REVIEW POST - Book 31 of 2024

The Dixon Rule by Elle Kennedy

I... don't know what to say. I do not have the right words to sum up this book and all the feelings it made me feel.

I love Elle and the entrie Off Campus/Briar world is my Roman Empire. But this book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Elle, this book! From Coach Jenson to being Coach Jenson, to the cameos of the OG Briar Boys on the ice at one point. The entire scene with the dads and their kids had me HOWLING.

But for the first time ever I sobbed, hard, during an Elle book. You finished me off. I never really cry at books that much, and this one got me. Sandwiched by living Diana's fear along with her. I don't often feel uneasy reading a book, but I had to put it down and take a break. This woman knows how to write emotion.

What Elle Kennedy does goes WAY beyond hockey romance. It rips apart the raw feeling that humans have and deals with it in a way we all know and relate to and still has your ribs hurting from laughing just a few pages later.

This book! Elle, thank you!! And now I have to wait a million years for the next Briar installment.

PS...For the first time ever, I have no favourite quotes to share for an EK book. Because that's how quickly I ate this up and how absorbed I was in this whole story 😅

Thank you Elle Kennedy and Net Galley for this ARC

“𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴”

This book was an absolute blast. Shane and Diana had me swooning, giggling all over the place. I always get such a serotonin boost reading an Elle Kennedy book and I eat them up every single time. They always have the perfect amount of banter and then the spice be spicing in this book. Freaking obsessed with this one.

✨sports romance
✨enemies to lovers
✨fake dating
✨friends with benefits
✨forced proximity

thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for an e-arc copy of this book!

I have read a few books by Elle Kennedy and always rate them five stars. This book, however, deserves more. It really feels like she stepped it up with this one. It's funny, sexy and heartbreaking and had me laughing and crying with all the feelings in between. The book deals with some difficult subjects but is dealt with sensitively and helps the characters to realise their true feelings for each other. I can't wait for this to come out - I need a physical copy, too!

Elle Kennedy is the Goddess of hockey romance and no one can convince me otherwise.
As always, a pleasure to spend my Sunday afternoon reading yet another Briar book.
The characters in the book had such depth I was a little bit surprised - Elle reached a whole new lever for me.
An Insta-buy author, if you ask me.

This is my first Elle Kennedy book and I heard such great things about her books and wanted to give this one a go!
For the first half of the book, I was actually really disappointed as I didn't feel like I was enjoying any of the characters. I found Diana really annoying and her personality wasn't for me however, as her and Shane's relationship developed, I started to enjoy it a lot more.
There was a lot of chemistry between both of them and you can feel it throughout, especially with the spicy scenes.
The banter sometimes made me actually laugh and having the side story of the neighbours created a really good dynamic especially with the HOA meetings. The first half of the book is leading up to a dance competition but once the competition happened, there wasn't any other mention of it which I felt was a bit strange considering this was the main story line. I don't think the story actually needed it as there was a great story line without it.
The development of Diana and Percy was a massive part which made me feel like I may have misunderstood Diana from the beginning. With their relationship being shown as great through the first half and then finding out how Percy was putting on this front really shocked me and took the book in a completely different direction. Highlighting a subject like this shows how great of a writer Elle really is. I found that she covered a lot of really important topics like domestic abuse, anxiety and parental death so if these are some triggers, please be warned.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and it definitely makes me want to pick up another book by Elle.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Group for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. Views are my own.

𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧…
🏒 enemies to lovers
💓 forced proximity (neighbours)
🏒 fake dating with benefits
💓 sports romance

𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨…
This book was so much fun! 🫶🏼 Shane & Diana are both quite full-on, so I think it takes longer to warm to them than Gigi & Ryder - but I loved them by the end and their relationship was so perfect!

Shane & Diana’s chemistry is off the charts from page one 🔥 and seeing them begrudgingly accept that their feelings for each other are the opposite of fake had me giddy 🥰 They really do bring out the best in each other & support each other so much 🫶🏼

There were a couple of side plots which made this much more serious and hard hitting than most of Elle’s books, and I think she could have explored them a bit more, which could have made this a 5★ read for me.

