The Score by Elle Kennedy

Title: The Score (Off-Campus #3)

Author: Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: January 11, 2016

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

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 matter 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 if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the kind 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 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.

In 2015, Elle Kennedy became one of those authors where I drop everything when I get my hands on one of her books. And then I proceed to do nothing else until I’ve finished reading said book. And I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of those books. In fact The Score might just be my new favourite.

Allie might not know what she’s going to do after graduation but she knows one thing for sure: she’s ready to put her broken heart behind her and move forward. The way she figures, rebound sex with someone she couldn’t possibly want to be in a relationship with is the perfect way to do just that. And Dean Di Laurentis is the perfect candidate. Or at least he would have been if he would stop trying to get her back into bed after that first night they spent together. Dean never expected to want more than one night with Allie, he’s not usually one for repeat performances with girls after all. But there’s just something about Allie that makes him want to keep going back for more. If he really wants Allie though, Dean is going to have to go beyond his usual tricks in order to get the girl. 

When I first read The Deal close to a year ago, it was an instant favourite. I mean, how could I not fall in love with Garrett and Hannah? They were just so freaking adorable and perfect and they just put a big, goofy smile on my face. Then I read The Mistake and though I loved it, it didn’t displace The Deal as a favourite. I fully expected things to go the same way with The Score before I started reading. It’s just one of those things, the first book in a series always seems to be my favourite. But I was wrong. I was really, really, really wrong. Because The Score? Totally my favourite out of the three. I did not expect to feel this way about Allie and Dean’s story at all. I mean, I knew I was going to like it, but I had my reservations about what might happen with them. Those reservations went straight out the window about three pages into the book. I got sucked into this story in no time at all. It made me laugh (a lot), put me in a slightly awkward position when I was reading certain parts in public, and definitely broke my heart a couple times along the way. But the end result made it absolutely worth it. And by the way, if you reach the end of this book and don’t immediately need the next one, I don’t understand you. At all. And we might not be able to be friends anymore. (Just kidding. Well, mostly.)

Before reading The Score, Allie was just Hannah’s best friend. I had kind of seen her in passing but didn’t know all that much about her beyond her theater background. Now I can say that Allie is such a relatable character. There were so many times while I was reading that I would think to myself “Yes! This! This is what I mean! Allie gets me!” And nowhere was that more true than when it came to her feelings about casual sex versus sex in a committed relationship. The way she would struggle with the idea of just having casual sex, not because she thought there was anything wrong with girls (or people in general) engaging in casual sex, but because of how the world made her think she should feel about it. That internal struggle just felt so real and so relevant and it’s one that most girls, regardless of their age, but especially when in college, struggle with. Add to that all the other aspects of Allie’s character, and it was pretty much impossible for me not to love her. And don’t even get me started on Dean. Dean hadn’t exactly made a fantastic impression on me in the previous two books. And the first time I saw him in The Score, that impression didn’t exactly improve. But about two chapters later, I was like Allie, and well on my way to falling in love with Dean. Dean just took me completely by surprised. And much like I loved Allie’s inner struggle with casual sex, I absolutely loved Dean’s fierce stance against slut shaming. It was pretty freaking fantastic to see a male character take a stand against it and it only really made me love Dean that much more. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, Hannah and Garrett are still just as adorable as ever.

So The Score? Totally my new favourite Elle Kennedy book. It was just everything to me. Though based on what was revealed at the end of this one, I have a strong feeling that The Goal might give it a run for its money. But for now, I’ll just stick to having ALL the Allie and Dean feels.