Tag: Massachusetts

Review: The Goal by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 9, 2026 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Goal by Elle Kennedy

Series: Off Campus Series #4
Also in this Series: The Goal, The Mistake, The Score
Main Leads: John Tucker, Sabrina James
Secondary Characters: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells, John Logan, Grace Ivers, Dean DiLaurentis, Allie Hayes, Colin Fitzgerald, Summer DiLaurentis
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tropes: Accidental Pregnancy, He Fell First, Grumpy and Sunshine, Opposites Attract
Release Date: September 26, 2016
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: Audio, e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

She’s good at achieving her goals…

College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick butt in law school, and land a high-paying job at a cutthroat firm. Her path to escaping her shameful past certainly doesn’t include a gorgeous hockey player who believes in love at first sight. One night of sizzling heat and surprising tenderness is all she’s willing to give John Tucker, but sometimes, one night is all it takes for your entire life to change.

But the game just got a whole lot more complicated

Tucker believes being a team player is as important as being the star. On the ice, he’s fine staying out of the spotlight, but when it comes to becoming a daddy at the age of twenty-two, he refuses to be a bench warmer. It doesn’t hurt that the soon-to-be mother of his child is beautiful, whip-smart, and keeps him on his toes. The problem is, Sabrina’s heart is locked up tight, and the fiery brunette is too stubborn to accept his help. If he wants a life with the woman of his dreams, he’ll have to convince her that some goals can only be made with an assist.

The last of the Off Campus boys gets their happy ending in The Goal and it was another winner of a story for me. I have really enjoyed my time with these guys and this book has never been my favorite story of the bunch but I did enjoy Tuck and Sabrina a lot more this time around. Tucker is the guy that had a quiet shine to him in the other books. You can tell that he loved the guys and was loved in return.

I’ve always loved Tucker whenever I read his story but I wasn’t always a fan of Sabrina. Her beef with Dean was a bone of contention with me being a Dean girly but during this re-read, I wasn’t mad at Sabrina for what she thought, especially because their talk toward the end did a lot to clear their air between them but also with me. But also, I would have thought the same shit that Sabrina did if a guy got away with what Dean did in class.

What I really liked about this book was how sure Tucker was of his feelings for Sabrina. I loved how patient and supportive he was of her, her plans, and their future. He was one of those guys that quietly takes care of the people he loves and I ate that shit up. His confidence in himself, and his ability to roll with the punches made me a sucker for Tucker. I loved his quiet steadiness in the chaos that was Sabrina’s life. I loved how he accepted Sabrina exactly as she was and just wanted to be a support to her. She wasn’t an easy person to be with, something that Sabrina knew about herself, and yet she was it for him and I loved every minute of him showing up for Sabrina.

I really liked Sabrina’s character this time around. I didn’t appreciate her before this re-read and that sucked because she was so strong, so fiercely independent that just wanted to secure a more stable future. She was a great friend to her friends and though she didn’t trust Tucker to take care of her heart, seeing him win her over was a lot of fun. There was a lot of substance to Sabrina and seeing her efforts to succeed, no matter what was thrown her way made me happy when she finally gets it all.

This was a great ending to everyone’s college years and seeing the introduction of Fitz and knowing that his book is next made me excited to jump right in. There was a lot of heart, a lot of heat, and the charm that I’ve come to expect from this series in this book and I’m so glad that I re-read it because John Tucker and Sabrina James were a good time. I definitely recommend.

Rating

4 out of 5

The Off Campus Series

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Review: The Score by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 8, 2026 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Score by Elle Kennedy

Series: Off Campus #3
Also in this Series: The Deal, The Mistake
Main Leads: Dean DiLaurentis, Allie Hayes
Secondary Characters: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells, John Logan, Grace Ivers, John Tucker, Beau Maxwell
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Rebound Romance, Reformed Playboy, He Fell First, Friends with Benefits, Secret Romance, Opposites Attract, Hockey Player
Release Date: January 11, 2016
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: Audio, e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

A New York Times bestseller! Get ready for another binge-worthy romance from international bestselling author Elle Kennedy.

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.

The re-read marathon continues and when I first started, it was this book that I was looking forward to reading again. Every single time that I read this book, I have loved it and that didn’t change with this re-read. I am a Dean’s girl through and through and I knew the moment that I was kicking my feet up and rolling around on my bed like Min Min from Strong Woman Do Bong Soon that I will forever and always be a Dean DiLaurentis girly.

My favorite kind of heroes are the sunshine ones that are huge flirts, funny as hell, and is still dominate when the time calls for it so Dean DiLaurentis is my kind of jam. I was a puddle of mush for him at every turn in this book but he wasn’t perfect because as much as I drooled over him, there were plenty of times when I wanted to knee him in his balls.

Allie was such a good match for Dean. I enjoyed her character in The Deal and seeing her front and center in this book only made me love her more. In The Deal, she was so strong for Hannah and in this book, you see her become strong for herself and I really enjoyed seeing her come into her own.

