Love is the Goal

"Love is the ultimate goal. "

--Elle Kennedy, The Goal

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Elle Kennedy

Pages: 350

Publication Date: September 26th, 2016

Source: ARC provided by publicist

Previous Books in Series:  The Deal & The Mistake & The Score
Find on: Goodreads | Amazon


My Thoughts on The Goal
The Belle
The Off-Campus series by Elle Kennedy is hands down one of the best New Adult series out there. This series is smart, well-written, and not to mention absolutely hilarious. One of my favorite parts of this series as a whole is the quick wit banter and dialogue. The Goal was no exception.

Shoot For Love

"I mean you're facing a Jacob quandry.
You imprinted on her pussy, and now it's the only pussy you can think about.
You exist solely for this pussy.
Like Jacob and that weird mutant baby."

--Elle Kennedy, The Score

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Self-Published

Pages: 249

Publication Date: January 11th, 2016

Source: eARC provided by publicist

Previous Books in Series: The Deal & The Mistake
Find on: Goodreads | Amazon

Goodreads Description 

He knows how to score, on and off the ice

Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn’t have the first clue about what she's going to do after college. To make matters worse, she’s nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but gorgeous hockey star Dean Di-Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because even if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the king of one-night stands.

It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over

Dean always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition, girls…he’s a ladies man, all right, and he’s yet to meet a woman who’s immune to his charms. Until Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world—and now she wants to be friends? Nope. It’s not over until he says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring…and shoot for love.

Not gonna lie. I wasn't sure how invested I would be in Dean's story because...manwhore. Not usually my thing. I try to put myself in the heroine's shoes when I read so when I get to a story about a womanizer I immediately call bullshit because how can you really trust him? Has he changed his ways? But right now is when I say I bow down to Elle Kennedy because not only was I invested in this story quickly, it is my reading habit of trying to relate to the heroine that won me over completely. Let's break this down.

I loved being in Allie's head. She broke up with Sean after on-again/off-again dating him for several years and to avoid listening to his pleas of apologies, she hides out in Dean's house because his BFF is Garrett, Allie's BFF's boyfriend. One tequila shot leads to another and they end up sleeping together. And WOW kink. Sexual adventures. I was shocked in the best way because how these two attack the bedroom and their sexuality is something I was so on board with. I applaud Elle Kennedy for weaving a lot of creativity into their sexual exploits. Loved it so hard. It's not often female characters openly talk about masturbation or sex toys or what gets them off. Allie (and Hannah) do this and I could not be more happy with it.

On the flip side, though. After their one night stand Allie feels guilt. She slut-shames herself about what happened because that's not her typical behavior. While I'm all about you doing you and owning your sexuality and your choices, I could also definitely understand Allie's conflicted feelings. She has nothing to be ashamed about but she can't help how she feels. I loved how Dean handled this and talked her through it. No spoilers but there is a scene later on that peripherally deals with this and wow...just...wow. I was swooning so fucking hard I thought I was going to have to pick my heart up off the floor. It's brilliant.

The dynamic between Dean and Allie is electric. Their banter. Dirty texting. Sexual chemistry. It's all there and it's all on another level. I love how they explore and are adventurous in the bedroom. Not something you always find in the New Adult genre. Their candid discussions about sex was refreshing. Dean is crazy sexual and seeing him brought to his knees by somebody he never thought would was effing hilarious. When he talks about it with his friend, it is just too funny for words. The Twilight references were amazing.

More than just the romance we have the story of what each of them is going through outside the relationship. I won't give away spoilers or too many plot points because you'll just have to read it but I will say that I loved it. I love how Elle Kennedy brings so much more to the story than 'just' the romance. The interactions with friends, the real life situations, the everyday encounters. I just love it. Her writing is so fluid and effortless reading that she is the Queen of 'Just One More Chapter' or the incarnate of Pringles; once you start, you just can't stop.

