Glass Paper Ink Bookblog: The Deal (Off Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy

Wednesday 18 March 2015

The Deal (Off Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy - Review

Blurb:

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.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24504048-the-deal

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: March 2015.

The Deal was my first book by Elle Kennedy, and as I sit here writing this review I ask myself why I have never picked up one of her books before. This college age drama revolves around two fairly stereotypical characters, the sexy, man whorish, jock Garrett Graham and the smart, savvy yet quiet Hannah Wells, this is however where the stereotype ends. Garrett may be everything I just described, but in addition to that he's also intelligent, funny, and caring. Hannah is not a nerd nor a sorority girl, she's smart, dedicated to her studies, and a talented music major.

When almost the entirety of her philosophy class flunks an exam, including the sexy as sin Garrett, Hannah's stellar grades and grasp on this tricky subject make her the perfect person to tutor him, there by securing his spot on his beloved ice hockey team. Despite her non interest in becoming involved with Garrett, his social connections, and in turn his ability to put her in the path of her long time crush football player Justin Kohl is too hard to pass up.

What I adored so much in this story is the witty banter between Garrett and Hannah, he's cocky as hell, but she is never one to back down, snarky, sarcastic jibes at one another, an undeniable chemistry draws you in instantly. Where Kennedy could have kept this story incredibly light and airy, she instead created such fully developed characters, characters that have baggage and pasts full of secrets and hurts, serving to further enamour me with not only the hero and heroine but will the story building around them. Dealing with topics will sensitivity and courage The Deal despite being at times hilarious packs an emotional punch.

As a reader I love picking up a title that you can sink your teeth into, that draws you in effortlessly and takes you on a rollercoaster ride with it, there is a beautiful fragility in watching two people learn to let go and trust one another beyond rhyme or reason, but more than that it's joyous to read a book that has you so invested in the characters that you crave their interactions, long to read their thoughts and experience their story flipping through the pages as you struggle to slow down to savour their journey.

I went into The Deal almost blind, I had no more of an idea of what it was about than a college drama, and yet within the first page my tummy was filling with that nervous energy that always hits when I discover something special, this may have been my first novel by Elle Kennedy but it certainly wont be my last.