Collide: Book One in the Collide Series

<b>4.5</b> Series review... Dear Mother of Everything Holy, can I please…please…please have my own Gavin Blake. This man was pure sex on a stick and then some. Mr. Blake was just THAT. DAMN. HOT. <b>Gavin Blake made this story.</b> The Collide Series is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2014. Therefore, I am just going to tell you to go out and <b>one-click</b> this book <b>now</b>, if you haven’t already! Gavin Blake was pure magic, and let me not forget to mention swoon worthy to the max; thus, placing himself near the tippy top of my long book boyfriend list! This man totally melted my heart with his love, devotion, and pain. There seemed to be so many layers to unravel. Some might say he seemed a bit too good to be true; I would not be one of them. I connected with his intensity and charisma, as well as his depth on so many levels. Each page I turned, each word I read I was intrigued by such a poignant man. When Gavin hurt I hurt, when he was in love and happy so was I, and when he was torn apart and lost I felt that pain all the way to the bottom of my toes. For many reasons, this character cemented his self on my soul. I was drawn to the series the minute I saw it contained a “Gideon Cross” type of feel to it with an added love triangle. I am majorly addicted to this theme of romance. There is something about watching two men fight for the heart of that one lucky lady. And depending on the strength and progression of the writing, triangles can go one of a few ways for me. I can either fall completely in love with the scenario, absolutely hate everything about it, or experience both love and hate for the scenario. The later seems to be the case with this series. The love triangle was one of my minor issues. I seriously could not wrap my mind around Emily and her warped actions. The constant fight and flight/push and pull drove me up one wall and down the other, and Gavin and Emily’s journey ended up equaling a pure love/hate relationship for me. There were moments that I wanted to throw my kindle, or at least smash a few things, and then there were the moments of extreme desire to slap a character—or two. It was hard for me to see past the sadness and pain the female protagonist caused our hero due to her indecisiveness and poor decision making skills. Since I loved Gavin’s character so much, I tried extra hard to connect with her, seeing things from her point of view. Yeah, I could not make that happen. I had to face the hard truth and learn quickly to deal with Emily’s idiosyncrasies, since Gavin was pretty much set on her. It was that or throwing in the towel. I decided to hold out and give her another chance, and in the end, Emily started to grow on me; however, I never truly fell in love with her character. I still experienced times where I wished Gavin would have just moved on from her and her dramatics. When Emily and Gavin were in their own little world and the outside world was not colliding and caving in, they were fricken phenomenal together! When they were good, these two were good; however, when they could not get out from underneath their own feet (well mainly Emily's), they were somewhat of a beautiful disaster. Emily and Gavin could both at times be reckless and emotionally destructive. With some trepidation, I fell into their love story; I was even able to handle the angst and drama that is when it did not feel contrived. Sometimes it felt like this to me when Dillon was in the picture. I could easily have done without the triangle. I HATED Dillon. I wanted that man to rot from the inside out. If you cannot tell from my review, I am strictly TEAM GAVIN, and I have been from the very first time I laid eyes on him. I would not have been sad in the least bit if the author just evaporated Dillon from the planet. This brings me to my other minor issue, Collide's cliffhanger. Yes, ladies and gents, there is a cliffy. I suggest making sure you have book two ready to go. It was not horrible other than being extremely angsty; not to mention, it leaves you aching for one of the characters. Anyway, the moment I reached the end of Collide, it was easy enough to see exactly where the author was headed. Due to this, I dragged my feet and struggled a bit with Pulse. I am not normally a huge fan of themes that feel a bit been there done that. My continuation came down to the "curiosity killed the cat." I could not fight my inquisitiveness to see if McHugh was going to follow the road of typical. And although, I wasn't really keen with the course Ms. McHugh was taking, I was pleasantly surprised with her twists. That road was definitely not expected, and because of this once again, Gavin shined, making me love Pulse, just as much as Collide, if not more. Once I got past the minor stuff, I flew through both Collide and Pulse, devouring every word. Overall, I rated each book a four star read, but I bumped the series rating, as a whole, half a star due to the one and only Gavin Blake. I was so tempted to raise it to an overall series rating of five stars, but due to the few minor issues I had, I could not go up a whole star. I do not know if you can tell or not, but I am head over heels with a certain male. Gail McHugh has made this girl a lifetime fan! The author's writing was rich with character development, witty satire, and connection/chemistry between the characters, as well as between the characters and the reader. I am not sure why I have taken so long to read her books, but at this point, I am kicking myself for not reading sooner. Better late than never, right? Thank you, Ms. McHugh, for creating my newest tantalizing and delectable addiction. I cannot wait to see who and what you come up with next! Thank you, Atria Books and Simon and Schuster, for a complimentary copy of Collide and Pulse.

