The Deal (Collector’s Edition) (Off-Campus, 1)

7 reviews for The Deal (Collector’s Edition) (Off-Campus, 1)

1. 

   Sophia Rose – August 10, 2025

   Surprise Friendship Blossoms Into More with Fun Banter and Good Chemistry in College Romance
   College setting, they come from two different worlds on campus, but past pain and a certain deal lead to something more than a friendship. I love hockey romance and my favorite New Adult trope is a nerd and a jock. This was a variation on that and I already enjoy the author’s adult romances so it was an easy choice when I needed just such a book for a pair of reading challenges.The Deal opens with pretty, but quiet music student, Hannah Wells, agreeing to tutor the popular captain of the hockey team, Garrett Graham, in their shared philosophy class so he can stay eligible to play in exchange, he agrees to help her make a Hannah’s secret crush, a gorgeous football player, jealous. A surprise friendship forms and then a fake kiss sizzles into something potent and real. But, they both have pasts that can rear ugly heads and future plans that don’t involve each other. Will they renegotiate for a new deal?I don’t mean this disparagingly, but I’ve never gravitated toward the New Adult genre. We all have our druthers and this is one of mine. That said, I had no hesitation picking up an Elle Kennedy New Adult. After reading the Him series, I had no doubt this author could write this genre well and make me love the story I was getting. It didn’t hurt that she put one of my few favorite college tropes into play and she didn’t emo it up though the pair both had deep issues from their past, particularly Hannah who is an abuse survivor. She gave due attention to character background like her music and his hockey, their friend circles, their college lives, and their relationship all equally. It was even paced and evenly developing building from a little hostility to partners in their deal, to friendship, and finally something more.Hannah was raped at a high school party. I don’t feel this is a spoiler since it’s revealed in the opening chapter. She’s getting her life back and has dreams and goals. She is in a place where she’s ready to join in some social events and get back to dating with her roomie bud, Allie, as her wing gal. She’s already got who she thinks is the perfect guy in her sights even if another guy is distracting her. I thought Hannah’s character was fabulous. She’s feisty, but also vulnerable. She puts herself out there, but she’s still working through stuff. I was impressed that the author went the extra mile in that Hannah had sex with Garrett, but it didn’t magically erase her rape and they have to take a step back together and give her time. It’s not some dark shadow hovering, but it’s there in a realistic way.By the way, Garrett turned out to be one amazing guy. He was finding his way and figuring stuff out, but he was right there for Hannah. He was way more than the persona he wore like armor and it was fun to watch Hannah figure this out and appreciate him. He, too, has demons, but like Hannah, he doesn’t let it take over everything.They have their big crisis moment, but even then, the struggle was within bounds and didn’t blow up into absurd angst.I was thoroughly entertained by the banter and college antics of their friend groups, engaging with the characters, and rooting hard for the romance. I flew through this book in two sittings. I want all their friends’ stories now though I cringe at what Logan’s story will be like after his big misstep.In summary, it was better than I was even hoping and I want more Off-Campus series. For those, like me who hesitate to pick up New Adult romance or want to take your first plunge into the genre, I can heartily recommend The Deal. It is still free last I checked if you want to test drive it.

2. 

