Reviews

Tweestrijd by Gail McHugh

meghayes11's review against another edition

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5.0

Looooooooved this book. I think I wanted to shake Emily about 90% of the time, but I LOVED the book. Why oh why has a real life Gavin not found me? I don't understand. It happens all the time in books :(

beeppeep's review against another edition

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I'm going to need time to rate this one. What I do know is that it left me feeling angry and frustrated, to the extreme. Both genuine emotions elicited by the plot, but also elicited by Emily. My good LORD, how many misunderstandings can a couple possibly endure before throwing in the towel and saying "fuck it"? I honestly wanted to SHAKE Emily for being so dense. Gah, she's what angered me the most, though Dillon's douchbaggery certainly did not warm the cockles of my heart.

GAH

Yes, I need time to figure out how I feel about this. I'm conflicted. I don't think I can bring myself to read the second book. There's so much anguish in this book, that unless the second book is all unicorns shitting rainbows, I'll be a basket case. Just like S.C. Stephens' Thoughtless series for me.

P.S. Cheating cheaters who unapologetically cheat? Anger.

ashkwtf's review against another edition

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1.0

Terrible, terrible, terrible. Emily is an immature idiot. I ended up skimming the last 3rd because I couldn't stand how ridiculously stupid she was. Gah.

edit: A day later I admit the writing was actually quite good. I just found that as I lost respect for Emily, all I could feel was disgust for the story. Emily was weak, immature, and needy. Most of her issues would have been resolved with a little emotional honesty and communication (this is a pet peeve of mine.
Spoiler "Hey, Gavin. I ran into Gina in your front doorway. What's up?" Instead she makes the same exact mistake she made with Dillon in not confronting him immediately.
so ... yeah.) Anyway, the writing was good but I don't like the characters at all so I won't be pursuing the sequel.

aimeelio's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Everyone (but Travis) annoyed me at one point or another.

emsoap's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this review and others on my blog Biblioboo!

Title: Collide

Author: Gail McHugh

Genre: New adult

Series: #1 in Collide

My rating: 4 stars


Goodreads Summary

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.


My Review

Insta-love. You know, two characters see each other for the first time and at that moment they just know that they're meant to be together forever?



It's a problem in many stories. Sometimes it's okay...and sometimes it's not.

Insta-love was definitely present in this novel. However, it wasn't too much of a problem for me. Yes, at times it was a bit annoying, but the two characters who fell into insta-love (Gavin and Emily) built upon their relationship from there, so it wasn't just based on that one moment when their eyes connect and they just SEE INTO EACH OTHER'S SOULS (What are you talking about? I'm not jaded at all).

Emily's boyfriend Dillon is, simply put, an asshole. He takes her for granted, is narcissistic, and just an overall jerk. Emily is a pretty weak character (especially at the beginning) and she takes all of Dillon's crap, completely buying into it. When she meets Dillon's (handsome and very rich) friend Gavin, they fall into insta-love (see above) and Emily has to choose between the men.

For the majority of the book, Emily is going back and forth between the two men. While it can get a bit frustrating, the ending is satisfying (I loved it when she slapped Dillon–he totally had it coming) and the chemistry between Gavin and Emily is palpable.

I'm excited to read the next book in the series, Pulse.


Overall
At times the book was a bit frustrating and dragged on a bit. Also, the insta-love wasn't great, but the story was enjoyable and most definitely worth reading.

4 STARS

emsoap's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this review and others on my blog Biblioboo!

Title: Collide

Author: Gail McHugh

Genre: New adult

Series: #1 in Collide

My rating: 4 stars


Goodreads Summary

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.


My Review

Insta-love. You know, two characters see each other for the first time and at that moment they just know that they're meant to be together forever?

It's a problem in many stories. Sometimes it's okay...and sometimes it's not.

Insta-love was definitely present in this novel. However, it wasn't too much of a problem for me. Yes, at times it was a bit annoying, but the two characters who fell into insta-love (Gavin and Emily) built upon their relationship from there, so it wasn't just based on that one moment when their eyes connect and they just SEE INTO EACH OTHER'S SOULS (What are you talking about? I'm not jaded at all).

Emily's boyfriend Dillon is, simply put, an asshole. He takes her for granted, is narcissistic, and just an overall jerk. Emily is a pretty weak character (especially at the beginning) and she takes all of Dillon's crap, completely buying into it. When she meets Dillon's (handsome and very rich) friend Gavin, they fall into insta-love (see above) and Emily has to choose between the men.

For the majority of the book, Emily is going back and forth between the two men. While it can get a bit frustrating, the ending is satisfying (
SpoilerI loved it when she slapped Dillon–he totally had it coming
) and the chemistry between Gavin and Emily is palpable.

I'm excited to read the next book in the series, Pulse.


Overall

At times the book was a bit frustrating and dragged on a bit. Also, the insta-love wasn't great, but the story was enjoyable and most definitely worth reading.

4 STARS

colorfulleo92's review against another edition

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2.0

Just didn't get on with the love triangle, didn't think there would be anything the main characters getting togheter since the first guy was a dude. Also I really dislike love triangles and it had so much more issues I don't want to bother stating

dudasrocha's review against another edition

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5.0

This book is incredible, I started reading and a couple hours later I had finished it, and just couldn't believe I'll have to wait until summer to know what will happen next!
God! Please tell me that Emily will kick Dillon's ass, because that final scene completely broke my heart.

Can't wait to see where the story goes.

j_m_miller's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5 stars! This story hooked me in. There were times I definitely didn't want to put it down. So the plot was strong enough to keep me interested. I think the characters were well written and there was a good amount of description throughout the book to draw me in.
The story was a little frustrating at times. Of course I thought Dillon was an ass and Emily was stupid to stay latched to him, despite her reasons for doing so.
Gavin was the right amount of fun, sexy, and adorable to fall in love with. That only added to my infuriation with Emily.
Gail McHugh did an excellent job balancing the believability of the unfortunate love triangle. Everyone wants the characters to be perfect and to recognize what we see as being obvious, but in real life sometimes it isn't that plain to see. Emily feels indebted to Dillon and that has (infuriatingly) affected her common sense.
I followed the narrative easily enough, but I could see how some people may have issues with the third person POV (head)jumping between Emily and Gavin too often in a single chapter.
Overall, great read :)

jen286's review against another edition

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3.0

I don't know how it happened but by the end of this book even though I still wanted to just shake Emily and be all what are you doing?!?!?! I still enjoyed the book. The first third though I hated. I wasn't sure if I would finish it (I have a hard time not finishing books once I start them so that would have been a big deal). I mean Dillion is an abusive asshole. And Emily thinks she owes him something since he has gradually become more verbally abusive. I wanted to strangle him multiple times. I mean he was so controlling and horrible! Plus he kept
Spoileralmost raping her throughout the book. Not cool
. I wasn't expecting him to be so horrible. I mean the description says "Knowing he can’t live without her by his side, he’s sweet, thoughtful, and everything Emily has ever wanted in a man". So untrue from the first page! He was never sweet, or thoughtful, or anything nice and good. He just wasn't ever. So I went into the book not expecting the horrible abusive asshole that he is. I liked Gavin more, but at first I was so annoyed with Emily I didn't want them together. By the end though I was like wait what happens? And moved on to the next book right away. Not something I thought I would do while reading the first half of the book. Somehow I felt bad for Emily by the end, even though she still frustrated me to no end.