Elle Kennedy was really in her bag when writing these books. With each release, the books just kept getting better and better for me. I enjoyed the first two books in this series but this book right here?? Yeah, this book was fan-freaking-tastic! I adored both Dean and Allie, I adored seeing them fall in love with each other and that “CALL DEAN” scene?? The way that Dean came running to take care of his baby even though they agreed to keep their relationship secret from their friends and he came running anyway? Yessss, this is the Dean action that I love and adore!

I really loved this book and had a lot of fun re-reading this book. I laughed, I happy sighed, I blushed, and through it all, I fell in love with their love. I loved seeing Dean grow into the reformed rake that he was. I loved seeing him with his roommates and friends, I loved seeing him with the kids on the team that he coached, and I loved seeing him with Allie. Allie was great too. She was smart and strong and she was the kind of friend that makes you feel blessed to have in your corner. This was another fantastic addition that will stand the test of time because I read this book like 10 years ago and I still love the hell out of this book. Highly recommend.

Rating

5 out of 5

The Off Campus Series

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Review: The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 7, 2026 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

Series: Off Campus #2
Also in this Series: The Deal
Main Leads: John Logan, Grace Ivers
Secondary Characters: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells, Dean DiLaurentis, John Tucker, Allie Hayes
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tropes: Second Chance Romance, He Falls First, Reformed Playboy, Hockey Player, College Setting
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: Audio, e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 283
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Get ready for another binge-worthy romance from international bestselling author and TikTok sensation Elle Kennedy. He’s a player in more ways than one… College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.

Now he’s going to need to up his game… After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.

Of all the times that I’ve read this book, I hadn’t ever enjoyed this book quite as much as I did this time around. I liked the book, I adored Logan and Grace but I don’t think I appreciated their romance as much as I do now. I think a lot of it has to do with my excitement at seeing their romance come to life through their show. We finally have our Grace and I love our John Logan of the show so digging right into this book made the reading experience a livelier one and I ate up every single page.

This book jumps right into Logan’s story. He’s still hung up on Hannah, and he is doing everything he can to steer clear of Garrett and Hannah’s love while making things awkward for everyone at home but he can’t seem to stop and he doesn’t know how to fix things so dodge and evade it is. He is sleeping around, hoping to sleep his feelings away. In his rush to escape his house, he heads to a party without his phone and comes into contact with Grace Ivers. Little does he know, this encounter with Grace will unravel Logan’s life in the best possible way and his feelings for Grace will far surpass anything he’s ever felt for Hannah.

Grace and Logan’s romance was trope heavy in the best possible way and seeing Logan work on that list to win Grace back and seeing Grace evolve from the insecure college freshman to the pissed off sophomore was a lot of fun. The whole second chance thing that Logan was working hard to make happen had me rooting for him so hard. He had me grinning like a schoolgirl throughout the whole time he’s trying to win Grace back.

I also really loved seeing Grace come into her own. When she got back from Paris with the new hair and the new attitude, it made me so happy to see her bring Logan to his knees. She was a lot stronger when she gets back from Paris and seeing her stand her ground with not only Logan but with Ramona as well?? It felt rewarding and was one of the reasons that Grace was one of my favorite heroines in this series.

Elle Kennedy wrote another fun story with people that I have come to love all over again. I’m having such a good time with this re-read and seeing Grace and Logan fumble their way toward their happy ending was a lot of fun too. Kennedy handles this story the same way she did with Garrett and Hannah’s story. She balances all of the heavy stuff with a lightness that makes the readers enjoyment of the story being told worthwhile. I really do love these characters and this world and this book was just so stinkin’ good.

Rating

4.5 out of 5

The Off Campus Series

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Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 6, 2026 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Series: Off Campus #1
Main Leads: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells
Secondary Characters: John Logan, John Tucker, Dean DiLaurentis, Allie Hayes, Justin Kohl
Setting: United States, Massachussets, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tropes: Opposites Attract, Fake Dating, Healing Past Traumas, Tutor Girl, Hockey Player, Friends to Lovers, He Falls First
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: e-Book, Audio
Source: Purchased
Pages: 360
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

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.

When I finished watching the Off Campus show, I wasn’t ready to move on so of course I re-read the entire series from the very beginning. It ended up being a huge endeavor because after more than ten years, there are 12 books in this world and I read every single book all over again.

Reading this book again reaffirmed my love for both Garrett and Hannah. Their story was compelling as hell and their romance was sweet, emotional, and healing. Just like the first time that I read this book, I was hooked from the jump. Garrett and Hannah are both dealing with past traumas and the work they put in to heal from those traumas really made the story emotional and me, invested. There isn’t anything new or original with the storyline but Elle Kennedy does a really good job of pulling this story together anyway. The characters really shine and made the story feel fresh.

I completely forgot that Justin from the books was a football player so of course Hannah had a crush on him because who doesn’t have a giant crush on a football player at that age? Hannah was so normal. She was a college girl who went to class, worked part time jobs to get by, and was too shy to talk to her crush so when the hockey player in her ethics class needs help getting a good grade so that he can keep playing hockey and offers to help her get over being shy so that she can win over her crush, of course she’s in.

