Elle Kennedy

The Deal

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.

Off-Campus, Book #1

Kaila Nesbitt

But right now, all I want is for this girl to smile at me again.

Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.

nanafark

“But you know what my therapist used to tell me? The best way to forget a bad memory is to replace it with a good one.”

I agreed to help her not just because I’m her friend, but because I’m a 

. And when a woman asks you to have sex with her and give her an orgasm, you don’t think about it. You say 

Well, she got the orgasm. She did. And I know I’m going to get the sex. I will.

She goes quiet for a long moment, and then the most brilliant smile fills her face and lights up the room. It’s the first time Hannah has smiled at me like that, a smile that truly reaches her eyes, and it makes my heart clench in the strangest way.

“He’s actually a nice guy when he wants to be.”

When he wants to be? She says it like it’s the endorsement of the year, but the way I see it, people should be nice because they are, not because it’s a calculated move on their part.

There’s a reason I’m a history major, for chrissake—I deal in facts. Black and white. This happened at this time to this person and here’s the result.

I take a breath as I head down the aisle, clinging to that feeling of victory, however teeny it may be.

Alma 

I wrap my arms around him and hold him tight against me, and it's so familiar, so wonderfully perfect, that the love in my heart overflows and stings my eyes.

 Then he kisses me, and everything in my world is right again.

LMAOOOO this whole thing was for nothingngngnngngnggn

"Then you would have said you care about me more than you care about his stupid money." 

 "And you would have let him cut you off."

My stomach lurches. "He said you aren't eligible for financial aid, and that you wouldn't be able to get a bank loan."

"You would have had to clean out your savings account to pay for next term's tuition, and...and then what? We both know you can't afford rent and expenses and car payments when you're not working, so that means you would need to get a job and—"

“Im gonna stop you there, baby." The smile he gives me is infinitely tender.

 "So...let's back up. I let my father cut me off. Ask me what I would've said next."

 I bite the inside of my cheek. A little too hard, so I soothe the sting with my tongue. "What?" 

Garrett leans closer and sweeps his fingertips over my cheek. "I would've said, Don't worry, babe, I'm turning twenty-one in a few weeks, and my grandparents left ne a trust fund that I can access on January 2nd." 

We stay this way for a while, with her fingers in my hair and my head in her lap. Eventually she coaxes me into bed and I slide between the sheets fully clothed. We're spooning now, except she's the one holding me and I'm too fucking tired and ashamed to move.

 I fall asleep with her hand stroking my chest.

"You lost your temper," she agrees. "But that doesn't change the way I feel about you, or what I think about you. You said you'd never hurt me, and I still believe that." 

Her voice shakes. "God, Garrett, if you knew how badly I wanted to rip his eyes out tonight... "

 "Because I was in shock. I didn't expect to see him there." Her fingers slide over my scalp in a soft caress. "I don't want you to hate yourself for this,"

She bends down and brushes her lips over the top of my head. 

 I can't tear my eyes off Rob, who hasn't made it out the door yet. The group of friends he's with stop to talk to a few people, and he tosses a panicky glance over his shoulder, paling when he realizes I'm still staring at him. 

"Hannah. Jesus. You're white as a sheet. What's wrong?" I guess Im pale, too. I guess I look like Rob. I we’ve both just seen a ghost. 

 The next thing I know, my head is wrenched to the side as Garrett's hands clutch my chin to force eye contact. 

"Whar's going on? Who is that guy?" He's followed my gaze, and now he's watching Rob with visible mistrust.

I turn my back to the door, effectively eliminating any temptation to look Rob's way. Garrett pauses. Searches my face. Then he sucks in a breath.

"Oh fuck. Is it...” His horrified question hangs between us. 

"No,"I say quickly. "It's not. I promise."

My lungs burn from lack of oxygen, so I force myself to take a deep breath. "He's just a guy." 

Nausea circles my belly like a school of sharks. "Rob Delaney“

Garrett's gaze moves past my shoulder, which tells me that Rob is still here. Damn it, why can't he just leave already? 

Hard as I try, I can no longer pretend that my whole world hasn't been knocked off kilter.

My face collapses and I whisper, "It's Aaron's best friend. He's one of the guys who testified against me after the—“

When the mind-shattering pleasure finally abates, I register what song is playing in the car. 

My eyes fly open. "Did you re-download One Direction?"

