Let's Talk 'The Deal' by Elle Kennedy | Booked & Busy w/ Olivia Ponton

Hi, angels. Welcome back to another episode of Bookton Vizzy, happy Valentine's Day. In an honor of Valentine's Day, we are going to be talking about a very lovely W. Romance book called The Deal by L. Kennedy. This was a book that honestly was requested numerous amounts of times to chat about on Bookton Vizzy, and I thought it would be perfect because it's pink and it's Valentine's Day and it's love. And honestly, it's like a little cringe, so I feel like that all wraps into Valentine's Day as a holiday. Due to feedback from all of you guys, you want less of a synopsis about the book and rather my deep intellectual thoughts about it. So that's what we're going to do a little bit of today. So incredibly, incredibly quick synopsis. We have Hannah and Garrett. I hope you can see that on the camera. Basically, this is like a fake dating trope book. And honestly, when I first heard about it, I was like, I just don't know if I'm going to like that, because I normally don't read books that are happening in like a regular college experience. I'm also read like a dark academia book, which is like college, but not really. So Hannah Wells, the very classic smart girl who's gorgeous, and she decides to tutor Garrett because he is flunking out of school. And if he flunks out of school, he loses his hockey scholarship. Do you get what I'm going at? And in exchange for Hannah tutoring Garrett, Garrett starts to hang around her a little bit more often to get other guys to notice her, because Hannah's kind of like nerdy girl. And Hannah really wants this kind of Justin. So in a logical boy brain, Garrett's like, oh, if I hang out with you, that means Justin's going to want you. I don't really know how that makes sense, but it does. So transparently, there is a mutual benefit in the beginning. I think to start right off in the beginning of the book, when Hannah is working at the diner and some, I don't know if I can say this, but some pole walks in and it ends up being Garrett. That kind of like sets you up for a bit of enemies to lovers. And I'm not entirely sure if you could say this trope is an enemies to lovers book. I just like breathing and I just see like little incurrence of Hannah just being like a really sassy girl. And Garrett just like kind of eats it up. I think from the author's perspective, having this quote like deal sets you up for a perfect romantic setting, because you have this very classic trope of her being like this smart, you know, cute shy girl. And then he's like the jock who everyone loves and everyone wants, but everyone wants him besides her. And personally, while I was reading this book, I feel like I almost had a sense of like cringe. And I just was kind of like, okay, there were certain parts of it where I was like, this is just like a little too unrealistic and just a little dramatic. And honestly a little weird at times. But I think for an overall series to have that aspect of it is very intriguing, especially for book talk. I mean, this was recommended to me from book talk by numerous numerous people. So I think this book is the perfect one for someone that is just getting into reading. Because I feel like it's still very light-hearted. There is some trigger warnings. There are some trauma. So I think it's the perfect amount of like lightness, but it also gets into the characters and their depth and why they do the things that they do. I think also her anxiety around intimacy makes this book a very light-hearted breed rather than someone like Anna Huang or Colin Hoover or some of those other books that just have like a lot of sexiness to it, which is like great for Valentine's Day. But maybe not for this book. I think where they have it is like that's enough. You know, we'll cut it off there. I think Hannah is honestly a very guarded human being after the trauma that she went through. I'm going to put a trigger warning right here. We're talking about roofing. So if that is something that you cannot watch, please skip forward a little bit. But I think when Hannah is opening up to the readers before she opens up to Garrett, we get to see like a sneak peek and behind the curtain look of, you know, why she acts the way that she is and why she is so guarded with her feelings and how she doesn't date anyone or talk to anyone. I think the root of it is from what she has gone through in the past and how she's scared to trust anyone to be quite transparent. And then I think on the flip end, Garrett has a lot of insecurities. I think they're based and rooted from the father because the father is just terrible, absolutely terrible. And then going off of that, Hannah's acceptance of Garrett in her life takes a really long time because of what has happened to her and her level of consent that she's willing to kind of give to a guy. Obviously at the beginning of the book, she wants Justin. He's like this golden retriever boy that she just thinks is like super hot and he plays hockey and she ends up actually scoring a date with him and he pays attention to her after Garrett is giving her constant affection and attention at parties and class and whatnot. And then we all know that Hannah eventually turns him down in kind of a weird way, cancels on him, skips out on it, whatever you want to call it. And she does that because I think she starts developing feelings for Garrett and she no longer wants to approach someone who she had to kind of play a game with in their head and her head to even get him to pay attention to her. Whereas with Garrett, I feel like Anna said it's kind of the same thing because they were fake dating, but I digress. And I think Hannah's relationship with consent honestly affects the pacing of the book because at the