SUMMARY
She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. …and it’s going to be oh so good!
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
Image and summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
I first read The Deal back in 2021 and with the TV adaptation on the horizon, I thought it was the perfect excuse to revisit Briar U. There are some books that feel like catching up with old friends when you reread them and this was definitely one of those. It had been a few years since I’d read Garrett and Hannah’s story and I was curious to see if I’d love it just as much the second time around.
I’m happy to report that I absolutely did.
Rereading this book also reminded me of just how important it was in my reading journey. The Deal was one of my very first introductions to sports romance and looking back now, I can honestly say it’s one of the books that made me fall in love with the genre. Fast forward a few years and sports romance has become one of my most read genres, so it was nice to go back to one of the books that started it all.
If you’ve followed my reviews for a while, you’ll know that I have a weakness for fake dating and friends to lovers romances, so it’s no surprise that this book still works so well for me. Those two tropes are some of my favourites because they allow the relationship to build naturally and Elle Kennedy absolutely nails that balance here. Watching Hannah and Garrett go from reluctantly helping each other, to becoming genuine friends and eventually falling in love never stopped being enjoyable even though I already knew exactly how the story would end.
One of the biggest reasons this book continues to hold up for me is the characters.
I absolutely adore Hannah. She’s funny, determined, intelligent and quietly resilient. She has been through so much, yet she never lets those experiences completely define who she is. I really appreciated the way Elle Kennedy handled Hannah’s story with sensitivity while still allowing her to grow into someone who learns to trust again. She felt just as relatable on this reread as she did the first time I picked up the book.
Then there’s Garrett.
Honestly… I forgot just how much I loved him.
On the surface, he comes across as the typical confident college hockey captain, but underneath all of that is someone who’s incredibly loyal, caring and willing to put in the work for the people he loves. One of my favourite things about Garrett is that he genuinely listens to Hannah. He never tries to become the hero who swoops in and fixes everything. Instead he supports her, encourages her and lets her find her own strength. Their relationship is built on friendship first and I think that’s exactly why it works so well.
Their chemistry still had me smiling all over again. The banter, the teasing, the study sessions and all of those little moments where they slowly realise they’re becoming more than friends made this reread just as enjoyable as the first time.
Something I appreciated even more this time around was being introduced to the rest of the Briar U gang. Knowing that Dean, Logan, Tucker and Allie all go on to have their own stories made every scene with them even more enjoyable. It almost felt like spotting little easter eggs for what’s to come. I found myself smiling every time they appeared because I knew these characters would eventually become just as important to the series as Garrett and Hannah.
The only reason this wasn’t quite a five star reread for me is that there were a few moments where the story showed its age a little. Some conversations and attitudes felt very much of the time it was written and there were a couple of scenes that didn’t resonate with me quite as strongly as they did when I first read it in 2021. They didn’t ruin the story, but they were enough to stop it from becoming a perfect reread.
Overall, returning to Briar U was everything I hoped it would be. The Deal reminded me why it became such a beloved sports romance and why it played such a big role in shaping my reading tastes. Hannah and Garrett are still one of my favourite romance couples and I loved every minute of getting to experience their story again before seeing how it’s adapted for television.
This was another easy 4 star read for me. Whether you’re discovering Briar U for the first time or revisiting it years later like I did, The Deal is still a fantastic sports romance filled with humour, heart, unforgettable characters and one of my favourite fake dating romances. Now I’m even more excited to see how the TV series brings these characters to life.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
