Smitten Bookblog

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

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.

5 Stars for Garrett & Hannah.
★★★★★

My Casting:

I have no idea how to review this book. There’s the review I’d have written first off, just when I finished reading The Deal and then there’s the review I wanted to write when I’d finished reading The Hook Up… I guess I’ll include a bit of both.

So, initially, I loved The Deal. It was funny, engaging, incredibly sexy, I loved the characters, the plot, the surrounding cast… etc. etc. It absolutely lived up to all of the rave reviews I’d read.

The second I encounter his erection, my jaw drops.
“Oh my God, are you kidding me?”
He looks startled. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you taking human growth hormones or something? I snatch my hand back, fighting another rush of nervousness. “There’s no way that huge man monster is fitting inside me!”

It’s a cliché, but who doesn’t enjoy a hot-jock-falls-for-geeky-girl romance? And I hadn’t read a good college romance in a while, so I was totally on board when I heard about this book. I’d seen a ton of quotes and it didn’t disappoint.

I loved the banter between the Hannah and Garrett. I LOL’d on multiple occasions. I loved the fact that they didn’t fall in love from the beginning. It happened without them even really realising it, as a result of their unconventional friendship and smacked them right between the eyes.

“Ha! I knew you were into him! Oh my God! Hold my juice—I think I need to break out in a happy dance! Do you know how to do the running man? If so, can you teach me right now?”

And I can not write this review without mentioning the chemistry. Oh my daaaaays. This book burned, it was so hot in places. That scene, where Garrett is trying to help Hannah have an orgasm. Holy hell!! So hot! Yep, I’m a little illiterate just thinking about it.

So… what’s the problem, right?!

“To quote your annoying self, are you ready to do this shit?”

Well, have you read The Hook Up, by Kristen Callihan? If you haven’t, you need to. It’s great. But it’s so similar to The Deal. And The Hook Up came first, sooo….. I really don’t want to think that there is any foul play here, but I just couldn’t ignore the similarities. I mean, there’s even the fact that in the The Deal Garrett and Hannah’s birthdays are on the same day and in The Hook Up Drew and Anna’s birthdays are one day apart. And the heroines; Anna and Hannah? The jock and the good girl. Ok, so that’s a well-used cliché and might be a coincidence. But, y’know…

So, I’m giving this five stars in the hope that it was just a super weird coincidence that these two books are crazy alike. I really loved both books. The Deal ticked every box and I’m trying not to be a suspicious cynic here. So, here you go, Garrett and Hannah, five stars for your super sexiness and your on-point banter.

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