Happy New Year + The Deal Review

Hello hello, Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful end to 2023, and a beautiful beginning to 2024. I'm sending all my well wishes to you, hoping you achieve every goal and dream you have for yourself 💗

My first semester of grad school ended around 2-3 weeks ago, which is weird to think about because I feel like I just started! It was a stressful yet rewarding experience, and I'm so excited to continue with classes that I am MUCH more excited for this upcoming semester ☺️

My wonderful mom gifted me a Kindle for Christmas this year (I know, how have I not had a Kindle before now??), and I've been loving it. I think it took me so long to get/ask for one because I absolutely adore my physical books, but there's so many books I want to read, so I figured I would finally ask for it! It is SO much more convenient than lugging a book around, and I've been flying through books since I got it 😆 The Deal was the last book I finished in 2023 on my Kindle, and I'm excited to share my review with you!!

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The Deal Review

By: Elle Kennedy

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5

Read if you like:

• hockey romance

• fake dating trope

The Deal was a really cute book that took me by surprise! I started it the other night as a pallet cleanser because I just went through a fantasy series, and it did not disappoint. The first two chapters I was a little unsure if I would love this book, but after I sat down and got into it I was captivated by the story 🫶🏼 They’re both in college, Hannah (main character) being a music major and Garrett (love interest) studying history while he pursues his hockey goals. They meet by Garrett flunking a philosophy exam and being persistent in getting Hannah to tutor him, leading to the development of their deal: Hannah will tutor Garrett if he takes her as his date to a party so she can get the attention of another guy she’s crushing on. What neither of them was expecting was to develop real feelings for one another 😉

Hannah is a cute, intelligent, and sassy character who I loved following throughout the book. Her inner and outer dialogue had me laughing throughout the book, and I could also easily relate to her in a lot of ways. She is such a strong character who grew over the length of the book, and I loved watching her fully overcome her past trauma. Garrett first comes off as a playboy star hockey player, but there’s so much more underneath the front he puts out: he’s kind, smart, funny, and of course, handsome. The way Elle Kennedy has their relationship go from tutoring, to friends, and then more than friends was spot on. It didn’t feel rushed and it made it 10x better when they officially got together because of the friendship they had built together.

One thing I was not a huge fan of was the third-act “break-up,” but that’s also just a personal preference. I understand that the relationship can’t be perfect, but I hate when it’s 85-90% into the book and they break up. I much prefer when the characters talk through what's going on rather than blowing it up. That being said, I do like the way the author wrote it and it wasn’t as dreadful as other third-act breakups I have read.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes modern romance/rom-coms/sports romance. It was a really cute read and I’m excited to continue the rest of the series!