this one.”
“The others didn’t have what you were looking for?”
I smile. “Not even close.”
~he’s so fucking perfect pls
♥︎ “Look at us, agreeing on something without bickering.”
“We did bicker.”
“That wasn’t bickering.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No—”
“We’re doing it right now!”
~haha I love themmmm
♥︎ “Are you incapable of having a normal conversation?”
“No, but I do like seeing you blush.”
“I do not blush,” she argues, blushing.
~🤭🤭🤭
♥︎ “I’m wherever you are, Summer.”
♥︎ It’s the tea my dad used to buy me, and there’s a note attached to the bottom.
For all those headaches I give you - A.
~lmaooo
♥︎ “Words, Summer. I need your words.”
~mouth open for this man
♥︎ “I need your words, Aiden.”
“Yes, Summer.”
~YES MAKE HIM BEG
♥︎ “You’ve been practicing?”
“Dylan’s been teaching me. Apparently, his mom loves chai.”
The thought of two hockey players hovering over a stove to make the perfect chai makes me smile. “Thank you.”
♥︎ He nods and leans in to kiss my forehead. Once, twice, three times. Each kiss causes a devastating flutter to erupt in my stomach.
♥︎ Aiden was carrying one of the kids on his shoulders as she proudly held up her medal. It was so ridiculously cute, I made it his contact picture.
♥︎ “Didn’t take you as someone who backs out of a challenge.”
“Seriously? You’re trying to reverse-psychology me into this.”
“I don’t think you can use that as a verb.”
~the way they’re using their subjects to take a jab at each other 😭
♥︎ “Your hair’s wet,” she whispers. Man, I love her fucking voice. I kiss the warm column of her throat up to her jaw. “Aiden.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re getting me wet.”
“I’d hope so.”
~HAHAH I LOVE THEMMM
♥︎ “Girls are like buttons—”
Coach clears his throat, cutting him off. “Ishida, what have I told you about gossiping in the weight room?”
~WUAHHAHAHAHHA IM DEDDD
♥︎ “You can pretend all you want, Summer, but we both know it’ll be me in the end.”
♥︎ “I forgot how much you feel like home.”
Home. She thinks I feel like home.
~brb gna go cry a river
♥︎ “Yeah, Summer was getting that vitamin A with a side of that D, if you know what I mea—ow!” Kian yelps when I elbow him.
~cryinggggg
♥︎ “So you’ve been reading my books?”
“Yup. I’m a big fan of the ones that have all the red tabs.”
~I cannottttt
♥︎ “You’re missing the view.”
He focuses on my face, and his smile makes my stomach dip. “No, I’m not.”
♥︎ His bright smile surfaces. “Can’t you see how lucky I am to have you?”
~ Stab me in the heart alr 😩✋
♥︎ “You and me, Preston. That’s the only way I want it.”
♥︎ “You can’t watch our show without me. We’ll have to figure out a schedule.”
“Can’t we just watch, then discuss it later?”
Her gasp startles me. “That is so sick and twisted. Of course we can’t do that!”
~Haha I love herrr
♥︎ I wipe a tear off her cheek. “Babe, the only time I want to see tears in your eyes is when I’m hitting the back of your throat.”
“How romantic,” she mutters, but her smile shines through.
“It made you smile, didn’t it?” Her eyes glisten, and I smile.
~I WANT HIM SFB
♥︎ “You and me, Crawford, that’s the only way I want it.”
♥︎ “I love you.” She scrunches her nose. “Like, a lot.”
“I love you, too, Preston. Like, a lot.”
♥︎ “When I hold her like this, I realize my entire world fits in my arms. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
♥︎ “Crawford,” I warn, using my favorite name for him in college.
His lips tip into a smirk. “Crawford,” he shoots back.
~giggling screaming blushingggg
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀:
Icebreaker - Hannah Grace
Midnight kisses - Jeanine Benedict
Spring tide - Ki Stephens
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
We ate good 💅💅
***
No third act breakup? Let’s EATTTT
AidenSummer were so perfect to meee kahdjd everything in this book just hit and made me feel like I was living on clouds 🤸🤸🤸
When ur physically screaming “THEYRE SO FUCKING CUTEEE 👹👹” the entire time ur reading their scenes it speaks VOLUMES. And especially coming from me bc I never vocalise irl hm im loving a book. But this? I was FORCED to show my appreciation in every sense of the word. It’s that good like I cannottttttt 🤭🦋💕💘💅💞🤸
Also if ur looking to this book for the plot ur gna be heavily disappointed. This is all romance/fluff and vibes no solid plot, there’s no standard structure to this, which is what I abs LOVE abt it. Idc I will take the MCs being cute and adorable over random tropes thrown in, which don’t even help the romance but are there just to please the reader.
It was so refreshing to read thisss I cannot express hm it made me giddy just to see what would happen next.
Their progression was chefs kiss. Every scene was there to show them overcoming little milestones in their relationship. I don’t think I could ever get tired of themmmm I didn’t want the book to end 😭
Summer Preston, my precious adorable pookie. I love that she knew her worth and stood up for herself. I love that she grew in this book from taking everything on alone to sharing the burden and allowing others to handle the load with her. I’m glad she got closure from whatever happened with her dad and that he wasn’t made out to be the 2D villain like almost every other book.
I love how when she goes all in she doesn’t hold back on reciprocating the affection.
Tyler and summer’s friendship was so 🥹🥹🥹 like the way he would be so soft w her and then start bickering like siblings ugh I want a Tyler rfn
AND THE WAY SHE EASILY INTEGRATED HERSELF INTO THE GROUP 💅💅💅 the GCs were fucking hilarioussss they’re all a bunch of clowns, especially Kian 🤣 (he gave Seth/gibsie vibes so hardddd) and they read some of her smutty books 🧚🏻
When the team had her back 🥹 it made me wanna just drop to the floor and clutch my chest bc it was painfully adorable 😩 Eli and Tyler are MY MEN. They are MINE.
Aiden Crawford, my hot sexy kind bf was such a golden retriever it literally broke my heart. Him being a dad to his entire hockey team 🥹🔫 and also him volunteering to teach kids how to play hockey 🥹🔫🔫🔫🔫
He’s the dilf I never knew I needed.
I love how he just sits there admiring how silky her hair is likeee pls that’s just too fucking quteeeee 🦋🦋
Sometimes the authors make the mmc’s say ‘I will do anything to keep u happy’ and then never make him follow thru or never put them in a position where he actually proves that BUT MISS KHABRA?? She has Aiden MF Crawford jumping thru fire and crawl up mountains for her. He makes mistakes but he GROVELS and he does it right 💅 He always puts her first and makes her his priority without fail. I just wanna hug him so fucking tight for the next 296384 years 😩💗💘💕💞🦋🧸
The way he’s so unapologetically himself and secure in what he feels has me gagged. He never questions how he feels but patiently waits for her to catch up LIKEEE 😭✋ he says all the right things to get my heart skidding and slipping into his hands 😣❤️🩹
And he’s so fucking funny pls their banter was TOP TIER. It had me laffing like a hyena on acid ✋
My cheeks are actually trembling from hm I’ve been giggling blushing grinning the entire book like stop being so fucking ADORABLE 😩
This has ALL the small moments you could ever want from a romance. Everything. The small pecks on the temple or jawline, the acts of service, the thoughtfulness, the cuddles, playing w each other's hair, watching “their” tv show, the hurt-comfort, him making a playlist for her ugh I wanna reread alr just recounting it 😭
AND THE SMUT IN THIS GOT ME 🤰🤰👩🍼
The way Summer gave back as good as she got 🤭🤭
The epilogue was so scrumptious my serotonin levels went 📈📈📈📈
All in all this book is gna be one I remember and cherish for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to see whose book is next in the series! (IT BETTER BE ELI OR TYLER👺)
𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:
I ship TyAmara sfb. I love Eli but I want them to happennnnn 🤞🤞🤞
And Donny can go die in a ditch 🧚🏻
𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀: 🎧
Mr brand new — Donnell Shawn
RockYaBody — Donnell Shawn
Summer too hot — Chris brown
Musta heard — Charlie Wilson
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: I have TOO MANY and this is only a fraction of what I’ve highlighted in the book but I just couldn’t help myself 🤭
♥︎ “What changed your mind?”
“Your desperation,”
“Pity? I’ll take it.” He beams.
♥︎ “So, you want to marry a robot.”
“I want to marry a stable man.”
“A stable man who probably can’t make you come.”
~THE GASP I JUST GUSPED
♥︎ “Last one in the pool has to pay for the other’s dinner,”
Just as I’m about to hop off the edge and dive into the pool, Aiden’s arm hooks around my waist, and we spin into the water, his back hitting it first. I’m engulfed in chlorine-treated water and him. When we break through the surface I’m still trapped against his hard body.
“I don’t lose, Preston,” he whispers against the shell of my ear.”
~SCREAMINGGGG
♥︎ A large hand encircles my arm and stops my rapid movements. Aiden pulls me in so we’re only a few inches apart. Concern is etched on his features. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Summer.”
~🥹🥹🥹
♥︎ “I haven’t talked to you all day. I’m thinking this punishment is a bit cruel,” I whisper against her ear.
She shifts to look at me. “Not talking to me is punishment?”
“The worst kind.”
~ nahhh I can’t take it anymore ✋
♥︎ Summer: Why are you in my room?
Aiden: Practice ended early. Amara let me in before she left.
Summer: Don’t touch my stuff, and definitely don’t look in any more drawers.
Aiden: Too late. You’re kinkier than I thought, Preston.
Aiden: And your bed is super comfy. I’m exhausted, I think I’ll take a nap.
Aiden: Naked.
~ILHSFMMM
♥︎ He made me tea.
Forest green eyes watch me. “Good?”
“It’s…it’s—yeah. It’s good.”
His eyes flicker, and the curve of his smile does something swirly to my chest before it starts to burn. Thought that might be the spoonful of cinnamon I just ingested.
~STOP ITTT WHY IS HE SO ADORABLE FOR MAKING HER THE MOST BITTER TEA 😭✋
♥︎ “Aiden, I’m not running with you.”
“Don’t. I’m just running the path over there,” he calls over his shoulder.
“That’s my path!”
“What a coincidence.”
I stare at his back. “You said you were exhausted.”
“Did I? I feel great.”
~STOP IT 😩😩
♥︎ “Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind a tip.”
“Come here and pull it out yourself.”
~ HAHAHAHHAHAHHA I WAS NOTTT EXPECTING HIM TO SAY THATTTT OMG IM LEGIT BLUSHING RN 🤭💞💕💗🤸♂️
♥︎ “So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses.
“Took me three tries.”
“For what?”
“To find this one.”
“The others didn’t have what you were looking for?”
I smile. “Not even close.”
~he’s so fucking perfect pls
♥︎ “Look at us, agreeing on something without bickering.”
“We did bicker.”
“That wasn’t bickering.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No—”
“We’re doing it right now!”
~haha I love themmmm
♥︎ “Are you incapable of having a normal conversation?”
“No, but I do like seeing you blush.”
“I do not blush,” she argues, blushing.
~🤭🤭🤭
♥︎ “I’m wherever you are, Summer.”
♥︎ It’s the tea my dad used to buy me, and there’s a note attached to the bottom.
For all those headaches I give you - A.
~lmaooo
♥︎ “Words, Summer. I need your words.”
~mouth open for this man
♥︎ “I need your words, Aiden.”
“Yes, Summer.”
~YES MAKE HIM BEG
♥︎ “You’ve been practicing?”
“Dylan’s been teaching me. Apparently, his mom loves chai.”
The thought of two hockey players hovering over a stove to make the perfect chai makes me smile. “Thank you.”
♥︎ He nods and leans in to kiss my forehead. Once, twice, three times. Each kiss causes a devastating flutter to erupt in my stomach.
♥︎ Aiden was carrying one of the kids on his shoulders as she proudly held up her medal. It was so ridiculously cute, I made it his contact picture.
♥︎ “Didn’t take you as someone who backs out of a challenge.”
“Seriously? You’re trying to reverse-psychology me into this.”
“I don’t think you can use that as a verb.”
~the way they’re using their subjects to take a jab at each other 😭
♥︎ “Your hair’s wet,” she whispers. Man, I love her fucking voice. I kiss the warm column of her throat up to her jaw. “Aiden.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re getting me wet.”
“I’d hope so.”
~HAHAH I LOVE THEMMM
♥︎ “Girls are like buttons—”
Coach clears his throat, cutting him off. “Ishida, what have I told you about gossiping in the weight room?”
~WUAHHAHAHAHHA IM DEDDD
♥︎ “You can pretend all you want, Summer, but we both know it’ll be me in the end.”
♥︎ “I forgot how much you feel like home.”
Home. She thinks I feel like home.
~brb gna go cry a river
♥︎ “Yeah, Summer was getting that vitamin A with a side of that D, if you know what I mea—ow!” Kian yelps when I elbow him.
~cryinggggg
♥︎ “So you’ve been reading my books?”
“Yup. I’m a big fan of the ones that have all the red tabs.”
~I cannottttt
♥︎ “You’re missing the view.”
He focuses on my face, and his smile makes my stomach dip. “No, I’m not.”
♥︎ His bright smile surfaces. “Can’t you see how lucky I am to have you?”
~ Stab me in the heart alr 😩✋
♥︎ “You and me, Preston. That’s the only way I want it.”
♥︎ “You can’t watch our show without me. We’ll have to figure out a schedule.”
“Can’t we just watch, then discuss it later?”