beginning, you know, it's a fake dating situation where they don't actually like each other, they kind of hate each other. I think she kind of hates him. I don't think he hates her that much. And then as readers, we find out why she acts the way that she does or why she says certain things. And then once she tells Garrett, I feel like that's the moment where all vulnerabilities are just online and she's, you know, trusting him with this like deep, deep, deep secret and showcasing to him that she is now fully trusting him. And I think we know that because the peanut colata scene in the bar and she just gets like, a beliverated with him. And then for her, after she was ruved, she didn't really drink. So for her to have this big moment of her going to the bar and getting super drunk off of peanut coladas and trusting that Garrett is going to take care of her and take her home, that's like full trust you could have in a human being. Like if you're someone that goes out in parties and the first time you have like a man there or someone that is in your life that is kind of like a protector of you going out with them for the first time ever is kind of like a, ooh, this is nice. And going off of that, I feel like Hannah is asking for a lot throughout this entire book. But I never feel like it gets to the point where it's too much. And I think that is because of Garrett transparently and for him being so open and honestly, he gets to a point where he is her little golden retriever and he just wants to make her the happiest girl in the world. So having him be there for her and just like the little moments like when they fall asleep watching the TV together or this little slow moments where they're tutoring and they just like, there's like that crazy amount of tension. I feel like Garrett always makes her feel incredibly safe. I also think this specific book has a level of almost realness to it because as someone who is reading it, I feel like I can relate to Hannah in a lot of ways, maybe not the college aspect but the things that she's going through and the level that you have to kind of like open up yourself to want something very traumatic happens to you. Like having that first person come back into your life after said thing happens to you is very scary. And I feel like El Kennedy wrote it pretty well. Again, everyone kind of goes through different situations especially when they're coming back from something like that. But I think that's why I felt like Hannah was so real in my brain because I felt like I would be friends with someone like that and I feel like I could see myself being in a situation where she's my friend and I know I'm giving her advice and I feel like I was almost there and then we have Garrett. Graham to be specific. I think when we first meet him in the book, he's this like cocky, ruthless, know-it-all boy who just thinks he's the hottest person in the entire world and he gets humbled very quickly by Hannah. And I think also by the fact that his grades are flunking levels. But I think as the book goes on, we see him for why he's acting that way and for his true colors. And I saw a lot about this on social media kind of like conspiracy theory-esque of why he acts the way that he does. I think it's very much rooted from trigger-winning. I'd like to put up another one for physical abuse specifically within families. But in this book, Garrett has a very negative relationship with his father. He was this great hockey player and he expects for Garrett to live up to his kind of like found fame that he has from this. And anything that Garrett does is just never good enough. And obviously when you're reading the book, they go to I think he was Thanksgiving at Garrett's dad's house and that was like a huge moment for Garrett kind of letting Hannah into like his trauma that he has. And when Garrett sees the wounds on Garrett's dad's new girlfriend, Garrett just kind of like freaks down the dad. And it's like, I thought you were done with this. I thought you were over like the dad was just really preaching about how he was getting better. And then we find out that Garrett's dad was lying and Garrett made a huge fuss. Left obviously Hannah went with him. But once we got to that point in the book, a lot of the other actions that Garrett does makes a lot of sense and you kind of see a soft point of him in a vulnerable part of him. And I will say I think Garrett is like the perfect boyfriend for Hannah. And I know there's also discourse about Logan being in the picture because we obviously know that. Logan was flirting with her a little bit throughout the book and Garrett was pretty fast to shut that down. But I think as a reader, it's really cute to see a guy that is just so obsessed and in love with his girlfriend. and how nerdy she is and how smart she is and he really starts taking pride in the fact that like she's his tutor and that he's learning more and getting better. I think one of the turning points in the book when Garrett starts getting a little bit more serious about her is when Garrett kisses Hannah out of party and then Hannah goes and kisses another dude two seconds after. I think that hit a nerve and Garrett and he was like, oh, maybe I do like her a little bit. But I honestly think it was kind of a slow burn on both their ends, they both started realizing that they were really enjoying hanging out with each other whether it was like them falling asleep while watching the TV show or when Hannah was kind of figuring out things with Justin. I didn't read the full series, but I wanna know what happens to Justin. That was my only no on the book. I feel like she was obsessed with him in the beginning and then she finally got him to notice her and they're supposed to go on a date and then bam, he's gone. Like she's