She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.
…and it’s going to be oh so good
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
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I loved this book, from start to finish. The plot wasn’t convoluted or overly dramatic, there wasn’t any weird love triangles or vindictive exes trying to stir up crap, the dialogue between all of the characters was solid and flowed well. The story had its emotional moments, but it didn’t go overboard to the point of becoming unbelievable.
This is one of the best books in the NA genre. Nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong with this book. There is no over done drama, no infidelity, no TSTL people. Even the secondary characters are amazing. This book is my favorite in the whole series. You’ll have to read it to believe it. Garrett Graham is for me the book boyfriend of the year. It’s fun and entertaining, it’s light hearted, even the horrible past of the heroine has been dealt in a subtle way rather than the oh my god my past is horrible so I’m gonna be a bitch or a cry baby way. Awesome book. Can’t recommend it enough.
I haven’t read a college romance in a while, but this one hits all the right buttons for me. Hannah is a brave, sassy and very independent young woman who goes for gold. She’s especially brave because of her past, but what I loved the most is how she never, ever moans or winges about what has happened to her. She’s got balls this girl and I loved her for it!
Hot young hockey star Garrett also has his own demons to face, but again, he’s not a winger, he’s a do-er and the two of them together make quite an explosive match.
This book has been on my TBR since 2017, but the advantage of taking so long to read a series is, most of the follow-ups are now out and I don’t have to wait for the next book! I’m already halfway through book 2 – The Mistake – and I’m loving it just as much! This is going to be a fantastic series, I can tell.
This is the first book that I read from Elle Kennedy and I really, really loved it!! I just can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
When I read about this book (new adult – ice hockey – bad boys – a deal) I really wanted to read this book. Although this book had great reviews on internet I’m always careful with that. It’s not because so many people love it, that I will love it too (especially with a new writer for me) but this time I must agree with all those great reviews because I really loved this story too!!!!
When Hannah Wells was 15 years old something bad happed to her. Something that makes it hard to have feelings for boys. But now she has found someone who gives her butterflies. The only problem? He doesn’t know she exists. So how can she make him notice her? Garrett has an idea how she can do this.
Garrett Graham plays ice hockey at the same university as Hannah. The only thing he thinks about and dreams about is playing professional hockey after graduation but there is a small problem. There’s a big chance that he will fail for Philosophical Ethics. Something were Hannah is very good at so Garrett decides that Hannah is the answer to his prayers. He only has to convince her of this and after some searching he discovers that she has a crush on another guy so he convinces her that the best way to get his attention is to make him jealous and he’s just the perfect guy to make this happen. And so starts a strange ‘relationship’ between Hannah and Garrett. Because what first starts as a teaching relationship slowly becomes a friendship and then something more.
But can this relationship really work out? Can they work out their difference or are they at the end not so different at all?
I really love Garrett , Hannah and their friends. Although there were some difficult topics, it never was too dark. I was really sad when this story was finished.
Great hockey romance. The series follows different players and can be read separate but I love reading in order so I can see my favorite characters pop up!!
Fantastic New Adult Sports Romance!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration:
Romance:
Heat/Steam:
Story/Plot:
World building:
Character development:
The heroine: Hannah Wells – Hannah was raped back in her home town while attending a party in High School and the whole town turned against her. She is now in her Junior year as a music major at Briar University. She has dated a few guys since the incident in high school but has issues with intimacy.
The Hero(es): Garrett Graham – the captain of the Hockey team, he lives for Hockey and is quite a player in more than one way. His father is a famous former NHL player and Hockey God whom Garrett has an extremely strained relationship with. Garrett needs to keep up his GPA to keep playing hockey and is failing a class he shares with Hannah, though he is doing well in most of his other classes.
The Love Story: Hannah has a huge crush on another athlete who only goes out with women that are of a certain social standing. Garrett tells her that Justin will take notice of Hannah if she is dating someone like him. The two make a deal where Hannah will tutor Garrett and they pretend to date to get Justin’s attention
I liked the narration on this one, and I am liking audiobooks more and more as I hear more of them. The man had a good voice which fit the character. The woman had a slight Boston accent which fit with the character though it wasn’t too pronounced which I liked. The characters banter a lot and these two had great voices for that. I liked that the woman has this deadpan, careless tone in her voice when Hannah is fed up with Garrett.
The story was pretty standard new adult sports romance fare, but I love that. I don’t know how many books I have read where the two main characters are in college, the Hero is a BMOC athlete who needs tutoring by the smart unpopular girl, but I just can’t get enough.