I am head over heels in love with this series. If you have not read it yet, you really need to reevaluate your life choices. This series is heartfelt, funny, sexy, sarcastic, and filled with banter that is just feel good. I felt actually a little high when I finished this book. I just felt good. They make me so happy and I'm already planning on re-reading in the very soon future. They're just those kinds of books. 

VIP
If you love amazing characters, sexy adventures, and heartfelt stories...this book is for you.

Fire and Ice

Genre

New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher

Self-Published

Pages

358 // 297

Publication Date

February 14, 2015 // April 28, 2015 

Source

Bought

Find on Goodreads

The Deal

"I fight back laughter. 'As you wish.' 

'Did you really just Princess Bride me?' 

'Did you really just use Princess Bride as a verb?'"

This series came as a hug surprise to me. Steph recommend this book to me, especially after I LOVED Claimed, but y'all know me and my TBR, I don't add books lightly. But guys... I didn't move once I started this book. I mean, I started this book after working a 12.5 hour shift and I legit didn't stop reading until I was done around 1230 am. I. Could. Not. Stop. Elle Kennedy's writing is so fluid and engaging that she is the Queen of 'Just One More Chapter' because you just HAVE to know what's going to happen next. 

The Deal is about Garrett and Hannah. Garrett is a hockey player at Briar and...persuades Hannah into tutoring him. Her end of THE DEAL--see what I did there--is he is going to try and get her a date with another guy. Obviously things go awry once they spend time together. Dudes. The chemistry and banter is on another level. It's so funny and sarcastic and smart. And then there are emotions. Hannah had something traumatic happen to her in the past but it never felt cliche or used solely for a plot point as is easy to happen with romances but that was never the case. It's wasn't a huge melodramatic affair and I appreciated Hannah's self-awareness and maturity. Garrett was SO understanding and vulnerable and just uh-may-zing with her. She, in turn, was there for him with his own past. I thought the give and take of this relationship was perfection. 

I loved this book, I cannot wait to read the next one because LOGAN!!!!!!!!! *ALL THE HEARTS IN ALL THE EYES*

The Mistake

"First and foremost—be confident. 

Second—be spontaneous. 

Third—the only opinion that matters is your own."

I loved The Deal, as you see above, and I hesitated on The Mistake only because I found it hard to believe I could love this book even close to how much I loved The Deal. *insert foot in mouth* I think I loved it more. After reading The Deal, I knew Logan was my man. It was a feeling. I was not wrong. John Logan. You have my heart. You stole it from Garrett as a defender steals a puck--hahahaha I don't even know if that makes sense in the hockey world but I wanted to go there. Anyways! I was hooked into Logan and Grace's story almost immediately. I adored Grace. Her drive and intelligence engaged me immediately with her limited bullshit for her drunk friends. Girl after my own heart. And then her vulnerability won me over completely. Logan was equal parts incredible and incredible asshole. Grace and Logan meet and have a great connection, drama happens because Grace's friends suck ass, and Logan saves the day. *cue the fucking SWOON holy fucking hell*

After that Logan makes THE MISTAKE--*smirk*--and Grace 100% understandably shuts down and spends the summer with her mother in Paris. Work bitch! Logan vows to win Grace back the next school year and the hoops she has him jump through are fucking hilarious. He does not give up and his tenacity to win her back is so fun to read. I loved that he knew he fucked up, he suffered, he saw the total fault in his way of thinking, and did something about it. I think Grace making him work for it was so awesome. She was hurt and I completely agree that taking him back after that would be really hard. How Kennedy paced this book was on point. I cannot say enough or verbalize intelligently how much I loved this book and how engaged I was in the story. It was so sexy and the romantic chemistry between Logan and Grace was on another level. I definitely had to fan myself and I won't lie, I'm with Grace, I am 100% a football girl and have no interest in hockey...but fuck if I didn't google image hot hockey players and contemplated turning on ESPN to see if a game was on. FOR REAL! 

This book is sweet, sexy, sarcastic, and all things swoony. If you haven't read this series yet, you HAVE to put it on your TBR.

VIP

If you love stories with strong female characters, endearing hockey players, and sassy banter...this series is for you.