Her gasp startles me. “That is so sick and twisted. Of course we can’t do that!”
~Haha I love herrr
♥︎ I wipe a tear off her cheek. “Babe, the only time I want to see tears in your eyes is when I’m hitting the back of your throat.”
“How romantic,” she mutters, but her smile shines through.
“It made you smile, didn’t it?” Her eyes glisten, and I smile.
~I WANT HIM SFB
♥︎ “You and me, Crawford, that’s the only way I want it.”
♥︎ “I love you.” She scrunches her nose. “Like, a lot.”
“I love you, too, Preston. Like, a lot.”
♥︎ “When I hold her like this, I realize my entire world fits in my arms. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
♥︎ “Crawford,” I warn, using my favorite name for him in college.
His lips tip into a smirk. “Crawford,” he shoots back.
~giggling screaming blushingggg
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀:
Icebreaker - Hannah Grace
Midnight kisses - Jeanine Benedict
Spring tide - Ki Stephens
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
We ate good 💅💅
***
No third act breakup? Let’s EATTTT
December 4, 2023
➸ 3 stars
this book was pretty decent tbh, i didn’t love it or hate it, i just feel very indifferent towards it. i love the whole premise of the book but it felt very much like icebreaker and the deal.. like mix both of those books together and you get this (but like icebreaker this book is like 100 pages too long) even tho it was a bit of a slow burn it did feel very insta-lovey and everyone knows that just isn’t my thing, i absolutely loathe that trope 🙄 like where was the characterisation and where was the developing feelings between the mcs?? it was an instant sexual attraction and idk why but it just pissed me off.
summer: for someone who “hates” hockey players she sure did hang out with them A LOT. and when she said she ended her friendship with kian once she found out he was a hockey player?? now girl, you are way too dramatic lmaoo. but what’s funny to me is that all of aiden’s friends act like they were already her bestie and had her number when she didn’t like these so called “hockey players” the math ain’t mathing. her reason for not liking them was also so dumb to me but anyway. but what drove me insane was her severe daddy issues omgg. it was constantly “my dad never loved me and abandoned me for his hockey career” but he was the one who CONSTANTLY reached out to her and she just ignores him, dismisses him and was just so mean to him even tho he was trying his best. i also hated how she was so dismissive of aiden’s feelings?? like she knows that man is so down bad for her and aiden constantly proved time and time again that his interest in her was genuine and he only wants her and then she pushes him away bc her dumbass ex made some angry comments and then she throws “i think we should see other people” in his face?? and the way she got mad at him bc he was too “gentlemanly” bc he didn’t want their first time to be in the backseat of his truck. NOW GIRL WHY DID YOU THROW A HISSY FIT ABOUT HIM BEING A GENTLEMAN?? 🤡 give my man the respect he deserves or i’ll snatch him off you so FAST. the back and fourth between them and constantly making each other jealous got so exhausting.
aiden: aaa the most perfect cinnamon roll and golden retriever mmc, he was an absolute gem!! he has the biggest heart and is just so gentle and kind to everyone around him, but i hated how he constantly took the blame for EVERYONE. like when he took the blame for summer at the end made me so angry bc it was so stupid for him to do that and jeopardise his hockey career. but plss the way he was so soft for summer had me giggling n kicking my feet. he falls first and he falls HARD. aiden was so devoted to summer and even though she had a tough time opening up, he was patient with her and very attentive by giving her time and space to get in her touch with her feelings. he was honestly her biggest supporter, we love that. but mans was way too spineless!!! ain’t no way he constantly let summer treat him like shit and then would forgive her easily.
this book could’ve used so much more editing. the writing felt clunky, there were so many inconsistencies with the story and the characters backstories, the pacing was all over the place and the whole project thing was glossed over. like what did aiden contribute to her research?! i honestly don’t know what his whole purpose was bc it was never expanded on even tho that was the whole premise towards the plot. i wanted to see what data she was inputting towards her paper but it was pushed aside and it never rly got mentioned again.. and for a hockey romance there was barely any hockey lol.
despite my qualms, i did somewhat enjoy this book and the banter between summer and aiden and i also LOVE that there was no third act breakup. even tho this story kind of felt unoriginal and was very much predictable it was still a cute book and a good debut novel that was filled with a lot of lighthearted and cute, cheesy moments. i loved the diversity, but i honestly wish we got to see more of summer’s heritage bc it was never rly touched on or discussed much.
”summer is my sun, and i’m the simple planet revolving in her orbit."
this book was pretty decent tbh, i didn’t love it or hate it, i just feel very indifferent towards it. i love the whole premise of the book but it felt very much like icebreaker and the deal.. like mix both of those books together and you get this (but like icebreaker this book is like 100 pages too long) even tho it was a bit of a slow burn it did feel very insta-lovey and everyone knows that just isn’t my thing, i absolutely loathe that trope 🙄 like where was the characterisation and where was the developing feelings between the mcs?? it was an instant sexual attraction and idk why but it just pissed me off.
summer: for someone who “hates” hockey players she sure did hang out with them A LOT. and when she said she ended her friendship with kian once she found out he was a hockey player?? now girl, you are way too dramatic lmaoo. but what’s funny to me is that all of aiden’s friends act like they were already her bestie and had her number when she didn’t like these so called “hockey players” the math ain’t mathing. her reason for not liking them was also so dumb to me but anyway. but what drove me insane was her severe daddy issues omgg. it was constantly “my dad never loved me and abandoned me for his hockey career” but he was the one who CONSTANTLY reached out to her and she just ignores him, dismisses him and was just so mean to him even tho he was trying his best. i also hated how she was so dismissive of aiden’s feelings?? like she knows that man is so down bad for her and aiden constantly proved time and time again that his interest in her was genuine and he only wants her and then she pushes him away bc her dumbass ex made some angry comments and then she throws “i think we should see other people” in his face?? and the way she got mad at him bc he was too “gentlemanly” bc he didn’t want their first time to be in the backseat of his truck. NOW GIRL WHY DID YOU THROW A HISSY FIT ABOUT HIM BEING A GENTLEMAN?? 🤡 give my man the respect he deserves or i’ll snatch him off you so FAST. the back and fourth between them and constantly making each other jealous got so exhausting.
aiden: aaa the most perfect cinnamon roll and golden retriever mmc, he was an absolute gem!! he has the biggest heart and is just so gentle and kind to everyone around him, but i hated how he constantly took the blame for EVERYONE. like when he took the blame for summer at the end made me so angry bc it was so stupid for him to do that and jeopardise his hockey career. but plss the way he was so soft for summer had me giggling n kicking my feet. he falls first and he falls HARD. aiden was so devoted to summer and even though she had a tough time opening up, he was patient with her and very attentive by giving her time and space to get in her touch with her feelings. he was honestly her biggest supporter, we love that. but mans was way too spineless!!! ain’t no way he constantly let summer treat him like shit and then would forgive her easily.
this book could’ve used so much more editing. the writing felt clunky, there were so many inconsistencies with the story and the characters backstories, the pacing was all over the place and the whole project thing was glossed over. like what did aiden contribute to her research?! i honestly don’t know what his whole purpose was bc it was never expanded on even tho that was the whole premise towards the plot. i wanted to see what data she was inputting towards her paper but it was pushed aside and it never rly got mentioned again.. and for a hockey romance there was barely any hockey lol.
despite my qualms, i did somewhat enjoy this book and the banter between summer and aiden and i also LOVE that there was no third act breakup. even tho this story kind of felt unoriginal and was very much predictable it was still a cute book and a good debut novel that was filled with a lot of lighthearted and cute, cheesy moments. i loved the diversity, but i honestly wish we got to see more of summer’s heritage bc it was never rly touched on or discussed much.
Want to read
September 27, 2023it looks like icebreaker 2.0 so i hope it’s not actually icebreaker 2.0💀
January 11, 2025
⁀➷ ★.5
🩰
This was icebreaker 2.0….
So basically my worst nightmare!
*ೃ༄ God how do I say this nicely. This book was…. boring. Like really really fucking dull. Dry as fucking dust. Like I would much rather watch slow drying paint dry, type boring. The plot is basically the same as every other cookie cutter hockey romance, but with even more monotonous, toneless, flat characters it would put post season 3 Riverdale to shame. But hey, as wacky as is, at least shit happened in Riverdale.
And don’t even get me started on the writing 😧- OH MY GOD! There’s something about it that was soo jarring it was driving me insaneee, like I was THIS CLOSE to shoving a needle in my eye!
*ೃ༄ Ms Summer Preston was a big pessimistic, overly ambitious, hateful, spiteful bitch. (Relatable bc those are my only personality traits too🤧) Now these qualities makes me love, adore and root for female characters and I would’ve liked her somewhat if she wasn’t so fucking immature! This girl was breaking up friendships bc what? They played fucking hockey? Grow up omg! And the whole reason is bc her dad was a hockey player and she doesn’t like him? Girl whatever 🙄, I like petty but this is stupidity.
The author could’ve made her angry, and angsty and complex by showing how her daddy issues affected her and how it impacted others around her but no. She just had to be boring, annoying, and lowkey hypocritical.
*ೃ༄ Aiden Crawford? He has the same energy as unseasoned, white chicken. Mashed potatoes with no pepper. Smooth unsalted butter. Boiled carrots. PLAIN, FLAVOURLESS AND BORING! LIKE Go girl! Give us nothing! Now I def think that we need more nice, mature golden retriever characters in literature- but not like this. Also the author at the start tried so hard to make him into some sort of ‘player’ at the start, didn’t work. (Also he lowkey looks like a mix of Dream and young gravy in my head which I don’t think helps my opinion)
*ೃ༄ Did not give a fuck about the background characters. In fact if you held me at 🔪 point and asked me to name them, tell my family goodbye.
*ೃ༄ Now you might all be thinking, “Gosh Addie, you’re such a bitch this wasn’t that bad, why are you so extreme?” You’re right I’m sorry, because I actually don’t have that strong of a dislike for this drab book like I have for others(like icebreaker). Apart from the weird writing style and a bit of a pacing issue, this book has no other valid criticisms except that I just didn’t like it. I think it was so dull and forgettable and wasted my time (yes ik it’s my own fault for the last one 🙄). In fact I can literally just feel everything I read in the last 3 hrs just wipe away and soon it’ll no longer be attached to my last 5 braincells.
*ೃ༄ Do I think they’ll end up together? Noo sorry. I give them a year at most before they get into a major argument, probably initiated by Summer and held in a car park, and Aiden screams that they should break up and Summer screams FINE and storms off to her car leaving him stranded. They never really speak again after that. Aiden’s next girlfriend is either a blonde girl with curly hair that’s in law school, wears those flower claw clips and likes to travel or a dark skin woc with long straight brown hair, who’s a rich city girl with daddy’s money, is in STEM and a pink Pilates princess. Idk who Summer ends up with but she def ends up in a suburban 4 bedroom house and when her kids point at Aiden in old photos asking who’s that she’ll reply “oh that’s just my college bf, he was a cutie.”
✦ Google synonyms for ‘uninteresting’ and ‘forgettable’.
🩰
This was icebreaker 2.0….
So basically my worst nightmare!
*ೃ༄ God how do I say this nicely. This book was…. boring. Like really really fucking dull. Dry as fucking dust. Like I would much rather watch slow drying paint dry, type boring. The plot is basically the same as every other cookie cutter hockey romance, but with even more monotonous, toneless, flat characters it would put post season 3 Riverdale to shame. But hey, as wacky as is, at least shit happened in Riverdale.
And don’t even get me started on the writing 😧- OH MY GOD! There’s something about it that was soo jarring it was driving me insaneee, like I was THIS CLOSE to shoving a needle in my eye!
*ೃ༄ Ms Summer Preston was a big pessimistic, overly ambitious, hateful, spiteful bitch. (Relatable bc those are my only personality traits too🤧) Now these qualities makes me love, adore and root for female characters and I would’ve liked her somewhat if she wasn’t so fucking immature! This girl was breaking up friendships bc what? They played fucking hockey? Grow up omg! And the whole reason is bc her dad was a hockey player and she doesn’t like him? Girl whatever 🙄, I like petty but this is stupidity.
The author could’ve made her angry, and angsty and complex by showing how her daddy issues affected her and how it impacted others around her but no. She just had to be boring, annoying, and lowkey hypocritical.
*ೃ༄ Aiden Crawford? He has the same energy as unseasoned, white chicken. Mashed potatoes with no pepper. Smooth unsalted butter. Boiled carrots. PLAIN, FLAVOURLESS AND BORING! LIKE Go girl! Give us nothing! Now I def think that we need more nice, mature golden retriever characters in literature- but not like this. Also the author at the start tried so hard to make him into some sort of ‘player’ at the start, didn’t work. (Also he lowkey looks like a mix of Dream and young gravy in my head which I don’t think helps my opinion)
*ೃ༄ Did not give a fuck about the background characters. In fact if you held me at 🔪 point and asked me to name them, tell my family goodbye.
*ೃ༄ Now you might all be thinking, “Gosh Addie, you’re such a bitch this wasn’t that bad, why are you so extreme?” You’re right I’m sorry, because I actually don’t have that strong of a dislike for this drab book like I have for others
*ೃ༄ Do I think they’ll end up together? Noo sorry. I give them a year at most before they get into a major argument, probably initiated by Summer and held in a car park, and Aiden screams that they should break up and Summer screams FINE and storms off to her car leaving him stranded. They never really speak again after that. Aiden’s next girlfriend is either a blonde girl with curly hair that’s in law school, wears those flower claw clips and likes to travel or a dark skin woc with long straight brown hair, who’s a rich city girl with daddy’s money, is in STEM and a pink Pilates princess. Idk who Summer ends up with but she def ends up in a suburban 4 bedroom house and when her kids point at Aiden in old photos asking who’s that she’ll reply “oh that’s just my college bf, he was a cutie.”
