The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
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.
MY OPINION: ****
TW: sexual assault
This book is definitely one of the most hyped-up romance novels on TikTok and I was very excited to read it after so many people raved about it for so long. I am glad to say that it did not disappoint! I loved the premise of the book and the characters and while it did follow a few basic tropes, the tropes were on my list of favorites so everything hit the mark for me.
Hannah Wells is a college student with a difficult history. She was sexually assaulted in high school and ever since then, has not been able to have an intimate relationship with a man. However, she's crushing for the first time in forever on a football jock, someone who she usually prides herself on being above. However, she is too afraid to approach Justin, the football star, and they have a few trite conversations.
In a Philosophical Ethics class, Hannah manages to snag one of the only A grades on the midterm while mostly everyone else failed. This is where we meet Garrett Graham, a hockey prodigy, son of another hockey star, and a man in danger of being benched if he can't get his grades up. He tries to recruit Hannah to tutor him but she has no interest in helping the "dumb jock" and refuses. However, Garrett won't give up and finally strikes a deal with her in which he will help elevate her social status by fake-dating her so that she can get noticed by Justin. Of course, the fake-dating soon becomes something more, despite Hannah's protests against Garrett.
The whole book gave me Wattpad vibes but I am no enemy to that and loved every bit of it. It was on the longer side in terms of the books I've been reading lately but I finished it in one day and found it went by so much faster than I expected. I couldn't put it down!
The relationship between Hannah and Garrett was beautifully written. It wasn't shallow or two-dimensional and instead had a lot of interesting facets that I loved reading about. Hannah wants to be able to "work correctly" after being assaulted and Garrett is the one to help her. However, there is more to Garrett than meets the eye, especially after we learn more about his abusive relationship with his father, a renowned hockey player. I loved Hannah's gradual warming-up to Garrett because it felt so natural and realistic. I loved the jealousy and other plot twists that makes your heart ache and I was truly impressed with the overall writing style. For a romance novel written in 2015, it was very well-done and I completely understand the TikTok hype.
Hannah is a music major and I loved the role that music played in this book, especially in the end. I hated her music partner and wished she could have taken a better stand against him and his diva personality but it seems that all's well that ends well.
I loved getting to read from both of their perspectives because something about contemporaries always makes the love interest's perspective so much more interesting than the protagonist.
I loved all of the side characters, especially Garrett's friends. I believe that the rest of the series features love stories with the side characters, which I'm very excited for. I'm currently reading the second book which is all about Garrett's best friend, John Logan, a character I really loved in this book.
I was expecting to love this book and I did and I can't wait to finish the rest of the series. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a romantic, swoonworthy, well-written contemporary novel.
Main Character: Hannah, Garrett
Sidekick(s): Hockey friends, Allie, etc
Villain(s): Sexual assault, misunderstanding, abuse, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
Comments
Post a Comment