If Our Hearts Collide

Forbidden Contract #1

by Victoria Dawson

Penny

In the past, I have been an easy victim. So, when I find myself in a dangerous situation yet again, my two older brothers decide to intervene on my behalf.

They don’t need to admit that they hired a secret bodyguard without my approval. It is obvious as soon as the dominant and overbearing Collins Stone starts shadowing me and sabotaging my fun.

But every time that man is around, the emotional tension feels as if our hearts will collide. The more we clash, the more attraction I feel toward him.

Being together is wrong. If my brothers find out I have a thing for their most loyal employee, they’ll go ballistic.

Collins

I pride myself on being disciplined, level-headed, and resourceful. But nothing prepared me for Penny Hoffman. She is resilient and reckless—and unlike anyone I’ve ever experienced before.

Like a tornado, she blew into my life and destroyed my order. From her little pranks to her creative outlook on life, I was a goner before I ever realized it.

But a man who is sixteen years older should know better.

I was hired to protect this princess, not corrupt her. Yet no matter how hard I try to resist her, the easier it is to blur the lines I vowed to never cross.

If Our Hearts Collide is the first book in the two-part Forbidden Contract Series that should be read in order.

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance

563 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2025

About the author

Victoria is the author of fiery heroines and possessive heroes. She thrives on writing stories that transcend the minds of readers, allowing them to get lost in the journey to love—and all the drama that entails. Prior to delving heart first into the romance writing world, she taught middle and high school students mathematics for ten years.

Victoria Dawson is a unique combination of hopeful realist and hopeless romantic. She is an iced coffee connoisseur, a reality TV enthusiast, and a habitual wearer of stretchy pants. If she is not chasing after her three active children, she is often found scouring social media for her next book boyfriend fix.

Having grown up in an itty bitty town in Pennsylvania, Victoria is a little bit country. She currently resides in Maryland with her family.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.2 stars

What a waste of time this was. It could've been MUCH shorter. Some scenes were just too long and too "fleshed" out. Some of it was unnecessary. Some scenes didn't seem to serve a purpose other than just filler.
Penny is pathetic. There were a few mentions of how strong she was but no. Her character was extremely weak. She cried in almost every scene she was in.
MMC talked about how special she was but I saw no overt displays of intelligence or character from her, just whining.

Every interaction is overly detailed and drawn out.

The other 2 relationships are cringey so I definitely won't be reading those.
Claire is a biotch and treats Nic like crap and she seems kind of dumb
I skimmed all parts with Claire and Angie.

"You are like the rarest, most exotic flower in a garden of weeds, Penny.”
No man talks like this.

MMC was a dick. He could go to a sex club and have sex but not Penny. She couldn't do anything because he couldn't have her.
This entire story lost me when she found him with that other girl. I just can't.

[Jessica Mullner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victoria Dawson’s writing style has gotten better as the books go. I loved hearing penny’s story as I think she was such an underrated character from the other series of books and learning about her and seeing her coming alive was great. She’s working through her past trauma I am excited to read the next part of her story. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because it was a very slow beginning, and I felt like every time we were in one of their POV after some major event they repeated the same things that happened but in different ways multiple times. Pretty sure I heard Collins obsess over tiny details nonstop. So that was only a little redundant but I enjoyed the story line!

[Abbey | bookishandme · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is FINALLY time for Penny & Collins!!!

If you have read any of Victoria’s previous books then you know that Penny’s story has been brewing for a while and I have always had a sneaky suspicion that Collins is just the man for her.

Despite the 16 year age gap there is something about Collins and Penny that works. He grounds her in a way that she needs but also provides her with a safe environment to push the boundaries and test her limits as she continues to recover. Penny on the other hands gives Collins the permission to branch out from his perfectly ordered and self contained role as bodyguard / security / fixer to the Hoffman family.

°Were there times I wanted to throw my kindle ? Yes.
°Did I want to give both Penny & Collins a talking to? Yes.
°Did I soak up every crumb of tension building between these two until it exploded? Absolutely!
°Do Graham & Nik overprotective big brother routine piss me still? Yes but it adds a certain dynamic to the storyline for sure!
°Do Angie & Claire give me life with their continued crusade of testing their men - YASSS

As for Mama Hoffman - she can add me to the list of people that she has under her wing!

🖤Bodyguard
🖤Romantic Suspense
🖤Forbidden / Secret Romance
🖤Age Gap
🖤Mental Health Rep

[Brittany Hayley Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished If Our Hearts Collide. Sometimes I hate being a mom because that can get into my reading. I love this book. It follows Penny who has trauma of men. After spending sometime in a wellness facility and facing the man who caused her this trauma, her brothers hire their friend and bodyguard Collins. Collins has the ability to be able to study his targets from being in the war. However this easy task he was expecting was far from it. Collins was tasked to protect Penny from threats that happened to her sister in laws and potential threats from the man from Pennys past. However Penny doesn’t like that so she sneaks off to a place she shouldn’t be in leaving a temp bodyguard behind only to find Collins in a different light. Penny and Collins have an amazing banter, which I love it makes the story that much better. So will Collins be able to stick to his rules about mixing business with personal? Will Pennys overbearing brothers find out about their little sister and bodyguard? Will Pennys past come back? Well read the book and find out. It’s out now

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to start with saying that I was waiting impatiently for Penny’s story, and yes, reading all the earlier books I was hoping that Collins was going to be her person.
I am not going to spoil any of the plot, I don’t want to ruin anything for other readers, but it is great story, Penny is being Penny, doing things her own way, which may bring Collins’ stress level up by a notch or ten! The trauma Penny went through (although not necessary, it’s worth reading previous books) didn’t turn her into meek version of herself. Collins definitely has his hands full with her. It is brilliant story, it is hot and steamy story, but it has also a lot of humour, which I was hoping Penny would bring to the book. I loved it, just like previous series by Victoria, I just don’t like that I am left once again impatiently waiting for the book two.

