The Deal by Elle Kennedy

This was such a pleasant surprise! I totally loved this witty, charming, opposites-attract, banter-making-sparks-fly romance with more depth than expected! I read it in one sitting, completely hooked.

The story follows music student Hannah Wells, who has been through an assault and is now trying to not let that stop her from having a healthy relationship, and bad boy hockey star Garrett Graham, who also hides a dark secret and an abusive past. When Hannah feels attracted to a guy but doesn’t know how to get his attention, and Garrett fails his ethics class, they strike a deal to help each other out. The only problem? The end game suddenly looses its attraction when they fall in love with each other instead…

This book was recommended to me by a dear friend, but nevertheless the blurb made me think it was just another ordinary romance. How wrong I was! (So sorry Sophie, I should never have doubted your recommendation!) This book was absolutely extraordinary! It’s far, far from just another romance story, it was both so much more fun and had so much more depth than expected!

Some parts in the beginning, with Garret sleeping around and not caring one bit about the girls were perhaps not that great, nor was Hanna’s instalove crush on the newly transferred football player Justin, which felt completely out of character. But once Hannah and Garret started the tutoring session it was pure perfection.

I really loved the hilarious banter between Hannah and Garret! The opposites-attract romance was so well done in the way their teasing and arguing made sparks fly. I also loved the way they both had troublesome pasts to deal with, and how they slowly opened up and showed their most vulnerable selves to each other.

Garret turned out to be such a sweetheart in the end, definitely one of my favorite book boyfriends! The character development was just amazing, and the way he’d lived through domestic abuse felt so authentic and real.

And Hannah was such a complex, fleshed out and wonderful character! I rooted so for her and my heart broke when learning about her rape and how it had affected not just her but also her entire family. It was so well described how Hannah wanted to get on with her life and not let herself be diminished to just a rape victim, but how she fought to take her life back again.
 
All in all, this was such a pleasant surprise! Hilarious, addictive, with funny dialogues and amazing chemistry, and with characters that completely stole my heart! But also with an important message and more depth than just your ordinary romance.

Thank you so much Sophie (Sophie’s Reading Corner) for the recommendation that made me find this gem! And sorry again for being skeptical, I truly regret not reading this book sooner!

Rating:
4.5 glorious stars rounding up to 5!

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Author info:
Elle Kennedy