The Deal – Elle Kennedy – Melissa Justine

Years ago I read this book and I loved it. The off-campus series has become very popular and I have read the whole series a few times. I thought it was time to tell you all about it.

The book in short
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 pr

ofessional 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 pretending isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
I got this information here.

My thoughts
I think that Elle Kennedy is really good at combining a traumatic past with a love story. Without making it completely focused on the trauma or glorifying things that happened. This is sometimes really difficult but it is done really well here. We get to know Hannah as she is and we learn a lot about her past trauma and how that shapes her to this day. My heart hurt for her especially when she could not see her family. I also thought it was very well done how Garret and her talked about both of their pasts and the hurt that Garret had experienced. It’s a great romance story that fits well in the college environment. We get to know Garrett’s friends and it does make you want to know more about this tight group of friends.

I found their relationship fun but still very serious. I think they fit very well together and I was rooting for them from start to finish. I enjoyed it immensely when they became friends and then when they became more.

I loved this book and it made me want to read the rest of the series. This does still remain my favourite out of all of them. I absolutely recommend this story, it’s a wonderful stand-alone but also a great kick-off to a good series.