The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Kennedy, Elle. The Deal. Bloom Books, 2015, 2021.

The Deal is an adult romance novel set at Briar University. The novel follows the developing relationship between Hannah Wells, a music major and sexual assault survivor, and Garrett Graham, the captain of the university's hockey team. What begins as a purely transactional arrangement gradually deepens into one of the most emotionally honest relationships either character has ever known.

The story opens with Garrett in crisis. Having failed his midterm in ethics, he risks being barred from the hockey team if his GPA falls below the required threshold. When he notices that Hannah — a classmate he has never spoken to — aced the same exam, he immediately asks her to tutor him. Hannah, unimpressed by his looks and reputation, repeatedly refuses. Garrett, unaccustomed to being told no, is both frustrated and intrigued. He eventually persuades her by proposing a deal. If she tutors him, he will use his social influence on campus to make her crush, football player Justin, more interested in her by pretending the two of them are dating.

Hannah agrees, and their arrangement begins. Their tutoring sessions quickly reveal that both characters are more than their surface impressions suggest. Garrett is sharper and more emotionally perceptive than his jock reputation implies, while Hannah, warm and quietly determined, is carrying a weight that she has not yet shared with him. It emerges gradually that five years prior, Hannah was raped. She has struggled with intimacy, social anxiety, and the financial and emotional fallout that followed ever since.

As the tutoring sessions continue, the fake-dating scheme evolves into something for which neither character bargained. A charged practice kiss confirms what the reader has suspected for some time, meaning their connection is genuine and mutual. Garrett's jealousy when Hannah interacts with Justin, his instinctive protectiveness, and his unprecedented willingness to open up emotionally all signal that his feelings have moved well beyond their arrangement.

Meanwhile, Hannah is navigating her own complicated interior landscape. Her encounter with her ex-boyfriend Devon at a bar forces her to confront ongoing anxieties about her sexuality. In a pivotal decision, she chooses to pursue a physical relationship with Garrett, framing it explicitly as a step toward reclaiming her intimacy after her assault. Garrett responds with extraordinary patience and care, deliberately pacing their physical relationship and prioritizing Hannah's comfort at every stage. The intimacy they build together is rendered as a genuine act of healing rather than simply romantic escalation.

A Halloween conversation becomes the novel's most significant turning point. Both characters share their deepest traumas with each other for the first time. Hannah reveals the full scope of her assault's aftermath, including the financial ruin and social ostracism her family endured. Garrett discloses that his father, former hockey star Phil Graham, physically abused both him and his mother for years. It is the first time Garrett has told anyone about his childhood. The mutual vulnerability of the evening irreversibly cements their bond.

A misunderstanding over Hannah's previously scheduled date with Justin leads to a confrontation that ultimately resolves in the two of them officially becoming a couple. Shortly afterward, Garrett invites Hannah to accompany him to his father's home for Thanksgiving — a significant gesture given his complicated relationship with Phil. The visit is tense and revealing, confirming that Phil's abuse is ongoing, now directed at Cindy, his new girlfriend. Phil privately instructs Garrett to end his relationship with Hannah, framing her as a distraction from his hockey career. Garrett refuses. On the drive home, the two exchange "I love you" for the first time.

The novel's final conflict is set in motion when Hannah, attending one of Garrett's games, recognizes a player from the opposing team as her rapist's closest friend — someone who testified against her at trial. Garrett, seeing how shaken she is, demands to know why. Upon learning the truth, he attacks the player in a rage. Though suspended for one game, his punishment is relatively light, and he apologizes sincerely to Hannah.

Phil seizes on the incident as leverage, visiting Hannah at her workplace and threatening to cut off Garrett's tuition unless she ends the relationship. Believing she has no other option, Hannah complies, and a painful but unconvincing breakup follows. Garrett, sensing that something is wrong, refuses to accept her explanation and vows to uncover the truth.