Hot, passionate and addicting!!! This book totally hooked me! It made my heart race and completely got under my skin! And Holy Hot Gods, Gavin Blake!!! I couldn't stop reading! Totally schmexy book!!! 5 flippin' fantabulous stars!!! ------------------ Deep breath. THIS book. This crazy, captivating, compelling and calamitous book!!! It had it all!!! It made me swoon, it made me crazy mad, it made my heart hurt for all those moments rooted in wrongness and misunderstanding. And despite the fact that the book had a love triangle (which I typically avoid), I knew all along who she SHOULD be with! It was love at first sight! And I just LOVED this book! "Fate and the roads that get placed in front of us. It's like one huge puzzle that ultimately fits in the end." Emily Cooper moves to New York after her mother tragically succumbs to breast cancer. Her boyfriend Dillon has been there for her throughout her mom's battle and has now moved her up to New York to be with him. But not quite ready to move in with her boyfriend, Emily decides to live with her best friend, Olivia. After Emily finds a job working at a restaurant, an unexpected food delivery takes her face-to-face with the most gorgeous and alluring man she's ever seen. "Her breath hitched at the sight of the tall, devastatingly beautiful man who was making his way toward her. She felt thrown off kilter as though her equilibrium had skewed itself all over the building." The gorgeous man in the three-piece suit felt just as drawn to the beautiful delivery girl. "Gavin Blake had believed that love at first sight didn't exist ... Her beauty instantly hit him. But more so, he felt drawn to her as a rope bound his waist, and she was on the other end pulling him to her." Despite the instant and intense attraction, Emily walks away from the beautiful stranger only to find him again at the restaurant where she works. He couldn't stay away. But she fights her body, her blazing desire for this man because of her relationship with Dillon. He's been supportive of her and she loves him. So she gives him a fake name, Molly, and throws away his telephone number. And then the unlikely happens as worlds collide when she runs into Gavin yet again and becomes aware that not only is he Dillon's client, but he is also a close friend. Gavin is crushed when he realizes she is "Dillon's Emily." They both struggle to keep their desire at bay, but the attraction between them is torrid and cannot be waned. "Attracting, compelling, colliding, their chemistry-to say the least-was explosive." In the meanwhile, she sees a different side of Dillon in New York. He's possessive and temperamental and is constantly telling her what she should and shouldn't do. Secretly, however, Gavin continues to entice Emily. He's charming, caring, sexy, seductive ... everything her heart and body is screaming for. He's also known for his womanizing ways. I was enamored with this book!!!! Their attraction is crazy strong, palpable, oozing from every page. I wanted nothing more than for Emily to give Dillon the big finger and run into Gavin's arms. But so much indecision weighs Emily down and things of course continue to intensify. "Damn it, Emily. I want us! You belong with me, not him... Every part of you was made for me. Your lips were made to kiss mine, your eyes were made to wake up to me looking at you in my bed every morning and your f***ing tongue was made to roll my name off of it. I am more certain of us than I'm certain I require oxygen to breathe." I don't want to ruin the experience that is this book and I promise you my review doesn't do it justice, but I don't want to give anything away! It's hot and sexy and brimming with desire and want and love and heartache. "I've never felt so heartbroken and so in love at the same time." Gail McHugh writes in such a way that totally gripped me. I felt what these characters were feeling and I couldn't let this book go. I was elated when they were happy and torn to absolute pieces especially towards the end. And yes, there's a cliffhanger that left me with the BIGGEST damn book hangover. And God, you will LOVE Gavin Blake. He is so real and raw with so much depth of feeling that you can't help but pine for him yourself. In the end, this book is about two people colliding intensely, unexpectedly, to find the truest, deepest, soul-mate kind of love and figuring out that it's worth fighting for. Go out and get this book now!!! It's AH-FREAKIN-MAZING!!!! I can seriously not wait for Pulse, the continuation of this story, to see what happens.

