• Published: January 11, 2016
• Pages: 361 (Kindle Edition)
• Genre(s): Sports Romance, Contemporary
• Series: Off Campus #3

Nursing a broken heart, and anxious about life after graduation, Allie Hayes isn’t having the easiest year of her life. A drunken night sees her falling into bed with campus playboy, and friend of her best-friend’s boyfriend, Dean Di-Laurentis. When Dean suggests a repeat performance, Allie refuses. But Dean intrudes upon her thoughts and slowly but surely, Allie finds less reasons to say no. After all, what harm could it do…

I watched the Off Campus series earlier this year and fell in love with it. Although I loved Hannah and Garrett, Allie and Dean were my favourite. So I decided to pick up their book – regrettably reading the series out of order – needing to know what their story entailed.

Relationships, Professions, and Loss …

I enjoyed the main aspect of this book: the romance between Allie and Dean. Their chemistry and banter was definitely the highlight of the book for me. Allie and Dean’s relationship felt like it progressed naturally and I thoroughly enjoyed their moments, from before they got together to when they eventually got into a relationship.

I also really enjoyed reading about the friendships between Allie and Hannah, and Dean and Beau: my two favourite friendships in the show as well. They truly cared about each other and were there when they needed them most. I felt that those friendships were developed really well and I loved that there was an emphasis on the need for friendship in this book.

One thing that I felt could have been done better in this book is the development – both the characters and the other relationships. I loved Allie and Dean from the show as I felt that they were characterised really well and were deeply layered. I don’t think this was the case in the book, especially in regard to Dean. Dean felt less fleshed out, and more like a typical ‘rich boy’ archetype. I enjoyed the backstory of his past relationship, but there was no true development in him from the start to the end.

*Spoilers*

I felt that Dean’s grief was not given enough sympathy or time. None of his friends seemed to be there for him and he was allowed a maximum of a couple months (if that) to recover from losing his best friend. On the other hand, Allie was doing her best, and I understand her anger when he didn’t show up for her. I also think there was an opportunity to really expand on Dean in the grief storyline, and that potential never came to fruition.

I really enjoyed the discussion on professions. The lack of direction that both Allie and Dean had – Allie didn’t know if she wanted to do theatre or TV productions after college, and Dean didn’t feel strongly about becoming a lawyer but never had any doubts until he fell in love with coaching. I thought this aspect was really nice as it allowed for the characters to figure themselves out, and also showed that it can take time to discover your passions.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed The Score by Elle Kennedy and rated it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I had a few issues with the development and storylines of the book, but overall I really enjoyed it. The main aspect of the book, the romance between Allie and Dean, is definitely the highlight and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance with good chemistry, emotional comfort, and humour.

Song: maggots for brains by Olivia Rodrigo