Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Title: The Deal (Off-Campus #1) 
Author: Elle Kennedy 
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary 
Publisher: Elle Kennedy
Publication Date: February 24th 2015 
Kindle Edition, 358 pages

Summary: 

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.

I must  have broke my highlighter function on my kindle because of this book. I at least highlighted 50% of the book. Honestly. I picked this one up because I saw everyone else doing it and for once, I do not regret being a follower. With an upbeat plot, steamy romance, and tons of laugh The Deal was a fun read. One that I recommend to everyone who enjoys New Adult. 

“She tries to take a step down the hall, but I tug on her hand and kiss her again, and this time it's not a peck. I kiss her hard, losing myself in her taste and her heat and every damn thing about her. I never expected her. Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don't know you ever lived without them.” 

Hannah left her small town, somewhere she and her family were outcasts for an incident that occurred when she was fifteen. Making a new life for herself in college, majoring in music, making friends. But some of the baggage she left behind home, still follows her around. Hannah doesn't like parties and she is unable to successfully be intimate with a guy. Garret, the star of the schools hockey team thinks he is the shit. He knows he is hot, he knows he can get any girl he wants. But he can't pass his ethics class. Turning on his charm he tries seducing Hannah into being his tutor. When that doesn't work he moves on to badgering her until she says yes. 

I love how this book wasn't insta-love. It so easily could have taken the route. I've seen it done plenty of times before. Boy meets girl. They develop feelings in a small time frame. Suddenly that are happily in love. The Deal is slow burn, we get to see Garret and Hannah go from complete strangers, to friends, and then something more then friends. 

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

I think the romance held a special place for because of what happened in Hannah's past. When she was fifteen, she was raped. Though, she said that she has gotten past it she really hasn't. But Hannah doesn't flinch when a guy is around her, she's been intimate since then. She didn't let it stop her. But at the same time she had other obstacles to accomplish when Garret came into the picture. I also like to acknowledged that when Hannah was drunk, and made a move on Garret, he very kindly told her no because he knew she was intoxicated and wasn't in her right mind.

The humor was my favorite part of this book. I honestly wish I could do a whole post about things said in The Deal. There were so many laugh out loud moments that I would have to go back and read several times to make sure I understood them right. My favorite moment in this book: 

“Penises! Sweet Jesus. Penises everywhere. Horror slams into me as I register what I'm seeing. Oh God. I've stumbled onto a penis convention. Big penises and small penises and fat penises and penis-shaped penises. It doesn't matter which direction I move my head because everywhere I look I see penises.”

Overall I am excited to continue on in the Off-Campus series. If this is what book 1 was like I can only imagine what the next books in the series will hold!