Collide

By: Riley Hart

Narrated by: Luke Itzvic

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

At 10 years old, Noah Jameson and Cooper Bradshaw collided midair when they dove for the same football. For three years they were inseparable...until one day when Noah and his parents disappeared in the middle of the night.

Noah and Cooper never knew what happened to each other. Now, 17 years later, after finding his boyfriend in bed with another man, Noah returns to Blackcreek looking for a fresh start. And damned if he doesn't find his old friend grew up to be as sexy as sin.

Coop can't believe Noah - the only person he trusted with the guilt over his parents' death - is back. And gay. Or that Cooper himself suddenly wants another man in his bed for the first time. There's no denying the attraction and emotion between them, but can they overcome the ghosts of their pasts to have a future together?

©2013 Riley Hart (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Good performance, story needs an editor

If I were reading this myself, I would have put the book down about 7 chapters in. The story can get very repetitive in the middle, with a lot of character traits that are informed, or which are beaten about the reader's head so much you'd think this was a weekly serial instead of a novel. And the numerous sex scenes have some things that are so awkward or poorly written that it's laugh out loud hilarious.

But it has a good beginning and a strong ending, and that ending makes up for a lot of the middle. The characters are interesting, and the plot is good. It just needed about 5 chapters worth of repetition, sex, repetition, will-they-or-won't-they, and repetition cut out of it by an editor for the pacing to not drag constantly. Or perhaps it needed its subplot explored more in the middle.

The narrator was excellent, and his story telling was the only reason I managed to keep going to the end. He does excellent voices for the characters, including switching it up for the flash backs, which I appreciated greatly. And he only cracked up once during his reading!

Thoroughly enjoyed

This book, about two boys who met at age 10, is a story of friendship and love and finding oneself. It is sweet, sad, and has lots of sex. I enjoy reading this writer and Luke, the narrator is terrific.

Loved it!

I don't write reviews unless I really liked the story. The story really grabbed my attention after the first chapter. I have read/listened to the Crossroads series from Riley and enjoyed them and this series promises some more great stories. The performance was awesome! I have found another great narrator. To me Luke rates just as good to me as Graham and Michael! Thank You to both Riley and Luke! They made me fall in love with both Cooper and Noah! I miss them already...LOL! WILL RE-READ/LISTEN!

what a collision!!!

I was "introduced" to this authors work by another author. Leslie McAdam was singing praises about Riley Hart. She even gave me a Riley Hart book. I smiled and said I'd love to read it. However, this is my first foray into Riley Harts work. An Audible sale snared me and bow I want to kick my own ass for the delay!

Collide is fantastic. Well written and everything you need and want in a romance!!!! The feels, the chemistry, the longing...Sigh! Don't even get me started on the self doubt, the insecurities. These two are real, sexy, and unfortunately not interested in what I have to offer! Lol.

Riley Hart has given Black Creek and epic start. I am absolutely going to devour the rest of this series as fast as I can download them!

Did I mention, Cooper is a hot fireman...? Oh sorry, and that Noah, is former military... Now you're starting to picture it. Instead of imagining all the hot, delectable things and the intense chemistry, rough hands....Just buy it!!!!

Amazing

Another wonderful book, please don’t stop writing. This one tugged at my heart over and over again, in the best way possible :-)

Really Enjoyable Listen

I really enjoyed listening to this story. I love stories which have a lot of background from the characters past and this one really highlighted the connection Coop and Noah had as children, and the evolution of that when they reunited as adults. I liked that there was so struggle to them finding their way together but that it didn’t feel overly angsty, and the chemistry between them was palpable. That being said the end didn’t quite feel like a true ending. I would have liked a little more of seeing them navigate their lives after this and tbh a clear cutting out of the homophobic family member scene. I also could have used a little more fluff in the epilogue as well but all in all it was a well written story that had great narration.

Hot story! Classic GFY.

*3.5 stars*



Okay, mixed feelings, alert!

Collide is such a classic, old-school GFY story that it's a wonder I've never read it before. I'm hit or miss with Riley Hart, but lately I've been enjoying her work and this one was no different.

Honestly, you can tell that this is a rougher, older story. I listened in audio, but the book struggles with awkward phrasing, too many flashbacks (a pet-peeve of mine), and a dude-bro, VERY fantasy-level GFY (one of those where the guy insists he would *never, ever* be attracted to another guy except his love). As I'm matured in my reading tastes, I've come to prefer my sexuality discovery stories to be more of a... discovery, a transition into a more fluid sexuality or at least more of a realistic one. I think more of a passing acknowledgement of bisexuality would have been warranted.

Still... I can't deny that I found this book to be hot as hell. It really ticked a lot of my boxes, and though the story had some iffy moments, if a jaded romance reader like myself can find something scorching hot, well, that's saying something.

Listening to the story in audio certainly helped because Luke Itzvic was a very good narrator, and that way I'm sure I missed many of the grammatical errors that plague early Riley Hart books. I'd listen to another book by this narrator any day of the week.

No, this book doesn't rank high on the believably scale, but I'm glad I finally took a chance on this older M/M book. It brought the heat and it left me feeling happy, which is all I could have asked for.

Must have!!!!!

It was absolutely perfect, I can’t even get it into words I enjoyed the friendship, the lovers quarrel, the jealousy the passion, the drama drama I’m purchasing the next book in the series immediately ! Bravo Riley Hart! Listening while reading was so much better! I recommend the audiobook as well!

Great story

Real guys with real lives. Enough drama and tension to move story line. Beautiful sex scenes and believable chapters. Narration was top quality

a nice, lighthearted love story.

While the story was somewhat predictable, it was still well written. I personally didn't care for the voicing of one of the characters, it was easy to get over and still enjoy the overall experience.