Elias Westbrook, a field hockey player newly selected by the Toronto Thunder, faces the challenges of fame and media scrutiny.
Sage Beaumont, an aspiring ballerina who dreams of joining the Aurora Ballet Theatre, but her lack of online popularity puts her at a major disadvantage in landing the lead role. When Sage is faced with the perfect opportunity to fulfill her dreams by pretend dating Elias, she quickly seizes the opportunity.

Elias and Sage's is a story that takes its time, literally.
From the very first lines, there is a lot of chemistry between our young protagonists. So forging a pact that benefits both of them can only be a simple matter.
We got to know Elias in Collide, and the author fully met my expectations of him. Loyal as few are, helping Sage comes naturally to him. Then again, she, determined in her goals, has turned out to be my favorite heroine.
Their arrangement undoubtedly brings benefits to both of them, but what I enjoyed most was the relationship that was created between the two. Something genuine and realistic.

Compared to Collide, I liked Spiral much more. In some ways it reminded me a lot of Twisted Lies by Ana Huang, but in a more sappy and romanticized version.
That is why I liked it so much!

After reading the first one I had high hopes and it didn't disappoint,spice was spicing and the characters development was beautifully written

Beautiful. A five star read.
I loved Collide so when I seen this I had to read asap.
I really didn’t expect it to be as good as Collide and was absolutely delighted when I found myself enjoying it even more.
I loved Eli in the first one and wanted to know more about his background. He was the quiet, mysterious one.
Sage might just be my favourite female lead due to her being so relatable and realistic. She really is the perfect partner for Eli and I was rooting for her all through the story.
I loved it and as soon as it’s released I’ll be purchasing a copy just so I can go back and read it again and again.

Note: The download to kindle version was unreadable due to the words running into each other and I had to read via netgalley app which isn’t the best option due to not being able to edit font size. I still finished the book in one day though as it was way too good to put down.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this earc from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within my review are my own and in no way influenced.

I took a bit of a risk diving into this without first reading Collide but I couldn’t wait any longer. And I’m glad I did, because as much as I love a hockey x sports romance, different authors approach the trope in their own individual way. This is my first read of Khabra’s and the hockey player and ballerina storyline made for such a good plot!!


So first of all, Sage? The most real character I have come across. Toxic upbringing, refuses to rely on anybody other than herself yet wants to support everyone around her. I LOVED her! A struggling ballerina, who has the talent but not the following to earn the principal role in Swan Lake.

Enter… Elias! Rookie ice-hockey player, struggling to achieve his first goal to secure his place and battling to maintain a positive image of himself in the media. Can you see where this is going? I did, yet I was still over the moon when the fake dating trope made an appearance.

Elias needs a ‘girlfriend’ to improve his image and Sage needs a bigger social media presence to achieve her life-long dream.

I don’t want to give too much away as the release isn’t until Jan 2025 BUTTTT the tension and the slow burn was perfect and everything wrapped up so well!! There wasn’t too much hockey talk, or too much ballet, it was the perfect amount of sports combined with Elias and Sage’s inevitable result!!

I do feel like the book was a little longer than necessary. About ¾ through I was getting concerned because it seemed like the right place to end? Nothing worse than when you’re terrified that something dramatic is going to happen right at the end and leave you on a cliff hanger (this isn’t the case but it still gave me anxiety). If it wasn’t for that, it would be without a doubt a 5 star rating!


Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC in return for an honest review!

I was thrilled to receive spiral as an ARC for review after absolutely devouring Collide earlier in the year, and boy, was I not disappointed.

Although this is yet another hockey romance in the overly saturated current market, I instantly fell in love with the unique and visceral Sage and tough-to-crack Elias.

The mixture of these two complex characters felt real, and I couldn't help but root for them all the way through. Their story stands out from others I have read recently with plenty of unique plot points, and Bal Khabra is really making her voice stand out from the crowd. Her characters are addictive and fans of collide will be extatic to see more of Aiden and Summer.

It was refreshing to read a sports romance that didn't purely rely on smut to hook the readers, and when it was there, it was done tastefully and to drive the plot. The hockey was there, but not overwhelming, and didn't distract from the story, in my opinion, as too often happens in novels like this.

In all honesty, the only criticism I have is that the whole thing did feel quite low stakes, but I'm not complaining. Sometimes, that's just what you need as a romance reader!

Overall, I would recommend this to lovers of sports and specifically hockey romance.

3.5 stars!

firstly, thank you so much to Bloomsbury & NetGalley for sending me this arc - i am so so thankful 💜

I loved the concept of this book so much. i started & finished within a day, it is 100% worth the read!

the writing style flowed so well and i love that the couple built more of a friendship as the chapters went on. eli is definitely an acts of service man, and a deep down softy. he treated her so well and i adored how all he wanted to do was make her life better, take the stress off of her and to see her happy. he is the definition of a supportive mmc. i also loved his bond with her brother so much and it felt so organic between them!

sage - i did like sage a lot, i found her really relatable as a people pleaser and always wanting to make those around her happy.

i think for me, on a deeper level i didn’t quite connect to these characters as much as i did in collide. i also was slightly confused at the beginning if sage was in college or not as it kind of implied she was at the beginning then it just faded out.

i am so excited to read what comes next! im intrigued to see who it’ll be.

Absolutely love this sports/dancer troupe. I enjoy books like this so much. I thought it had great characters and the storyline was well written and kept me interested. I highly recommend this to readers who love sports romances like I do! You will not be disappointed