Emily zieht nach New York nachdem ihre Mutter gestorben ist und sie einen neuen Anfang braucht. Ihr Freund Dillon, mit dem sie seit ein paar Monaten zusammen ist, möchte sie am liebsten in seiner Wohnung haben aber Emily zieht mit ihrer Collegefreundin Olivia in ein Appartment. Eigentlich ist alles soweit prima, sie liebt Dillon, Dillon liebt sie und sie findet auch einen tollen Aushilfsjob in einem Restaurant - bis sie eines Tages Gavin über dem Weg läuft. Und plötzlich ist alles nicht mehr so einfach wie es vorher war, denn die Begegnung mit ihm stellt ihre geordnete Welt auf den Kopf. Da Gavin ein guter Freund von Dillon und Olivia ist, sieht sie ihn auch häufiger und je öfter sie sich treffen umso magischer die Anziehungskraft. Doch Emily liebt Dillon.. oder?! Soweit so gut, die vielen positiven Bewertungen haben mich das Buch blind runterladen lassen und ich war auch schnell in der Geschichte drin. Doch spätestens ab der ersten Hälfte war tierisch genervt - von Emily! Sie liebt Dillon und man erfährt auch, dass er während sie ihre Mutter gepflegt hat viel für sie gemacht hat. Doch ebenso sieht man einen egoistischen und besitzergreifenden Dillon, der Emily nicht nur betrügt und anlügt sondern teilweise schon fast brutal und gewalttätig über sie bestimmt, dem sie aber immer wieder alles verzeiht ohne wirklich groß Gegenwehr zu leisten. Auf der anderen Seite lernt sie Gavin näher kennen, der sie umwirbt und sie behandelt wie eine Prinzessin, ihr sein Herz zu Füßen legt und sie schließlich überzeugen kann.. nur damit sie beim ersten Problem wieder in Dillons Arme rennt ohne Gavin die Möglichkeit zu geben ihr zu erklären was wirklich passiert ist. Und als er ihr es endlich erklärt, weigert sie sich ihm zu glauben und zuzuhören während Dillon irgendwie mit allem davon kommt. Überhaupt, Dillon. Ich konnte ihn von der ersten Seite an nicht ausstehen aber Emily war irgendwie komplett blind seinen Fehlern gegenüber. Er betrinkt sich und wird gewalttätig ihr gegenüber - hallo? Welche Frau findet denn bitte sowas toll und was hat das mit Liebe zu tun, die er ihr ja immer wieder versichert. Auch sein übertriebener Besitzanspruch war nervig und seine manipulative und verlogene Art hat mich persönlich nur abgestoßen. Doch was macht Emily? Sie will ihn heiraten. Während auf der anderen Seite Gavin wartet. Ein toller Typ, der mir gut gefallen hat und mit dem ich wirklich bis zur letzten Seite mitgelitten habe. Das Buch hat mich echt Nerven gekostet und wenn es nicht auf dem Kindle gewesen wäre, hätte ich es sicherlich einige Mal frustriert an die Wand gefeuert. Ein ständiges Auf und Ab und ein mehr als fragwürdiges Ende mit Warten auf den zweiten Teil. Ob ich diesen lesen werde, weiß ich nicht und ganz ehrlich kann auch die viele übertrieben tollen Rezensionen nicht ganz nachvollziehen. Ja, die Story hatte was und ich schließe mich auch voll und ganz den Meinungen an dass Gavin der Hammer ist - aber bitte mit einer anderen "Heldin", einer die mehr Rückgrad hat und sich nicht herumschubsen lässt. Ihre Entscheidung für Dillon war für mich an keiner Stelle nachvollziehbar. Natürlich reitet momentan alles auf der Shades of Gray und Crossfire Welle mit, doch leider überzeugt mich die Geschichte hier nicht wirklich. Ob ich mir noch mal ein Auf und Ab im zweiten Teil an tun will, halte ich momentan für eher unwahrscheinlich.

