The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

Rating: 4.5/5 ★

Read: 10/27/23 – 10/31/23

I read the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy in 2021 and completely fell in love with the universe. I was so excited to hear about a series on the second generation! If you read The Deal (Off Campus #1) you know it follows the amazing romance of Hannah and Garrett. The Graham Effect focuses on their daughter, Gigi! 

Gigi wants to make the US Women’s Hockey Team to win a gold medal. She wants to improve her game and this is where Luke Ryder comes in. Ryder is now attending Briar U with so much conflict around the mens hockey team. He wants to get on Garrett Graham’s good side, so he makes a deal with Gigi. He helps her with hockey, she puts in a good word with her dad. This is a recipe for a match made in heaven!

I love the “let’s make a deal” trope. They spend so much time together and really get to know one another throughout the book. I really loved reading about them because you could feel the tension and chemistry FLY off the book! They play hockey together, attend events together, just amazing quality time. On top of that, their banter is so amazing. I was kicking my feet screaming because they just made me so giddy. On top of this, they decide to be friends with benefits. No feelings involved. This screams true love!

While they had an amazing physical connection, I felt like they really connected on an emotional level. Gigi shares some things with Ryder that she has never shared with anyone and he talks her through it. The same thing goes for Ryder. He is a man of few words, but he really opened up his heart to Gigi. They were just a super sweet couple and I completely fell in love with Ryder. 

Another thing I really loved about this book was the cameos! I really appreciated the fact that this was Gigi and Ryder’s book, but had little snippets of our favorites from Off Campus/Briar U series. We got an amazing moment with Dean DiLaruentis, mentions of Hunter Davenport, and little scenes of Jake Connelly. My favorite part was being able to see Garrett and Hannah as parents. I saw some people complain that they did not get enough scenes of them, but this is not their book. The parts we got with them were perfect in my opinion. They are such amazing parents and I feel like such a proud parent seeing them go from falling in love in their book to being parents in this book. 

Overall, I thought this was such a fun and nostalgic read. I can not wait for the second book in this second generation series. I hope I love it as much as this! I am a Ryder and Gigi stan.

Read this if you like:

– grumpy x sunshine

– friends with benefits

– sports romance

– college romance

– enemies to lovers