I was thrilled to receive spiral as an ARC for review after absolutely devouring Collide earlier in the year, and boy, was I not disappointed.

Although this is yet another hockey romance in the overly saturated current market, I instantly fell in love with the unique and visceral Sage and tough-to-crack Elias.

The mixture of these two complex characters felt real, and I couldn't help but root for them all the way through. Their story stands out from others I have read recently with plenty of unique plot points, and Bal Khabra is really making her voice stand out from the crowd. Her characters are addictive and fans of collide will be extatic to see more of Aiden and Summer.

It was refreshing to read a sports romance that didn't purely rely on smut to hook the readers, and when it was there, it was done tastefully and to drive the plot. The hockey was there, but not overwhelming, and didn't distract from the story, in my opinion, as too often happens in novels like this.

In all honesty, the only criticism I have is that the whole thing did feel quite low stakes, but I'm not complaining. Sometimes, that's just what you need as a romance reader!

Overall, I would recommend this to lovers of sports and specifically hockey romance.

3.5 stars!

firstly, thank you so much to Bloomsbury & NetGalley for sending me this arc - i am so so thankful 💜

I loved the concept of this book so much. i started & finished within a day, it is 100% worth the read!

the writing style flowed so well and i love that the couple built more of a friendship as the chapters went on. eli is definitely an acts of service man, and a deep down softy. he treated her so well and i adored how all he wanted to do was make her life better, take the stress off of her and to see her happy. he is the definition of a supportive mmc. i also loved his bond with her brother so much and it felt so organic between them!

sage - i did like sage a lot, i found her really relatable as a people pleaser and always wanting to make those around her happy.

i think for me, on a deeper level i didn’t quite connect to these characters as much as i did in collide. i also was slightly confused at the beginning if sage was in college or not as it kind of implied she was at the beginning then it just faded out.

i am so excited to read what comes next! im intrigued to see who it’ll be.

Absolutely love this sports/dancer troupe. I enjoy books like this so much. I thought it had great characters and the storyline was well written and kept me interested. I highly recommend this to readers who love sports romances like I do! You will not be disappointed