I really enjoyed this contemporary hockey romance! The characters development and their relationship throughout was really heartwarming and genuine, I liked that the author didn't rely on the usual tropes and plot twists that you read in books like this, instead there were some really surprising twists and it was a very unique story.

I have read a couple of the books on the previous series, but you could easily read this series with no prior knowledge of Briar U or Elle's previous books.

This was my first experience reading Elle Kennedy as a solo author and unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I was starting to get invested in the characters after the very long introduction to the plot setup, but then the on-page queerphobia & polyphobia started, from the "token" queer character nonetheless, and it left such a bad taste in my mouth I simply did not want to finish the book. Also for a 500-page book to then have such a jump-the-shark style ending when the characters are only 21 and have spent the rest of the book focusing on their athletic dreams was a major eye roll moment. If you have previously read and liked Elle Kennedy's books, I think you will still enjoy this one, as it references past characters (as parents, aunts & uncles to the main female character), but it just wasn't for me.

I forgot how much I enjoyed Elle Kennedys writing until I picked this up. I loved the relationship between Gigi and Ryder and how she managed to get him to open up to her and how they both taught each other it's okay to feel certain emotions. The friendships in here were so good and how they all grew to like each other after spending so long hating each other. I like that we're back seeing the old cast of characters all grown up too and how they're lives are going now. Definitely can't wait to read the rest of the series.

A fun sports romance where both main characters are the hockey stars.
Gigi is daughter to the great Garrett Graham (who appeared in the Off Campus series) and is fighting for a place on Team UsA and Ryder is an excellent hockey player fighting for his place on the Briar U team after merging from another school.
What starts off quite firey soon starts burning in a different way.
It was brilliant to see the next generation are reading and loving Garrett and Hannahs story previously. I loved the fact that this story embraced women's sports and the issues that arise along with that.
The romance was strong with great banter, but the book was a right chunk and possibly could have been slimmed down slightly.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC. I apologise for getting to this so late. They’ve kindly gifted me the second one as well in exchange for my honest opinions. As always my opinions are very honest and I intend no offence to the author herself.

Overall this was a cute college sports romance with a lot of spice. The relationship moved fast but I could feel the chemistry between the characters so it felt right. Ryder is adorable and should be protected at all costs and I’m really looking forward to reading Shane’s story next as I liked his character. There was definitely some setup for the next book in this one which was great because I’m more excited to continue the series now. I’ve never read a next generation romance so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it but I loved the characters in Off Campus so much I thought I’d enjoy reading about their children. And I did for the most part.

Gigi was a so so character for me and I found myself seesawing between liking her and being extremely irked by her. She’s kind, caring and she’s not aloof in any way despite her famous father. However, she can’t sit there and claim she “never uses her father’s clout” when she’s living in the best dorms courtesy of her father, has access to private solo rink sessions courtesy of her father and gets “special permission” for things that others don’t get courtesy of her father. Talking of Garrett, I thought he was a grade A asshole in this book which was disappointing because I really liked him in The Deal. It was clear that fame had gotten to his head and he was rude, snobby and just plain arrogant. I couldn’t stand him. Hannah was her adorable self which was refreshing but wow Garrett could use a bit of a reality check. Back to Gigi, I didn’t like how she pushed Ryder to talk about his traumatic past when he was clearly not comfortable talking about it. Calling him by his first name just because SHE felt he should use it was kind of shitty. There was also the fact that she seemed to care more about her ex’s feelings than Ryder’s and was still doing everything Case told her to do to “spare his feelings” despite him cheating on her.

I wish we got a bit more of Gigi’s hockey in the book. We saw some of her games but Ryder’s portions were a lot more hockey focused. There was also a weird scene involving Dean giving Gigi a family size pack of condoms which gave creepy uncle vibes and genuinely made me feel a bit sick.

If you loved Off Campus though I would definitely recommend this. You don’t get to see a ton of the other characters (apart from appearances from Hannah and Garrett), they are briefly mentioned but it was a fun time overall. Definitely check trigger warnings though because the topics discussed in this are HEAVY. This was released last year on 31st October.

The queen of the hockey romance didn’t disappoint! So good to see the new generation at Briar as well as the familiar returning faces!

I do love a hockey romance but I admit I was quite apprehensive going into this due to it's length however I was very pleasantly surprised.

In this book we join Gigi who is a great hockey player but to make the levels she wants to - she needs the help of Luke Ryder. Luke is new to the school and has not made the best first impression. Gigi doesn't want to fall for the bad boy at school but there's a chemistry that just cannot be ignored.

I absolutely loved the build of the romance, but I liked that there was more to the story than that. They both had their own hockey goals, families, friendships etc and I really cannot wait to continue this series.

Elle Kennedy is the Queen of writing college hockey romances!

I loved Ryder and Gigi, their banter was superb! I laughed constantly! I felt there was good character development and I enjoyed seeing cameos from other favourite couples from Elle Kennedy’s series.

This is by no means a slow burn which means we get to see the main characters get together quite early on. While I am all for the buildup, it means we get to see them together for longer so that is a plus. My heart absolutely broke for Ryder’s back story so now I think ‘found family’ is slowly becoming my favourite trope.

Overall a fun, fast paced, banter, 4/5, spicy hockey rom com and a must-read if you love Elle Kennedy’s books.

Loved this book so much! As a huge fan of the Off Campus series, I was so excited to read this Elle Kennedy spinoff. Absolutely exceeded expectations and I can’t wait for the rest of the series.

I really enjoyed this book. Some aspects of it felt like it was YA but other felt like it was aimed at an adult audience but either way I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed the friendships as much as I did the romantic relationships. I know hockey is a popular theme at the moment but this is the first I have read and I would definitely look for more work by the author.

