cedifrango 's review for:

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

5.0

emotional funny sad fast-paced

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I didn’t know what to expect from this series, but I’m hooked. I read this in just a day and a half! As someone who is also a victim of sexual assault, I deeply related to Hannah. Trusting anyone again—especially when alcohol is involved or when trying to start a new relationship—is incredibly hard.

Kennedy did such a good job portraying the ups and downs of life after assault. And Garrett… the man that you are. It takes a truly special person to love and support a survivor the way he did. The patience, the small gestures, the way he became her safe space—everyone deserves a Garrett. And what made it even more powerful was seeing that Garrett had his own trauma from his father, yet still chose to break that cycle and love so gently.

Ugh. I’ll never recover from this book.

Quotes:
- It's ugly and demonizing, and i try so hard not to let it control my life.
- You can say a lot of things about Garrett Graham, but he's definitely a man of his word. He's been glued to my side all night, guarding my drinks, waiting outside the bathroom for me, making sure I don't get harassed by his friends or the locals we've met. He's totally had my back, and because of him, I was able to lower my guard for the first time in a very long time.
- "I'm single because I haven't found anyone 1 connect with, not because I'm anti-relationship. It's nice having someone to spend time with. You know, talking, cud-dling, all that mushy stuff. Don't you want that?"
- No matter what happened to her in the past, no matter how many scars she still bears from that ordeal, I know without a shred of doubt that Hannah Wells is not broken. She's too strong to allow anyone-to break her.
- But right now, all I want is for this girl to smile at me again.
- Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don't know how you ever lived without them. How you went about your day and hung out with your friends and fucked other people without having this one important person in your life.
- "How did I go so long without noticing you, damn it? Why did it take seeing a stupid A on your midterm to make me notice?"
- There's no one better than him. Garrett is the best man I've ever known. And not just because he's smart and sexy and funny and so much sweeter than I ever gave him credit for. He makes me feel alive. Yeah, we bicker, and sure, his cockiness drives me crazy sometimes, but when I'm with him, I feel whole. I feel like I can drop my guard.