   Anaïs Neumann – August 10, 2025

   4 out of 5 Stars
   Garrett Graham is on the track to becoming a professional hocley player, but his grades are plummeting. In order to stay on the team, he needs to get a tutor to up his GPA. It seems like the most genius plan to seek out the only girl that didn’t fail the class everyone else failed, and ask her for help.Hannah Wells is music student andn an aspiring singer-songwriter, so she doesn’t have time for tutoring egomaniac hockey-players. However, Garrett offers to help her conquer her secret crush – a deal she can’t help but accept. But as she and Garrett spend more and more time together, it seems like her crush suddenly comes second place…What I loved about this book:The great chemistry between the charactersThe great side-charactersThe humourWhat I felt needed improvement:The predictable storylineI read so many stellar reviews for The Deal on Goodreads, so I thought I could give it a try. Although I found it a nice read overall, I wasn’t so convinced by the storyline. It was nice, but it was probably a tad predictable. The general storyline actually felt A LOT like Four Years Later by Monica Murphy (jock needs tutoring from geek) coupled with the usual pygmalion-twist (guy helps girl to get noticed by her crush, and ultimately falls for her, like in M.K. Schiller’s The Do Over). But thank god there was one really great thing to The Deal which would drag my rating up again: the really great and convincing characters.Hannah and Garrett are complete opposites at the beginning of the book. He’s the popular jock, and she’s one of the outsiders who hangs out with the artsy music crew. And sure enough, as the story goes, Hannah has preconceived ideas around Garrett. She actually turns Garrett call for help down a number of times, proudly standing her ground. That is until he comes up with the proposal of helping her get noticed by her crush Justin…”He’s probably sending telepathic orders for me to tutor him. Well, too bad for him. There’s no way I’m wasting the little spare time I have on a college hockey player who thinks he’s a rock star.”And even while it is true that he likes to have fun with girls, he’s also a very nice and charming guy, who turns out to be a real great friend and accomplice to Hannah. He managed to break through her walls even if he had issues of his own to deal with. I usually don’t tend to like male heroines who turn from man-ho to caring book boyfriend overnight, but in Garrett’s case it was different: he wasn’t an arrogant, conceited player.”I’ve never met anyone who is so repulsed by my popularity, and I have no idea what to make of it. I think I might like it.”And other than the fact that the two main characters have nothing in common at first glance, they have an undeniable chemistry at all times. I just loved how they interacted, and I loved their funny banter.”I want to murder him in his sleep. No, I want to murder him when he’s awake so he can see the joy on my face when I do it.”And then there’s a third dimension to this book, which was so cliché it was probably bordering on “too much”. Indeed, Hannah went through some tough times in her past, which made it difficult for her to really enjoy sex. So to prepare for when that special moment happens with her crush Justin, she wants to get it on with Garret to see if he could potentially help her enjoy sex again (in other words: fix her up for Justin). So yeah, with all those things lined up, you can’t avoid the inevitable anymore! Because as you can imagine, this “arrangement” will lead to all kinds of… feelings.”As insane as it sounds, a test run with Garrett might be just what I need to work through my issues. He said so himself – he doesn’t date girls, he sleeps with them. There’s no risk of him falling for me or demanding a relationship.”Yet, in summary, it was a very nice standard New Adult college read which I enjoyed reading, and since I also very much liked the side characters (especially Garrett’s housemates), I will definitely be looking forward to reading the next books in the Off-Campus series.

3. 

   Aslihan – August 10, 2025

   I love college romances, this was my first read from Elle Kennedy and it did not disappoint. I loved Garret, he gave such a golden retriever vibe he was amazing. Hannah is so smart, but not the virgin I don’t know anything except school type, she is fun smart. She knows her stuff even though she doesn’t trust guys or party’s after what she went through. I loved the tutor tutee relationship of the two of them and I love Garret in general he is amazing!

4. 

   Spell✨ing Words📚 – August 10, 2025

   I went without knowing much, only based on a recommendation. And I throughly enjoyed it! The pace, the character development, the humor, the romance, the hard stuff… Everything felt natural and real.

5. 

   Laura Fabian Alaniz – August 10, 2025

   I’ve already lost count of the number of times I’ve re-read The Deal since the first time, and while Garrett & Hanna still hold a special place in my heart, and I’m going to stand by the five star rating I gave the book the first time, I notice some things in the plot of these characters that I hadn’t noticed in my first readings and didn’t like so much now. Despite that, this story is still one of the cutest, funniest and most tender I’ve ever read, so I’m going to continue with my Off-Campu re-reading marathon!Hanna is one of my favorite girls in this series, with an outgoing & very interesting personality and who is not afraid to speak her mind, especially about the jocks in Briar, plus I love reading her love for music, the beautiful relationship she has with her parents, how much they have supported her throughout her journey, and how obvious the love they have for her is. Obviously Hanna’s personal story is heartbreaking, full of injustice, and has had major consequences on her sex life, BUT I love that Elle Kennedy shows Hanna with a with a path taken in a positive way in her post-rape recovery, even with the bumps she still has to overcome. I also LOVE reading how she fits into Garrett’s group of friends, how easily she befriends some of them, and how his own group of friends becomes close to Garrett’s circle, and what can I say about how wonderful her friendship with Allie is, the unconditional love and support between them and how much fun they are together.Garrett is also one of the characters I love the most from this author, he’s a cocky guy, captain of the hockey team who has his eyes on the NHL, until he starts to fail in one of his classes and his solution is to make Hanna agree to tutor him, something that is NOT EASY AT ALL, but very fun to read. Like Hanna, sometimes I think Garrett’s cocky attitude is too much, but sometimes he also manages to even out with how silly he can be, as well as adorable, caring and funny, I really like his friendship with Logan, Tucker & Dean and I think this book introduces these characters VERY well and made me love them so much. Like Hanna, Garrett has a tragic history of mistreatment at the hands of his dad, a hockey legend, which has caused him some trauma and I really liked the way the author handled it.I really like the love story between Hanna & Garrett! I love that Hanna at first has her eyes set on someone else and that Garrett isn’t interested in having anything serious with anyone, but in the end the two end up completely in love with each other after hours of tutoring sesisons, the trust they develop in each other, and especially, after seeing how compatible they are despite their differences. These two are a VERY funny couple, with absurd fights that made me really enjoy their story, super tender, sweet & heartbreaking moments and truly unconditional love.🏒Garret: 3.5/5🎙️Hanna: 4/5🏒Plot: 5/5🎙️Love story: 5/5🏒Secondary characters: 5/5🎙️Universe: 5/5🏒Cover: 5/5🌶️: 3/5

6. 