✦ Google synonyms for ‘uninteresting’ and ‘forgettable’.
October 10, 2023
•✿•➳2✫
yeah, this one is not for me....
First of all, why is this so long when the plot basically ended at 30% of the story? I feel like it needs more editing, and the story can be cut down to only 200 pages.
Aiden; he started it wrong for me when he opened his pov with him in bed with another woman😶
Summer; gosh, she's annoying😭😭😭😭 She's so emotionally immature, I'm so frustrated with her, and the reason she hates hockey is so stupid. At first I thought she fell on the ice and broke her head or something if that happened I would understand the trauma🥲
The friends with benefit thing, and the denial is stressing the hell out of me. There's nothing interesting going on and the story is just bland. It feels like so many things happen but it just ends so abruptly. The pace is so all over the place and so unorganised. I was basically just bored after the 30% in and just skimmed till the end😵💫
People said if you like icebreaker you would like this.. well I should've listened 😀👍🏼
yeah, this one is not for me....
First of all, why is this so long when the plot basically ended at 30% of the story? I feel like it needs more editing, and the story can be cut down to only 200 pages.
Aiden; he started it wrong for me when he opened his pov with him in bed with another woman😶
Summer; gosh, she's annoying😭😭😭😭 She's so emotionally immature, I'm so frustrated with her, and the reason she hates hockey is so stupid. At first I thought she fell on the ice and broke her head or something if that happened I would understand the trauma🥲
The friends with benefit thing, and the denial is stressing the hell out of me. There's nothing interesting going on and the story is just bland. It feels like so many things happen but it just ends so abruptly. The pace is so all over the place and so unorganised. I was basically just bored after the 30% in and just skimmed till the end😵💫
People said if you like icebreaker you would like this.. well I should've listened 😀👍🏼
September 29, 2023
i hate when men 😕
Want to read
August 8, 2024Imagine getting Icebreaker, the deal, blindside's mixture 💀
May 21, 2024
i’m blocking everyone who said this was good on booktwt
May 21, 2024
THIS WAS SO CUTE!!! I REALLY ENJOYED IT💗
rtc
rtc
November 7, 2025
4.35!
“Because I love you," he says, and I freeze. "Anyone would know it. They only need to look at me when you walk into a room to see it.”
I have been craving a romance book like this for so long!! I am one of those people who enjoyed Icebreaker A LOT! and I saw some one star reviews for this book saying that this was Icebreaker 2.0 and I knew that I had to read this asap 😭 and Iqra praising it all the damn time made me so excited to read it and I AM SO GLAD that it turned out to be that good!! The writing was so easy to read through! The pacing was perfect considering how fast me and Hoda devoured this book. It was the perfect amount of fluff that I needed from a book!! It had so many heartfelt moments that uff I just wanted more and more 😭 I absolutely loved that this was not only smut despite that being the initial expectations, there was more depth to this book, which was much needed.
“You want to take care of me?"
"As long as you'll let me.”
Summer, she was the perfect fmc!! I am telling you. I loved her so damn much!! The way she would hear no bullshit and act like an absolute badass!! She had Aiden and his whole friend group wrapped around her finger. She was incredibly smart and knew what she wanted to do and what to prioritize. The way her whole story pans out academically felt very relatable and hit closer to home than I was expecting 😭💔 Her issues with her father were also written very well because I understood and could feel what she was feeling and it hurt so much to see the reason for the cause of those problems but these things were the much needed depth that Bal Khabra added to make it amazing.
“When I hold her like this, I realize my entire world fits in my arms.”
Aiden, I apologize, Mr. Crawford. I wasn't familiar with your game. He was sooo good!! First thing that I loved was that I went through 15 chapters at least from what I can remember without Aiden mentioning or thinking about her body, and that felt so refreshing to read because you rarely see this in romance books these days, he was so considerate, his sarcasm and his feelings towards Summer were so cute!! The things that he did and his gestures 🙂↕️ I loved it!! Summer had an attitude, and he knew perfectly how to handle it. The things he said were sooo swoonworthy!! I loved it!
“You dance?” I ask when he lifts my hand onto his shoulder. “No,” he says. “But I want to with you.”
Romantically, the book exceled!! It was so damn hot, and the soft moments were everything! The fluff and the spice were so well balanced, the relationship had the depth that was required, and the chemistry and the tension between Summer and Aiden that was seeping off the pages was finger-licking good!! Also, the smut here was so damn hot and well written, I wanted that because Icebreaker (that this book is heavily compared to) had the hottest spicy scene where Anstasia starts doing splits on his dicks 😭😭 while not that hot, it was still pretty close. It was very well done.
“I haven’t talked to you all day. I’m thinking this punishment is a bit cruel,” I whisper against her ear. She shifts to look at me. “Not talking to me is punishment?” “The worst kind.”
In terms of plot, it didn't disappoint me because it had a plot and it was sufficient enough for the book to function, it had me hooked, and helped the romance bloom! I feel I wasn't really expecting a mind-blowing plot, and I mean, who does with a romance book? But it still ate. Also, the epilogue was the cutest thing that I have ever read!
Overall, a very, very, very enjoyable book!
__
I would actually love it if it's 'Icebreaker 2.0' since I loved it 😭 but can't wait to start this!
Buddy reading with Hoda.
Recommended by Iqra.
“Because I love you," he says, and I freeze. "Anyone would know it. They only need to look at me when you walk into a room to see it.”
I have been craving a romance book like this for so long!! I am one of those people who enjoyed Icebreaker A LOT! and I saw some one star reviews for this book saying that this was Icebreaker 2.0 and I knew that I had to read this asap 😭 and Iqra praising it all the damn time made me so excited to read it and I AM SO GLAD that it turned out to be that good!! The writing was so easy to read through! The pacing was perfect considering how fast me and Hoda devoured this book. It was the perfect amount of fluff that I needed from a book!! It had so many heartfelt moments that uff I just wanted more and more 😭 I absolutely loved that this was not only smut despite that being the initial expectations, there was more depth to this book, which was much needed.
“You want to take care of me?"
"As long as you'll let me.”
Summer, she was the perfect fmc!! I am telling you. I loved her so damn much!! The way she would hear no bullshit and act like an absolute badass!! She had Aiden and his whole friend group wrapped around her finger. She was incredibly smart and knew what she wanted to do and what to prioritize. The way her whole story pans out academically felt very relatable and hit closer to home than I was expecting 😭💔 Her issues with her father were also written very well because I understood and could feel what she was feeling and it hurt so much to see the reason for the cause of those problems but these things were the much needed depth that Bal Khabra added to make it amazing.
“When I hold her like this, I realize my entire world fits in my arms.”
Aiden, I apologize, Mr. Crawford. I wasn't familiar with your game. He was sooo good!! First thing that I loved was that I went through 15 chapters at least from what I can remember without Aiden mentioning or thinking about her body, and that felt so refreshing to read because you rarely see this in romance books these days, he was so considerate, his sarcasm and his feelings towards Summer were so cute!! The things that he did and his gestures 🙂↕️ I loved it!! Summer had an attitude, and he knew perfectly how to handle it. The things he said were sooo swoonworthy!! I loved it!
“You dance?” I ask when he lifts my hand onto his shoulder. “No,” he says. “But I want to with you.”
Romantically, the book exceled!! It was so damn hot, and the soft moments were everything! The fluff and the spice were so well balanced, the relationship had the depth that was required, and the chemistry and the tension between Summer and Aiden that was seeping off the pages was finger-licking good!! Also, the smut here was so damn hot and well written, I wanted that because Icebreaker (that this book is heavily compared to) had the hottest spicy scene where Anstasia starts doing splits on his dicks 😭😭 while not that hot, it was still pretty close. It was very well done.
“I haven’t talked to you all day. I’m thinking this punishment is a bit cruel,” I whisper against her ear. She shifts to look at me. “Not talking to me is punishment?” “The worst kind.”
In terms of plot, it didn't disappoint me because it had a plot and it was sufficient enough for the book to function, it had me hooked, and helped the romance bloom! I feel I wasn't really expecting a mind-blowing plot, and I mean, who does with a romance book? But it still ate. Also, the epilogue was the cutest thing that I have ever read!
Overall, a very, very, very enjoyable book!
__
I would actually love it if it's 'Icebreaker 2.0' since I loved it 😭 but can't wait to start this!
Buddy reading with Hoda.
Recommended by Iqra.
October 12, 2023
This is why alien won’t talk to us, if this is what’s become of our literature
July 18, 2024
4.5 stars
“Well then, let me make it really clear, Summer. You could strip me of every championship and every award I’ve ever earned, but if I had you none of it would matter.”
This book was very similar to Icebreaker, so if you loved that book, you'll absolutely devour this book. We even get out own version of Aaron in the form of Donny Rai. I personally dnf'd Icebreaker lmao but this being 4.5 stars for me says a lot.
✅ Hockey Romance
✅ Enemies to Lovers
✅ Friends/Enemies with benefits (she hates him)
✅ Black cat x Golden Retriever
✅ Slow Dancing by his car
✅ Rainy love confessions
Summer : Summer is a psych student and I personally related a lot to her with all the study pressure and how big of a headache writing research papers, reports, conducting interviews, organizing campaigns and all that stuff can be. I'm just waiting for the day when I also get to co-work with a hot hockey team captain 😋😋
But otherwise, her character wasn't as appealing or likeable but yes one thing I liked about her is she knew how to stand up for herself and never hesitated to say whatever the hell was on her mind. The chemistry and tension between the two mcs was so intense, you could cut it with a knife.
Aiden: Sir, you should be in jail right now because it's criminal of you to raise my expectations so high. When I tell you, this guy was perfect, I MEAN THIS GUY WAS PERFECT. He was so caring and thoughtful but also a bit possessive and would do anything for her. It's just jgjsakfhdsskd I'm in love. I need this guy. He is so cute and goes overboard and does all these things for her aah 😩😩
(As an apology to her, he wanted to buy her flowers and accidentally bought funeral flowers, but otherwise he's perfect).
Other characters: The thing I love the most about reading sports romance is reading about the team and their friendship. And the personalities of all the team members were so different but so perfect and I loved how they would do anything for Summer. She and the guys even have a separate group chat where they talk and joke about the Captain aka Aiden 😂😂🤭
Overall, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did but this was so cute and if you're looking for a light heart rom com or a series breaker, this one is perfect for you!
***
The microtropes being slow dance by his car, rainy love confessions and she's a psych student??? I'M SOLD 😍😍
“Well then, let me make it really clear, Summer. You could strip me of every championship and every award I’ve ever earned, but if I had you none of it would matter.”
This book was very similar to Icebreaker, so if you loved that book, you'll absolutely devour this book. We even get out own version of Aaron in the form of Donny Rai. I personally dnf'd Icebreaker lmao but this being 4.5 stars for me says a lot.
✅ Hockey Romance
✅ Enemies to Lovers
✅ Friends/Enemies with benefits (she hates him)
✅ Black cat x Golden Retriever
✅ Slow Dancing by his car
✅ Rainy love confessions
Summer : Summer is a psych student and I personally related a lot to her with all the study pressure and how big of a headache writing research papers, reports, conducting interviews, organizing campaigns and all that stuff can be. I'm just waiting for the day when I also get to co-work with a hot hockey team captain 😋😋
But otherwise, her character wasn't as appealing or likeable but yes one thing I liked about her is she knew how to stand up for herself and never hesitated to say whatever the hell was on her mind. The chemistry and tension between the two mcs was so intense, you could cut it with a knife.
Aiden: Sir, you should be in jail right now because it's criminal of you to raise my expectations so high. When I tell you, this guy was perfect, I MEAN THIS GUY WAS PERFECT. He was so caring and thoughtful but also a bit possessive and would do anything for her. It's just jgjsakfhdsskd I'm in love. I need this guy. He is so cute and goes overboard and does all these things for her aah 😩😩
(As an apology to her, he wanted to buy her flowers and accidentally bought funeral flowers, but otherwise he's perfect).
Other characters: The thing I love the most about reading sports romance is reading about the team and their friendship. And the personalities of all the team members were so different but so perfect and I loved how they would do anything for Summer. She and the guys even have a separate group chat where they talk and joke about the Captain aka Aiden 😂😂🤭
Overall, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did but this was so cute and if you're looking for a light heart rom com or a series breaker, this one is perfect for you!
***
The microtropes being slow dance by his car, rainy love confessions and she's a psych student??? I'M SOLD 😍😍
February 7, 2025
the smut is smutting
10/10
10/10
June 22, 2024
*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:
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
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 forgot how much you feel like home." 🤭🤭🤭
જ*⁀➷Quotes
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.❞
⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
pre-read
My second arc!! Thank you netgalley <3
⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
pre-review
i have mixed emotions
it was good
but it was also bad
review to come? (someday soon, i swear)
⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❝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.❞
⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
pre-read
My second arc!! Thank you netgalley <3
⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
pre-review
i have mixed emotions
it was good
but it was also bad
review to come? (someday soon, i swear)
August 6, 2024
cute but lacked in chemistry and was a tad heavy handed for me sadly🥲
November 8, 2025
i felt too mean about my rant review for a few months now and finally deleted it — the summer in this book i hated. the summer in every book since? absolutely loved her and wished i felt the same about her in this
October 16, 2023
4.5/5 ⭐
3/5 spice 🔥
“I forgot how much you feel like home.”
