Elle Kennedy

Everyone says I’m a bad girl. They’re only partly right—I don’t let fear rule me, and I certainly don’t care what people think. But I draw the line at sleeping with the enemy. As the daughter of Briar’s head hockey coach, I’d be vilified if I hooked up with a player from a rival team. And that’s who Jake Connelly is. Harvard’s star forward is arrogant, annoying, and too attractive for his own good. But fate is cruel—I require his help to secure a much-coveted internship, and the sexy jerk isn’t making it easy for me. I need Connelly to be my fake boyfriend. For every fake date…he wants a real one. Which means this bad girl is in big trouble. Nothing good can come from sneaking around with Jake Connelly. My father would kill me, my friends will revolt, and my post-college career is on the line. But while it’s getting harder and harder to resist Jake’s oozing sex appeal and cocky grin, I refuse to fall for him. That’s the one risk I’m not willing to take. The Briar U Series of Standalone Novels The Chase (Briar U Book 1) The Risk (Briar U Book 2) The Play (Briar U Book 3) The Off-Campus Series of Standalone Novels The Deal (Off-Campus Book 1) The Mistake (Off-Campus Book 2) The Score (Off-Campus Book 3) The Goal (Off-Campus Book 4)

The Risk

Kaila Nesbitt

“If you want me to beg, I’ll beg. If you want me to jump through hoops, bring them on. I’ll spend every waking hour until I have to report to training camp proving to you how much you mean to me. Proving that I’m worthy of you.”

Friends who say “I love you” every time you part ways are important. Those are the ones you need in your life.

Christina Farkona

I lean back in the chair, keeping my body language relaxed. Hers is confrontational, and I always meet aggression with indifference. It’s a tactic that tends to ruffle the aggressor’s feathers.

threats don’t work on someone who isn’t afraid to lose.

mads stefansky

Caitlin

Selin Igten

Sidney Schaffner

I almost love Jake as much as I love Dean. And that’s saying something.

Ena Kalkan

i never read the first book in this series but i read so many great reviews about this book and just went into it. i didn't think i'd enjoy this as much as i actually did. it was so good. the hockey boy romance wasn't something i was quite into before but now i just might be after reading this book lmao.

trixie

going to be thinking about the line “and when i found you in the bathroom, you were the spitting image of her corpse” for the rest of eternity probably

actual ranking: 4.63
subjective: 85
plot: 75
writing/dialogue: 90
worldbuilding: 90
character development: 100
character relationships: 100
toxic relationships?: no
tokenized characters?: no
world rules abused for plot?: no

Lily

i like brenna and jake and had such high expectations for them but the writing and pacing of the book just straight up sucked lol. i’m a big fan of the briar u/ off campus books but this one fell very short :( logan and fitz remain superior

Book two in the Briar U series by New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy.

lexie

Jake Connelly is on my top 3 book boyfriends in this series (including off campus series) He’s sweet, kind and HOTTTTT also why did elle kennedy didn’t do a novel for mike hollis? mike hollis is hilarious. sometimes hollis carries the flow of the series. Brenna’s past is heartbreaking and including the fact that his ex bf is a drug addict. Brenna’s dad is so sweet and he deserve all the best !!!

very nice plot and amazing chemistry between the two main characters. their love interest was very much anticipated from the previous book and it didn’t disappoint.

i liked the fact that Brenna is a badass but in a way that doesn’t make her rude or unlikable and you can definitely see traits in her that i wish we all had.

also, what takes place in her life is about very serious topics and it’s handled most finely. 

Connelly was what i expected and more and the trope with the forbidden (but healthy forbidden) is one of my favourites.

i very munched enjoyed it and i’m off to the next one. 

very nice plot and amazing chemistry between the two main characters. their love interest was very much anticipated from the previous book and it didn’t disappoint.

i liked the fact that Brenna is a badass but in a way that doesn’t make her rude or unlikable and you can definitely see traits in her that i wish we all had.

also, what takes place in her life is about very serious topics and it’s handled most finely. 

Connelly was what i expected and more and the trope with the forbidden (but healthy forbidden) is one of my favourites.

i very munched enjoyed it and i’m off to the next one. 

I loved it sooo much!!!!!! The tropes were great and the whole vibe this series is giving is THE SAME as the off campus one!!! I love it. 

So far i think its somewhere in my top 3 offCampus-Brier U books. 

Alma 

I loved it sooo much!!!!!! The tropes were great and the whole vibe this series is giving is THE SAME as the off campus one!!! I love it. 

So far i think its somewhere in my top 3 offCampus-Brier U books. 

Would absolutely recommend 

First of all, ngl this might be my fav book out of the series. Like COME ON! Jake & Brenna is just too badass of a couple. They’re the splitting image of Brenna’s parents love story. Second, I NEED MORE OF HOLLIS & RUPI. U CAN’T SAY THEY’RE NOT MEANT TO BE.

This book didn’t disappoint. I speed through it, couldn’t stop reading it. And I’ve just finished it. Now. I’m confused on what to read next. 

tiffany 

First of all, ngl this might be my fav book out of the series. Like COME ON! Jake & Brenna is just too badass of a couple. They’re the splitting image of Brenna’s parents love story. Second, I NEED MORE OF HOLLIS & RUPI. U CAN’T SAY THEY’RE NOT MEANT TO BE.

This book didn’t disappoint. I speed through it, couldn’t stop reading it. And I’ve just finished it. Now. I’m confused on what to read next. 

This is one of my favorite books so far!!! 

