The Way We Collide

The Bradford Boys

By: Tia Louise

Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stefanie Kay

A surprise baby, marriage of convenience, football romance

Football is my life. I’m not interested in marriage or babies or poopy diapers. Yet here I am, standing in front of a judge saying “I do,” with a six-month-old on my hip and an aspiring storm-chaser on my arm.

From the time I was a little boy, sleeping with my head on a football, I’ve had one goal: carrying on the Bradford-family legacy.

Our famous father trained all my older brothers and me to be star athletes just like him, but seven years later, I’m the only one still focused on the game.

Until Raven Gale storms into my life.

She’s smart, sassy, curves for days, and lightning in the sack. When I met her at my little sister’s wedding we bonded immediately over our dedication to our dreams, our determination to let nothing stop us, and our insatiable, all-night, barrier-busting chemistry.

A baby girl is a surprise neither of us expected, but Raven has a plan. We’ll have a quickie marriage to secure her trust fund, be together three months tops, then shake hands and walk away.

The only problem is with every late night I spend chatting with my wife or consummating our marriage (which we both agreed was a bad idea) or rocking my baby girl to sleep or yes, even changing poopy diapers, the stronger our bond grows.

It never rains in California, there’s no football (for me) in south Alabama, but when you collide with a cyclone, everything changes, including what you thought were your plans.

(THE WAY WE COLLIDE is a small-town, surprise baby, sports romance with a marriage of convenience, close proximity, an over-protective alpha daddy, a feisty plus-sized FMC, and a few twisters. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)

©2025 TLM Productions LLC (P)2025 TLM Productions LLC

Sweet and swoony romance

Such a sweet and fun romance- Tia Louise always writes the cutest love stories with sugary sweet HEAs. I love a good surprise baby romance and paired with a marriage of convenience and a man who worships a curvy heroine- AH, reader catnip. This one is an easy, mostly low drama, cozy feel romance, and the audio is FANTASTIC!

A one night stand that turns into SO MUCH more. And soon a playboy footballer finds himself an unexpected father to the most adorable little baby while also having second shot with the curvy dream girl that he couldn't forget. Chock full of fun and yummy tropes, amazing chemistry, and the sweetest scene stealing baby. Y'all- baby Haddy steals the show.

I loved watching Hendrix find his way as a father while also falling in love with Raven. LIke so many Tia Louise leading men he's ultra swoony and charming, protective and a bit alpha. He did have some maturing to do, but I loved the man he becomes as the story progresses. Plus, we have a lot of comedy gold in watching him figuring out how to daddy a baby. And so many sweet ones too (did I mention the baby steals the whole story?! SO CUTE). And Raven is a great touch and fiesty heroine but who also has a big bleeding heart. I don't always love a heroine keeping thing secret when it comes to the baby thing (especially when it feels more for the plot vs. logical to the character), but once you check that away you love these two together. There is a bit of fast/instantness to their connection, but a friendship evolves in the back half as they co-parent and fall for each other more substantively, and that part of the story is really sweet and so adorable.

I love the bigger Bradford ensemble cast- they offer a lot of funny moments, and of course have some great group chats. And again, baby Haddy really steals hearts and the whole story- she's just so cute and sweet and I lived for the scenes with her and Hendrix.

The audio was really such a great listen- and in luxurious DUET style too. Aaron Shedlock is always SO compelling- and he's absolutely delicious and charming as Hendrix. He brings all the alpha swoon to protective daddy Hendrix too. And Stephanie Kay was great as Raven- she brings all the fire and vulnerability to the character. I loved her performance - she brings a lot of nuances to the vocal performance and has great vocal chemistry with Aaron. The audio I think really enhanced my reading experience and made me feel more connected to both characters. Very well done and bingeable/an easy listen.

What to expect
-surprise baby
-small town
-marriage of convenience
-forced proximity
-sports/football
-curvy/plus size FMC
-alpha hero
-duet audio
-found family/family ensemble cast
-sweet and swoony

Sweet, heartfelt, and sizzling romance!