Home. She thinks I feel like home.
Books that sound like Taylor Swift songs>>>>
If you LOVED Icebreaker and The Deal this book is their child. I could guarantee you'd love this one too.
This was a very light-hearted read, exactly what I was looking for. The FLUFF? THE SMUT? THEIR BANTER HAD ME BY THROAT 😭 IT WAS SO GOOD. It was so funny, my cheeks hurt from their banter and I BLUSHED AND GIGGLED SO HARD AT EVERYTHING THEY SAID ESPECIALLY AIDEN🧎♀️😭
SummerI love her simply. Cz she would do things that would literally define me 😭. I loved her character development sfm, the easy people pleaser, never gonna date a hockey athlete, miss got it all planned-out girl she was in the beginning of the book. To becoming a literal queen. And FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE CAPTAIN OF HOCKEY ✋🤌
Her favorite sweet dish is Gulab jamun🧎🏽♀️Her daddy issues were on point. I hated how he made her feel like that. But I liked how things were handled when the conflict between her and her dad happened. I am so proud of her 🥹
Her friend Amara WAS SO GOOD I LOVE HER. SHE IS MA BITCH.
KAHSKSJDMDN The way Summer got all the boys around her finger✋. Eli and Kian babe I'm looking at you guys.
AIDEN I WANT HIM. Seriously where can I find these sweet-hearted hockey players😭 CZ I AM IN DESPERATE NEED of them! He is the most perfect DILF. How can he be so perfect? How does he know to say the MOST HEART MELTING THINGS AND DO THEM AT THE RIGHT TIME!?!?! He groveled, he teased her and his sweet smile. It's the care he does for summer that makes me want to jump off a building.
He was such a cutie patootie. Asshole at first but such a romantic after. HE WAS SO SWEET AND CARING AND SUCH A GOOD FRIEND/BOYFRIEND 😭.
I loved loved loved how their relationship developed so much. At first, it was light enemies but then Summer made this man grovel, LITERALLY CRAWL ON HIS KNEES to get her attention. Damn if I wasn’t giggling so hard at his groveling because it was done so well. He was the sunshine and Summer was the grumpy one🥹
She placed a Bratz bandage on his cheek and he didn’t take it off for like a week✋. Seriously where can I find him?
This has ALL the small moments you could ever want from a romance. Everything. Cz most of the time we just see the main characters either fucking fighting or just bantering. But this book showed all those sweet and small parts of romance I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED AND NOW I CRAVE THEM!
All those side characters felt like a big hug. I love found family trope sfm and in this book, it was done so well. The banter and the love between Kian (am obsessed with him), Tyler, Dylan, and Eli were JUST SO GOOD IT MADE ME CRY CZ I WANT IT ALL SO BADLY!!! Like they were her partners in every crime🤌. How they teased, embarrassed, and loved the shit out of Summer it was ✨GOLD✨
The smut… it was smutting *drops mike*
That epilogue was after nine years AND IT MADE ME TEAR. I mean the whole book didn’t just the epilogue was so sweet and so warm😭🤌
I need the next book in the series. IDC if its Kian's or Eli's or Tyler's i JUST NEED IT😭
Donny i hate you sm. Go rot in hell! What you did was just so disgusting and i am so glad you go caught you mf🗡️
~Quotes~
-Aiden has the same mesmerizing eyes. Eyes that make you forget your words until you make a conscious effort to remember them again. Eyes that tell you with just one look how pure the soul behind them is. He has them, and I hate that he does. Even more, I hate that I notice.
-It’s her sated smile when she drops her forehead to mine that cracks my chest wide open.
---OW😭🥹
-Summer: Why are you in my room?
Aiden: Practice ended early. Amara let me in before she left.
Summer: Don’t touch my stuff, and definitely don’t look in any more drawers.
Aiden: Too late. You’re kinkier than I thought, Preston.
Aiden: And your bed is super comfy. I’m exhausted, I think I’ll take a nap.
Aiden: Naked.
-Aiden: Kian’s still sulking over Cassie?
Eli: Poor kid saw her on a date with Julia Romero. An ice skater.
Eli: He’s been listening to Folklore on repeat, and watching The Cutting Edge.
--PLS KIAN IS SO DRAMATIC HDJLASKA
-“Girls are like buttons—”
Coach clears his throat, cutting him off. “Ishida, what have I told you about gossiping in the weight room?”
-“Yeah, Summer was getting that vitamin A with a side of that D, if you know what I mea—ow!” Kian yelps when I elbow him.
---LMFAO
-I take a cautious step into his office. “Have you tried talking to him about reducing my community service hours?” He finally meets my eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead deepen. “Of course. I asked him at our sleepover after we giggled about our crushes.”
--WHY ARE COCHES SO FUNNY!?
-“There’s a reason we skate on ice, Summer. If I wanted to wear sneakers and walk in the woods, I would be a serial killer,” argues Dylan.
-aidencrawford: I see you’ve reconsidered your stance on following athletes.
summerluvin: Temporarily. But I have to say, I’m disappointed.
aidencrawford: And why’s that?
summerluvin: No nude cereal box ad. Unfollowing.
aidencrawford: I’ll do a private one just for you. Can’t afford to upset a fan.
summerluvin: pass.
-- THEIR TEXTS WERE EVERYTHING
-“I’ll use teeth, Crawford,” she threatens. That draws a laugh out of me. “Nah, you won’t injure your favorite little man.” “You did not just refer to it as that.” “What do you prefer I call it? My hockey sti—”
--😂
The words process slowly in my brain. “You and Kian are buddy-reading a romance book?”
“What? Men can’t read romance? Selfish of you to deprive us of this gold mine of information. Aiden, you gotta read one too, she’s onto something.”
“I have.”
That shocks the hell out of me. “When?”
“Babe, you fall asleep twenty minutes into every movie, and you made me promise not to watch them without you. I gotta do something to keep occupied.”
“So you’ve been reading my books?”
“Yup. I’m a big fan of the ones that have all the red tabs.”
--- SCREAMINGSHJDAHAD
_________
THAT EPILOGUE OMG I am crying 😭😭
----------------
Dropping everything to read this cz Iqra loved it and said it gave Icebreaker vibes ✋😗
3/5 spice 🔥
“I forgot how much you feel like home.”
Home. She thinks I feel like home.
Books that sound like Taylor Swift songs>>>>
If you LOVED Icebreaker and The Deal this book is their child. I could guarantee you'd love this one too.
This was a very light-hearted read, exactly what I was looking for. The FLUFF? THE SMUT? THEIR BANTER HAD ME BY THROAT 😭 IT WAS SO GOOD. It was so funny, my cheeks hurt from their banter and I BLUSHED AND GIGGLED SO HARD AT EVERYTHING THEY SAID ESPECIALLY AIDEN🧎♀️😭
SummerI love her simply. Cz she would do things that would literally define me 😭. I loved her character development sfm, the easy people pleaser, never gonna date a hockey athlete, miss got it all planned-out girl she was in the beginning of the book. To becoming a literal queen. And FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE CAPTAIN OF HOCKEY ✋🤌
Her favorite sweet dish is Gulab jamun🧎🏽♀️Her daddy issues were on point. I hated how he made her feel like that. But I liked how things were handled when the conflict between her and her dad happened. I am so proud of her 🥹
Her friend Amara WAS SO GOOD I LOVE HER. SHE IS MA BITCH.
KAHSKSJDMDN The way Summer got all the boys around her finger✋. Eli and Kian babe I'm looking at you guys.
.
Aiden. Any place that made you who you are has to be the closest thing to heaven on earth.”
AIDEN I WANT HIM. Seriously where can I find these sweet-hearted hockey players😭 CZ I AM IN DESPERATE NEED of them! He is the most perfect DILF. How can he be so perfect? How does he know to say the MOST HEART MELTING THINGS AND DO THEM AT THE RIGHT TIME!?!?! He groveled, he teased her and his sweet smile. It's the care he does for summer that makes me want to jump off a building.
He was such a cutie patootie. Asshole at first but such a romantic after. HE WAS SO SWEET AND CARING AND SUCH A GOOD FRIEND/BOYFRIEND 😭.
“You have a sex playlist?” He appears unfazed. “Of course. Some girls are quiet.” “Girls? Do you know how awkward it is when guys don’t make a sound?” He shrugs. “I wouldn’t know. I make plenty.”
Aiden pulls me in so we’re only a few inches apart. Concern is etched on his features. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Summer.”
I loved loved loved how their relationship developed so much. At first, it was light enemies but then Summer made this man grovel, LITERALLY CRAWL ON HIS KNEES to get her attention. Damn if I wasn’t giggling so hard at his groveling because it was done so well. He was the sunshine and Summer was the grumpy one🥹
She placed a Bratz bandage on his cheek and he didn’t take it off for like a week✋. Seriously where can I find him?
“So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses.
“Took me three tries.”
“For what?”
“To find this one.”
“The others didn’t have what you were looking for?”
I smile. “Not even close.”
This has ALL the small moments you could ever want from a romance. Everything. Cz most of the time we just see the main characters either fucking fighting or just bantering. But this book showed all those sweet and small parts of romance I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED AND NOW I CRAVE THEM!
“What can I say? Our kids will be lucky to have me as a dad.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’d ever carry your big-headed children. Your wife better have a wide birthing canal.”
“I’ll add it to my list. A wide birthing canal for large-headed children.”
“Don’t forget, willing to suffer through your idiocy.”
All those side characters felt like a big hug. I love found family trope sfm and in this book, it was done so well. The banter and the love between Kian (am obsessed with him), Tyler, Dylan, and Eli were JUST SO GOOD IT MADE ME CRY CZ I WANT IT ALL SO BADLY!!! Like they were her partners in every crime🤌. How they teased, embarrassed, and loved the shit out of Summer it was ✨GOLD✨
“You ask stupid questions, Kian,” retorts Dylan, shooting Summer a sympathetic smile.
“As my very hot sixth-grade teacher Ms. Marple once said: There are no stupid questions, even if Kian is asking them.” “Didn’t she quit teaching after our year?” Dylan retorts.
Kian shrugs. “No one can prove it was because of me.”
The smut… it was smutting *drops mike*
That epilogue was after nine years AND IT MADE ME TEAR. I mean the whole book didn’t just the epilogue was so sweet and so warm😭🤌
I need the next book in the series. IDC if its Kian's or Eli's or Tyler's i JUST NEED IT😭
Donny i hate you sm. Go rot in hell! What you did was just so disgusting and i am so glad you go caught you mf🗡️
~Quotes~
-Aiden has the same mesmerizing eyes. Eyes that make you forget your words until you make a conscious effort to remember them again. Eyes that tell you with just one look how pure the soul behind them is. He has them, and I hate that he does. Even more, I hate that I notice.
-It’s her sated smile when she drops her forehead to mine that cracks my chest wide open.
---OW😭🥹
-Summer: Why are you in my room?
Aiden: Practice ended early. Amara let me in before she left.
Summer: Don’t touch my stuff, and definitely don’t look in any more drawers.
Aiden: Too late. You’re kinkier than I thought, Preston.
Aiden: And your bed is super comfy. I’m exhausted, I think I’ll take a nap.
Aiden: Naked.
-Aiden: Kian’s still sulking over Cassie?
Eli: Poor kid saw her on a date with Julia Romero. An ice skater.
Eli: He’s been listening to Folklore on repeat, and watching The Cutting Edge.
--PLS KIAN IS SO DRAMATIC HDJLASKA
-“Girls are like buttons—”
Coach clears his throat, cutting him off. “Ishida, what have I told you about gossiping in the weight room?”
-“Yeah, Summer was getting that vitamin A with a side of that D, if you know what I mea—ow!” Kian yelps when I elbow him.
---LMFAO
-I take a cautious step into his office. “Have you tried talking to him about reducing my community service hours?” He finally meets my eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead deepen. “Of course. I asked him at our sleepover after we giggled about our crushes.”
--WHY ARE COCHES SO FUNNY!?
-“There’s a reason we skate on ice, Summer. If I wanted to wear sneakers and walk in the woods, I would be a serial killer,” argues Dylan.
-aidencrawford: I see you’ve reconsidered your stance on following athletes.
summerluvin: Temporarily. But I have to say, I’m disappointed.
aidencrawford: And why’s that?
summerluvin: No nude cereal box ad. Unfollowing.
aidencrawford: I’ll do a private one just for you. Can’t afford to upset a fan.
summerluvin: pass.
-- THEIR TEXTS WERE EVERYTHING
-“I’ll use teeth, Crawford,” she threatens. That draws a laugh out of me. “Nah, you won’t injure your favorite little man.” “You did not just refer to it as that.” “What do you prefer I call it? My hockey sti—”
--😂
The words process slowly in my brain. “You and Kian are buddy-reading a romance book?”
“What? Men can’t read romance? Selfish of you to deprive us of this gold mine of information. Aiden, you gotta read one too, she’s onto something.”
“I have.”
That shocks the hell out of me. “When?”
“Babe, you fall asleep twenty minutes into every movie, and you made me promise not to watch them without you. I gotta do something to keep occupied.”
“So you’ve been reading my books?”
“Yup. I’m a big fan of the ones that have all the red tabs.”