I absolutely loved being back with Gigi & Ryder, and there are more cameos from Elle’s earlier series as well! Also can we please have Will & Beckett next..? 🥺

I'm not kidding when I say I have read every Elle Kennedy novel, so I was beyond delighted to have been provided with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Surprise surprise, it's another five star belter of a book. I don't know what magic Elle weaves into her books, but I am enchanted every time.

I loved Diana and Shane, I love enemies to lovers. I loved Dianas feistiness, and Shane is hilarious throughout. Diana and Shanes weird senses of humour had me laughing, they're great!

This is not a fluffy book - there was some serious dark and sad themes explored throughout, which were well handled and well written.

I loved the nods to the Off Campus and Briar U series. Getting to continue stories in that world is so much fun.

A brilliant, sexy, funny novel. Elle did it again!

I LOVE Elle Kennedy with all my heart, but I've discovered that I'm not always a fan of individual characters. Diana annoyed me from the first page, and I never really warmed up to her. The book was also sooo long, and there were way too many different things happening.

It was fun to see some familiar characters (although it's possibly reaching the point now where there are too many characters to properly follow?) and the spice was excellent, as usual. I just found this one a bit harder to get through than usual!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This book was a lot heavier than I was expecting and could probably have done with some content warnings beforehand. However, I thought that the heavier subjects that were dealt with were handled with the necessary care and did add to the overall quality of the book.

I loved the relationship between Shane and Diana - I thought that the banter between them was top tier and I loved how it evolved as their relationship changed throughout the course of the book. The character development of both of them was also good and how it made them stronger as both individuals and as a couple.

Also, it's always a good time when Garret Graham and Jake Connelly show up.

4.75 Stars

Diana + Shane

We already met them in the first book - as Gigi and Ryder's BFFs.
Shane just moved into Diana's building. His parents bought him the apartment - Diana inherited hers from an aunt.
Diana hates serial-one-night-stand-er Shane - even though he's hot as hell.
Shane is very intrigued by this girl.
And he doesn't want to be that icky guy everyone thinks he is. He wants a real girlfriend. But nobody would ever believe him after the way he behaved this last year.

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN ....

══════════════════

Back at Briar U!
I just loved how this book almost doesn't have any hockey in it. It's the summer - so no hockey - yay!
I loved reding this. It was adorable and sweet and so funny and collegy and ... Ballroom Dancy - just great.
I kinda hated on Diana a tiny bit here and there in the beginning. She is so not nice to our darling Shane!
But of course it won't take him long to make her like him... at least we hope!
This was a super sweet and funny and sexy new adult romance with some super heavy parts too. Those part added some angsty suspense and lots of tears.
I really enjoyed reading this. I didn't even mind the bit of hockey we got. LOL.
Can't wait to see who of all the people we'll get in the next book!

► THE DIXON RULES was an adorable & funny & sexy & emotional New Adult Hockey/College/Dancing Romance! Run to your nearest book dealer for your own Shane - this one is MINE!

5 ⭐️

This book has gotten me a little emotional, so I shall just start by saying I loved it. I didn't think the Graham effect could be beaten since I gave it 5 stars, but this may edge it out.

Diana and Shane nail the enemies to lovers with a side of fake dating trope. The comedic value from their early exchanges was brilliant, and I loved their interactions with their neighbours.

But the book also does a great job with grief and anxiety. I did find the domestic abuse storyline for Diana difficult to read at times, but that is due to personal experiences. I personally felt that Elle handled those moments and dianas' inner thoughts in the aftermath very well.

I enjoyed the dance parts of the book, too. It was a great way to show the sexual chemistry between our two leads. It was nice to see what Gigi and ryder got up to after the events of the Graham effect, and im sure there's going to be another book coming. Possibly blake and the football player or a story for Will and Beckett.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Elle Kennedy, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

sʜᴇ ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢ
ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɴᴋ
ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ

I don’t know what Elle Kennedy puts in her books but this one is no exception. I was giggling and kicking my feet for half of it as well as crying my eyes out.

Diana hates Shane with passion and Shane loves to annoy Diana.
But once he moved in the apartment just next door from her, they are forced to see each other. And they build this weir friendship that turns into something more. It was so cute to see them watching her favourite reality show together and him secretly loving it😏

His ex-girl comes with her new boyfriend so Shane decides to ask Diana to be her fake girlfriend. She agreed for different reasons and also ask for a very specific favour in return.
But of course feeling starts to get involved and it doesn’t feel fake anymore.