[Daisy Nijs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the new duet by Miss Dawson. This book is about Penny, the youngest Hoffman sibling, and her bodyguard, Collins. Collins is sixteen years older than Penny, but he has always been very protective of her. Now that her brothers have assigned him to guard her, they grow closer to each other. But can they cross that line?
Penny has been through so much, I can totally understand her rebellious streak and testing her limits. She tries to find her place again in the world after the trauma. And she will make mistakes, that is normal. And they lead to Collins being mad and trying to get her to follow his orders.
And now I have to wait to read the second part of the duet, already counting down the days.

[Lori T-m · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a free preview through Bookfunnel. Only 61 pages and absolutely nothing happened. An attempt at keeping me in suspense (about what exact kind of trauma or situation occurred for Penny) managed to just annoy me instead. The pace is just all wrong for my preference. The author almost provides a warning of this upfront and says in the author note: "If you enjoy longer story lines where you get to know the characters on an intimate and detailed level, please consider starting with the Entice Trilogy and Toxic Desire Series..." So I suppose this is just the way they write, a lot of unnecessary details that found me skimming to try to get to any interesting parts, which never occurred in those 61 pages.

[Suze Prescot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collision course

Penny is out of the mental health facility she went to after being attacked. She is eager to live, wanting everything she lost while locked away. The problem is, she overreacts when a man touches her, unless that man is her bodyguard, Collins Stone, but he has desires she doesn't know about, and he owes his loyalty to her brothers.
This is a great story, although I was not as enamoured at first as with the others about the Hoffmans. The push and pull between the protagonists is a little different, maybe laboured, although it is necessary to create the relationship that develops.
I suspect book two will be fascinating.

[Franchesca Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book through and through. From the funny and adorable banter to character growth, the story building, and the spice. 😍 Victoria Dawson wrote this book very well, I was very engaged with the story. I do recommend this book if you enjoy age gap romance, over protective body guard, spicy contemporary romance, this book is for you!

I am looking forward to finding out what happens next between Collins and Penelope! 🫶

[Angie Large · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am obsessed with Collins. I was rooting for him and Penny from page one. He has been an enigma and a favorite character of mine in all of the previous series and FINALLY we are getting to see some of his walls come down. Penny has been through so much and needs someone to take care of her and watch out for her even if she doesn't realize it. Collins may not think he is the best person for her, but he is exactly what she needs, now to just get her to convince him.

[Dawna McLear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad penny got her story and I'm even happier it's with Collins. If you love slow burn and angst then this book is for you! The author sprinkles in little tidbits of mystery that the main character brushes off and is totally clueless about, which did annoy me because now I have to wait till the next book to find out what happens. Although I will say the ending was satisfying and not a cliffhanger like her others in the past.

[Read With Grace White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for the ARC copy! I loved seeing the struggles that both of main characters faced together and separately. And how one decision changes everything for the two main characters! I look forward to seeing more of the relationship between Penny and Collin evolve! I give it four out of five stars! ⭐️

[Hope]

To spend the book telling us how he's obsessed with her only for him to get his rocks off with ow at a kink club is so foul. And to have this happening after H/h had already kissed and fooled around is even worse. And having her catch him with the ow takes the cake 🤢

Some of you need to google the word obsessed because this so not it!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF,
I had high hopes for this but i just could not finish this. It was way longer than it needed to be and most scenes with the main characters were just annoying. I stopped when the MMC was found with someone else because…what???!!!

[Karla Escutia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.

[Nicole Traficenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all of Victorias books, I could not put this down. If I wasn’t a full time working mom of three, I could have read this is one sitting! I will be patiently waiting for the next book! I’m a fan of Victorias writing style and how she still incorporates all the characters that we have grown to love in this universe! Definitely recommend!!

[Mary Haskins · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story drags a lot far too wordy without much going on. I did not find penny all that endearing Loved her mom and brothers wives were a hoot. The plot is a bit unbelievable or I have just been reading so many badass women who overcome.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a fantastic series a much must read

[Kristyna Jecmenova · Rating 2 out of 5]

1,5*

[Angela Robertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

too slow

This story sadly drags on. I thought I’d like it it’s just too boring and drawn out. On to the next book.

[Amy MacKenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow burn but the story and writing were great.

[Ashley Crimmins · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s finally Penny’s turn to find love with none other than Collins, her bodyguard. These two made me laugh repeatedly with their stubbornness. Both have some surprises up their sleeve, but I think Collins will be earth shattering and we’ll find out in the next book. I can’t wait for the next book which I’m sure will be filled with steamy scenes, danger, and more stubbornness.

[Megan Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I love Penny and Collins!!! This book is definitely a must read. The tension between these 2 is absolutely delicious and I devoured every bit of it!!

[Sarah Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been waiting for Penny's story since reading the first book by Victoria Dawson. This was an ARC that I had received of this book.

Penny is a highly independent (so she thinks) younger sister to the Hoffman brothers. She speaks her mind and she wants everything to go her way. Due to her past, her brothers decide to put their best bodyguard, Collins to watch her. She is sassy and the banter between her and Collins is perfection. They each have a past and the more time they spend together the more the tension rises.

I am rooting for them both and can't wait to read the 2nd book in the series.