--- SCREAMINGSHJDAHAD
_________
THAT EPILOGUE OMG I am crying 😭😭
----------------
Dropping everything to read this cz Iqra loved it and said it gave Icebreaker vibes ✋😗
April 30, 2024
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ 3 ☆ ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺ ˖
I was excited to start this book because I was CRAVING for a sports romance. I enjoyed it but tbh, not as much as I was expecting.
❥ Summer ☀️ ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “Summer is my sun, and I’m the simple planet revolving in her orbit” 💖 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Summer girl, they called you Sunny and Sunshine, but you were the most mean, insufferable, and annoying character I’ve read lately.
The funny thing is that at first, I liked her grumpy and bad b*tch attitude who doesn’t fall for an athlete so fast and does what she wants. But the more I read, the more I realized that she wasn’t just grumpy, she was SO mean and cruel for NO reason. I get that she had daddy issues and with good reasons because she was neglected by him for almost her whole life. But that wasn’t Aiden's fault nor was enough reason to be so mean towards him when all he wanted was to get to know her, make her happy, and support her at his most. So why the need to be so mean to him? UGH
❥ Aiden 💗 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “You could strip me of every championship and every award I’ve ever earned, but if I had you none of it would matter.” ❤️🩹 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
This man could do no wrong for me. He was so caring, sweet, supportive, attentive, gentle, responsible, loyal, respectful, and funny. He takes consent very seriously every time and always has his friend’s back no matter the consequences for him. He takes care of Summer by being so attentive, gifting her little things that make the whole difference, letting her make her own decisions and empowering her, and always putting her first. Before her, his only priority was playing hockey but after Summer, she was his number 1 priority and so was her happiness and wellbeing (even before his).
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “Summer’s presence is luminescent. She’s the last fragment of sunlight in the overwhelming darkness.” 🦋˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Did I mention he read books? Because he does. And not just any books. He reads the books Summer likes to read and takes the reading as a learning process to show her later what he learned🛐
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “She’s mesmerizing. Nothing I’ve imagined holds a candle to the reality of her.” 💗 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
❥ My thoughts 💭 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
➴ I enjoyed this book, but I found Summer’s attitude and behavior so insufferable that even though I was having a good time reading, I was so frustrated when it came to her. Why does she depend so much on her ex’s opinions? Why did she hide Aiden in her bathroom just because she didn’t want her ex to find him? Why did she trust him with her application papers? Why did she let him be so mean to her? She was so grumpy and smart but when her ex came to the picture, she lowered herself so much. Like girl, STAND UP like you do with so many aspects. Couldn’t she be mean and insufferable with him like she was with Aiden and the others? That was so frustrating. She treated Aiden like garbage with all her mean comments and behavior, and like a dirty secret when he was the sweetest with her.
➴ was she seriously mad at him because he didn’t want their first time to be in his truck in a parking lot? Girl, come on💀
➴ where was the chemistry between Aiden and Summer? Because I didn’t find it anywhere. There were many cute scenes between them, but I think it was more like the act per se, and not the chemistry. I didn’t find a strong connection between them because most of the book was Summer being mean and Aiden trying to win her. And when the cute scenes came into the picture it felt empty idk.
➴ Summer didn’t appreciate Aiden until the very end. He did everything for her since the beginning and showed her that he could commit to being with her. He prioritized her over hockey so she wouldn’t have to worry about being neglected by him like she was by her dad. But she didn’t care and just was being indifferent and difficult with him. So glad at the end she left that attitude and finally gave Aiden the treatment he truly deserved.
➴ also, she kept insisting on seeing other people. Uh? I get that they weren’t exclusive but something was happening between them. She knew how he was feeling and decided to throw him that news. That sucks. If she didn’t want him, she should’ve told him that and not played with him like he didn’t have feelings. I don’t get why she needed to go on dates with other people. To prove what exactly? If the case were the other way around where Aiden was the one who wanted to see other people and went on other dates while having this situation with Summer, we would’ve been throwing hands.
❥ Other quotes just because I loved them ✨
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “This girl is fucking sunshine embodies, and she has no clue.” ☀️ ⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “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.” 💕 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “The house could have lit on fire, and I’d be fine just lying there in his arms. Because that is what Aiden does, he makes me feel safe in moments where I’ve never felt more alone.” ❤️🩹 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “I’m all in. Mind, body, and soul. Down to my core, I’m hers.” 🤍 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “If you can count on one person to be on your side no matter what, it’s me. I don’t ever want you to think you’re alone because there isn’t a second that goes by when I’m not thinking about you” 🥰 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Anyways, these 3 stars go to Aiden for being the sweetest and caring guy ever andd the Sunny’s Angels aka the hockey players: Kian, Eli, and Dylan who carried this book. They were funny, cute, loyal, and supportive. Also, I loved that Dylan and Kian were buddy-reading a romance book! They’re the best, seriously! I can’t wait to read their books💫
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
pre-read: craving for a hockey romance!🤍 so, let's get into it🦋✨
I was excited to start this book because I was CRAVING for a sports romance. I enjoyed it but tbh, not as much as I was expecting.
❥ Summer ☀️ ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “Summer is my sun, and I’m the simple planet revolving in her orbit” 💖 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Summer girl, they called you Sunny and Sunshine, but you were the most mean, insufferable, and annoying character I’ve read lately.
The funny thing is that at first, I liked her grumpy and bad b*tch attitude who doesn’t fall for an athlete so fast and does what she wants. But the more I read, the more I realized that she wasn’t just grumpy, she was SO mean and cruel for NO reason. I get that she had daddy issues and with good reasons because she was neglected by him for almost her whole life. But that wasn’t Aiden's fault nor was enough reason to be so mean towards him when all he wanted was to get to know her, make her happy, and support her at his most. So why the need to be so mean to him? UGH
❥ Aiden 💗 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “You could strip me of every championship and every award I’ve ever earned, but if I had you none of it would matter.” ❤️🩹 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
This man could do no wrong for me. He was so caring, sweet, supportive, attentive, gentle, responsible, loyal, respectful, and funny. He takes consent very seriously every time and always has his friend’s back no matter the consequences for him. He takes care of Summer by being so attentive, gifting her little things that make the whole difference, letting her make her own decisions and empowering her, and always putting her first. Before her, his only priority was playing hockey but after Summer, she was his number 1 priority and so was her happiness and wellbeing (even before his).
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “Summer’s presence is luminescent. She’s the last fragment of sunlight in the overwhelming darkness.” 🦋˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Did I mention he read books? Because he does. And not just any books. He reads the books Summer likes to read and takes the reading as a learning process to show her later what he learned🛐
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “She’s mesmerizing. Nothing I’ve imagined holds a candle to the reality of her.” 💗 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
❥ My thoughts 💭 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹
➴ I enjoyed this book, but I found Summer’s attitude and behavior so insufferable that even though I was having a good time reading, I was so frustrated when it came to her. Why does she depend so much on her ex’s opinions? Why did she hide Aiden in her bathroom just because she didn’t want her ex to find him? Why did she trust him with her application papers? Why did she let him be so mean to her? She was so grumpy and smart but when her ex came to the picture, she lowered herself so much. Like girl, STAND UP like you do with so many aspects. Couldn’t she be mean and insufferable with him like she was with Aiden and the others? That was so frustrating. She treated Aiden like garbage with all her mean comments and behavior, and like a dirty secret when he was the sweetest with her.
➴ was she seriously mad at him because he didn’t want their first time to be in his truck in a parking lot? Girl, come on💀
➴ where was the chemistry between Aiden and Summer? Because I didn’t find it anywhere. There were many cute scenes between them, but I think it was more like the act per se, and not the chemistry. I didn’t find a strong connection between them because most of the book was Summer being mean and Aiden trying to win her. And when the cute scenes came into the picture it felt empty idk.
➴ Summer didn’t appreciate Aiden until the very end. He did everything for her since the beginning and showed her that he could commit to being with her. He prioritized her over hockey so she wouldn’t have to worry about being neglected by him like she was by her dad. But she didn’t care and just was being indifferent and difficult with him. So glad at the end she left that attitude and finally gave Aiden the treatment he truly deserved.
➴ also, she kept insisting on seeing other people. Uh? I get that they weren’t exclusive but something was happening between them. She knew how he was feeling and decided to throw him that news. That sucks. If she didn’t want him, she should’ve told him that and not played with him like he didn’t have feelings. I don’t get why she needed to go on dates with other people. To prove what exactly? If the case were the other way around where Aiden was the one who wanted to see other people and went on other dates while having this situation with Summer, we would’ve been throwing hands.
❥ Other quotes just because I loved them ✨
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “This girl is fucking sunshine embodies, and she has no clue.” ☀️ ⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “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.” 💕 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “The house could have lit on fire, and I’d be fine just lying there in his arms. Because that is what Aiden does, he makes me feel safe in moments where I’ve never felt more alone.” ❤️🩹 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “I’m all in. Mind, body, and soul. Down to my core, I’m hers.” 🤍 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ “If you can count on one person to be on your side no matter what, it’s me. I don’t ever want you to think you’re alone because there isn’t a second that goes by when I’m not thinking about you” 🥰 ˙⋆ ༶ .⁺˖
Anyways, these 3 stars go to Aiden for being the sweetest and caring guy ever andd the Sunny’s Angels aka the hockey players: Kian, Eli, and Dylan who carried this book. They were funny, cute, loyal, and supportive. Also, I loved that Dylan and Kian were buddy-reading a romance book! They’re the best, seriously! I can’t wait to read their books💫
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
pre-read: craving for a hockey romance!🤍 so, let's get into it🦋✨
May 31, 2024
3.25 🌟!!!! I didn't love neither hate this book. This book has been on my TBR for so long and I'm glad I finally read it.
This book reminded me a lot of Icebreaker, with several similarities that stood out. While I enjoyed reading it, I found it hard to become fully invested in the story.Summer came across less as a grump and more as a mean person. Her harsh words towards Aiden, who was nothing but kind and caring, were heartbreaking. Aiden, on the other hand, was a sweetheart but his caveman-like personality was frustrating at times.The banter between Summer and Aiden was entertaining, but I struggled to root for them as a couple. While there were some cute and funny moments, their constant hooking up overshadowed the emotional connection, making it hard to feel invested in their relationship.There were definitely moments in this book that had me laughing out loud.
Other than that,I loved the side characters in this book. Kian is an absolute cutie and a hilarious guy and I can't wait for his book. I also loved Eli who was nothing but caring, considerate and willing to help his friends.CAN'T WAIT FOR BOTH OF THEIR BOOKS!!!!!!♥️
This book reminded me a lot of Icebreaker, with several similarities that stood out. While I enjoyed reading it, I found it hard to become fully invested in the story.Summer came across less as a grump and more as a mean person. Her harsh words towards Aiden, who was nothing but kind and caring, were heartbreaking. Aiden, on the other hand, was a sweetheart but his caveman-like personality was frustrating at times.The banter between Summer and Aiden was entertaining, but I struggled to root for them as a couple. While there were some cute and funny moments, their constant hooking up overshadowed the emotional connection, making it hard to feel invested in their relationship.There were definitely moments in this book that had me laughing out loud.
Other than that,I loved the side characters in this book. Kian is an absolute cutie and a hilarious guy and I can't wait for his book. I also loved Eli who was nothing but caring, considerate and willing to help his friends.CAN'T WAIT FOR BOTH OF THEIR BOOKS!!!!!!♥️
October 4, 2023
⋆⁀➷4.5★
"𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹"
I had soooo much fun with this book. The romance? The side characters? The main characters? 😋😋
Was this book anything new? No, BUTTT it still hit where other books don't.
The way the romance develops is incredibly well done. At the begining we have a 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 enemies to lovers situation but that quickly changes as Aiden starts groveling for Summer. 💐 (don't expect too much from the enemies to lovers though! - but from the groveling you can 🤭💅)
While they spend more time with one another, they learn all those little details about the other person. And Summer starts fidgeting with his hoodie straps at some point- the way that's so cute, ahh I wanna melt. The details in the romance are immaculate!!
Some of the side plots were lacking a real development, but I'm still glad they were there.
The side characters though--
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁!!! They're adorable, nice, hilarious and loyal. When I say I want all of their books equally, I mean it. Bal Khabra, how fast can you write a book? The way Kian is literally as if Gibsie and Kenji had a child?? And the way they immediately took Summer into their friend group? And joked around with her? I'm so in love with them can you tell 🦋🦋🦋
Aiden is literally mine, I'm gonna lock him away and keep the keys. (Sorry Sum ily)
Almost everything he says are love confessions and their love just hiiiit. When Summer gave him a purple bratz doll band-aid and he wore it ON HIS FACE. Also I loved his POVs (which is very rare for me).
I still wish we had a few more chapters from Summers POV. Her banter with Aiden was so adorable, funny, 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁.
Orrrr you give me next book rfn.
𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴
The blue (Gracie Abrams)
TELL ME THAT'S NOT THEIR SONG
𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀
(it was so hard to choose but I don't wanna get sued for posting the entire book 🥲)
"As I open the door, the faint smell of peaches hits my nose before I see her. “Summer?”"
➺ the way he notices her by her smell omg
"I even Googled serial killer tendencies because I’m sure smelling someone's hair is a fucking weird thing to do. But hers is different. It's soft and smells like sweet peaches. I don’t even like peaches."
➺ he's so down for her but also he's so hilarious & relatable
"“So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses.
“Took me three tries.”
“For what?”
“To find this one.”
“The others didn’t have what you were looking for?”
I smile. “Not even close.”"
➺ WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT, BAL, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT
"Satisfied, I lean back in my chair. “Look at us, agreeing on something without bickering.”
“We did bicker.”
