The Goal by Elle Kennedy | soft boy, high heat

You know when a series saves the quiet guy for last and then somehow makes him the one who absolutely ruins you? That is The Goal by Elle Kennedy. Tucker is not the most flashy hero in this series, but that steadiness mixed in with some dirty talking and he gives the rest of the bad boys a run for their money. If you like your romance hot, emotional, and just a little bit life changing, you will love this one.

He’s got everything you’ll ever want to add to your book boyfriend list.  He’s definitely going on mine. ~ Under the Covers

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.

What is The Goal by Elle Kennedy about?

In The Goal by Elle Kennedy, Sabrina James has her future mapped down to the inch, and hockey player John Tucker was never supposed to factor into it. But after one intense night changes everything, the story turns into a messy, sexy, emotionally loaded collision between ambition, vulnerability, and a hero who is way more all in than anyone expected.

The Goal by Elle Kennedy Book Review

It is no secret that I’ve been fangirling all over this series.  I’ll be honest here and say I wasn’t dying to get to Tucker as much because I feel like he’s not the bad boy of the group so I hadn’t built him up in my mind as much.  But we did have an idea what was coming because of how THE SCORE ended.  And I should’ve known Ms. Kennedy was going to grab me right away.

Tucker is… pure sexy man.  And he’s such a good man that you’ll forget you ever wanted a bad boy to reform to begin with.  He’s got everything you’ll ever want to add to your book boyfriend list.  He’s definitely going on mine.  Once you hear that dirty talk of his, you’ll understand why.  The man is so perfect yet quiet and understated.  He doesn’t need to scream his prowess from the rooftops.  He’s just got it.  That beard, that body, the moves… and then halfway through the book you’ll get to see him in a new role and …. goo I tell you.  It doesn’t get much better than Tucker.

Sabrina is a character I would normally be a bit turned off by, she’s aloof and at times only concerned about herself.  But we also get from the beginning why she’s had to be like that her whole life and why she needs to achieve the things she wants.  Her life hasn’t been easy and she feels she has to achieve everything on her own.  That makes for some bad decisions on her part in this book.  But I couldn’t help but respect the hell out of her.  Loving Tucker was something completely foreign to her and she didn’t want to get in the way of his planned future.  So while she was hard-headed, I also managed to like her quite a bit!

This story takes place for part of it during the events of THE SCORE, and we also re-live those hard moments we know are coming.  But one thing we didn’t get to explore was how that one moment affected different people.  It changed the course for a lot of their lives by making them change how they were looking at their future.  That was nice to see.

So if you’re going in expecting this sexy bad boy to tame, this isn’t it.  But it’s the perfect story to fit in with this group of awesome guys.  I can’t wait to continue reading about them as this is STILL my favorite new adult series.

About the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy

The Goal is Book 4 in Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus series, following The Score. The series is built around interconnected romances set at the same college but they can be read as standalones.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a bad boy redemption story, then this isn’t the book for you. But that is exactly why you will love it. Tucker brings a completely different energy to the series and it makes this one of those romances that is sexy but so grounded and surprisingly swoony all at the same time. The quiet ones really do come for your throat sometimes.

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