Tag: Tradeback

Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 16, 2025 by jennreads55 in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Reviewer: Jenna
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: Tradeback
Source: Borrowed
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.

The Deal is the first book in the Off-Campus series that follows Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham in their college era. Hannah is a driven student with a traumatic past that makes her extra careful when it comes to relationships. Garrett on the other hand is the star of the hockey team who despite the jock stereotype is passing all his classes except one, his ethics class who he just happens to have with Hannah. When he realizes he needs to get his grade up to be eligible to play he seeks her out for a tutor. After refusing multiple times they realized they could both benefit from this transaction. She helps tutor him and he helps make her crush Justin notices her by being seen with Garrett. But what starts out as a mutually beneficial agreement soon blooms into so much more than just friends!

I am a big hockey/sports romance girly so when Brenna asked if I had ever read the Off-Campus series I was so excited to have a new set of books to dive into and boy did the first not disappoint one bit! From the writing to the character development to the spicy scenes were amazing. The relationship Elle made between Hannah and Garrett was beautiful and so genuine. From their bickering to bantering to their intense chemistry in the bedroom was chef’s kiss! I loved it!! It was such an easy read and everything flowed so nicely. I was never confused on what was happening in scenes and honestly could not put the book down. It had me hooked from the very first chapter which I loved. The two POVs were so helpful and it was nice to see both of their thought processes and sides of the story!

Overall I was head over heels for this book and Garrett Graham! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of sports romance or wanting to get into it!

On to the next book in the series! Let’s see what Logan gets himself into!

Final Rating

5 out of 5

Off Campus Series

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Review: Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Posted June 25, 2025 by Brenna in Reviews | 0 Comments

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Reviewer: Brenna
Series: Darcy & Rachel #2
Main Leads: Darcy Rhone, Ethan Ainsley
Setting: United Kingdom, London
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Tags: Hate to Love, Unexpected Pairing, Self Discovery
Published On: March 20, 2002
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Format: Tradeback
Source: Gifted
Pages: 338
Purchase It: Amazon

Following the smash-hit Something Borrowed comes story of betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness

Darcy Rhone has always been able to rely on a few things: Her beauty and charm. Her fiance, Dex. Her lifelong best friend, Rachel. She never needed anything else. Or so she thinks until Dex calls off their dream wedding and she uncovers the ultimate betrayal. Blaming everyone but herself, Darcy flees to London and attempts to re-create her glamorous life on a new continent. But to her dismay, she discovers that her tried-and-true tricks no longer apply—and that her luck has finally expired. It is only then that she can begin her journey toward redemption, forgiveness, and true love.

Something Blue was a book that I was excited to read because I watched the movie Something Borrowed. I enjoyed the movie so much (even with the cheating, haha) that I was glad to have gotten this book at my bridal shower because I was interested in seeing how Darcy’s story panned out.

Let me tell you, I was not impressed at all LOL.

After her breakup with Dex, she was so desperate in making things work with Marcus that it was rough to read. She wants to live this fairytale life, but Marcus doesn’t fit that vibe at all and she pushed it so hard that he eventually dumped her. So, I wasn’t too surprised when she tried to win Dex back. Be so freaking for real, Darcy. She is a total pick me girl and I’m just…not a fan. There was a point in the book where she tried having Dex take her back because the idea of being alone was not an option for her and I wanted to give her a swift kick in the butt because WTH? I just felt like 60% of the book was her being so hung up on Dex and Rachel and what they had going on that I wanted to shake some sense into her because, girl move on already LOL. She also compared herself to Rachel a lot and I thought it was annoying.

But the best thing that could have saved her mentally was moving to London with Ethan. Oh Ethan, he was a great friend and even better partner. He called her out on what she needed to be called out on but at the same time, was a huge support to her while she prepared for the babies. Once Darcy started to care about herself and do things that benefited her and her twin boys, thing started looking up. She wasn’t as annoying and you were able to see her character develop into a stronger and more self-assured person, which helped me get through the book.

This book was not my favorite and I’m glad that I finished it but it was rough. I would give Emily Giffin another shot with a different book though. Maybe. Probably.

Final Rating

2 out of 5

Darcy & Rachel

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Review: The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

Posted June 9, 2025 by Brenna in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden

Reviewer: Brenna
Main Leads: Erika Cass, Olivia
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Boston
Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Tags: Family Drama, Psychological Thriller, Missing Girl, Mother and Son
Published On: October 18, 2019
Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press
Format: Tradeback
Source: Purchased
Pages: 373
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

“Mrs. Cass, we were hoping your son could answer a few questions about the girl who disappeared last night…”

Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika’s quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst–murder. And Erika’s teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he’s innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can’t deny the truth–Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself: How far will she go to protect her son?

The Perfect Son is a story that follows Erika, a mother whose seemingly ideal son becomes the prime suspect in a girl’s disappearance, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew. McFadden explores themes of maternal love, trust, and denial, crafting a chilling portrayal of how far a parent will go to protect their child. It had me side eyeing her but the shifting perspectives and slow unraveling of secrets made for a tension filled read.

I have been a Freida McFadden fan since I started reading and so I was super excited about this book. It started off great by setting up the plot with the backstory on Erika Cass and her family, but gave us a little more detail on her “perfect” son Liam.

The two POVs that we got were interesting because I was curious about why these were the POV’s chosen to tell this story. Getting the story from Erika (Liam’s Mom) and Olivia (Liam’s crush) gave us interesting perspectives and as I continue to read, it was easy to keep up with what was going on.

There were a few instances when I was annoyed with the Mom because she had a lot of inner thoughts that she never shared and to be honest, if she would have spoken up, they probably would have realized that Liam was not a suspect a lot sooner so that dragged the storytelling a bit for me. It was also annoying to hear how much she loved her son, but continued to accuse him of being this psycho boy who preyed on girls. How someone could love their son so much if they thought them capable of really bad stuff didn’t make sense to me but maybe that was the point? When she started to believe all the bad stuff and started going against her son?? I wanted to smack her cause when even is all of this??

The biggest plot twist of this book being who it ended up being? Come on! Insert eye-roll here. So while this book did keep me on my toes, it wasn’t the best thriller that I’ve read and to be honest, that’s okay because the story was still solid.

Final Rating

3 out of 5

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