“That wasn’t bickering.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No—”
“We’re doing it right now!”"
➺ I love it when they do it and I love when they don't do it, I just love them
"“Not bad. You practice on a lot of girls?” I smirk.
“Just you. But I am naturally good with my hands.”
“Are you incapable of having a normal conversation?”
“No, but I do like seeing you blush.”
“I do not blush,” she argues, blushing."
➺ this doesn't even need to be commented
"“I spent two hours studying. You stared into space.”"
➺ okay, I'm suing for unrealistic expectations
"She thinks for a minute.
“How long have I known you?”
“Two months,” I say.""
➺ the way he immediately blurts that out
"“No, but you do look pretty when you cry.”
She pushes me away, and when her eyes hit the clock on the nightstand, she gasps. “It’s 11: 11. Make a wish!”"
➺ adorable
If anyone needs any more convincing after these quotes, HE READS, HE'S A READER!!
____
no words, just the cover.
"𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹"
I had soooo much fun with this book. The romance? The side characters? The main characters? 😋😋
Was this book anything new? No, BUTTT it still hit where other books don't.
The way the romance develops is incredibly well done. At the begining we have a 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 enemies to lovers situation but that quickly changes as Aiden starts groveling for Summer. 💐 (don't expect too much from the enemies to lovers though! - but from the groveling you can 🤭💅)
While they spend more time with one another, they learn all those little details about the other person. And Summer starts fidgeting with his hoodie straps at some point- the way that's so cute, ahh I wanna melt. The details in the romance are immaculate!!
Some of the side plots were lacking a real development, but I'm still glad they were there.
The side characters though--
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁!!! They're adorable, nice, hilarious and loyal. When I say I want all of their books equally, I mean it. Bal Khabra, how fast can you write a book? The way Kian is literally as if Gibsie and Kenji had a child?? And the way they immediately took Summer into their friend group? And joked around with her? I'm so in love with them can you tell 🦋🦋🦋
Aiden is literally mine, I'm gonna lock him away and keep the keys. (Sorry Sum ily)
Almost everything he says are love confessions and their love just hiiiit. When Summer gave him a purple bratz doll band-aid and he wore it ON HIS FACE. Also I loved his POVs (which is very rare for me).
I still wish we had a few more chapters from Summers POV. Her banter with Aiden was so adorable, funny, 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁.
Orrrr you give me next book rfn.
𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴
The blue (Gracie Abrams)
TELL ME THAT'S NOT THEIR SONG
𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀
(it was so hard to choose but I don't wanna get sued for posting the entire book 🥲)
"As I open the door, the faint smell of peaches hits my nose before I see her. “Summer?”"
➺ the way he notices her by her smell omg
"I even Googled serial killer tendencies because I’m sure smelling someone's hair is a fucking weird thing to do. But hers is different. It's soft and smells like sweet peaches. I don’t even like peaches."
➺ he's so down for her but also he's so hilarious & relatable
"“So you came to the farthest library on campus?” she presses.
“Took me three tries.”
“For what?”
“To find this one.”
“The others didn’t have what you were looking for?”
I smile. “Not even close.”"
➺ WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT, BAL, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT
"Satisfied, I lean back in my chair. “Look at us, agreeing on something without bickering.”
“We did bicker.”
“That wasn’t bickering.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No—”
“We’re doing it right now!”"
➺ I love it when they do it and I love when they don't do it, I just love them
"“Not bad. You practice on a lot of girls?” I smirk.
“Just you. But I am naturally good with my hands.”
“Are you incapable of having a normal conversation?”
“No, but I do like seeing you blush.”
“I do not blush,” she argues, blushing."
➺ this doesn't even need to be commented
"“I spent two hours studying. You stared into space.”"
➺ okay, I'm suing for unrealistic expectations
"She thinks for a minute.
“How long have I known you?”
“Two months,” I say.""
➺ the way he immediately blurts that out
"“No, but you do look pretty when you cry.”
She pushes me away, and when her eyes hit the clock on the nightstand, she gasps. “It’s 11: 11. Make a wish!”"
➺ adorable
If anyone needs any more convincing after these quotes, HE READS, HE'S A READER!!
____
no words, just the cover.
May 15, 2025
╰┈➤ 2 stars!
did i finish this book or it finished me because of how freaking boring it was?
pre-read:
my first bal khabra book! starting this book because it’s the other book i included in my last poll! i honestly liked the book that won and i hope i’ll end up liking this book as well 🤭💌
did i finish this book or it finished me because of how freaking boring it was?
pre-read:
my first bal khabra book! starting this book because it’s the other book i included in my last poll! i honestly liked the book that won and i hope i’ll end up liking this book as well 🤭💌
May 12, 2024
Creativity is dead
May 29, 2024
zero swag
something about this book just feels lifeless. it doesn’t feel like a story it just feels like tropes written on pages to get mindless readers and booktok smut readers to enjoy. no shade but i like substance in my books.
aiden was weird to me from the jump im sorry im starting to hate when men think it’s ok to make sex jokes about girls they don’t know it’s so unattractive. summer is like emotionally not there because one minute she wanted him then the next minute she did then she didn’t then she did LIKE GIRL-.
summer’s project didn’t make since and also her reason for not liking hockey was fucking stupid. hating a whole sport because your dad abandoned you or whatever because he played hockey? they treated it like it was some huge secret until the reveal and i was like ok? plus she’s an adult like i could see if she was a teen but girlie go to therapy and work on that.
i’m not understanding why it’s 390 pages because everything seemed to be resolved around the 30% mark. friends with benefit trope doesn’t do it for me at all like there’s nothing fun! i need more substance than just sex. just read icebreaker jfc
something about this book just feels lifeless. it doesn’t feel like a story it just feels like tropes written on pages to get mindless readers and booktok smut readers to enjoy. no shade but i like substance in my books.
aiden was weird to me from the jump im sorry im starting to hate when men think it’s ok to make sex jokes about girls they don’t know it’s so unattractive. summer is like emotionally not there because one minute she wanted him then the next minute she did then she didn’t then she did LIKE GIRL-.
summer’s project didn’t make since and also her reason for not liking hockey was fucking stupid. hating a whole sport because your dad abandoned you or whatever because he played hockey? they treated it like it was some huge secret until the reveal and i was like ok? plus she’s an adult like i could see if she was a teen but girlie go to therapy and work on that.
i’m not understanding why it’s 390 pages because everything seemed to be resolved around the 30% mark. friends with benefit trope doesn’t do it for me at all like there’s nothing fun! i need more substance than just sex. just read icebreaker jfc
October 22, 2025
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 0.5/5
*sighs* why do I even try?
Hopefully, I won't hit the character count with how much I need to yap about all of this. I think this is my longest review till date and my fingers are about to fall off because of how much I typed.
Also, where should I even start? I have so much I need to say, but I guess I'll talk about the characters first and then talk about the plot.
First up, we have our "beloved" mmc.
Aiden Crawford. He's your basic college "fuckboy" hockey captain.
I would like to start this off by saying that I have some leftover ptsd from a male character with the name Aiden iykyk, so we definitely didn't have the best start and then it went downhill.
Anyways, his pov opens up with him in bed with another woman because of course that's how you get the ladies to fall over their tits for you. In my very honest opinion, whoever first introduced the idea of a hoe for a male lead needs to come and justify why that was a good idea because why is it so mainstream right now? Every other book, especially hockey romance has a hoe for a male lead.
I mean, no hate to you if you want to be a hoe, but like seriously? And why are all these women so interested in them. Are they not scared of contracting anything from him? The way they all take his word for it when he's like "I'm clean"? I would be repulsed if a guy like Aiden was in my vicinity. You would not catch me being attracted to someone like that.
If you are trying to convince me to like a male lead, 9 times out of 10 having a woman in bed with him when his chapter opens up is not going to impress me. I say 9 times out of 10 only because it didn't bother me the first couple of times since I thought it was a one-off. However, I'm tired of that dynamic and characterization where the male lead fucks everything and anything until he meets his female lead and suddenly becomes obsessed with the blandest female. I am absolutely abhorrently disgusted with men like that.
Also, it kind of gives off the wrong image. Like, I mean of course we're supposed to be separating fiction from reality, but there are people out there that might still get influenced by this. Imagine trying to fix a fuckboy in real life because you saw the female lead do it in your favorite book? I really hope people don't actually try that, but you can never be so sure. Although, I also have to say that in Aiden's case, his fuckboy image seems super forced. Given the rest of his personality, it didn't really mesh well with it. It was like he was marketed as one just for the sake of it. I don't really know how to explain it, but it was like him being a manwhore had to be shown and said way more than it needed to. The fact that he was a complete simp later kind of added to that.
You would have thought once would have been enough to establish that he's a manwhore, but then you also have that scene where there was a naked girl with whipped cream in his bed even after he met the female lead...and it was like the fuck was I a witness to? I'm not saying he needs to be obsessed with the female lead from the start, but like we also didn't have to see all that. It's not something quirky or funny. It's just gross and icky. How am I even supposed to have positive thoughts about him? Not that I would because no thanks, I'm good.
Anyways, his manwhore thing aside, like I said above, he's just like every other college hockey player. To prove my point, let's run down the list shall we?
Lives in a hockey house ✔︎
Fuckboy ✔︎
Dreams of being in the NHL (duh) ✔︎
Basically insults the female lead in their first meeting ✔︎
Loves to party ✔︎
Has a group of 4-5 friends who will also eventually get their own story ✔︎
oh and bonus for these next few because these happen at least once in hockey romance series:
Opening scene with a random woman ✔︎
Captain of the team ✔︎
Signed to an NHL team by the start of the book ✔︎
Weirdest Golden Retriever Energy ✔︎
Acts like a fuckboy but is kind of deep with the female lead from the start ✔︎
Some trauma related to his parents ✔︎
Essentially, Aiden Crawford is a mix of Garret Graham from The Deal and Nathan whatever his last name is (I would like to say it's Hawkins, but don't quote me) from Icebreaker. I didn't like either of those male leads, so it might not be a surprise that I didn't like Aiden either (don't look at my review for The Deal cause my opinions have changed and I just haven't gotten around to fixing that review).
The point that I lost it with him was the line below.
Bold for someone who gave a mediocre performance at best. I'm being super nice because whatever the fuck happened was cringey, low-key unnecessary and slightly unpleasant on my eyes. Brother, eughhh.
I have so much more I want to say about this guy, but I'm about to lose my mind the more I think about him and I need a change in scenery so let's talk about the female lead next.
Summer Preston. My God, do I have beef with this bitch.
She's so passive aggressive and it's not in the best way. I could totally relate to a black cat female lead who acts "spike-y", but she took it to the extreme. Like at one point, you gotta find it annoying when you see yourself do it over and over again. Basically, everyone was bending over backwards trying to accommodate for girlypop and she just did not care.
Homegirl hates all hockey players because her father was one and she doesn't like him. Actually, that's low-key wrong, let me correct myself, it's because she thought that he prioritized hockey over her. In her defense, yes, he did and I could see how she felt like he abandoned her, but like why hate on the sport and the people who play that sport. I mean just because your father wasn't a good person because hockey took over his life, doesn't mean they're all like that.
And the thing is, for someone who has that deep dislike for hockey player, she barely showed it around Aiden even at the start (aside from the first scene where they see each other). Which is confusing because what was the purpose of the whole trauma thing in the first place if you were going to fold super quickly? It was very underdeveloped at the start and then it kind of fizzled out throughout the middle only to make an appearance towards the third-act area.
Oh, and she's half-Indian and I have problems with the portrayal of Indian (South Asian woman in general) in mainstream media. It's either that they're shown as a complete good girl where they are super innocent, they act like a banshee, or they're stuck-up. And then the thing is that her being Indian wasn't really shown. I'm not expecting stereotypes, but there wasn't much to go off of. We had a couple instances of Butter Chicken, her mom calls her "Meri Jaan" once, her sister's name is Indian and so is her mom's, and then she calls her grandparents "Nanni and Nanna", but aside from that, she was basically a white person. Well, duh because she's half white, but I didn't see any real reason for her being Indian.
Also, she says her sisters were born when she was in high school, so how are they 15 already? The math is not adding up. Even if she was 14 when they were born, she would have to be 29 years old for them to be 15, so like was that a typo or was that a miscalculation because she was 20?
And, then I decided let's also make a list for the female lead while I'm at it since there are some basic qualities that females in hockey romances have:
She doesn't go out ✔︎
She only has like 2-3 friends ✔︎
Typical oldest sibling portrayal ✔︎
Bonus if they have any of the below, and she had all of them:
Hates hockey players ✔︎
Daddy issues ✔︎
Younger siblings who had life better ✔︎
Girl, what? I don't think he really gives a fuck. Like what are you on?
In this economy? It would be great if we could make it past this year lmao.
This gave me flashbacks to Shannon, like the river.
What is white people's obsession with butter chicken? Like, OMG. Please diversify your tastes, there is so much more to Indian food than Butter Chicken. I can guarantee that once you try other food, you'll forget all about Butter Chicken. No offense if you like Butter Chicken though. 😭
Please, stop. I take personal offense to this. On behalf of all 21-year olds, get out of here. Seriously.
And we have the plot.
What was the point of having like 53 chapters when the story was basically almost all over at chapter 10. I mean, they weren't even holding back with their lusty feelings.
What happens after chapter 10 you may ask? Glad you did, because let me tell you that it was filled with cringey dialogue and so much filler while these two lust over each other. Summer barely even showed us that she hated hockey players because she was all over him. You wouldn't even know she hated hockey players if she didn't consistently act like a bitch on the outside, but then lust on him on the inside. Her hot and cold behavior got old after the second time.