I love the Bradford family and it continues to capture my heart with Hendrix and Raven's sweet, heartfelt, and sizzling romance. I was completely caught up in the lives of these delightful and complicated characters and couldn't help but cheer for their HEA. Hendrix and Raven have instant chemistry when they first meet and have a night of fiery passion. Neither of them are looking for a relationship as they focus on their careers on opposite coasts. But a surprise baby brings them back together. Raven asks Hendrix to get married temporarily to to secure her trust fund. Hendrix is excited to get to know his new baby girl, but didn't expect how much he would fall in love with his temporary wife, and being a married dad. Raven is also falling for Hendrix and swooning at the way he takes care of her and their little girl. But as the end of their arrangement gets closer, will they find the strength to ask for more, and make their beautiful family official? I really loved Hendrix and Raven and the way they found their way to making a sweet family together. They were multifaceted, funny and relatable, and their chemistry was palpable. I also loved their family and friends who were fun and supportive and added so much heart to this addicting story. I love a book that can make me laugh, cry and swoon and this did all that and more. It captured my heart and had me totally engaged from start to finish.
Narrators, Aaron Shedlock and Stefanie Kay did an amazing job at bringing this story to life. Their expressive voices and ability to convey their complex emotions from the dramatic to the funny, from panic to passion, and all the sweet moments in between was superb, allowing us to feel empathy at their struggles and joy for their triumphs. They helped to make this delightful and heartfelt story even better.

Quite Enjoyable!!

Hendrix was the brother most loud about wanting to follow his dream of playing football for as long as physically possible and wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with love and marriage. That is until Raven Gale strolled into his life.

Now he enjoyed a weekend with her and thought I’d bed often over the course of the two or so years they didn’t talk but he was still a bit of a playboy in the romance department. UNTIL big bro calls him home for a weekend and he walks smack dab into Raven Gale AGAIN who now has his baby girl with her. He is rocked to his core and things in his life change in a second.

It was soooo fun to watch this young playboy be rocked to his core by someone he had deep attraction to and a big affection for while she helped him learn how to become a dad.

He fell the hardest because he had the biggest fall. But it was beautiful to watch them fall in love with each other while they learned how to co-parent and figure out how to follow their respective dreams while on the West Coast.

This beautiful story was brought to life by Stefanie Kay and Aaron Shedlock! Their voices were perfect for these characters🥰

Swoony, romantic and sweet

The way I couldn’t stop listening once I started. “The Way We Collide” is a swoony, romantic and sweet accidental pregnancy/football romance that was a great addition to the series.

Hendrix Bradford and Raven Gale had a chance meeting at his sister’s wedding and the connection between them is instant. Fast forward several months later, Raven is back in Hendrix’s small town with a surprise. A baby girl named Haddy who was conceived from their night together. Hendrix is shocked at first but he’s all in and wants to be a Dad to Haddy. Raven has another idea, she wants to get married for 6 months to gain access to her trust fund that her mother set up for her. They agree to a fake marriage and they move in with Hendrix in L.A. because the football season is starting. But as they spend time together, the lines start to blur into something real.

Hendrix and Raven had an instant chemistry from the beginning and grew more intense as they spent time together. I loved Raven’s career choice of wanting to become a meteorologist and chase storms as they came in the U.S. It was something so different and fit her perfectly. I loved her as a career woman and she is a great mom to Haddy. You could tell they had a close bond. Hendrix is a swoony Bradford brother and focused completely on being the best he can be in the football world. But having Haddy slowly changed his focus on what was important to him. He became a great girl Dad and loved her so much. Raven and Hendrix had great chemistry and I was patiently waiting for them to give into the feelings to show how real they could be if they gave up the fake part of their marriage. All the football scenes were great and had me cheering for him and his team. The ending was so sweet and I loved these two together so much.

Stefanie Kay and Aaron Shedlock narrated in duet and I loved listening to them bringing this story to life. Stefanie’s narration was genuine and sweet, just like Raven. Aaron turned up the swoon for Hendrix and he was the perfect choice. Aaron and Stefanie kept me smiling and swooning throughout the whole story.

Duet Narration - football romance

Nothing super special but I do enjoy this series and the family this series is based on. I don’t know why but I prefer football to hockey romances but there’s very few of them.

🎧AUDIOBOOK REVIEW🎧
Duet narration! Which is honestly was drew me to this series in the first place. Both of these narrators are new to me, or new enough that their names are not recognizable. The performance was good - I can't say it particular stood out to me, but often that's a good thing since bad narration can really take away from a story for me. Great overall!

Even better in audio!

The Way We Collide follows Hendrix Bradford, professional football player, and meteorologist storm chaser, Raven Gale. They meet at a wedding and spend a hot and heavy night. This surprise baby, marriage of convenience, Football/sports romance will capture your heart. I loved how cute Haddy and Hendrix are together. The first time he experiences changing a diaper is just too funny. I was dying. I was just chortling and had to wipe tears from my eyes. The way Hendrix loves Haddie (after the initial shock wears off from finding out he’s a dad) just warms my heart. Reading Hendrix and Raven figuring out parenthood while falling in love will make you swoon.

Stephanie Kay is a new to me narrator. Initial impression is that I’m impressed. I totally forgot it’s Duet!!! So, I was pleasantly surprised. Stephanie does a great job with all the different character voices. I absolutely love her voice for Haddie and Kimmie.

