The Graham Effect: A Slow Burn Enemies to Lovers College Hockey Romance (Campus Diaries, 1)

OMG, I loved this book! Anyone that knows me knows that Elle Kennedy and her Briar world hockey series is probably the only sports romance series that I am consumed by. I legit squealed like a little girl when I heard she was writing a new generation featuring the children of the previous Off Campus couples. This first book focuses on Gigi, who is Garrett and Hannah’s daughter. Gigi and Ryder’s funny, sweet and sexy enemies to lovers/friends with benefits romance is full of banter and chemistry, and completely captured my heart. I loved their story so so much! Gigi and Ryder first meet as teens at a hockey camp, and it’s immediately hate at first sight. Six years later, they are both at the same college and both in the women’s and men’s hockey teams respectively. Gigi has one main goal: to make the women’s Olympic hockey team. To do this however, she needs to improve her game and has no option but to seek out support from Ryder. Luke is the co-caption of the men’s team, and has already made a bad impression on Gigi’s father. So in turn for helping Gigi, Luke wants her to put in a good word with Garrett, so he can get the summer coaching spot he has been aiming for. A win-win for both of them until neither can avoid the inevitable chemistry, which leads to a friends with benefits situation, and eventually becomes a forbidden relationship. With this book, Elle Kennedy delivered all of my favorite things about romance. It was smart and snappy, but also littered with these romantic scenes that sometimes took my breath away. It was funny and adorable, but smoldering with heat in every exchange. It was perfectly balanced and I had so much fun reading it! I loved this book so hard. I laughed and swooned so many times, and I loved every moment of Gigi and Ryder’s story. I will never not feel comforted by Elle Kennedy’s writing and the familiarity that her characters and even just their world brings. The Briar world is the gift that keeps on giving and I will throw myself at every single new release as long as Elle keeps writing them. Reading this book was like being reunited with old friends and falling in love with new ones, and I seriously can't wait for more from this series in the future.

I unabashedly love Elle Kennedy’s books. She’s writing for the feral little 20 year old inside of me and nearly 30 year old me is still living for it. Gigi Graham is destined for greatness. She has her sight set on joining the National Team so she can win Olympic Gold, but there’s one giant hurdle standing in her way: She’s struggling to handle the puck when she gets stuck behind the net, and the coaches have taken notice. Determined to overcome this set back she turns to the only person she can trust to give her honest feedback and up her game. He’s kind of a jerk, but there’s no denying that he’s an incredible hockey player. Ryder is navigating the merger of two rival hockey teams, his new position as co-captain, and a horrible first impression with THE Garrett Graham and he needs Gigi’s help. He’ll agree to teach her how to keep her cool under pressure behind the net, but only if she’ll do him a favor of his own. He’s aiming for a summer coaching job with her legendary father which seems impossible after they got off on the wrong foot. Now she’s the only one that can change her dad’s poor opinion of him. Normally next gen series are cringey because they feel like beating a dead horse but gosh dang, if this wasn’t the most fun way to continue the series. I love the direction Elle took with this! Making Gigi the hockey star was just chef’s kiss!!! It can feel so redundant when it’s a son falling in his fathers footsteps with just slightly different tropes, but this book was so different & UGH, THE GIRL POWER!!!!! Gigi is so hardworking and ambitious. And I love the way her character and Ryder were portrayed. Strong characters don’t have to be tough 100% of the time, and true strength is knowing when to lean on others. I laughed, I cried, and laughed again. This book had so much heart and I don’t know how to properly convey how cute it was. Gigi and Ryder are an excellent pair. They had such great banter and complement each other so well even when they’re being rude. I think the part of I loved most about this book was how things didn’t always work out for them. Instead, there was a healthy dose of reality. Things aren’t always going to be shiny and wonderful and seeing the way the characters handled those struggles was awesome. The characters in general were just so fun. There are a million new side characters that I want books for, and I hope Elle Kennedy delivers all of them. That’s not to say it was PERFECT. If we’re being completely honest here I lost the plot about mid way through. And when it finally wrapped up at the end I definitely had a moment of OH YEAH. That WAS the whole point of this book. But, I was still living for it. It’s was cute and fun, and made me smile. I cannot wait to see how the rest of the series unfolds. Consider me hooked!

Me ha encantado, lo preferiría en castellano para disfrutarlo mejor, pero el libro es GENIAL, tanto Gigi como Ryder, siguen la linea de personajes MARAVILLOSOS a los que nos tiene acostumbrados Elle Kennedy, pero es que, además, hay bastantes cameos de mis dos jugadores favoritos de su NFL, Mr IRRESISTIBLE Garret Graham y Don ADORABLE Jake Conelly🤤😍

Que leitura maravilhosa! Personagens maduros. Problemas Reais. Cenas engraçadas. Provocações deliciosas Cenas quentissimas Novas amizades Novos amores Personagens secundários incriveis Acordos que vão além Sentimentos evoluindo de uma forma linda e real. E claro aquela espiadinha em alguns dos nossos personagens favoritos dos outros livros. Eu amei a leitura, me diverti demais. Ri alto, dei sorrisinhos bestas, fiquei com o coração apertadinho, senti meu coração ficar quentinho, me irritei e amei cada pagina desse livro. Valeu a pena cada minuto dessa leitura. Que venha o próximo.

I read the off campus series quite a while ago and was just about to start the Briar U until I saw The Graham effect was being released, so decided to read this one instead. I really enjoyed all of the off campus books so was looking forward to this next generation spin off and it didn’t disappoint! Not only were the characters of Gigi and Ryder written well but I also got snippets of past characters and a whole new story on top, as well as a decent amount of smut. I loved how Ryder was so broody but caring too and throughout the story you really got to know why. Gigi was strong and full of sass and although neither one of them seemed to have the best first impression of each other, it was really nice to read how their relationship developed and grew. Several parts of this book made me laugh out loud, not only through the conversations between Gigi and Ryder but the side characters were so funny aswell and I can not wait to read the next in this series!

I loved this book, enjoyed reading it immensely. Loved the banter and chemistry between the characters. They were great characters. It's definitely one of my fave Elle Kennedy books, I didn't want it to finish!

It is a fantastic novel. It had me drooling . I recommend you must read this novel