Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Score

I wanted to read this book as my goal last year was to discover new authors and Elle Kennedy is adored on Booktok and Bookstagram. I am slowly getting into sports romance. I am still a John Logan girlie, but Dean isn’t far as bad.

This book has two points of view. The first is Allie Hayes and she is in crisis mode, she has graduation looming and she doesn’t have a clue what she’s going to do after college. To make matters worse, she is nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is not the solution to her problems, but the gorgeous hockey star Dean Di Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because even if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the king of one-night stands. It will take more than flashy moves to win her over. The second point of view is Dean Di Laurentis, he always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition and more girls. He is a ladies' man and he’s yet to meet a woman who is immune to his charm. That's until he meets Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world and now she just wants to be friends? Nope. It's not over until Dean says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring and shoot for love.

Hockey romances are way too addictive, I don’t know what is in them, but I just want to read more. The writing isn’t brilliant, but the characters are adorable. I wanted to hug and smack Dean at the same time. I love that Allie is holding her ground and being like Dean you are the king of one-night stands, you are sounding like one of your punk bunnies. I liked that Allie does question everything in this relationship and how she was like “do I want this” “am I slut?” and as someone who questions EVERYTHING in my life, I loved her for doing that. I love that Dean is just up for anything that Allie wants to try whether it’s with toys or what, I love the honest conversations they can have about sex, I feel like everyone gets a bit weird when they won’t to talk about spicing up their sex life.

I would have liked the grief storyline to not be in there, but if it had to be in there - I would want it to be a bit longer and I don’t forgive Elle Kennedy for killing Beau, that was a shitty move and I wanted him to be happy. The third-act breakup being about Beau’s death did drive me nuts. It couldn’t have been about where they were going after college or something like that. The storyline wasn’t strong at all, I would have liked something with more depth. There wasn’t enough hockey either for a hockey romance and I would have loved to see the girls together more.

I loved The Mistake, and I loved it so I don’t think anything will top that, but I think my expectations were a bit high going into this.

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katie222rogers's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

A good book. The most sexual of the series but still a good read. I loved the development of dean towards the end of the book. Annoyed by Sean, loved Allie and dean, and overall enjoyed the book!

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lujisa'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

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kerrythefire's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

3.75

This was a solid time. Was nice to see Dean and Allie's story since we'd already met both of them in previous books. Fairly low angst and low conflict, especially compared to the first two books in the series. Dean and Allie's relationship felt believable. I never fell fully in love with either of them, but I liked them both. I know we needed a conflict there in the third act, but this one was just really sad. Poor Bo.

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