SUMMARY
He’s on edge while she’s en pointe in this fake-dating sports romance from the author of the smash hit Collide.
Elias Westbrook, a newly drafted hockey player for the Toronto Thunder, is facing the challenges of fame and media scrutiny. With a growing fan base and too many expectations on his shoulders, he’s struggling to make his first career goal. The tabloids are reporting on his every move, including which woman he was last seen with, but all he wants to do is escape the spotlight.
Enter from stage left Sage Beaumont, an aspiring ballerina with dreams of joining the Aurora Ballet Theatre, but her lack of popularity online leaves her at a major disadvantage for securing the lead role. When Sage finds herself with the perfect opportunity to make her dreams come true by fake dating Elias, she takes her shot.
Soon enough, the flimsy fake-dating rules they set in place fall away in the face of their sizzling connection. But before things spiral out of control, Sage and Elias will have to decide if they’re willing to take the leap together or if they’ll call it quits.
Image and Summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
Let me just start by saying that yes, this is another sports romance novel, don’t judge me. But when you love the characters in the first of the series – Aiden and Summer and learn about the other characters in the series, you have to read the next one. I read Bal Khabra’s first book in the Off the Ice series – Collide last year and loved the story though a bit slow paced, I grew to love the dynamic between those characters so of course I had to read the second book – Spiral. It was released just yesterday and I just finished reading it.
Spiral follows Elias and Sage as they navigate their careers in the NHL and as an aspiring ballerina. After Sage bids and wins a date with Elias in the charity auction – with the help of Aiden, so that one of Elias’ ‘fans’ can’t win that starts their story. They go on their charity date eventually after Elias accidentally gives Sage his managers phone number instead of his own and she tracks him down to the locker room to berate him. You quickly learn Sages back story and how she is the guardian of her younger brother Sean and how she feels it’s her responsibility to look after him after their drug addicted parents abandoned them.
They devise a plan – fake date in hopes that it spins the media narrative that Elias has as a player and that the ballet company that Sage is wanting to work for is only hiring ballerinas that have a social media presence. The rules they also set for their fake dating situation – you know they’ll eventually break, I loved it.
When he had a nightmare and she held his hand and soothed him out of his bad dream and him holding her to help her fall asleep from her insomnia was so sweet. I loved how they helped each other in that sense too.
I loved the found family trope that Sage gets, after the difficult upbringing she had and the loneliness that she must have felt, I’m so glad that she had the support of Summer, Aiden, Kian and Dylan as well as the family support from her Uncle and Elias’ parents in the end.
The writing in this was better than in Collide and I’m so happy that the author continued the series. You can tell she loves these characters and her craft has gotten stronger. I also cannot wait for Revolve to come out later this year and see who this story is going to be about. I love that the epilogue was set 3 years in the future and really tied up the story for Elias and Sage. Do I wish there was more to their story, yes. I wish there was more because I loved these characters and I really wanted to keep reading their story.
Let’s talk about the spice – The sexual tension between Elias and Sage, wow you could feel that in the pages. The kisses on her wrist oh my gosh it was so sweet. The smut was worth the wait in the end.
All in all I gave this a 4 star rating and I’ll be adding Revolve to my TBR for when it is released later in the year.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