I never heard about the author before and I don't know how I found this story but I thank God every day for it. I looooove Gavin with everything. He is an amazing guy and I felt in love with him since the first moment. The author made me feel their story and even when there is something out of the limits for me, I felt it was well written and I was rooting for my Gavin to be happy!

Really sexy love triangle, with realistic insights on potentially evolving abusive situations. Author manages to write a thrilling, sexy, and realistic book with NON caricatural characters, some of them attracting, others deceitful, but most of them imperfect, witch gives this story an emotional edge that keeps you hanging on your first breath till the end of the book. There are many sweet and funny details which author will refer to in the next and final book, Pulse (already available), that wraps this whole story very sweetly. I particularly enjoyed that the second book "remembers" and relates to small events in the first book, the way we ordinary people sometimes remember unimportant details from our lives just because it touched us. This gives a very human quality to the plot. Sex scenes are very inspiring and I just loved this book.

OH MYYYYY LIFE! Ok, I'm going to start off with a warning. Only read this book when you have bugger all else to do for the day! You will not want to put it down! Jesus, what a rollercoaster! This book has totally messed up my day. I read last night until I physically could not keep my eyes open. I was so tired that I was falling asleep half way through a chapter and dreaming the rest of the story. In the end, I gave up. I picked it up when the other half left for work and said to myself `Oh, I'll just read a bit before I get up.' Two hours later and I drag myself out of bed to feed my poor starving dogs. Whilst eating my breakfast, I decide to just read a bit before getting in the shower and continuing with my day. That was two hours ago. And here I sit, unshowered, in my PJs, breakfast bowl on the table next to me, writing this review!!! I couldn't not! I had to get it out. So, let's talk about 'Collide'. Wow. It's intense! Who did I love and who did I hate... I loved Gavin, my feelings yo-yo'd for Emily and hated Dillon!!! There are great surrounding characters in this book too. Emily's friend's Olivia and Fallon are fab. Gavin's friend Trevor is super cute. In 'Collide' Emily moves to New York to be nearer her boyfriend, Dillon, and best friend, Olivia, after the death of her mother. But upon moving into the post-college `real world' and what is also Dillon's world, things aren't what Emily hopes they will be. Dillon's high powered job keeps him out late at night, his interfering exes rear their ugly heads, his alcohol consumption seems to be spiralling out of control and he has a temper that Emily hadn't witnessed before. And to top it all off, Emily meets Gavin. Gavin is insanely sexy. He's gorgeous, wealthy, charming and he's got his heart set on Emily. 'Though his father had told him stories about it happening, until that fateful afternoon, Gavin Blake had believed that love at first site didn't exist.' And then they realise that Gavin is Dillon's close friend and Emily is Dillon's girlfriend. 'Collide' follows Gavin and Emily as they try to deal with their undeniable connection to one another and the fallout that it leaves in it's wake. "I've never felt so heartbroken and so in love at the same time. If you would've told me the day we met that you were going to break my heart - and that days, months, or even years would pass, that I would still be hurting like this - it wouldn't have stopped me from falling in love with you." We'll begin with Emily. Urgh, the girl needed a kick up the backside at times. I didn't dislike her. At times my heart broke for her. At times I wanted to shake her. And at times I was right behind her, cheering her on. Dillon helped her through an incredibly painful time, when she lost her mother and she feels strongly indebted to him for this. I can completely see why this drives some of her poor choices and reactions to his behaviour. But, my God, was it frustrating! 