I loved loved their bickering so much. And watching them growing as characters.

Also seeing the gang was so cool 😍 Gigi and Ryder and Garret. I always love when we get to see characters that we loved in past books.

This might be the first book from Elle Kennedy where I cried like a baby.
Shana and Diana are both great characters and they have such a huge impact on each other’s lives.
But those last chapters destroyed me 😭

Also let’s acknowledge chapters 50 and die. That chapter was 🥵

In this book you will have
🏒Hockey Player x Cheerleader
🏒Fake Dating
🏒Neighbours
🏒9 inch (iykyk)
🏒Sport Romance
🏒Fling Forever
🏒He submits an application to be her friend with benefits
🏒Friends with Benefits
🏒Archenemies
🏒A really hot dance scene 💓

I’ve never read a sports based romance, so I was skeptical at first. And when I first started, chapters that seemed to go on forever, and quite a slow pace, I was sure they weren’t for me. HOWEVER, overall, 10/10 story, 10/10 spice, all round love.

I was definitely not prepared for the level of spice in this compared to Elle Kennedy’s previous books I’ve read!

At first I found it really difficult to connect with or understand Diana - it felt very much like a “why do you hate this person” enemies to lovers, and I still can only seem to think that it’s because he was sleeping his way through the cheer team during his fuckboy era. Which feels incredibly petty, and a bit of a dumb excuse to hate someone.

However, as the book developed, I found myself coming to like Diana and Shane, even though she was still incredibly petty with removing him from the group chat.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the “third act break up” even though it was only really a half break up. I’m not a fan of the trope anyway, but especially Diana’s reaction to Shane leaving - it felt way too serious for something not that serious. I also wasn’t a fan of the forgiving scene either - it felt way too easy. If Diana was really that mad, heartbroken, upset etc about Shane choosing Lynsey over her (even if only for a chat and a drink), shouldn’t she be more mad and unforgiving that?

I really loved the epilogue being text conversations rather than prose, and sticking with what we’ve seen throughout - showing out loved characters stay the same even when they’ve gone from hate to love. I really enjoyed all non-prose in the book too - the text conversations throughout, the enemies lists, and most importantly, the FWB application.

Basically, I loved it. Neither are straight forward characters and both face some very difficult challenges throughout. It also includes all of my favourite tropes - enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating, best friends husbands best friend (or whatever it’s called).

4.5 ⭐️

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and of course the author, Elle Kennedy, for this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of The Dixon Rule.

Wow this book!! Omg Elle Kennedy strikes again with another fabulous hockey romance. I recently read The Graham Effect which is the first book in this series and while I really liked it, The Dixon Rule was so much better in my opinion. I loved the characters! Diana was a fab FMC and Shane was so swoon worthy! This book had forced proximity, enemies to lovers, fake dating and many more great tropes.

Their banter was unmatched and I found myself laughing out loud numerous times. Not only was I feeling so many happy emotions but the end of this book had me in tears! I became so attached to these characters and their relationship. The lengths they would go to for each other was so heartwarming! Their chemistry was off the charts!

Elle Kennedy is amazing at having the romance at the forefront but also having other storylines going on throughout the book so there is lots to be entertained by. This book is on the longer side for a romance but I genuinely didn’t feel bored.

This book releases May 14th and I would 100% recommend picking it up!

Oh, would you look at that. A 5 star rating from me AND: NO 3RD ACT BREAK UP.
A win on all accounts!

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and it was banger.
I absolutely LOVED this! Highly enjoyed it.

The banter and humour was exquisite and was pretty much constant throughout the whole book. I caught myself laughing more than I thought and expected to.
And it was not exclusive to Diana and Shane, but also to basically every character they talked to, which made it all so much better.

I loved how open Diana and Shane were with each other, especially regarding sex. Good for them!

There were, what I consider, minor spoilers regarding book one of the series, The Graham Effect (which I haven’t read yet, but definitely will). And there were some nodds towards what I assume is the Off-Campus Series (which I also haven’t read but now need to read as well!), which was nice.

I’m excited to catch up on the Off-Campus series as well as any future books of the Campus Diaries series!

The Dixon Rule by Elle Kennedy
Rating: 4.5/5
Tropes: Fake relationship, slow burn, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers.

