A review by beckyyreadss
The Goal by Elle Kennedy

emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book as my goal last year was to discover new authors and Elle Kennedy is adored within the book community. I have been slowly getting into sport romances, this book was so boring and dragged. Plus who wants a pregnancy trope? No one.  

This book has two points of view. The first is Sabrina James, she is a college senior and she has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick butt in law school, and land a high-paying job at a cutthroat firm. Her path to escaping her shameful past certainly doesn’t include a gorgeous hockey player who believes in romance and love at first sight. One night of sizzling heat and surprising tenderness is all she’s willing to give John Tucker, but sometimes, one night is all it takes for her entire life to change. The second point of view is John Tucker, he believes that being a team player is as important as being the star. On the ice, he’s fine staying out of the spotlight, but when it comes to becoming a daddy at the age of twenty-two, he refuses to be bench warmer. It doesn’t hurt that the soon-to-be mother of his child is beautiful, whip-smart and keeps him on his toes. The problem is, Sabrina’s heart is locked up tight, and the fiery brunette is too stubborn to accept his help. If he wants a life with the woman of his dreams, he’ll have to convince her that some goals can only be made with an assist. 

Usually, I find hockey romances addictive, but this book was so slow and boring, and I couldn’t care at all for the pregnancy trope especially for John Tucker, he was such a golden retriever, and I just wanted him to success with his business without Sabrina. As this book runs on the same time as The Score, I find myself skimming the bits that we already knew about – Beau's death, Dean being a dick, everyone leaving college. There wasn’t enough hockey either for a hockey romance and I would have loved to see the girls together more besides from the epilogue.  

The only thing I enjoyed was the men having the banter still and all fighting to be uncles or godparents. The fact that this book sort of ties up everything nicely and the fact that you see the glimpse of Fitzy and Summer’s romance brewing.  

This is one of the books in the series where I probably won’t remember much about it besides that it was the book with the pregnancy trope and ruined the series. I will carry on and read the fifth book in this series just to see how the guys are doing. My main issue with this series is I didn’t really love any of the women that these guys ended up with.  

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