The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Reviewer: Wena
Series: Off Campus #1
Main Leads: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tags: Hockey Player, College Setting, Fake Dating, Tragic Pasts, Tutor Girl, Heavy Themes
Published On: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 360
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even 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.

I read this book so long ago and wondered if it would hold up if read in 2025 and while there are some things that have aged the book, my enjoyment didn’t change. It took me no time at all to finish a re-read of this book and I’m thrilled that my enjoyment held up because I really do adore these characters.

Garrett plays hockey for Briar U and is one of the popular guys on campus. Hannah is a musician that studies hard and gets good grades. She has a huge crush on Justin but is too shy to talk to him so when she’s the only person in class that aces a test, Garrett offers to exchange talents with her so that they can both get what they want. Garrett wants a better grade in the class and Hannah wants Justin. So they agree to help each other out and of course they fall for each other.

Elle Kennedy does a great job of writing fun stories with steamy romances and characters that really leap off the pages. Garrett and Hannah were both such complex but charming characters that it wasn’t hard at all to root for them. There’s a great balance of all the emotions in this one. There’s humor, there’s sweet moments, and there’s depth. I remember when I first read this one, I wasn’t expecting the depth but I was glad that we got it. My heart softened so much seeing Garrett, the man who is used to getting whatever he wants, struggle with the changes in his life that came with Hannah. I loved that those struggles didn’t last long and I also really loved seeing Garrett go soft for Hannah at every turn. He had such a fun personality that the arrogance wasn’t off-putting.

Hannah was a huge highlight in the story for me. I loved that she didn’t let Garrett get away with anything. I loved that she kept him on his toes and that she was such an introvert. She was the complete opposite of Garrett and I really enjoyed seeing her blossom under his care. The difference in the way that she was with Garrett and then with Justin made me happy because I was rooting for her and Garrett.

Their romance was both fun and emotional for me. I cried a lot (again) when they first started sleeping together because the care that Garrett showed her was so sweet and seeing Hannah come into her own, seeing her become more and more confident made me so damn happy. Seeing the both of them become sure of their feelings for each other is what romance is all about. There was a lot to love about this book and all these years later, I still recommend this to everyone that I know. I still love the heck out of this book, these characters, and I always love being in this world. I loved both of the main leads on their own but I loved them all the more together. They completed each other and reading this story was like being a part of their story so do I recommend? Absolutely.

Off Campus Series

4.5 out of 5