This was a delightful dual POV romance featuring Gigi, an aspiring Olympic hockey player, and Ryder, the grumpy new co-captain of Briar's Men Hockey Team. Their arrangement to help each other professionally develops their relationship from rivals to friends with benefits, then to a deep connection. The humour, steamy moments and well-rounded characters enhance the story, making the reader laugh out loud and connect deeply with Gigi's determination and Ryder's eventual vulnerability. Though some parts felt drawn out, the overall experience was captivating.

Elle Kennedy has very quickly become an auto author for me. This new campus series has hooked me just like Avalon Bay! The characters are perfection and my glee to find out that this is next generation for the Off Campus/Briar U series, which I haven't had a chance to read yet makes me so happy. Gigi, her family, Ryder and all the guys on the team are so well set up for future books in the series. I'm happy to dive straight into The Dixon Rule and love the set up at the end.

Out of the two of us, you are much more likely to find Kirsty reading a sports romance than me! (I think she’s probably read Kulti by Mariana Zapata about 9 times!). I decided to give this one a go though after reading Good Girl Complex last year and reminding myself that I love Elle Kennedy’s writing!

This story is the first in the next generation series from Elle’s earlier Off Campus series. I tried not to spend too much time trying to work out the timeline because it was making me feel absolutely ancient! If you’ve read the Off Campus series I’m sure you’ll enjoy the nod to all the original characters. Garrett Graham’s daughter Gigi is our female main character in this book alongside college hockey star Luke Ryder.

Hockey is a big focus in this book, and even though I have no understanding of the rules I didn’t feel like that detracted from my enjoyment at all. I liked the reference to One Tree Hill where Luke and his fellow co-captain are thrown off the team bus in a forced bonding exercise (OTH might need to be my next binge rewatch now!). Luke’s character probably goes through the biggest changes in this book as he comes to terms with his family story with a new light shone upon it.

I went on to read The Dixon Effect pretty much straight after this and I’m already looking forward to the next in the series.

This was a cute college romance between Gigi and Ryder which dealt with some harder hitting issues.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

I don’t remember the last time I laughed as much reading a book as I did with this one. The Graham Effect is the first installment in a new college romance spin-off of the Off-Campus and Briar U series that takes place 20 year after The Deal. It follows Gigi and Ryder: Gigi is a hockey player at Briar who is trying to qualify for the Team USA in the Olympics, she is also the daughter of Hannah and Garret (the main characters of The Deal). Ryder is a hockey player whose team recently merged with Briar (his former rivals) and who is trying to get a coaching spot at a summer hockey camp organized by Garret Graham and Jake Connelly.

They met a few years ago, when they were both teenagers, and they didn’t make the best impression on each other. But now they decide to make a deal to help each other in their hockey careers, which inevitably leads them to start spending more time together. Ryder is also dealing with tension between the two sides within his team and is, despite his reluctance, named co-captain with one of his former rivals, who turns out to be Gigi’s ex-boyfriend.

I flew through this book in a couple of days. Gigi and Ryder kept me glue to my Kindle from beginning to end. I loved their relationship, how they went to helping each other to friends with benefits to lovers. There was no unnecessary drama to move the plot forward, I think everything happened in a very realistic way and I loved the honesty and communication between them.

This is truly one of the best romance books I’ve ever read and my favorite by Elle Kennedy. She has written a very cute and healthy romance story with moments of humor—seriously, I laughed a lot with this one—but also dealing with serious themes such as grief, trauma and rage. It probably didn’t need to be almost 500 pages long, but I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to read more books in this new series.

I was a bit sceptical at first as I loved the off campus series and didn’t think it would be the same, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Getting to see Hannah and Garrett as parents is everything to me, but getting to meet Gigi and Ryder was so much fun.

Gigi is such a lovable character, a breath of fresh air. I really enjoyed her love for hockey and how she is determined to be the best at her sport on her own without the advantages of her fathers name.
And Ryder! Well I loved him from the get go. Reading his back story, I just wanted to wrap him in a warm hug. Poor little Ryder.

But I’m glad he found Gigi, they needed each other so much. And their relationship is literally the best, very mature and grown up considering they’re only 21. I do also think the Graham family are definitely what Ryder needed in his life. I adore the mother/son relationship that’s blossoming between Hannah and Ryder, he definitely needs a motherly figure in his life after everything he has gone through! I love that for him so much!

Their meet-cute was funny and their banter throughout the entire book was so entertaining. I loved how every time Ryder messed up in some way he would bring Gigi flowers that he stole from someone’s garden or whatever, then proceeded to use some lame excuse of a random national holiday no one has ever heard of. These two had me giggling, kicking and screaming with massive heart eyes all the way through. I love them, and hope to see more of them in future books!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and little brown book group for this arc.

This boom was perfect perfect perfect! Everything I wanted anymore.
After finishing Off Campus series recently I was very much ready for this book. Can’t wait for the next book

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I was not expecting this book to be as spicy as it was! A college hockey romance story with so much more under the surface. I loved the connection between Gigi and Luke and also with her dad. I’m about to start the next book in the series. Hopefully it is just as good. 4 stars

A great romance book, I really enjoyed the tropes and found myself rooting for the couple! Thank you net galley for the review copy!

I absolutely love Elle Kennedy's writing. The Deal is one of my all time favourite books and so I was obviously really looking forward to this book. I loved the characters and the development within their own character as well as within the relationship. Loved that there was no third act break, and that the miscommunication was realistic and was also resolved quite fast. I will say, for quite a big book the ending still managed to feel slightly rushed, and I wasn't really sure how to feel about the ending as I didn't feel that it really fit.