Fer Azura

JAKEEE MI AMOR💘
Solo pido que me adopten

Eu esperava tudo, menos o passado da Brenna :') póbi da minha menina.

Isabela Miranda Araujo

Daria 

dija

This was a very fun and quick read, loved Brenna AND HOLIIS AND RUPI TO DEATH

celene

My favourite couple from the Briar U. I chose to delete Hazel from my brain for piece of mind :)

Elena

victoria

So far that's the Briar U book I most like, Brenna is a character that I love since the first book and I totally fell in love with Connelly, they have a lot of chemistry and I really liked how the relationship progresses step by step and grt to follow the evolution of both of them. Although I have already figured out Brenna's "secret", I found her life story very well punctuated (It has improved a lot since the first book, cause I remember that the author didn't have no tact to talk about Hannah's trigger in The Deal).
 I also found it a positive point the fact they discuss the misogyny in sports, Brenna is often diminished by the fact that she is a woman and wants to work in the sports field, I like sports a lot so I know how frustrating it is to hear certain types of comments. With that being said, what bothered me was Elle Kennedy's hypocrisy, she literally addresses this important topic but then she ends up being sexist and portraying the other characters as gold diggers and desperate for s*x with the players, she should know women can be sports fans with no other intentions.
 In general, I found the book very light and easy to read, even the hot scenes were better than the others books.

brianna

"i have faith that he'll always choose me, always choose us."


no words just brennajake... this is easily elle kennedy's best book in the whole off campus/briar u series and i just wish we got even more brennajake than we did...

Jasmine

Ugh, so addictive this is truly the perfect sports romance!! I had such a good time reading this book, absolutely loved it!! Wow, also I can't believe it's almost been a month since I've picked up a book. I think this is the longest I've gone without reading in quite a while. Though as soon as I found the time I picked up this book immediately because Elle Kennedy sports romance are the best! This was exactly what I was needing and hopefully, the excitement over this book will get me back into the reading mood which I just haven't had lately!

this one stole my heart and wrecked me to pieces then put my heart back together 😭 straight up have no words to say without spoiling anything. I loved every piece of this book and brenna and jake were so so heartwarming. the angst hit me in the feels as it should but then put me back together in the end with the last few chapters and the epilogue. elle kennedy does it again 🫶🏽

Tara Bounkeovisane

Amelia 

I love how Brenna and Jake had to keep their relationship a secret. I’m a sucker for a forbidden romance. I loved all the bickering and chasing. This book was a whole bunch of fun.

Annabella

After reading:  
   But that’s okay, because he’s my groupie. We root for each other. We’re good for each other.   
When I say this turned up to be everything I ever wanted since I read the chase and the snak peak, I ain't joking

<   update  : IT IS HIM AND ALL MY BRAIN CAN COME UP WITH IS THIS
 AND YES I AM EXTRA EXCITED... Whatgave you that impression? 
   "He’s chiseled as fuck, like a young Clint Eastwood. Which I guess would make him Scott Eastwood? Oh, who cares. All I can say is…yum."   
 Too bad there are three things my brain has picked on:
1)The banter
2) How fast the Hollis thing was shut down
3) The fact that he reminds of another fictional crush with the same first name, aka:

cris 🫀

sophia n

i should stop blowing through these so i have them saved for a point when i'm fully in a slump, but you know what, i have adhd, poor self-regulation, and you're not my real dad.

i honestly haven’t had this much fun reading a het romance since kennedy’s the deal and the score, and with that i’m definitely seeing both a personal enjoyment pattern with this author and also a plot pattern sweet spot. this is realistically (and objectively) probably a 3 star book, but i just loved the main characters and their slow burn so much and the way the story played out that it gets an extra star.

despite me really enjoying myself, if this book had veered even for one second any closer to having jake be an "alpha" or brenna be a "manic pixie dream girl" i would have angrily dnf'd. it didn't, but it felt like a teasing in the back of my mind like it was so close all the time. and that was annoying. i think i was just hyper aware of it, because actually now that i'm done reading, i feel like jake was super respectful and solid (while still being flawed/human), and brenna was really fiery and unique (while still being flawed/human). i'm curious how this would feel/come across in a reread.

the other thing was i had a couple problems with some of the side characters. not necessarily big issues, but i just felt like there were little things that would happen and i’d just think “hmm.” (view spoiler)[even though i understood eric’s part in this story, he just kinda disappeared after he served his part as a trauma backstory, and that was ... depressing. the other thing was brenna NEVER saying anything to summer about jake, at any point. after having literally just read summer’s book, that felt weird. also hollis and rupi's side story felt a little overboard ... it was all minor stuff, but it was still there. (hide spoiler)]

i felt like in comparison to the last book especially, this one was so special and sexy and beautifully slow burning. i enjoyed their dynamic so much (and jake’s wholesome straight-heartedness was lovely, and brenna’s righteousness for the treatment of women in sports and sports journalism was lovely too) and i truly felt them fall in love with each other. i also really appreciated her story with her dad. all this was more than enough for the little moments where it felt like it leaned a little too much into “um” to not be unreadable or detracting. i'd probably read this again, bc it was really entertaining.

btw yes this feels a lot like the deal and the score, but i actually felt like brenna and jake were really unique characters in their own right. i thought jake was not at all like anyone we've read yet in this series, and brenna also had her own passion and experience that was all her own. i’m debating reading the next book now bc i’m starting to see exactly which kennedy books i know i’ll like and which i won’t. we’ll see. but this was super enjoyable, def my third fav book in this overall briar-related series.

tw for: past miscarriage, mention of abortion, drug use and addiction

The Risk

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