FEBRUARY FOLLOWER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY

It’s that time of the month again!! I host a follower appreciation giveaway at the end of each month as an extra thank you to every Book Vigilante Reviews follower. Every comment, like, share, email, book recommendation, etc… I all love and appreciate and it’s just so great to be able to chat with like-minded readers about books! So anyways for this giveaway, one winner will receive a paperback of choice from the list provided.

How do I decide what goes on the list? Well, it is a compilation of all the books I’ve read, reviewed, and blogged about each month – it doesn’t matter if I loved the book or disliked the book. Every book (except for books I started and did not finish) I’ve read, reviewed, and blogged that month will be on the list.

**Note: Some book titles do not have paperback options available. In the event you choose that book, I will gift you an ebook copy instead. If a book hasn’t been released yet, paperback or ebook copy will be delivered on release date.**

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 andmake 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.

If only there were more NA romances like this one! This book completely charmed me, and is probably one of the best college romances I’ve read in a while now. While the premise isn’t anything I haven’t read before, I felt like the author took the idea and shaped it into her own unique tale, so trust me when I say it’s not your typical NA romance riddled with common clichés. This book was definitely one of those unexpected gems: the more I read, the more I fell in love with the delightful main characters, the witty banter, and the steamy and impassioned romance. Elle Kennedy, you’ve got yourself a new fan!

A big reason to why this book was such a winner for me was the hero Garrett. It may be just me, but I’m a little tired of heroes who are bad boys and jerks…I mean, give me a guy who’ll actually live up to the title of ‘hero’ you know? And Garrett really did. He’s a sports jock who’s not only dedicated to playing hockey, but also in getting his grades up as well and has such a fun-loving, caring personality. It’s really hard not to fall for him! When his grades drop though, and his hockey-playing goal is in jeopardy, he finds the class smartie to tutor him, leading him right to the heroine Hannah.

Studious and practical, Hannah is pursuing her goals as a songwriter/singer and is pretty confident in all areas of her life, except her sex life that is. She’s finally found one guy who catches her interest but with absolutely zero seduction skills she’s at a loss. When Garrett barges into her life asking for her to tutor him, they agree on a deal: she’ll tutor him so he can bring up his grades and be able to keep playing hockey, and in exchange he’ll pretend-date her to catch her crush’s attention.

I LOVE that there’s no insta-love, and heck, the attraction didn’t settle in until later too. Hannah and Garrett’s relationship is very much a gradual build, going from barely acquaintances to tentative friends to an explosive couple. But I’ll also admit that in the very beginning of this book, I wasn’t fully into the story and the characters until later. I didn’t like how judgmental Hannah was towards Garrett in the start, partially because her crush was in the same position (both sports players) as him and she chose to stereotype Garrett while glorifying the other guy, even when Garrett’s actions were always honorable and meant well. But as I read on, my dislike for Hannah thawed out and I ended up really loving her character. I liked that despite her very strong personality, she had this layer of vulnerability and her backstory (actually, both hers and Garrett’s) hurt to read. And of course, I loved Garrett’s patience and understanding with her, and how he propelled their relationship forward one step at a time.

I also appreciated that there wasn’t any contrived drama, which almost always exists in the NA books I read. Any and all conflict in this story was handled well, very thought-out and dare I say, practical too. I love that the author doesn’t follow the norm and to balance out the angst, she’s got a wonderful sense of humor that’s evident in the story. Almost everything I highlighted in the book were passages of snarky/witty/laugh out loud hilarious banter that made me laugh the entire time I read. And the locker scene near the end of the book? Freaking EPIC I tell you!

Much like the way Hannah and Garrett surprised each other and everyone else when they fell in love, this book also surprised me in the best of ways.

Love NA romance? You’ll hit gold with this book.

Not a fan of NA romance? Take a chance and let this book work its charm on you too.

The Deal is a NA romance standalone and the first book in the Off-Campus series. Consecutive books will be about side characters.

Rating: 4.5 stars!!