Their back and forth was also really annoying and that was coupled with the juvenile games. When she asked that guy to kiss her just because she saw him getting on the ferris wheel with some other girl. Like wtf was that woman? I love a good revenge story, but like the purpose of that kiss was useless if you ask me.
The thing is Summer is portrayed as a Black Cat female lead, but I don't think she fully did justice to it. She would go back and forth between being sweet to him and then she instantly would just get all haughty and bitchy because she thought he did something.
I'm being so for real when I say I was snoozing by chapter 15. It was such a struggle to get to the end and when I saw the Epilogue, I was about to start tweaking because of how much it felt like I read when literally nothing happened. If I'm being very honest right now, I only held on so I can write this whole rant review since I know a lot of you would enjoy it.
In all honesty, the tropes overpowered the story. It felt like I was handed a checklist and I was checking off all the tropes that I could somehow spot.
And some people considered this enemies to lovers? Umm, bye because where even were they enemies? They had like one exchange at the start of the book, but I wouldn't consider them enemies to lovers based off that. More like strangers to lusters.
Oh, and then I was about to lose it when she was like "let's be friends with benefits" or something like that.
When they say that, but they're basically a couple, so like what was the point? It's like the fake-dating trope trauma all over again, but this time it was friends with benefits.
And don't even get me started on the smut, case in point 👇
ummmmm, ok?
yeah....
The smut was really cringey is all I can say.
I low-key feel like such a bitch for giving this book 1-star and writing this much for it, but I genuinely for the life of me cannot find any reason to rate this higher than a 1-star. Also, I've been trying to be nicer about my ratings and not as harsh because I feel bad, but sometimes the mean bitch inside of me just cannot hold back.
Is it enjoyable? I would have to say no.
Is it easy to read? For the most part yes, if you overlook how boring it is because literally nothing happened for majority of the book.
This wouldn't be my top pick for a hockey romance, but I was definitely part of the minority, so if this book is on your tbr, I would say still go for it. Don't base your opinions of a book on mine and give it a try.
-------
I have a lot of thoughts and I can't say they're good tbh..rtc cause I need to rant.
----------
I wasn't impressed with the second book, but maybe I'll like this more?
*sighs* why do I even try?
Hopefully, I won't hit the character count with how much I need to yap about all of this. I think this is my longest review till date and my fingers are about to fall off because of how much I typed.
Also, where should I even start? I have so much I need to say, but I guess I'll talk about the characters first and then talk about the plot.
First up, we have our "beloved" mmc.
Aiden Crawford. He's your basic college "fuckboy" hockey captain.
I would like to start this off by saying that I have some leftover ptsd from a male character with the name Aiden iykyk, so we definitely didn't have the best start and then it went downhill.
Anyways, his pov opens up with him in bed with another woman because of course that's how you get the ladies to fall over their tits for you. In my very honest opinion, whoever first introduced the idea of a hoe for a male lead needs to come and justify why that was a good idea because why is it so mainstream right now? Every other book, especially hockey romance has a hoe for a male lead.
I mean, no hate to you if you want to be a hoe, but like seriously? And why are all these women so interested in them. Are they not scared of contracting anything from him? The way they all take his word for it when he's like "I'm clean"? I would be repulsed if a guy like Aiden was in my vicinity. You would not catch me being attracted to someone like that.
If you are trying to convince me to like a male lead, 9 times out of 10 having a woman in bed with him when his chapter opens up is not going to impress me. I say 9 times out of 10 only because it didn't bother me the first couple of times since I thought it was a one-off. However, I'm tired of that dynamic and characterization where the male lead fucks everything and anything until he meets his female lead and suddenly becomes obsessed with the blandest female. I am absolutely abhorrently disgusted with men like that.
Also, it kind of gives off the wrong image. Like, I mean of course we're supposed to be separating fiction from reality, but there are people out there that might still get influenced by this. Imagine trying to fix a fuckboy in real life because you saw the female lead do it in your favorite book? I really hope people don't actually try that, but you can never be so sure. Although, I also have to say that in Aiden's case, his fuckboy image seems super forced. Given the rest of his personality, it didn't really mesh well with it. It was like he was marketed as one just for the sake of it. I don't really know how to explain it, but it was like him being a manwhore had to be shown and said way more than it needed to. The fact that he was a complete simp later kind of added to that.
You would have thought once would have been enough to establish that he's a manwhore, but then you also have that scene where there was a naked girl with whipped cream in his bed even after he met the female lead...and it was like the fuck was I a witness to? I'm not saying he needs to be obsessed with the female lead from the start, but like we also didn't have to see all that. It's not something quirky or funny. It's just gross and icky. How am I even supposed to have positive thoughts about him? Not that I would because no thanks, I'm good.
Anyways, his manwhore thing aside, like I said above, he's just like every other college hockey player. To prove my point, let's run down the list shall we?
Lives in a hockey house ✔︎
Fuckboy ✔︎
Dreams of being in the NHL (duh) ✔︎
Basically insults the female lead in their first meeting ✔︎
Loves to party ✔︎
Has a group of 4-5 friends who will also eventually get their own story ✔︎
oh and bonus for these next few because these happen at least once in hockey romance series:
Opening scene with a random woman ✔︎
Captain of the team ✔︎
Signed to an NHL team by the start of the book ✔︎
Weirdest Golden Retriever Energy ✔︎
Acts like a fuckboy but is kind of deep with the female lead from the start ✔︎
Some trauma related to his parents ✔︎
Essentially, Aiden Crawford is a mix of Garret Graham from The Deal and Nathan whatever his last name is (I would like to say it's Hawkins, but don't quote me) from Icebreaker. I didn't like either of those male leads, so it might not be a surprise that I didn't like Aiden either (don't look at my review for The Deal cause my opinions have changed and I just haven't gotten around to fixing that review).
The point that I lost it with him was the line below.
"It’s going to be because you know the only guy that can satisfy you is me."
Bold for someone who gave a mediocre performance at best. I'm being super nice because whatever the fuck happened was cringey, low-key unnecessary and slightly unpleasant on my eyes. Brother, eughhh.
I have so much more I want to say about this guy, but I'm about to lose my mind the more I think about him and I need a change in scenery so let's talk about the female lead next.
Summer Preston. My God, do I have beef with this bitch.
She's so passive aggressive and it's not in the best way. I could totally relate to a black cat female lead who acts "spike-y", but she took it to the extreme. Like at one point, you gotta find it annoying when you see yourself do it over and over again. Basically, everyone was bending over backwards trying to accommodate for girlypop and she just did not care.
Homegirl hates all hockey players because her father was one and she doesn't like him. Actually, that's low-key wrong, let me correct myself, it's because she thought that he prioritized hockey over her. In her defense, yes, he did and I could see how she felt like he abandoned her, but like why hate on the sport and the people who play that sport. I mean just because your father wasn't a good person because hockey took over his life, doesn't mean they're all like that.
And the thing is, for someone who has that deep dislike for hockey player, she barely showed it around Aiden even at the start (aside from the first scene where they see each other). Which is confusing because what was the purpose of the whole trauma thing in the first place if you were going to fold super quickly? It was very underdeveloped at the start and then it kind of fizzled out throughout the middle only to make an appearance towards the third-act area.
Oh, and she's half-Indian and I have problems with the portrayal of Indian (South Asian woman in general) in mainstream media. It's either that they're shown as a complete good girl where they are super innocent, they act like a banshee, or they're stuck-up. And then the thing is that her being Indian wasn't really shown. I'm not expecting stereotypes, but there wasn't much to go off of. We had a couple instances of Butter Chicken, her mom calls her "Meri Jaan" once, her sister's name is Indian and so is her mom's, and then she calls her grandparents "Nanni and Nanna", but aside from that, she was basically a white person. Well, duh because she's half white, but I didn't see any real reason for her being Indian.
Also, she says her sisters were born when she was in high school, so how are they 15 already? The math is not adding up. Even if she was 14 when they were born, she would have to be 29 years old for them to be 15, so like was that a typo or was that a miscalculation because she was 20?
And, then I decided let's also make a list for the female lead while I'm at it since there are some basic qualities that females in hockey romances have:
She doesn't go out ✔︎
She only has like 2-3 friends ✔︎
Typical oldest sibling portrayal ✔︎
Bonus if they have any of the below, and she had all of them:
Hates hockey players ✔︎
Daddy issues ✔︎
Younger siblings who had life better ✔︎
“Just so you know, you’re ruining my hair-wash schedule.”
Girl, what? I don't think he really gives a fuck. Like what are you on?
“I have five, ten, and twenty-year plans.”
In this economy? It would be great if we could make it past this year lmao.
“Summer. Like the season.”
This gave me flashbacks to Shannon, like the river.
We stopped at an Indian place by Dalton that Aiden swore had the best butter chicken.
What is white people's obsession with butter chicken? Like, OMG. Please diversify your tastes, there is so much more to Indian food than Butter Chicken. I can guarantee that once you try other food, you'll forget all about Butter Chicken. No offense if you like Butter Chicken though. 😭
“Twenty-one, huh? You’re practically an old man,”
Please, stop. I take personal offense to this. On behalf of all 21-year olds, get out of here. Seriously.
And we have the plot.
What was the point of having like 53 chapters when the story was basically almost all over at chapter 10. I mean, they weren't even holding back with their lusty feelings.
What happens after chapter 10 you may ask? Glad you did, because let me tell you that it was filled with cringey dialogue and so much filler while these two lust over each other. Summer barely even showed us that she hated hockey players because she was all over him. You wouldn't even know she hated hockey players if she didn't consistently act like a bitch on the outside, but then lust on him on the inside. Her hot and cold behavior got old after the second time.
Their back and forth was also really annoying and that was coupled with the juvenile games. When she asked that guy to kiss her just because she saw him getting on the ferris wheel with some other girl. Like wtf was that woman? I love a good revenge story, but like the purpose of that kiss was useless if you ask me.
The thing is Summer is portrayed as a Black Cat female lead, but I don't think she fully did justice to it. She would go back and forth between being sweet to him and then she instantly would just get all haughty and bitchy because she thought he did something.
I'm being so for real when I say I was snoozing by chapter 15. It was such a struggle to get to the end and when I saw the Epilogue, I was about to start tweaking because of how much it felt like I read when literally nothing happened. If I'm being very honest right now, I only held on so I can write this whole rant review since I know a lot of you would enjoy it.
In all honesty, the tropes overpowered the story. It felt like I was handed a checklist and I was checking off all the tropes that I could somehow spot.
And some people considered this enemies to lovers? Umm, bye because where even were they enemies? They had like one exchange at the start of the book, but I wouldn't consider them enemies to lovers based off that. More like strangers to lusters.
Oh, and then I was about to lose it when she was like "let's be friends with benefits" or something like that.
When they say that, but they're basically a couple, so like what was the point? It's like the fake-dating trope trauma all over again, but this time it was friends with benefits.
And don't even get me started on the smut, case in point 👇
“You’re so fucking tight,” he rasps, sliding in a second finger.
ummmmm, ok?
“Then let me touch you, baby,” I beg. “Please.”
yeah....
The smut was really cringey is all I can say.
I low-key feel like such a bitch for giving this book 1-star and writing this much for it, but I genuinely for the life of me cannot find any reason to rate this higher than a 1-star. Also, I've been trying to be nicer about my ratings and not as harsh because I feel bad, but sometimes the mean bitch inside of me just cannot hold back.
Is it enjoyable? I would have to say no.
Is it easy to read? For the most part yes, if you overlook how boring it is because literally nothing happened for majority of the book.
This wouldn't be my top pick for a hockey romance, but I was definitely part of the minority, so if this book is on your tbr, I would say still go for it. Don't base your opinions of a book on mine and give it a try.
-------
I have a lot of thoughts and I can't say they're good tbh..rtc cause I need to rant.
----------
I wasn't impressed with the second book, but maybe I'll like this more?
would-need-to-buy-to-read
August 22, 2023guys guys something about the colors is drawing me in
November 29, 2024
“𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒔.”
Excuse me, but this book was SO FREAKING CUTE! 💕 I adored Summer, but OMG, I’ve never met an FMC so stubborn and yet I loved her for it?! Make it make sense! 🤷♀️
This is your classic romance where Summer hates hockey, but for her graduate application, she needs to team up with Aiden, the hockey captain. 🏒 When the academic and sports worlds collide, let’s just say their attraction is UNDENIABLE!!! You’ll fall head over heels for both of them and won't get enough 😍✨
“𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒐��� 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝑷𝑮.”
Aiden is such a golden boy: flirty, confident, and the moment he sees Summer, he’s like, BET, and makes it his mission to win her over 😏 Meanwhile, Summer? Deny, deny, and just for good measure… deny one more time! 😂 Watching their friendship bloom and their relationship develop made this such a fun and heartwarming read.
“𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔?” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.
“𝑻𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.”
“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕?”
“𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓?” 𝑰 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆.
“𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.”
