With spice, scores, and smiles, the five-book series, “Off-Campus” by Elle Kennedy leaves the reader’s heart full.
Taking place at Briar University, the plot follows the hockey players Garrett Graham, John Logan, Dean Di Laurentis, and John Tucker as they chase after their soulmates.
“The Deal” follows Garrett Graham and his endless chase for Hannah Wells, also known as “Wellsy” in the novel. As Graham starts to fail his philosophical ethics course at Briar, Hannah is academically talented in the course, so he follows her for tutoring. What started as just tutoring two to three times a week turns into a deal: they fake date to make Hannah’s crush want what he can’t have. As the story progresses, so do their feelings for each other.
Content warning: there is a lot of spice in this book, and sexually explicit content with mentions of sexual assault. This book is very much a high school-level read.
The banter in the book is what keeps a reader hooked. Hockey players have a stigma around being the most wanted boys, especially at the college level, the girls in the book are arrogant and attractive, leaving the boys no choice but to yearn for them even more. Overall, the book is rated 4.2 stars out of five on Goodreads, and honestly the unexpected romance plot deducts some points from the rating. It is similar to any other romance book that is trending right now: very cliche.
In “The Mistake” John Logan finds himself entangled with Grace Ivers, a freshman at Briar who is still learning the ropes of college. When Logan accidentally shows up at Ivers’ dorm room instead of his friend’s, it turns into a one-night stand that was unforgettable and almost unforgivable for Ivers, especially as a virgin. With nearly a four out of five-star rating on Goodreads, The Mistake is a perfect binge-read after “The Deal.”
Another content warning: spice and explicit language is prominent in almost all of these books. The plot is again, a sports romance and is known for its “player” hero and a “grumpy/sunshine” dynamic, which allows the reader to stay hooked into each and every chapter. This one was hard to put down.
By the time readers reach “The Score,” hockey star Dean Di Laurentis collides with Wells’ roommate, Allie Hayes. Hayes had just gotten out of a three-year long relationship that had lasted all of college, and before that she was in one for almost four years in high school, she is a lover girl if anyone had ever seen one. Whereas Di Laurentis is another player, and not just for hockey. He jumps from girl to girl like it is nothing. The spice in this book is off the charts, but only because that is how Hayes and Di Laurentis started out: as a rebound one-night stand. With a 4.1 out of five stars on Goodreads, the third book in this series has spice, scores, and leaves the reader’s heart throbbing for more of Hayes and Di Laurentis.
This series finishes with “The Goal” and “The Legacy,” but the first three are the most binge-worthy reads if someone is looking for a quick romance with comedic banter, intense moments, and relatable content.
Coming May 2026 is the series on Amazon Prime Video, so read them now and get caught up on what’s happening at Briar University. If the books are this addictive, the show will be even harder to resist.