'Her mind tried to fight a bloody battle against what her body already knew. She wanted him, and she wanted him bad.' Dillon is a d***head. There's no two ways about it. He's controlling, possessive, aggressive, arrogant, manipulative, disrespectful, unfaithful, dishonest... shall I continue?! I absolutely hated him from quite early on in the book. As soon as he started becoming a little overbearing, I could totally see where the author was taking the story and my dislike for Dillon began to fester. And then there's Gavin. *sigh* Gavin Gavin Gavin Gavin Gavin. `Mr. Tall, Dark and F***able Handsome' ! At the beginning of the book, he's just undeniably hot, smooth, panty-wetting, gorgeous, [insert complimentary adjective here]... But as the book progresses, he becomes so much more than that. Now, I'm not usually one to buy into the whole `love at first sight' spiel, but it totally didn't bother me in this book. I luuurrrved the way Gavin wanted Emily. I loved that every time they were in the same room, their eyes locked and they were drawn to one another. I loved that he felt that she was meant to be with him, despite the fact that she was with Dillon. And, hell, I was even bouncing in my seat when they were sneaking around behind everyone's backs!! The stolen touches, the secret glances, the whispered innuendos. Mmmmm mmmm! "Am I making it hard for you?" he asked mockingly. "Yes, Gavin you are," she quietly spat, her fingertips white-knuckled around her glass. With his need for her trapped inside - blistering hot, sweltering, ready to explode - he leaned in closer, dropping his voice. "Good, because whenever you're near me, I f***ing lose every bit of self-control I have left." Speaking of which... Oh my goodness, this book is Haaaawt! with a capital H and an `aw'! "There's not a man on Earth who doesn't wish he was me right now. Your mind and your body will never forget the things I'm going to do to you tonight. Every...single...inch of your body is going to feel me." "Oh my God." "Yes." I guess it's the idea of the forbidden fruit. The taboo. And I know it makes me a very bad, morally corrupt person, but squeeeee, I freakin' loved it! It's like Thoughtless, but if Denny were a complete tool! "I want you to give in to what I see behind your eyes every time I'm near you. I want you to give in to the way you trembled in my arms when I touched you... the way your breathing becomes faster when I look at you. I loved the way your lips felt against mine, and I'm pretty sure you did, too. I also enjoy the way I can almost feel you becoming wet for me right now. Are you going to pretend that you don't feel anything for me, Emily?" And lastly, there's the ending. Jesus H. Christ! I've had this on my Kindle for months and I kept looking at it, wondering if I should just read it. And then I got asked to be a part of the blog tour to read and review the second book, Pulse. So, I decided to putCollide on hold and wait until near the date of my blog stop, so that I could read both at once. Thank f*** I did! Otherwise, right now, I'd be pulling my hair out. It's a brutal, heart-pounding, palm-sweating cliffhanger. "Sometimes, bad choices bring us to the right people." The last 20% of this book is fast paced and absolutely deliciously juicy! I couldn't tear my eyes away (hence the lack of shower debacle). It's steamy, heart breaking, intense, painful and explosive. So, I'm going to force myself to go and do normal day-to-day, mandatory things right now, before allowing myself to dive into Pulse ready for my blog spot on Monday. Collide Statistics Steam Rating (out of 5): ♥♥♥♥♥ Ending: Cliffhanger Series: ✓ (Collide series) Reading Order: Book #1 - Collide Book #2 - Pulse Can this be read as a standalone? No Themes: Love triangle Love at first sight Controlling partner Warning. This book includes... Love triangle Love at first sight Controlling partner Cheating Writing: Great Review by Smitten's Book Blog

I couldn't put this book down and can't wait to continue with the next book - so all I can say is - well worth reading & listening to