A review by fictionforever
The Deal by Elle Kennedy

5.0

5stars ...NO. THAT'S A COMPLETE UNDERSTATEMENT! HONESTLY BMS I CAN'T EVEN RATE IT. I REFUSE.

This book genuinely surprised me in the best way, I was not expecting to be this OBSESSED oh my gosh! I was totally expecting this book to be a very basic college sports romance with superficial love, a mediocre at best plot, and OF COURSE, the spicy scenes that I assumed was the main reason people felt so compelled to rave about this book BUT fortunately, I was so so wrong. This has definitely become one of my favorite NA romances ever!! I JUST CAN'T STOP GUSHING ABOUT IT I guess my faith in BookTok has officially been restored!

I'm aware this book isn't super deep and isn't some sort of literary gem ALTHOUGH it didn't have to be one to be thoroughly enjoyable. There was never a dull moment and I was entertained for the entirety of the book, which is surprising to say considering romance novels tend to have quite a few parts that can bore me death, but I'm glad to say this was definitely not the case with The Deal. I feel like the pacing was absolutely perfect and everything flowed so naturally and never felt rushed or forced. The plot and the relationships also developed so well throughout the book. It was fun and lighthearted yet managed to throw in just the right amount of emotional and darker moments while still not coming off as overpowering, instead, I felt that it worked to enrich the story and further draw me in.

GARRETT GRAHAM Elle Kennedy had absolutely NO RIGHT to make me fall in love with this man the way I did!! just thinking about him gives me butterflies y'alllll this isn't okay I'm even smiling like an idiot while typing this SEND HELP okay but in all seriousness, he's really such a great character with a lot of depth that you wouldn't suspect based off first impressions. He was truly such a genuinely good guy and the way he cared for Hannah was so admirable speaking of my girl HANNAH WELLS she was such a... baddie? for lack of a better word, she also has a lot of baggage and trauma from her past similar to Garrett but the way that she deals with it and the overall way she carries herself was so inspiring to read such a selfless strong queen tbh I have no choice but to STAN! the chemistry and love between these two were so evident and effortless and their personalities complimented each other so well even though they seemed like they couldn't be more different. The slow burn was very much appreciated, just seeing their relationship grow into something more than friends was so freaking CUTE! but the TENSIONNN omg and the SPICEEE omg. speechless. yupppp so it's safe to say Garrett & Hannah are my OTP.

I'm pretty intrigued by the many side characters in the book and I have "interesting" opinions on some of them. I wish we were able to see more of the friendship between Allie and Hannah in this book because Allie seems like one of the sweetest friends ever. As for the boys...Garrett's friends were questionable, to say the least, but I mean what did I really expect from a bunch of college hockey players?
Spoiler Dean was kinda creepy if I'm being honest I'm sorry his vibe just wasn't doing it for me AT ALL and my thing with Sir Logan is like bro? take a fucking hint FFS why is he still crushing on Hannah and giving her "longing looks" as if she is not in a fully committed relationship with his best...fucking...friend? like I said above veryyyyy questionable
You know what I have a strong feeling that I might end up eating my words and looking like a whole clown after I read the other books with them as the main characters. I predict a "oh, he was just misunderstood" moment in my near my future... WITH THAT BEING SAID I AM NOW GOING TO SPRINT TO THE NEXT BOOKS.

(well damn, I have been trying to shorten my reviews but I feel like I might have to give up on it and just speak my truth! anyway, these are always fun to read after some time has passed and they remind me just how much I loved the book. PS. future me if you're reading this because you're contemplating rereading this well then DO IT because we deserve to feel this happy again