The Graham Effect by. Elle Kennedy | Book Review

Gigi Graham has exactly three qualify for the women’s national hockey team, win Olympic gold, and step out of her famous father’s shadow. So far, so good, except for two little things. Fine – a little thing and a big, grumpy thing. She needs to improve her game behind the net, and she needs help from Luke Ryder.

Ryder is six-foot five, built, opinionated, rude . . . and sexy as hell. But he’s still the enemy.

Briar’s new hockey co-captain has his reasons, though. The men’s team just merged with a rival program, leaving Ryder with an angry roster where everyone hates one another’s guts. To make matters worse, the summer coaching spot he’s angling for with the legendary Garrett Graham is out of reach after he makes the worst possible first impression on his hero. So, really, this compromise with Gigi is win-win. He helps her make the national team, she puts in a good word with her dad.

The only potential snag? This bone-deep, body-numbing, mind-spinning chemistry they’re trying to ignore. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing, but the risks just might be worth it.

Content Warning: traumatic childhood

I read the Off-Campus Series by Elle Kennedy back when it was first published almost 10 years ago – wow! I don’t remember if I read them all though and I for sure didn’t read any of the Briar U series but here is a new series called Campus Diaries and it takes place at Briar University. But this time the wild hockey boys from Off-Campus have grown up! The Graham Effect is all about Garrett Graham’s college aged daughter, Gigi. She’s a hockey player too is trying to make the Olympic Team but also having the most fun at college with the hockey boys and her best friends.

I thought this was a cute and spicy romance but also it was more than just a fluffy romance. Not gonna lie, I was expecting a fluffy and spicy hockey romance. This one is shy of 500 pages and I think it was a tad bit too long. But the story does give us a whole spectrum of Gigi and Ryder’s romance. I thought they had great chemistry and there are a lot of spicy scenes between them. Gigi is a good girl, good daughter and student – she was pretty much perfect. Ryder is the boy with the reputation for a bad attitude, but he is definitely the boy with the traumatic childhood. The two made a good couple because honesty was number one for them – no matter what. Loved that about them.

I loved seeing Gigi and Ryder’s relationship grow – and I love all the different characters we meet! Gigi has her best friends, Mya and Diana and Ryder has his close buddies and then some with his old and new teammates. There are a lot of names to remember but I thought each character stood out on their own pretty well. Do I think everyone needed to be introduced? Maybe not. Also, I know this is a sports/hockey romance and I like the sports stuff fine, but not so much of it. I really did feel like at some point this story kept going on and on. Another thing that I won’t spoil but something happens at the end of the book and I was like…why?! 😅 Why did that need to happen?

My Final Thoughts:

This is a spicy new adult hockey romance set in college. It’s got good looking and mostly nice characters (a lot of characters). Gigi is sweet, smart and athletic and Ryder is gruff, not a talker and athletic. They have a great chemistry and a strong relationship. I do think the story was way too long and some things could have been cut but overall still a very fun read.

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