This one had some good side stories as well with each of the main characters having family issues, the storyline about Hannah’s crush on Justin. The romance was good. I really liked the character of Garrett, though he is a player he is a nice guy and I loved that the two of them binge watched Breaking Bad, one of my all time favorite shows.
The story got better and better as it went along, I loved the two main characters and the issues they were dealing with. This felt like a real romance with real life issues. Issues like abuse & rape were handled very well.
I do not like sports. I do not like watching sports. I do not like reading sports magazines… Oh, God was I wrong! Thanks to Elle Kennedy, I realized that reading about sports can be so much fun. I love her hockey world. This book is one of my favorite reread. It’s fun and steamy, but subtly broaches on heavier subjects.
This book kicked off an epic binge read! LOVED it so much… along with every other book in series and then spin off and entire backlist lol.
I adore a fast-paced, romance book that has such a great plot that you want to read more of the characters by the time you finish the book. “The Deal” is that kind of book. It’s modern, realistic, and simply fun to read! It’s also steamy and laugh-out-loud funny. There is nothing more I want out of a book! I already bought the next book in the series.
An effortless read that started with a character that I loved to dislike, who happened to evolve to one that I just plain loved. I can’t pinpoint when my feelings about him changed; it was that smooth. Excellent banter and character development to boot.
4.5 stars
* AUDIOBOOK REVIEW *
The story is so great, it’s on my re-listen list now. I’ve bought the other books in this series and can’t wait to listen to them.
No unnecessary descriptions of surroundings and great dialogues
The author writes in a way that draws me in to the story and I feel like a part of it.
Characters are described realistic and made familiar very quickly.
Narrator:
Clear pronunciation and read with feelings. Narrator makes a good job with the male voice.
I highly recommend this series
This is a book I recommend to anyone interested in an adorable, hilarious, sexy romance. I love this one and have read it and listened to it on audiobook several times. A great beach read for sure.
Elle Kennedy is one of my go-to authors when it comes to adult romance so I anticipated enjoying her hand at the new-adult genre as well. The Deal is certainly one of the better new-adult novels I have read but it still didn’t win me over. Regardless, I applaud Ms. Kennedy for incorporating some pretty heavy themes into this romance and managing to keep the sexy-factor strong. Emotions were high and the drama element was in full-force on both sides, but I was able to keep my eyerolls at bay. I enjoyed The Deal – 3 stars – but I don’t think I will be continuing the series. HOWEVER, if you are a reader who does enjoy the new-adult genre, I highly recommend The Deal, and since Elle Kennedy is the author, I’ll go ahead and recommend the rest of the series as well 🙂
My favorite quote:
“Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.”
Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series includes the following installments as of December 2016:
#1-The Deal
#2-The Mistake
#3-The Score
#4-The Goal
This book is such a fun read. If you love romantic comedies, you’ll adore this book. It’s super sexy, but it is also laugh-out-loud funny and the characters have excellent chemistry. Definitely one of my favorite romances ever!
I loved this book so much ,i am forever gonna be a huge Elle Kennedy fan ! she writes awesome books and i can’t wait to read all of them.
I am in love with Garrett (swoon ) he’s such a great guy ,i mean all the things he does for Hannah so she can feel safe ,it was so sweet of him ,i loved how thoughtful he was ,he’s pretty much the total package ! Sweet,funny,smart and sexy as hell ,i loved the banter between him and Hannah ,their fights were so funny to read and i loved all the embarrassing moments too 🙂 i loved that Garrett wasn’t afraid to show his emotions and that he told Hannah how his father beat him as a kid ,they both had awful things happen in their pasts and they both were able to let the other one in !
I really liked Hannah ,she’s a great character and it was funny to see her fight how much she liked Garrett ,she tried so hard to keep away from him but it didn’t work & when she finally says she will him with his homework and they end up becoming friends that turns into more ,it was soo good to see them find each other ,they both had different ideas of what they needed but it turns out that what they needed was each other ! i loved the moment when Hannah asks Garrett to have sex with her because she thinks she’s broken because of the rape ,it was such a great scene and i loved how much she learns to trust Garrett 🙂
Love the side characters and can’t wait to read more about them
I love this series and i need to the next book asap ,i love sports romance ,i especially love Hockey Romance 🙂 (Hockey kicks ass) plus i love the collage setting ,i get lost in these books and its so great !
OVERHYPED. not saying the story was bad. But it’s just that I find it lacking at some point, I just couldn’t point it out
I read this because a friend recommended it and I was sceptic, thought it will be the same as every romantic new adult book.