Aaron Shedlock narrates as Hendrix and the male characters. The high pitched voice he uses when talking to Haddy had me chuckling. The first time he experiences changing a diaper is just too funny. You can feel their emotions with the voice changes in tone and pitch.

Overall, I just had a great time reading The Way We Collide. You can read this as a standalone but truly appreciate all the characters if you read the rest of the series.

Thank you to Home Cooked Books for the ALC that I voluntarily reviewed.

Great audiobook!

The way we collide is book 4 in the Bradford Boys Series. It follows Raven and Hendrix. I really enjoyed this audiobook! Raven and Hendrix had amazing chemistry! There was so much tension with these two I was waiting for them to finally give in! When they finally did give in it was worth the wait! This book had me swooning, laughing and tearing up. Watching Hendrix become a girl dad was everything and more! I loved seeing his relationship with Raven grow and seeing them become a little family. Their movie nights were so cute!! I absolutely love the whole family and it was so beautiful to see how close they all were!

The book was narrated by Stefanie Kay and Aaron Shedlock. These two did such a great job portraying the characters and their emotions. It made the listening experience so much better! If you are an audiobook girlie then I definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR!

Read if you love:
Small Town
Sports Romance
Surprise Baby
Marriage of Convenience
Forced Proximity
Plus Size FMC
Found Family

Sweet Romance

The Way We Collide is a sweet romance. Raven is the one that got away & Hendrix is a famous football player. I love sport romance books.

I thought this book is very good, I love Tia Louise's style of writing. She has good steamy parts but seriously, I like how she writes all her characters, no matter how big or little the character is, her books are always fun to listen to. This book is fun and easy. I didn't get all the feels but that's ok, not every book has to make you ugly cry. These characters are well written, it was love at first sight for me. I really like the parking lot scene, it's romantic. This is the best in the series.

Arron Shedlock and Stefanie Kay did an amazing job with this book, They sound really good together.

I loved Raven, Hendrix and sweet little Haddy

Tia!!! I loved Raven, Hendrix and sweet little Haddy. Going back into this world was such a joy. I mean who doesn’t love a protective, alpha football player turned daddy. Hendrix’s love was football, Raven’s love was Metrology until little Haddy came along. I loved watching these two navigate these waters. Raven was just what the doctor ordered when it came to Hendrix. She knew how to challenge him but at the same time give him the love and peace he was missing in his life. The banter, sass, Hendrix’s crazy antics on learning how to become a daddy were super funny to read. Seeing him grow as a father so protective and sweet his hard exterior is a soft Teddy Bear on the inside. You could never deny the swoon worthy moments too, and how he was wrapped around the finger of “his girls”. The chemistry and attraction these two had from the jump was just so well written. Make sure yall check out the shower scene. 😮‍💨😮‍💨 Tia always does a great job at laying out the story lines for the Bradford boys. Of course, I loved seeing the family text thread still going strong. 🤣🤣 I also loved getting an update on the rest of the crew. Make sure yall check out the bonus content and the prologue for Jacks book 😭😭.
The audiobook narration was done by Aaron Shedlock and Stefanie Kay in Duet style and I’m here for it. The characterizations, and emotions these two portrayed kept me hooked and I couldn’t stop listening.

Heart melting Insta-Dad

Part of a larger series and I had so much fun going back into the world, but if you're starting here, that's ok too. The standalone is strong and what you need to know is explained or revisited.

The perpetual bachelor of the family never goes on more than 2 dates with the same person, and now his amazing one night, wedding fling, has returned with the cutest baby that is most definitely his. Now Hendrix is an instadad with all the protective vibes (and none of the instincts). He's trying but not always succeeding, and it's got all the squishy feels, massive laughs and gross out moments going along the way.

Raven needs to meet some specific conditions to get access to her trust fund and marrying the father of her child for a few months is an easy way to ensure she's taken care of. But watching him become dada, becoming a solid parenting partner (as long as it doesn't involve poop or puke) and helping her meteorological dreams come true, is making the temporary nature of this marriage of convenience harder to imagine walking away from.

The audiobook was performed by Stephanie Kay and Aaron Shedlock. Stephanie was so wonderful to listen to as Raven. She had some fantastic emotional moments in the mom-journey and Raven's personal journey. The balancing act over what mom wants vs. what's best for baby, how to protect herself but also be open to opportunities, there was a lot to play with and it was great to be along for the ride. Aaron was adorable as Hendrix, the reactions to various biological functions when you haven't had the preparation of pregnancy (also straight into 6month old baby diapers... that stuff is toxic at times), the personal battle for focus and energy (family vs. football), plus the movie quotes... so many fun moments that I can't wait to listen to again.

I requested and was provided with an advanced copy of the audiobook. These are my honest opinions.