Review: Collide (Collide #1) – Gail McHugh

Posted 10 March, 2014 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 16 Comments

Review: Collide (Collide #1) – Gail McHughCollide by Gail McHugh
Series: Collide #1
Published by Atria Books on 17 September 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 395
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

3 Stars

A missed first encounter…

Colliding with a second chance…

On the heels of graduating college and trying to cope with her mother’s death, Emily Cooper moves to New York City for a fresh start.

While harboring secrets of his own, Dillon Parker takes care of Emily through her grief. Knowing he can’t live without her by his side, he’s sweet, thoughtful, and everything Emily has ever wanted in a man.

Until she meets Gavin Blake—a rich and notorious playboy who is dangerously sexy and charming as hell. Emily tries to deny the instant connection she feels, but Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is not inclined to let go so easily. Recovering from his own painful past, Gavin will stop at nothing to win Emily over.

This unexpected encounter compels Emily to question her decisions, forcing her to make a choice that will destroy friendships, shatter hearts, and forever change her life.

*I received a free ARC of Collide from Atria Books via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review*

Collide is a tense NA romance filled with angst and drama, while most of the tropes for the genre are present, it worked out well for this story as I still want to know more about most of the characters. Emily has been through a hard patch, losing her mom to cancer, the one person she could count on to help her and take care of her was Dillon, her boyfriend from New York. Soon after her mother’s death, Emily moves to New York from Colorado to be closer to Dillon. However, instead of moving in with him, she moves in with her college room-mate Olivia.

Dillon grated on my nerves from the start, I did not appreciate him at all! Collide isn’t all about him, though, it’s more about Emily and the things she needs to figure out for herself. I really wish Emily would have stood up for herself a lot earlier than she did. She had no instincts at all when it came to Dillon, and if she did have a little flutter of doubt, she quickly smothered it before she could even think rationally about why she had that feeling she had. I get that she needed to stay with Dillon for some of the drama, but really, the drama could still have been there if Emily had a true back-bone from the start.

Gavin’s entrance into the story of Collide made a mark both on me and on Emily. Mr. tall, hot and fuckable, she calls him in her thoughts, and I guess that is exactly what he is. And he’s what truly saved Collide for me. The way he was honest, open, mostly loyal and straight forward really gave him more points than his looks. The interactions between the characters are all well done, and I could understand both Emily, Olivia and Gavin most of the time.

The writing is good, and the flow of the story is well done, too. Staying with Emily’s point of view throughout the story worked really well. And I look forward to reading Pulse, because the way Collide ended gives me a lot of hope both for Emily’s growth, and for how her future might be brighter than her past.

“Yes, he was that good looking. Take-your-breath-away god looking. Want-to-trip-your-body-naked-and-let-him-davour-you-alive good looing. Certified-eye-candy good looking.”

Fallon placed her hands on her hips and smirked. “I make myself available to any age, race, or gender if given the right opportunity.”

“Maybe you should search for women at the library? That would take care of the no-brains problem you seem to attract.” “You’re a pretty funny girl, Emily,” he remarked, shifting his body to face hers. “I’m really starting to regret Dillon getting his hands on you first.”

To add icing to the cake, he had an intricate black dragon tattoo snaking its way up from those white swimming trunks and curling around his left rib cage. The only thought running through Emily’s mind at that very second was: Where exactly does that tattoo begin?

Lexxie signature (un)Conventional Bookviews

 

 

 

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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16 responses to “Review: Collide (Collide #1) – Gail McHugh

    • I’m still waiting to see if I’ll get an ARC of Pulse… I hope Emily will be a little stronger and consistent in it. And I’m already pretty sure things will be very dramatic.

      Thanks for stopping by, Jessica!

    • LOL! I was wondering for quite some time about that tattoo as well, Carmel, before my curiosity was appeased 🙂 I’m glad to see my blog is up and running again, too! It was so scary when I couldn’t even get into my admin on WordPress :O

      Thanks for stopping by, Carmel!

  1. *grins* Excellent review, my dear. I’ve been wanting to read Collide myself because I’ve read so many wonderful things about it. I can see where Emily might grate on me a bit in this book, but as there is the potential for her growth, I’ll take this one on. Especially since I’ll get to meet Gavin. 😉

    I hope your weekend was fantastic, Lexxie! Happy Birthday to #3 – it’s wonderful that you did something so special to celebrate. 🙂 We spent Sunday as a family – played games, went downtown for ice cream – yes, ice cream – it was a beautiful day here! We have another nice day today but more snow tomorrow. Happy Monday!! *BIG HUGS*

    • There is great potential for her growth. And Gavin is definitely worth being met, Brandee!

      YAY for nice enough weather to go for ice cream 🙂 I hope that even with the snow, you’ll be able to enjoy your week.

      Thanks for stopping by, my dear! *BIG HUGS*

    • LOL Wendy! And hey, Emily is the one who coined that phrase, not me 🙂 But I do think she’s absolutely right 😀

      Thanks for stopping by.

    • Oh, it seems as if Emily will find her back-bone, and I really want to read the next one in this series, though.

      Thanks for stopping by, Pamela.

    • True, and I do enjoy reading about character growth, I guess in a way I just wish Emily would have stood up for herself a little bit earlier.

      Thanks for stopping by, Amy.

    • Yeah, Gavin is worth reading about, Naomi 😀 I just had to include that quote – it still makes me smile a secret little smile now 😉

      Thanks for stopping by.

    • Yeah, if only just for Gavin, Collied is totally worth it, Lindy. And Emily’s best friend is great as well!

      Thanks for stopping by.

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