But it was great, instead!
First thing is that Garret Graham is my dream bad boy from now on! He’s handsome, he’s playing hockey, he’s not dumb, he’s a freaking sweetheart if it cones to his loved ones and he’s HOT!
Obviously I’d accept him to my bed without doubt!
Hannah is a really complex character, I don’t know much about rape victims and their coping but this book provided a little insight! I’d gladly read more about it more but I learned so much as it was also!
The other tragic issue mentioned in this book is domestic violence and in my opinion it was perfectly described!
The love story is cute! I love the hate/prejudice to love realtionships and I enjoyed every minute of seeing the music student and the star athlete falling for each other! I had this High School Musical in collage feeling at the beginning and it was a little nostalgic and fun to read it like this!
The characters and the conversations was funny and amusing! The bickering, the shamelss flirting, student life and the growing up feels make this book a really enjoyable read!
Also, the smut was great!
I recommend this book to the lovers of NA romance, and to everyone who wants to read a light, funny romance with some smut and also a message!
3.85
Style: College Romance
Story: 3.5/5
Enjoyment: 3.85/5
Dark Level: 0/5
Sexual Level: GOOD
Triggers: Yes
Violence: Yes (Very Mild)
Male: Hockey Team Captain
Series: Yes
Pages: 342
Audio: GOOD (m/f)
Kindle Unlimited: free
STORY
This was good storytelling. I like the characters and watching their chemistry progressed in different stages. Hannah’s backstory was sad, but I liked the way she did not dwell on it or let it hinder her. Garrett was sweet. I enjoyed him more than Hannah at times throughout the story.
What was ok for me, it was a slow burn and for this particular story, I felt like it dragged a bit and not necessarily in a boring way, just some things didn’t need to carry on as long as they did. Also, this is called the deal and to be honest, the deal had a life span of 20 seconds. It was only there to connect them and introduce them. I wanted to see Hannah’s parent’s situation resolved. She spoke about what happen and what they did, but I was hoping for a little light at the end of the tunnel before the book ended. Garrett’s situation and family, I felt too much had happened to conclude it in that way.
SEXUAL CHEMISTRY:
Sex scenes were good and satisfactory. It wasn’t anything crazy, and the mood matches the characters personalities.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
So many secondary characters. I love seeing Garrett’s teammates, especially Logan and Dean. Hannah had her best friend and music friends, some nice, others not so nice. I have no complaints with all the characters, bringing the story to life.
OVERALL
Not bad. I enjoyed the story telling and Hannah’s and Garrett’s relationship. It was cute.
TRIGGERS: rape and domestic/child abuse.
****I don’t equate these stories to real life. It’s about personal taste and what you would or want to tolerate with the books you read. I know we all have different opinions and preferences with what we read. I based my book reviews on my preferences and what I like, and while these preferences may not be the same for others, I hope this review was still helpful.
4.5 Stars.
idk why it has taken me forever to read this series but i’m kicking myself now for just now reading this! i really
enjoyed the main characters and the side characters. i can’t wait to finish this series and read more by Elle Kennedy.
GARRETT= P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N
“Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.”
Where do I even begin ?
I think I re-read this book and this series in general like 12334 times. And each time I keep finding something new that makes me love this characters even more .
This is hands down one of the best hockey romance I’ve ever read. No jocking.
And Garrett will always held a special spot between all my books-boyfriends.
He is the hockey guy, the life of the party , the playboy. Or at least that’s what everyone sees from outside.
But he’s also just a guy with a passion , and is trying so hard to make it is job. The only obstacle? His GPA.
So when he finds out there’s a way to bring it up again , he’s all in.
His way out is Hannah, she’s the classic good girl, smart and prepared with everything that has to do with school and grades. But when it comes to men it’s a complete different story.
She was finally ready to finally put herself out , and what better way of doing that than let a very handsome, very popular hockey player help?
“Baby I could watch you watching paint dry, and I still wouldn’t be bored”
It has disaster written all over it.
It was a really interesting journey. It was filled with passion, feelings but also so much funny and cute moment.
You won’t help loving every single word.
The chemistry between them was just like fireworks. It blow my mind.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want this girl”
One of the best ride ever, a rollercoaster of emotions that will leave you with a severe case of book-hang hover.
But it’s all worth it. And besides this is just the first book, get ready for what the other couples will bring!
I gave it absolutely 5 stars
I hope you’ll enjoy it like I did!