The Dixon Rule is book 2 of the Campus Diaries series, but can still be read as a standalone.

Diana Dixon’s summer schedule is packed and not to be messed with, but when Shane Lindley moves into the same building as her, she has to lay down the law on her end. However, when his ex returns, he proposes a fake relationship with Diana to make his ex jealous and well… things just heat up from there.

Elle Kennedy is a fantastic writer and she definitely hit it out the park with The Dixon Rule. This book was just sparks and spice from the first page, until the last. The tension was perfect. I literally could not stop reading it.

If you’re looking for a hot, spicy read, then this book is definitely a must-read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group|Piatkus for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Okay, I have a lot of feelings about this book, but I will start it off with this. I didn't feel the chemistry that everyone else seems to have until much much later in the book. And I wish this could have fixed my feelings towards the book, but it didn't unfortunately.

There were a lot of twists in this book that I feel were actually realistic because you really never know who someone truly is, no matter how long you've known them. People will always present their best side forward. This is a good lesson for a lot of people to take in real life too.

NOW, I thought this book was painfully slow at first and I did not enjoy the writing as much (maybe the writing style was just not for me), but then it suddenly picks up pace towards the end out of nowhere and rushed A LOT of plot elements at once and it felt very clunky. For me, this did not read well.

A win though, there was no excessive drama or miscommunication to a drastic level, and I genuinely enjoyed it! It was refreshing to see that. Imagine that an author writing a realistic and mature dynamic... wild. Elle Kennedy you're an icon for that!

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 Stars (rounded up to 4)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶.5

💜Fake dating
💜Sports romance
💜Friends with benefits
💜Sunshine x sunshine


After reading The Graham Effect last year, I thought it couldn't get any better, but The Dixon Rule proved me wrong. Shane and Diana totally won me over. From start to finish, the story had me hooked and rooting for them. The chemistry between the characters was electric.

When they agree to fake date, they end up spending more time together and start seeing sides of each other they hadn't noticed before. That's when the chemistry between them becomes hard to deny.

I think the story flowed perfectly, and as they got closer, each supported the other's interests, and I loved that.

The story also tackles some heavy themes, but I believe Elle handled them perfectly. The last 20% took me on an emotional rollercoaster, and I cried. But don't let that scare you, this is a beautiful story that completely captured my heart.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK, for sending me this ARC.

ARC

Elle Kennedy has done it again this book was so good!! I love Shane and Diana. They have amazing chemistry and banter but also they are so soft and cute. I love all they friendships in this book and can’t wait to see who’s book is next!

4.5 Stars
The last line of this book was my favourite thing ever - I just have to start this review saying that because it genuinely made me laugh out loud. Absolutely perfect epilogue!
As for my thoughts on the rest of this book, my love for Elle Kennedy's hockey romances continues! I'm absolutely obsessed with the banter and sassiness that is Diana and Shane's relationship. Whilst I did think her dislike for him at the beginning of the book was a little bit excessive, I loved the time it took to turn into something more. As a reader, I got to spend a proper amount of time in that 'hatred' period so that their relationship could develop properly, which is something I honestly don't see enough. It also made a lot of sense that these two would start as a very physical relationship and feelings would grow from there, given the animosity they had toward each other at the beginning of the book. Plus the spice was great! As for the rest of their relationship, I loved that the banter continued and the characters remained sassy and continued to give each other hell. It's too common an occurrence in romance that the relationship loses all of its back-and-forth when the couple gets together, but that definitely didn't happen in this book! I also loved how they supported each other through those more difficult subject matters, especially the domestic violence and how Shane not only supported Diana but encouraged her to report it. It's a really strong message to send, and I'm glad that this book spent time delving into that a little bit. The section on grief was definitely unexpected, but it hit hard. It was yet another focus of the story that I think was really beautifully handled, taking me through all the different stages and the guilt/regret that a person can feel when something like this happens to someone they love. As for Diana and Shane as characters, I think they were both really strong and well-rounded. I liked that I got plenty of time not only in each of their POVs, but also of them spending time with friends so that I could really figure out who they were and what they valued. The found family built in these hockey romances are absolutely to die for. All in all, I really loved this book and I can't wait to find out who the next couple will be! I'll be eagerly awaiting a sequel!