Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Score

A new adult, college, hockey, spicy romance (3/5 spice rating). Dean is my favorite of all the off-campus men and Allie has a healthy amount of spunk. Dean lives the shameless life of back-to-back one night stands and Allie is the relationship-type. When Allie attempts to give the casual dating life a whirl, will Dean find himself changing his ways? Even better than watching these two fall for each other is watching them fight to stay together. There is an emotional twist in this book that will have you in tears, while the group finds a way to cope and you get a happy surprise at the end that opens up to the next book.

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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oliviabrcka's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Allie Hayes has just broken up with her college-long boyfriend. Like, last night. Although she's not usually one to move on right away, a rebound could be just what she needs. Who better to be the rebound guy than the campus party boy Dean Di Laurentis? No strings, all in good fun, it seems perfect. Until it isn't anymore.
The Score definitely picked up the lull for me where The Mistake left off. This book hit the ground running and literally didn't stop. I loved reading it and I was left so excited to pick up the next book.
Elle Kennedy's writing definitely begins to add more personality here. I was literally laughing out loud, slapping my knee, and squealing with excitement during this book. Or shaking with excitement. These stories are so immersive, and once I pick them up, I can't put them down until I finish reading. I feel like overall, the writing has improved upon each addition to the series, so I am excited to see how the final books deliver.
Allie is our female lead, and she's so bubbly and sweet, it's hard not to love her. She's had a lot of trauma in the past, but she stays so kind and determined, and you just have to cheer for her. Dean is just Dean. He's the kind of guy that, in real life, you would totally hate, but he's Dean, and he's hilarious, so you just have to give him a pass. However, Dean really has so much character development throughout the story, probably the most we've seen out of this cast, and I loved to see that. We also see way more of the boys' bromance in this book (which we already know I'm HERE FOR) so I was happy all the way around here.
The Score explores mostly themes of chasing your dreams and following your passion, with obviously lots of relationship-y stuff in between. I really appreciated watching Dean and Allie discover themselves while building their relationship.
The end of this book literally left me screaming (for no reason because I already knew Tucker's storyline lol) and I have already started reading and I'm so excited to finish it! This series has been literally so addicting, to the point where I've been finishing every book in three hours or less. I'm so excited for these last two novels but I have no idea what I'm gonna do with myself after...

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