just like, I feel like he deserves a little bit more than that. Like I feel like we need a storyline on that and maybe I am just uneducated and maybe there's a full book on Justin. I hope so. And going back on why I think this is a really good gateway book into romance because it's so light and fluffy but then there's other parts that aren't so light and fluffy. But I think also right now, I think he did rivalry and hockey playing people and I think it's a book that is just really easy to devour and I definitely is on the length your side. Like what is it? It's like 388 pages to be exact. I also know that Amazon is making it into a TV show. So that was my personal goals. I wanted to read all the books before the TV show came out. So that way I could have a little bit of time in between so I could like digest the books and then watch them. I think from the last episode of Bookton Busy that is something that I learned from Abby is I need to give more time in between the book adaptation books versus movies because when I watch them and read them too close together, I have such high expectations of what's going on in my brain. And when they don't align, I get a little let down. And I truly do think when it comes out on Amazon a lot more people are going to be talking about it. I hope I hope it's produced really well and I have seen the actors and actresses that are in it. I think it's gonna be pretty good and I just think with the hockey of it all, it's gonna be a lot more spicy, I hope. I will say one thing. If they don't bring Well Z, the nickname into the TV series, I will be very, very upset. I think a few of my favorite scenes from the book are a lot of the turning point scenes where we go from kind of like a silly game that they're playing to the reality of it. And I think a great example is that views party. I really hope I'm pronouncing that right. When Hannah tells Garrett that she was long to him about a friend being drugged at a party and it was actually her being drugged at the party and her crying in his arms. And I think that was a very turning point moment in their relationship and for Hannah to be so openly vulnerable about it. Another one of my favorite scenes is, well, if you read it, you know that they broke up and I hated that. I hated that. If I could change one thing about the book, it would be that. I don't think they need just to go so extreme of not speaking to each other. Like I just hated the dad so much because he was threatening to cut him off from college tuition. If he didn't stop seeing Hannah because I think the dad knew that Hannah was good for him but at the core of all narcissists, you never want anyone around you to be happy. So obviously the dad did not want his own son to be happy. So eventually throughout the book, we have a rekindling moment of Garrett and Hannah. I think that was probably my favorite moment and I just thought it was cute where Garrett was like. We missed how on this whole month together just because of this stupid, you know, not stupid but the silly thing. And I think Garrett's dad threatening Hannah to cut off his son's tuition for hockey and Hannah really taking that into consideration and holding herself accountable to not date Garrett anymore. It was just honestly a little shocking to me because I was like, how are you letting this father who is obviously a control freak control now Hannah's life? And once Garrett obviously finds out what is happening, he rushes over to Hannah's apartment and there's a whole conversation. And obviously for a while, Garrett is like trying to get back into her life. And Hannah's just like, nope. And wouldn't tell him why. Yeah, I just think Graham. I just think Graham is like the CEO like a overprotective crazy, maybe not so crazy. Book boyfriend. Now going on a little bit to like the writing style world building author vibes. I don't feel like the world building was that crazy. This book was more so like a dialogue heavy tension building book which I actually preferred for this. And I think if she had a lot of world building, it wouldn't have made sense because like they're in college. If you say the word college, everyone has a picture that comes into their head of what that classroom looks like or what that apartment looks like. I don't think that was super necessary in this book rather than a fantasy book. I feel like you have that world building or you don't have a book. And then also for the writing style, I definitely think this book is for a younger audience. Like I was saying earlier, it's a little cheesy. And sometimes you really need a book like that. And sometimes it's just so freaking unrealistic that that's just never gonna happen to you, but it's a feel good read. And I read this during, it was like April or May, but I haven't read any of the other books in the series. Maybe the writing style shifts. I'm happy that the side characters develop into their own relationships 'cause it feels very like Anna Huang to me. And I love her, we know this. And that is kind of a wrap up on this episode, which is the deal by Elle Kennedy. I hope I went deep enough. I know some people, especially on my Patreon, are really requesting like in depth, knees deep conversations. And I don't know how in depth we're supposed to go. And also sometimes talk to myself about this. I feel like I need someone to talk about this with. So Miss Elle Kennedy, I really hope she comes on the episodes we can see some of these things and happy Valentine's Day. I hope however you spend it, this can be a little Valentine's Day recap 'cause I think this is going live two days after Valentine's Day on the 16th. So whether you're single or a relationship, I hope this is a little Valentine's Day gift you. I love you guys, bye. (gentle music) (gentle music)