"Uh-huh. So why is 'Story of My Life' playing?" I demand. 

She pauses, then lets out a big sigh. "Because I like One Direction. There. I said it." 

“You're lucky I love you," I warn her. "Because I wouldnt stand for it otherwise." 

Hannah grins. "Youre lucky I love you. Because you're a totalasshole and there aren't a lot of girls whod put up with it."

She's probably right about the asshole thing. 

She's definitely right about the lucky part.

That reminds me of icebreaker, I think. I’m getting a bit confused and mixing up all the hockey books😂

“…Because you're not like him. No matter how angry someone made you, you wouldn't hit them."

“That's not true. I've gotten into a brawl or two on the ice." 

I admit. "And one time I punched a guy at Malone's, but that's cause he said some nasty shit about Logan's mom and I couldn't not throw down for my friend."

Which just goes to show that Hannah Wells is...amazing. She’s so fucking attuned to me, my moods, my pain. I've never been with anyone who can read me so well. 

"And forget the choir. You don't necd it. Hell, I don't think you need Cass." He shakes his head in amazement. "Your voice is...fuck Wellsy, it's beautiful." 

 His impassioned expression tells me he's dead serious. 

I'm startled by the intensity in his voice, the emotion now glittering in his gray eyes. 

Wow. Okay. My entire life people have been telling me lm talented, but other than my parents, nobody has ever pleaded with me to sing to them.

it’s like that pond I skated on when I was a kid-from a distance, the ice looked so shiny and smooth, until you got close enough to it, and suddenly all the uneven edges and crisscrossed skate marks became visible. 

Covered with skate marks that ob ody ever seems to notice. 

And jeez, clearly I'm feeling way too philosophical tonight.

Alyssa Weaver

"Sorry to interrupt, boys and girls," Logan calls out, "but it's time to put your p's and v's away. 

"I know, right? We're in Garrett Graham's car. Part of me is tempted to go Carrie Underwood on it and carve my name into his leather seats."

 "Tell me about your grandmother again." "Now?" 

"She called to tell me that they might not be able to Ransom for Christmas either." "Ransom?" 

anyway who’s ready for the series adaptation (it may flop but i will still be sat)

Macy

garret graham: my dream date… cute

anyway who’s ready for the series adaptation (it may flop but i will still be sat)

okay, so this book literally had me kicking my feet and rolling around in bed, giggling like a total weirdo. it genuinely brought back that ‘kilig’ feeling i got when i read better than the movies. the witty bickering, the banter, and all the teasing made it such a fun and easy read— it's written so light.

HOWEVER, and this is a big however for me, i did hit some points that gave me the ick. there were quite a few problematic takes from the male characters that really stood out. the way the author seemed to use abuse as a joke, portraying these guys as straight up ASSHOLES, and then the fact that this abuse and misogyny felt romanticized? that’s what stopped this from being a five-star read for me, no doubt.

overall, if it weren't for that problematic stuff, i really enjoyed the romantic and funny scenes. it’s a shame because those parts were so good.

okay, so this book literally had me kicking my feet and rolling around in bed, giggling like a total weirdo. it genuinely brought back that ‘kilig’ feeling i got when i read better than the movies. the witty bickering, the banter, and all the teasing made it such a fun and easy read— it's written so light.

HOWEVER, and this is a big however for me, i did hit some points that gave me the ick. there were quite a few problematic takes from the male characters that really stood out. the way the author seemed to use abuse as a joke, portraying these guys as straight up ASSHOLES, and then the fact that this abuse and misogyny felt romanticized? that’s what stopped this from being a five-star read for me, no doubt.

overall, if it weren't for that problematic stuff, i really enjoyed the romantic and funny scenes. it’s a shame because those parts were so good.

Just another cute romance novel. Easy to get through.

Vanessa

Cute little book. I really thought we were going to get a romance novel without a miscommunication trope but Ellie Kennedy ruined a good thing but Addison one in, in the last 100 pages. Honestly about 150 pages of this novel were not needed. I feel like all the good parts were in the middle buried by random information that didn’t need to be there. Also most conflict was resolved too quickly.

Bushra Yenice

OG Wattpad vibes very cute, ending was cliche saw it coming but very yummy 

Gabriela Kondratyuk

Baby I could watch you watch paint dry and not get bored…

Roisin Ramdhayan 

Was a fun real life college romance. Little bit of a slow start but ended happy. There were some sad parts but it just made the book seem more real.

