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.
more
Teenager romance had always been a favorite genre. The Deal was a set-up drama between Garrett and Hannah.. I loved the persuasion to the T! There were so many emotions to keep the book alive. The relationships were a slow burn in a way. College romance is full with adrenaline and the Deal was full of it. The whole experience were fresh and sexy hilarious. I loved the way their young love grow with steady feelings and care.
YES YES YES YESS
This book had me hooked from the beginning!!!! I did not want to put it down!!!! Love the natural way that love was found and the bumps encountered throughout the relationship!!! Great read!!!!
College girl makes a deal with the captain of the hockey team. A little quid pro quo never hurt anyone, right?
Well edited.
Hannah Wells wants to date the cute guy in her Ethics class. Except he doesn’t even notice her. Garrett Graham needs to bring up his grade in said Ethics class, but how? Bumping into Hannah and seeing her A is a huge opportunity. But how can he talk her into helping him? He needs that grade to stay on the hockey team. When Garrett notices Hannah noticing another guy in their class, he hits on an idea. If Hannah will tutor him in Ethics, he will help her win the attention of the other guy. Simple. Right?
Hannah has issues from a horrific experience in high school. Garrett doesn’t date because hockey is his focus. If Garrett helps Hannah, they can maybe be friends, but that’s all. Right? Can these two see the forest for the trees? Will they allow themselves to embrace the unexpected? And if outside forces try to keep them apart, will they be able to overcome?
So many likable, enjoyable characters in this one. Hannah and Garrett both have trust issues, hurts, scars, and emotional obstacles to overcome. Can they be stronger together? A great afternoon read. Enjoy.
The Deal is not the first book I’ve read from the fabulous Elle Kennedy, and this book will not be my last from her. I’m kicking myself in the rear for not starting the Off-Campus series sooner and thanks to the Romanceopolyathon that happened April 8th – 14th I was able to read The Deal within less than two days. I had a hard time putting down this book because of the characters and the storyline. I especially fell head over heels for playboy Garrett Graham. Well, he was a playboy at first until he met Hannah Wells and then she changed him for the better.
The Deal has one of my favorite tropes, and that is a Pretend/Fake Relationship in it. Graham is failing one of his college classes, which has his GPA plummeting. That is an issue since he plays hockey at the college. He needs to keep his grades up to keep playing. He ends up finding out one girl in his class has some stellar grades in the same class he’s flunking and asks her to tutor him. Unfortunately, she’s not jumping to tutor him. He’s never had any girl turn him down. He finds out she has a thing for another guy and convinces her in a ‘fake’ relationship with him to get the guy of her dreams to notice her finally and also get her seen by others. Unfortunately, the pretend relationship may turn into something else for Garrett, even though he doesn’t do relationships ever.
I LOVED this book, but I think I already said that in the beginning. I usually don’t like guys that are players, and that is what Garrett is at the beginning of the story. Oh…but he starts showing another side of himself in the book. Hannah is also a sweet girl, and she’s gone through a lot. She had something happen in her past that changed her, and she’s trying everything to come to terms, but it has affected her in her relationships. Poor Hannah. I adored her character and how strong she is, even when she thinks she isn’t. She has Garrett though to help her get through everything, and the ending of this book had me on the edge of my seat on what was going to happen between the two characters. I won’t spoil it for anyone who has not read this book though.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series because I want to read more of Garrett’s hockey player roommates and who they hook up with since they are just as bad as he is/was in this book. I also need to check out even more of Elle’s books because she has become a favorite due to the characters and stories she has written..
Story Rating: 5 stars
Steaminess Rating: 4 stars
Standalone or part of series: Each book can be read as a standalone.
Do I recommend this book? Yes, most definitely.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes.
Tropes/Elements: Pretend/Fake Relationship
I love this book from beginning to end. The other characters in this book are amazing. Looking forward to read rest of the series.
Loved Garrett and Hannah…loved the story! This was a fun and entertaining read.