The romance? Heavy. The plot? There. The subplots? Sprinkled in. But let’s be real besides learning about the characters, the sport, and feeling all the tension, this is the perfect CUTE and spicy read. AGHHH, I loved it! ❤️🔥
tropes
🏒 college romance
🏒 hockey romance
🏒 black cat x golden retriever
🏒 he falls first
🏒 strangers to friends to lovers
🏒 friends with benefit
🏒 forced proximity
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ libby just gave me this beautiful audiobook so obviously 🤭🤭🤭 adding to my CR
Excuse me, but this book was SO FREAKING CUTE! 💕 I adored Summer, but OMG, I’ve never met an FMC so stubborn and yet I loved her for it?! Make it make sense! 🤷♀️
This is your classic romance where Summer hates hockey, but for her graduate application, she needs to team up with Aiden, the hockey captain. 🏒 When the academic and sports worlds collide, let’s just say their attraction is UNDENIABLE!!! You’ll fall head over heels for both of them and won't get enough 😍✨
“𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒐��� 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝑷𝑮.”
Aiden is such a golden boy: flirty, confident, and the moment he sees Summer, he’s like, BET, and makes it his mission to win her over 😏 Meanwhile, Summer? Deny, deny, and just for good measure… deny one more time! 😂 Watching their friendship bloom and their relationship develop made this such a fun and heartwarming read.
“𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔?” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.
“𝑻𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.”
“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕?”
“𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓?” 𝑰 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆.
“𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.”
The romance? Heavy. The plot? There. The subplots? Sprinkled in. But let’s be real besides learning about the characters, the sport, and feeling all the tension, this is the perfect CUTE and spicy read. AGHHH, I loved it! ❤️🔥
tropes
🏒 college romance
🏒 hockey romance
🏒 black cat x golden retriever
🏒 he falls first
🏒 strangers to friends to lovers
🏒 friends with benefit
🏒 forced proximity
⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.⋆. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆.
𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ libby just gave me this beautiful audiobook so obviously 🤭🤭🤭 adding to my CR
December 22, 2024
Collide" serves up a whirlwind of a college hockey romance, brimming with banter and heat, featuring a chosen family, a tumble-first dynamic, and an inverted grumpy x sunshine trope. Meet Aiden, who, taking one for the team, finds himself unwillingly partnered with Summer for her research project. Despite initial reluctance, sparks fly, revealing a connection beyond mere verbal jousting. Aiden's unwavering commitment to Summer faces hurdles due to her past hang-ups and the demands of the project. Nevertheless, Aiden persists, showing he's ready to go all-in.
This book is a scrumptious, feel-good romance with charm to spare. Aiden's sweetness and attentiveness shine, triumphing over the hurdles in their love story. Summer's stubborn streak adds a delightful twist, making their dynamic a joyride. While there's a slight deduction for external relationship drama, Aiden and Summer's eventual connection pays off handsomely. As a newbie to Bal Khabra's work, I'm already itching for more!
This book certainly lives up to its social media hype. It delivers on the promise of so much fun, sizzling and palpable chemistry, the best book boyfriend, likable side characters, and great execution that endears it to sports romance enthusiasts. The romance? Sizzling. The characters? Absolute delights. The plot? Just the right blend of mystery. Aiden and Summer became each other's pillars, navigating personal challenges in a positively uplifting manner.
The icing on the cake? "Collide" boasts a topsy-turvy grumpy x sunshine dynamic! Who doesn't love a male lead channeling golden retriever vibes while the female lead rocks the perpetual scowl? The banter is off the charts!
Overall, this book is a breezy, entertaining read with unexpectedly steamy moments. If you're yearning for a concoction of hockey, romance, and laughter, this book is your golden ticket!
A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this entertaining book's digital reviewer copy in exchange of my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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This book is a scrumptious, feel-good romance with charm to spare. Aiden's sweetness and attentiveness shine, triumphing over the hurdles in their love story. Summer's stubborn streak adds a delightful twist, making their dynamic a joyride. While there's a slight deduction for external relationship drama, Aiden and Summer's eventual connection pays off handsomely. As a newbie to Bal Khabra's work, I'm already itching for more!
This book certainly lives up to its social media hype. It delivers on the promise of so much fun, sizzling and palpable chemistry, the best book boyfriend, likable side characters, and great execution that endears it to sports romance enthusiasts. The romance? Sizzling. The characters? Absolute delights. The plot? Just the right blend of mystery. Aiden and Summer became each other's pillars, navigating personal challenges in a positively uplifting manner.
The icing on the cake? "Collide" boasts a topsy-turvy grumpy x sunshine dynamic! Who doesn't love a male lead channeling golden retriever vibes while the female lead rocks the perpetual scowl? The banter is off the charts!
Overall, this book is a breezy, entertaining read with unexpectedly steamy moments. If you're yearning for a concoction of hockey, romance, and laughter, this book is your golden ticket!
A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this entertaining book's digital reviewer copy in exchange of my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
October 18, 2025
My main opinion on this is how LONG it was. I don't have issues with long romances; MZ is a perfect example of them being done right. But because of my MZ love, I really think a long romance needs to be a slow burn for it to really work. This was not that.
And I was having issues with both MC's. I think Aiden got better as the story progressed, but there were things that happened in the beginning/middle of the book that were kind of red flags for me. But I liked him more in the latter half of the book.
I really went back and forth on Summer. At first I was digging her vibes and how she wasn't falling for Aiden's fuck buddy bullshit, but that seemed to end pretty fast and then she kind of did a 180 and decide that she was going to be a fuck buddy and completely disregard Aiden's feelings and her own growing feelings because why? Definitely got some whiplash from their relationship. I've seen this advertised as no third act breakup, which I guess technically there isn't, but it felt a little misleading considering how all over the place their relationship really was.
All this aside, I did enjoy the story. Hockey romances are always fun, and there were a lot of entertaining side characters. There were a lot of parts of Aiden and Summer's relationship that I really liked, mostly from Aiden's side, but I found myself cheering for them or getting emotional toward the end when a couple things started going sideways.
So I think I would recommend this one overall if you're into sport romances.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this copy in exchange for an honest review
And I was having issues with both MC's. I think Aiden got better as the story progressed, but there were things that happened in the beginning/middle of the book that were kind of red flags for me. But I liked him more in the latter half of the book.
I really went back and forth on Summer. At first I was digging her vibes and how she wasn't falling for Aiden's fuck buddy bullshit, but that seemed to end pretty fast and then she kind of did a 180 and decide that she was going to be a fuck buddy and completely disregard Aiden's feelings and her own growing feelings because why? Definitely got some whiplash from their relationship. I've seen this advertised as no third act breakup, which I guess technically there isn't, but it felt a little misleading considering how all over the place their relationship really was.
All this aside, I did enjoy the story. Hockey romances are always fun, and there were a lot of entertaining side characters. There were a lot of parts of Aiden and Summer's relationship that I really liked, mostly from Aiden's side, but I found myself cheering for them or getting emotional toward the end when a couple things started going sideways.
So I think I would recommend this one overall if you're into sport romances.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this copy in exchange for an honest review
June 22, 2024
Aiden & Summer
November 24, 2023
i experienced a range of conflicting emotions, particularly towards the fmc. i’m unsure of how to feel.
i planned to give this a 2.5-star rating but considering the fast pace, i'd say it's more of a 3-star read for me.
numerous people have said that the book has a similar feel to an icebreaker (which i did not like) … so it caused me to feel quite apprehensive. initially, i found the characters to be bothersome, but this is more of a personal issue than a fault of the book. however, after reaching the 100-page mark, i began to enjoy the book.
the plot and storyline were intriguing but can we talk about why this story feels excessively long? i mean, the plot wrapped up by the time we hit the 35-40% mark! it could really benefit from some serious editing. i'm convinced that can trim it down to just 200 pages and make it much more captivating.
aiden—
aiden's pov began on the wrong foot for me, with him in bed with another woman. however, thanks to icebreaker, i was somewhat prepared for this but that doesn’t make it okay. it made me want to dnf this so bad. despite his initial behavior as an unpleasant person, he has shown himself to be much more than that. as the team captain, he displays a genuine concern for everyone and everything, including summer, which is truly admirable.
at the same time,
she wears anything or simply exists—
him: i feel my blood rush to my groin
aiden: summer i won’t dictate how you live your life.
*goes around and dictates her life.*
summer—
ah summer, i can't help but feel a bit infuriated with her emotional immaturity. she constantly denies her feelings for aiden, while simultaneously being quite irritating. she does have the ability to be relatable, but that's to some extent.
when donny, her ex-boyfriend, made a comment about her being with aiden, she completely lost it and goes OMGG, YES! he's like a saint, always taking care of me and knowing what's best for me." i’m like girl, you've completely lost your mind. let me set you straight. it's clear that she constantly seeks donny's approval in everything she does.
he’s (donny) not wrong. i can’t let what i’ve worked so hard for be on the line for—for this.”
personally, i found that there were spicy scenes in almost every chapter, which did not appeal to me. also, i didn’t liked how abruptly the chapter ends.
and don't even get me started on the whole friends with benefits situation and her denial. it's been driving me crazy! it seems like there's nothing captivating happening, and the story itself feels quite dull with so many events unfold.
final thoughts—
if you're looking for a story about a grumpy fmc who is always seeking her ex-boyfriend's approval, got daddy issues and a sunshine mmc who tries to convince her that she is worth more than that (but at the same time, he’s a bit similar to her ex), then this is the perfect read for you.
quotes and moments—
ʚɞ “i’ve never been to a dalton hockey game and i’m not planning on going.” (her)
“not a fan?” (him)
“you haven’t done anything to make me one.” (her)
ʚɞ “you dance?”
“no,” he says. “but i want to with you.”
ʚɞ wiping that cocky grin of his face has become my sole purpose for the next thirty minutes.
ʚɞ “you’re missing the view.” he focuses on my face, and his smile makes my stomach dip. “no, i’m not.
ʚɞ “babe, the only time i want to see tears in your eyes is when i’m hitting the back of your throat.” “how romantic,” she mutters, but her smile shines through.
ʚɞ “summer is my sun, and i’m the simple planet revolving in her orbit.”
“you have a sex playlist?”
“of course. some girls are quiet.”
“girls? do you know how awkward it is when guys don’t make a sound?”
“i wouldn’t know. i make plenty.”
i planned to give this a 2.5-star rating but considering the fast pace, i'd say it's more of a 3-star read for me.
numerous people have said that the book has a similar feel to an icebreaker (which i did not like) … so it caused me to feel quite apprehensive. initially, i found the characters to be bothersome, but this is more of a personal issue than a fault of the book. however, after reaching the 100-page mark, i began to enjoy the book.
the plot and storyline were intriguing but can we talk about why this story feels excessively long? i mean, the plot wrapped up by the time we hit the 35-40% mark! it could really benefit from some serious editing. i'm convinced that can trim it down to just 200 pages and make it much more captivating.
aiden—
ʚɞ if making her angry ends with her naked and in my bed, i don’t think i’ll ever stop.
ʚɞ “i hate you,” she mutters. a chuckle escapes me as i move closer. “you’re going to hate me even more when you can’t walk tomorrow.” “is that a promise?” “it’s a guarantee.”
ʚɞ it’s almost amusing that the only time she's listened to me is when my d!ck is inside her.
aiden's pov began on the wrong foot for me, with him in bed with another woman. however, thanks to icebreaker, i was somewhat prepared for this but that doesn’t make it okay. it made me want to dnf this so bad. despite his initial behavior as an unpleasant person, he has shown himself to be much more than that. as the team captain, he displays a genuine concern for everyone and everything, including summer, which is truly admirable.
at the same time,
she wears anything or simply exists—
him: i feel my blood rush to my groin
aiden: summer i won’t dictate how you live your life.
*goes around and dictates her life.*
summer—
ʚɞ apparently, my plan to abandon people before they abandoned me isn’t healthy.
ʚɞ i don’t create attachments to people in fear i won’t be good enough for people to stick around.
ah summer, i can't help but feel a bit infuriated with her emotional immaturity. she constantly denies her feelings for aiden, while simultaneously being quite irritating. she does have the ability to be relatable, but that's to some extent.
when donny, her ex-boyfriend, made a comment about her being with aiden, she completely lost it and goes OMGG, YES! he's like a saint, always taking care of me and knowing what's best for me." i’m like girl, you've completely lost your mind. let me set you straight. it's clear that she constantly seeks donny's approval in everything she does.
he’s (donny) not wrong. i can’t let what i’ve worked so hard for be on the line for—for this.”
personally, i found that there were spicy scenes in almost every chapter, which did not appeal to me. also, i didn’t liked how abruptly the chapter ends.
thanks, but sharing my daddy issues with the guy i’m sleeping with isn’t exactly my idea of unwinding.” reducing me to the guy she’s sleeping with feels like she’s tossing my heart into a blender.
and don't even get me started on the whole friends with benefits situation and her denial. it's been driving me crazy! it seems like there's nothing captivating happening, and the story itself feels quite dull with so many events unfold.
final thoughts—
if you're looking for a story about a grumpy fmc who is always seeking her ex-boyfriend's approval, got daddy issues and a sunshine mmc who tries to convince her that she is worth more than that (but at the same time, he’s a bit similar to her ex), then this is the perfect read for you.
quotes and moments—
ʚɞ “i’ve never been to a dalton hockey game and i’m not planning on going.” (her)
“not a fan?” (him)
“you haven’t done anything to make me one.” (her)
ʚɞ “you dance?”
“no,” he says. “but i want to with you.”
ʚɞ wiping that cocky grin of his face has become my sole purpose for the next thirty minutes.
ʚɞ “you’re missing the view.” he focuses on my face, and his smile makes my stomach dip. “no, i’m not.
ʚɞ “babe, the only time i want to see tears in your eyes is when i’m hitting the back of your throat.” “how romantic,” she mutters, but her smile shines through.
ʚɞ “summer is my sun, and i’m the simple planet revolving in her orbit.”
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