   DonnaC – August 10, 2025

   The Deal (Off Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy5 stars!!“Living well and being happy is how we get over the s*** in our past.”I have to admit I am a sucker for college books, when you get to my age you like to re-live your past and a fun and fabulous college experience is something I never had, so I live vicariously through these types of reads and boy did I live while reading this one.I loved everything about this book, the characters, the writing and the story. While the storyline itself may not be unique, the way it was delivered certainly was. This is a beautifully written NA college romance where the characters spring to life before your eyes. The way that Elle Kennedy has written this book, will transport you back to your college campus living the life and walking every step with these characters. You will smile every smile, you will laugh every laugh and you will shed every tear. Written in dual POV of both Hannah and Garrett means that you cannot help but connect to these characters on every level and it won’t be long before both of them have taken a permanent residence in your heart.“Exactly how old is your penis?”“He’s twenty, like me…But he’s way more mature than I am. What about your lady canal? Is she wiser than her years, or is she…”Hannah was a beautiful character both inside and out. She had dealt with a lot in her past and was trying to build a new life for herself. Everything was a struggle, especially with money, but with hard work and determination she was a straight A student, majoring in music and was just as talented behind the mic as she was on a philosophy paper.I fell in love with Hannah, while you would have expected her to be the meek and timid type; she actually had guts, balls and determination. She may have blushed like a tomato at any innuendo or while in the company of boys but that only made her all the more endearing. You couldn’t help but be sucked into her charm, her honesty, her integrity and everything else in between.Garrett, oh my god, this man had me swooning. For a guy that had never done romance and was the college lothario, when he fell, he fell hard. Despite his one night stand reputation, no relationships, no girlfriends’ mantra at least he had the balls to admit that Hannah was different and embraced it. He happily gave up his man card and it was endearing to read. You couldn’t help but champion for these two, but with two novices, you always know that they may have a bumpy road ahead.“I never expected her. Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them…”Garrett never had the best start in life either and he also had his troubles and problems to deal with. Whereas before he would just bottle it up and never told a soul, Hannah was like a truth serum, both to herself and Garrett and to watch these two open up to each other tore at my heart strings. These two trusted each other implicitly and because their relationship was borne of friendship and trust you couldn’t help but hope they would make it.This book was beautifully balanced, the wit and banter between Hannah and Garrett will have you smiling and laughing, these two really clicked, they were totally down with each other’s humour and both gave as good as they got. This was unique for Garrett, he had only been wanted for being a hockey god and for being his father’s son, but Hannah was someone he had found himself and wanted to be with him just because he was Garrett.“…but this time it’s different. Because it’s Hannah saying it, and she’s not just any girl. And because I know that when she says she loves me, she actually means me – Garrett – and not Briar’s hockey star, or Mr Popularity, or Phil Graham’s son. She loves me.”Garrett was fiercely loyal and protective, like I said above, once he went in, he goes all in and gives it everything. He may have been cocky and arrogant at times but it was all in jest, waggly eyebrows and all and you couldn’t help but fall for his charm. It is both their personalities that really brought this book to life and the sizzling chemistry between these two was palpable and radiated off the page.“I don’t look back these days. I only look forward.”This is my first read by Elle Kennedy and it certainly won’t be my last, I just loved everything about this book and I cannot wait for Logan’s story. Unrequited love is a b***h and I cannot wait to see where his story is heading now that the girl he lusts for is most definitely taken.

7. 

   Raquel – August 10, 2025

   🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌶🌶🔢 Off-campus 1🦋 enemies to friends to lovers, fake datingOh okey I don’t know what I’m going to say about this book that you don’t know already. I found it on February on tiktok and have read it at least 4 times since then. Whenever I’m sad, Garrett and Hannah are there to help me forget about my life. I can’t thank enough booktok for bring them into my life. And if you haven’t read the off-campus series yet (maybe you have been living under the sea or something) now it’s the time because the legacy comes out in just 4 days!