Garrett is a the hot, popular hockey player. Hannah is the more reserved one. When their paths cross because he needs a tutor, the journey begins. She’s doesn’t like his cockiness and he isn’t used to being told no. Add in her history, a crush and some rowdy team mates and you get a very funny and hot book to read!
Okay, I admit I’m late to the game reading Kennedy. With this starter book in the Briar U series, however, I look forward to the binge-of-all-binges as I work my way through her backlist. I LOVE how she built this story, and how it sucked me in!
Fun college romance with hockey vibe.
Loved this book! Read whole series after reading this one.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Great story; couldn’t stop reading…. Enjoyed the characters!
Five stars! This book made me smile so much my face hurt (in the best way possible). I found myself constantly highlighting everything that made me laugh, smile or squeal with excitement.
——
Just out of curiosity,” she says, “after you wake up in the morning, do you admire yourself in the mirror for one hour or two?”
“Two,” I reply cheerfully.
“Do you high five yourself?”
“Of course not.” I smirk. “I kiss each of my biceps and then point to the ceiling and thank the big man upstairs for creating such a perfect male specimen.”
——
It was such a fun college romance that was funny, sweet and also sexy. Garrett and Hannah were AMAZING together, I loved each of their characters equally and thought they were so great together. Their banter back and forth with each other had me smiling and laughing so much I loved it! And it was so sweet how protective Garrett was of Hannah.
I can’t wait to read Logan’s story next!
I enjoyed this story very much. The plot was pretty simple, and what I liked most was the realistic, gradual development of the relationship and affection of the main characters.
I’ve had The Deal on my kindle for so long just waiting for me to read. It wasn’t until I learned that these books were getting new covers that it kick started my need to finally dive into this series. I went and got the audiobook since I had a few roadtrips planned and I was close to finishing with the listen, but just couldn’t wait … so I read the rest!
My love goes deep for Garret and Hannah. I loved what their friendship/relationship transformed into by the end of the book. We got to see the many stages of their relationship before their happy ever after and it sure was a funny, endearing and rather emotional journey. It was definitely more emotional than I expected it to be.
With Hannah and the absolute traumatic moment she faced at only 15 years and learning that Garret suffered years of abuse from his father, there are some heavy moments that generally bring them closer together. They had enough trust in each other as time went one that they were able to open themselves up. And I just loved where their tutoring sessions/chuckling bickering brought them. It was sweet and just cute!
I loved Hannah so damn much, she was such a relatable character. And I oh-so appreciated that Elle didn’t sugar coat the painful thing that she went through. Even now that she’s in college, she’s still bears scars from that day. She’s such a strong, smart girl and that wickedly quick wit that I couldn’t get enough of. It’s darn right near impossible to not love the girl.
Every aspect of this book was absolutely EVERYTHING. Their story was just natural and real, I loved how it went from acquaintance to friends to lovers (or well being together). I was completely lost in their story and didn’t want it to end. It was all oh-so-perfect and now I’m just going to keep on listening to the rest of this series.
NARRATION: The narrator was awesome, I honestly didn’t realize she was reading both POVs, but I’ll sum it up to how amazing she was and reading both. I hope the rest of the series is narrated by her, I’m a fan.
Elle Kennedy
It was absolutley amazing!!! It was creative and I would never had expected the book to end like that.
Persistence pays
Garrett is desperate for help or he will be off the team. As captain, it’s not really an option, he needs a tutor.
Hannah has no interest in campus bad boy Garrett Graham. She has eyes for one man only but he doesn’t know she exists.
A deal with the devil seems to be compromising more than just Hannah though.
Will this “thing”work? What is going on?
I really enjoyed The Deal. The bickering and fun wraps you up in the story. It’s well written. I can’t wait to dive into Logan’s story.
This book caught my attention from the get-go! The characters were funny, sarcastic and entertaining. Watching their love/hate relationship grow was very organic and not forced, which led to me being unable to put the book down. Their story was touching, warm and very minimal drama (which I found refreshing). Well done! This is on the “re-read many times” list for me.
This book takes the cliche and makes it real!