The Deal Summary
Kennedy, Elle

The Deal by Elle Kennedy is an adult romance novel set at Briar University. The story follows Hannah Wells, who is a sexual assault survivor and music major, and Garrett Graham, the captain of the hockey team. Their relationship begins as a purely transactional tutoring and fake-dating arrangement. As they spend more time together, both characters are forced to confront the trauma that has quietly shaped their lives — Hannah's ongoing recovery from rape and its devastating consequences for her family and Garrett's history of childhood abuse at the hands of his father. Their growing emotional and physical intimacy is rendered as a genuine healing process, built on mutual vulnerability, patience, and trust, rather than simple romantic attraction. The novel reaches its resolution when the last obstacle to their relationship, Phil Graham's financial manipulation, is dismantled. Both characters emerge in love and more fully themselves than they have ever been. Some of the themes explored in the novel include the healing of trauma, the abuse of power, and the gap between public images and reality.