Sierra Bennett

I enjoyed this one. An easy read. The story of college student romance with some a bit of drama but oddly not so much between Hannah and Garrett.  They have a solid relationship which was nice to read. They help each other overcome adversity. 

Jeannie Gallagher

I don't really have too many thoughts about this one😭 a good palate cleanser between my other reads 

Paige Leitner

The first book in an all new series featuring college hockey stars and the women they fall for, by New York Times bestseller Elle Kennedy.

Jennifer Gosnell

Spicy. I liked the characters a lot. They felt like real people with real personalities. Lots of chemistry and tension — loved it! Will definitely be reading the rest of the series!

Layla Castle

Denise

Such a cute sports romance, really easy to read and a refreshing book overall.

Jaclyn

Tsamarah

4/5 stars

The book is great! it's very funny and really took me by surprise. Although, I'm not really convince to read the whole series but overall great writing and plot. The cover though :/ I wish they reprint this.

clau☁️

2.5
i mean… this book is fun to read but ONLY if you can get past the problematic bits because, let’s be honest, there were many.
on top of that the writing was BAD. but at least i still had fun because there were some good things. 
do i regret reading it? honestly no
am i glad it is over? definitely

Ellie M.

Unfortunately, I had bring it down to 2.5 ⭐️. The only thing I’ll allow here is that the sex was back-breaking good. This book gave the ever so cliché the not-so-popular girl tutoring the badboy athlete trope. But I still gave it a chance and allowed myself to enjoy it. But it was definitely as platitude as I thought it would be. Hannah’s literally a “pick me”. She has this pre-conceived notion that women who sleep with male athletes are basically sluts and don’t know any better. I kept waiting for her to grow out of that bullshit mindset, because there’s literally no excuse for her to be so misogynistic. And I’ll just add how the narration was refreshing and quick to go through, but was terribly ruined by the extreme repetitiveness and cringey-ness of the dialogue. Oh, and the plot was also plenty predictable, which annoyed the fuck out of me. Sure, Garrett and Hannah have amazing, feel-good, and funny chemistry, but there were the many times I questioned “Who the fuck talks like that? Or even does that?”

Hanna Rybchynska

Sem dúvida que é um livro privisível: ele é desportista e precisa de boa média, ela é marrona e dá-lhe explicações. Pois... foi o que eu pensei, mas não consegui parar de ler!

Jay Becerra

If I’m being honest, yes, I did read this book in one day. Not because I couldn’t put it down. Truthfully, I just had nothing else to do and it was such an easy read.

Overall, this book was good. It wasn’t god awful nor was it breathtakingly incredible. It was simply good. 

It had easy going, likable characters, a cliche trope that I loved, steamy sex scenes, some family drama and trauma for emotional heartbreaking bits. I did wish the romance was just a little bit more slow burn angst but that’s just a personal preference.

This book is a guilty pleasure romance read and if you’re anything like me, you’ll love it but probably never read it again.

Selin Igten

loved reading this but i’ll have to 1 star because the author is a ZIONIST and supports isra*l !

thank u for the free pdf ❤️

loved garret what a great dude also he’s a history major haha loser (me too)

ty chloe bae this was a great recommendation like this was so so so enjoyable like wowwww

Sidney Schaffner

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The banter was top notch— as were the smut scenes. I cannot wait to read the next one.

Annalissa Powner 

This book is hilarious with a dose of steamy. Loved it!

Ana Luiza

eu to absolutamente apaixonada por esse casal!
Achei a construção da relação deles tão linda, tao saudável e tão natural. Amei cada personagem desse livro, e estou tentada a ler o restante da série. Pra ser sincera, queria ler mais sobre Hannah e Garrett. É tão maravilhoso encontrar NA sobre caras que apesar de se encaixar no estereótipo, não são babacas e não tratam as garotas mal. E mais que isso, os problemas que o casal encontra no decorrer da história nada tem a ver com ciúmes e traições etc, graças a Deus.
Além do romance ser maravilhoso, o livro flui muito rápido e é muito engraçado. Elle Kennedy certamente me conquistou e em breve pretendo ler mais livros dela.

Nice! A lot of spice in the ending a bit rushed

The Deal

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