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.
Comment: This book had been in the virtual pile for years but it kept being left behind. This month I've decided it was finally time to get it out of the TBR list.
College life at Briar is being very rewarding for Hannah Wells,even if it includes some people she needs to endure like her duet partner, and all the people partying which reminds her of things she prefers to let go of. Thankfully, she has her friends and now a crush on Justin Kohl, although she is unsure on how to approach him. Things change when hockey player Garrett Graham, whose grade on their latest test has put his game attendance in jeopardy, asks her to tutor him, in exchange to help her socially, so she can get Kohl's attention. She wishes she could be better than this, but for a week, she says yes. Of course, spending time with Garrett helps her in a way she didn't think a jock could actually do...
This new adult story was published ten years ago and several people I knew had read it and liked it. I can only suppose that was why I've added it to my list. Plus, other similar books I read (by Sarina Bowen, for instance) and that I enjoyed convinced me this might be a good try, even though, just like with general YA, it is a genre I no longer gravitate towards, unless it includes a specific theme or situation I'm interested in seeing developed.
I don't mean to say YA or NA stories aren't good, only that the dynamics often frustrate me because if it's a romance, usually the characters are immature or act like it, and it's difficult to believe in a HEA. If it's not a romance, sometimes I like it better, but the age is always on the back of my mind and I simply prefer more adult characters. This said, I did like reading The Deal for the most part, and the writing felt fluid and easy, with interesting situations and behaviors here and there to make the plot more appealing to me. It is a pity, however, that certain expectations on what a college experience might be were met...
I'm referring to the apparent partying vibe that almost everyone shares in this college, the incredible amount of drinking going around and, of course, the promiscuity which seems to be taken for granted and even desired for these students, especially f they are popular or in the sporting teams. I can only assume it is a way of life for students everywhere, with an obvious focus on students in the US, as we seen in books and movies so often. I don't really care for this, but it was portrayed and it was a key element in this plot, so it is not possible to avoid it. I'm glad the main characters were more intriguing than they appeared, but this element was not one I cared for at all.
Garret seems to be the cliched jock, but he is more attentive and clever than he looks, which I liked, because if he had been as immature as he seemed at first throughout the whole book, this would have been quite the disappointment. He had some interesting layers but since the book was focused on the romance with Hannah, this part of his character was not developed as much as it could, I think. nevertheless, I liked Garrett and I could almost see his assurance as something positive and not as arrogance.
Hannah is, to me, the clear protagonist. She is a likable person, she is smart and dedicated and a talented singer. She is happy enough at Briar, but her heart is with her parents, stuck in a place that only brings them unhappiness because of something she feels guilty for. I think some of her thoughts regarding this were quite on point, valid and I think this proved how mature she actually was, but life experiences and trials do that for us, of course. She has quite the layered personality 'd say, so the whole think with Garret at first because of the other guy, even with her explanation for it, felt annoying to me.
Still, their romance developed in a good way, considering all the issues and their age. most situations were believable, if not truly interesting for me. There is a rather serious issue related to Hannah, which should certainly merit a lot more pages than the ones we have about it, but I wasn't too fond of how it was also a sort of prop for the strengthening of their intimacy and connection. Also, closer to the end, there is a ridiculous conflict, which I thought Hannah would be too clever to fall for, but she does and it's not that such a thing could not exist in a real life situation, but it's so obviously a tactic that I felt disappointed they didn't ignore it.
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