Garrett Graham is the captain of the hockey team at Briar University and he needs help with his ethics class. Hannah needs help, he needs help so why can’t they help each other? He was so confident that their arrangement would benefit the both of them that nobody was more surprised than he was when he develops feelings for Hannah. When Hannah starts coming to him for more than just help with getting Justin to notice her, he knows that he is in deep.

Seeing the two of them realize their feelings for each other was a lot of fun. There was a lot of heaviness in the themes explored throughout the book but I really liked that Kennedy balanced all the heavy with lots of humor and characters that were so easy to root for. There’s lots to love about this book and I was really happy that throughout everything, my enjoyment of this book stood the test of time. This book has it all and I’m just as obsessed with this book as I was the first time that I read it. It’s such a good romance and I still recommend the hell out of this book.

Rating

4.5 out of 5

The Off Campus Series

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Review: Off Campus

Posted July 2, 2026 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Off Campus

Series: Off Campus
Starring: Ella Bright, Belmont Cameli, Mika Abdalla, Stephen Kalyn, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Antonio Cipriano
Main Leads: Garrett Graham, Hannnah Wells
Secondary Characters: Allie Hayes, Dean DiLaurentis, John Logan, John Tucker, Justin Kohl, Beau Maxwell
Rating: TV-MA
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tropes: Fake Dating, Tutor Girl, Healing Past Trauma, Sports Romance, Hockey Player, Opposites Attract, College Setting
Release Date: May 13, 2026
Source: Prime Video

A college-set romantic drama chronicling the unexpected love story between a music student and the university’s star hockey player, exploring themes of love and the complexities of adulthood through deep friendships and enduring bonds.

As a huge fan of this books series, I was surprised that I didn’t really feel like watching the show but one of my favorite characters from The Pitt was cast as Tucker so I said, fuck it, why not? I could always use some Nurse Mateo visuals.

It’s been ages since I’ve read these books but I love them so much that I remember the storylines well. There’s a lot that was different from the books to the show but I wasn’t mad about any of it. In fact, I was glad for a lot of those changes. I thought it made the show better and really stand on its own. I didn’t know any of the actors/actresses that were cast as my favorite characters except Jalen Thomas Brooks so I didn’t really pay much attention to them before but I’m paying attention now. I’ve become a fan of their portrayals of the Off Campus folks that I will definitely be tuning in for all seasons until we hopefully get us a Jake Connelly. Please, let there be a Jake Connelly.

I binged this show in a weekend as I was coming off my BTS concert high and I’ve been watching k-dramas for the last few years so all the sex in the beginning took me by surprise but at the end of the day, I’m American, so by episode 2, I was okay with knowing what everyone’s boobs looked like.

I remember being a sucker for the fake dating trope in the books and I thought that it was executed well by Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli. They were such a great Hannah and Garrett and I was hooked from the jump. The way that they handled the scene where Garrett helps Hannah overcome her trauma was such a memorable scene in the books and I thought they handled it with the grace that moment deserved in the show.

Their romance kicks off this series right. Just like with the books, I became attached to these two and was hooked on seeing where their journey ended. I’m glad that they are returning for season 2 and I hope that the producers and writers don’t do to Garrett and Hannah what was done to Simon and Daphne in Bridgerton. I want to see more of these two and I’m looking forward to seeing these two support Allie and Dean next season.

I’m happy that I watched the show. I think the writers did a great job of pulling off each of the storylines. From Hannah and Garrett’s romance, to the friendships between Garrett and his friends and then Hannah and Allie, there was a lot to love. There were a lot of memorable scenes as well. Like when Garrett goes to Dean for advice on how to help Hannah and then when Logan gives Garrett the closed can for Hannah at the party?? I loved those scenes. They also did a really good job of portraying college life in an unapologetic way that I really dug. I also really dug the way that they laid the ground work for Allie and Dean’s season. I’m looking forward to seeing their season as their book was my favorite of the bunch. I love me some Dean DiLaurentis.

I did have some gripes though and all of them had to do with John Logan. I wanted to punch him in the dick so many times. Probably not as many times as my friend Marivel but even though I love Logan, and I know that he was a great friend, it still pissed me off that he went behind Garrett’s back and approached his Dad. And the whole thing with Hunter Davenport annoyed me too and even his continued crush on Hannah, knowing how Garrett felt about Hannah. A lot of those things were annoying as hell but I’m really looking forward to his redemption arc. I’m also really looking forward to meeting Grace Ivers.

Overall, this show did the books justice and I want more. I want more Allie. I want more Tucker…and I’ve been seeing casting choices for Sabrina and I want Dr. Jahadi from The Pitt to be Tucker’s Sabrina…but that’s completely because I wanted them to get together in The Pitt. The whole drama between Dean and Hunter looks promising, it’s another change from the books but again, I’m not mad about it. I really enjoyed the way that this season ended and it’s got me hyped for the next season so I definitely recommend the show. I loved the show so much that I am in the middle of a complete re-read of all of the books and the party really keeps going. This show is a delight.

Rating

4.5 out of 5

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