by Elle Kennedy
Series: Off-Campus #3
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: January 11th 2016
Source: ARC from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★
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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.
It's taken me more than 6 months to write a review for The Score. Most of you know just how much love I have for the Off-Campus series. But even before going into the book, I was nervous because Dean's heroine wasn't the girl I wanted him to be with. Still, I gave it a shot when I received an ARC and at the time that I read the book I was completely devastated by a certain event in the book, which is why I didn't review it. But a couple of weeks ago, I picked up The Score again, and I'm glad I gave it a second chance, because I liked it better this time around.
Let me get this out of the way, as excited as I was for Dean's book, he's my least favorite male lead of this series. I'm typically uncomfortable with manwhore heroes, but there are exceptions that I can tolerate. In the beginning especially, I wasn't able to fall for him as I did Garrett, but over the course of the book, as her pursued Allie, he grew on me. By the end, I was definitely more in love with him than I did at the beginning. Dean was a typical manwhore college frat guy on the surface with his giant ego, ability to charm the panties off girls by just looking at them and his arrogance. What I really liked about Dean though was when he allowed his sweeter and more romantic side to emerge. It's fun to watch this arrogant guy having to actually do some work in order to get the girl. I also really loved seeing his growth throughout the book.
As I mentioned earlier, I was upset that Dean's heroine wasn't Sabrina, because these two definitely had something going on in the previous book. However, I absolutely adored Allie. She was Hannah's adorable best friend in the first book, but here we get to see so much more of the kind of person she is. She's an honest and no-nonsense sort of heroine. I also loved her Allie's relationship with her dad who was ill. She was a caring and devoted daughter who would do anything for her father. At the beginning of The Score, she has just broken up with her on-and-off boyfriend, so she's very reluctant to let Dean into her heart, especially because of his reputation.
These two together, were on fire. Elle Kennedy is great at many things, but her ability to write chemistry between her couples is the best part of her books. As I expected, Allie and Dean's relationship progression was done really well. You get to watch the two of them go from this bickering couple to two people who would do anything for each other. It's sweet, sexy and oh so satisfying for readers. And don't get me started on the sexy times scenes. Phew! Both Allie and Dean are super comfortable and confident with their bodies and their love for sex, so you can just imagine how hot their bedroom scenes were. You'll need a cold shower after reading this book!
I guess my main issue with The Score has to be the big thing that happens towards the end which causes Allie and Dean's separation. It broke my heart, but I also thought it was used as a very random plot device. Still, it was emotional and really painful. And watching Dean's reaction to it and him pushing away Allie was very sad. Thankfully, he came to his senses quickly! As always Elle Kennedy's writing is solid as ever. She's just so good at writing addicting stories. I'm always craving more books by her!
Even though The Score wasn't my favorite book in the Off-Campus series, I'm still very much in love with this series. With the major revelation at the end of The Score, there's no doubt, I'm absolutely dying to get my hands on The Goal. I NEED it to be September already! If you love sexy heroes, smart and feisty heroines and romances that burn through the pages, you must pick up this series.
Are you a fan of the Off-Campus series? Has re-reading ever changed your opinion of a book?
Let me know in the comments below!
