Collide

Luke Itzvic does a great job with all the emotions

Would you consider the audio edition of Collide to be better than the print version?

I think the audio enhances the story exponentially.

Which character – as performed by Luke Itzvic – was your favorite?

I loved how he portrayed Noah.

Who was the most memorable character of Collide and why?

Too hard - both Noah and Cooper are equally memorable. The emotion runs high in this.

Any additional comments?

This was a fantastic friends-to-lovers story with a dash of “How did I not know I was bisexual before now?” to spice it up.

When Noah Jameson needs a fresh start he returns to the one place that felt like home during his tumultuous childhood. He reconnects with his best friend, Cooper Bradshaw, after getting clipped with Cooper’s truck. Coop offers a spare bedroom, and then to become roommates so they can continue to catch up.

Noah immediately tells Cooper he’s gay, but Cooper doesn’t care. However, as they spend more time together and Cooper remembers more of their years with one another as kids, his friendship slowly turns to something more, which confuses the hell out of him, because he’s always identified as “straight”. When a bisexual co-worker sets him straight (excuse the pun), he pursues Noah with the same single-minded focus he does everything else.

Noah is gun shy, first because Cooper has never been with a man, and second because he’s determined to live out and not be relegated to any closet.

While the story is great: smoking hot, lightly angsty, and really well done, the star of this terrific story is the narration.

Luke Itzvic does a great job conveying the emotions of the story easily, from friendship to the confusion and then passion that Noah and Cooper go through. He has good character voice distinction, clear diction, tone and steady pacing.

I loved the story, and the narration, and look forward to starting the audio for Stay soon!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Amazing GFY/OFY with superb narration!

This is another book I was shocked to find I’d never formally reviewed. This was my first “exposure” to the wonderfulness that is Riley Hart. This showcases her expertise at writing “gay first time lovers” so well.
First, she gives us two really well developed MCs with compelling back stories and then puts these guys back in each other’s orbit. That sets us up with not only an interesting, but a believable story.
Second, she excels at the emotion behind the sex. Sure, the physical times are off the charts hot, but even more, they work so well because of all the FEELS. Coop and Noah work slowly toward one another. Each subtly noticing their feelings and then when they act upon them it’s an explosion because we’ve been working up to it right along with these guys.
Third, once they’ve begun acting on their feelings, things are magically “fixed”. There are still a lot of questions, regrets and worries. But… it’s not like they vacillate, just appropriately ruminate and contemplate and proceed cautiously forward. It feels really organic and natural.
I think the flashbacks did a great job of showing us the longevity of their relationship and help us to see some of Noah’s issues as well as Coop’s – beyond the new feelings toward each other.
I really loved this and was so glad to see it come to audio!

Audio

Luke Itzvic really impressed me with his work on the # Gearshark series (reviews to come) and he did an amazing job with this! He’s really good at the emotion, timing and grittiness of this story. There’s not much to distinguish Coop from Noah, but it was always easy to know who was talking. He’s got an easy voice to listen to and the sound quality is excellent. This is definitely the best way to enjoy this story and highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

There is a story here. Unfortunately, it is buried so deep beneath the very graphic sex scenes, it is difficult to find. I am no prude but even i had to skip through all the sex scenes because they dominated the book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Everyone loves a firefighter

a really good romance, I always love when super alpha males learn the squishy feelings of luuurvve, also it was super hot. These kind of stories always make me really sad for all the missed time they had, and also really impatient. like come on dude get over your confused feelings and HEA already, stop wasting time, but then we'd have no story and it'd be like 10 minutes long le sigh. Also I need to say that Like Itzvic was an excellent reader, very good at distinguishing separate characters, I was especially impressed with the range he had from gruff male voices to light female, very talented.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

very emotional and wonderful

Any additional comments?

Noah is gay. Cooper is not. Cooper's wishy washy thought process drove me a bit nuts !
I wasn't too impressed with Cooper but loved Noah!
It's got everything you want in an erotic m/m read: sexual tension, angst, passion, lust and love!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Returning

I just read "Him" and loved it. (Same genre) I just didn't buy the storyline of this book which ironically is very similar to "Him". Cooper is this male slut Uber macho guys guy. Noah shows up and Cooper instantly questions his sexuality. I guess I needed more trepidation on Cooper's part to make it seem believable to me? I'm returning it almost halfway through. I wanted to like it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I love this series!

Which character – as performed by Luke Itzvic – was your favorite?

I loved the voice he did for Cooper, super sexy, and really smooth and nice to listen to.
Really painted a picture in my mind!

Any additional comments?

First of all I wanna say... PLEASE MAKE MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES!

I finished Collide, and im halfway through Stay right now..
I've never been a big fan of books, or audio books.. but I can't stop listening to these!
They almost make me believe that I have hope in finding someone Like Cooper, Noah, or Braden!

When ever I'm in a bad mood I just listen to this fantastic series and it picks me right up!

Luke Itzvic voice is PERFECT for this series as well.. I just keep coming back for the story, the voices, and everything!

I just suggest.. I want another book on Cooper and Noah! I love their romance and love their story. I got so attached and wanna know more about their lives in Blackcreek
Collide made me Cry, smile, and frisky! It's the perfect book, and perfect series!

Thank you so much for making this series, Riley Hart! xoxo

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Great story!

Such an emotional story. The book is amazing I can't wait to continue on to the next one.

I mostly enjoyed the audiobook. My issues with it were minimal and for the most part, personal. (like Cooper's voice sounded a bit painful for the narrator and vaguely Jenson Ackles' Dean-like) I do enjoy hearing how other people READ books, that's probably my favorite part of audiobooks. I enjoyed Luke's interpretation of Coop and Noah.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

A Collision With Sparks

This is a terrific story of reunited macho-love; a bromance with benefits. It has all the parts of a story that will grip you, and keep your interest throughout the days and passion filled nights. There are a lot of identifiable occurrences that can ring home if the story fits the reader's experiences. The narrator is good at defining the voices/characters, so you know who is talking throughout the story. Although some of the voice traits may be harsh at times, you easily accustom to them after a short while. His selection of raspy for the main character took some getting used to but definitely happened. This story was an excellent base build for the Series (endless possibilities opened when the story closed for this beginning chapter), which I eagerly will be starting when I finish writing this review. 5-stars. A great Summer listen.

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!