The Deal

By: Elle Kennedy

Narrated by: Christian Fox, Lorelei Avalon

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy....

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she's carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush's attention, she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice, even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

...And it's going to be oh so good.

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he's worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he's all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn't take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn't going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

©2015 Elle Kennedy (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Awful narrator

Great book. Great story. Terrible narrator. A college girl that sounds like she has either smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day or is not even a girl but a man that is doing a horrible job of trying to be a woman, just kept throwing me. Add in the fact that the guys sounded like pre-pubescent boys, all with the exact same voice and I just couldn't get into the book. Way too distracted to really enjoy this book. Want to listen to book 2, but won't even buy it because I can't listen to the narrator.

Love the book, not thrilled with the narration...

If you could sum up The Deal in three words, what would they be?

Awesome fun story -read it, don't listen

Who was your favorite character and why?

I LOVE Garrett and Hannah apart and even more together -they both have quick minds and are genuine in everything they do.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lorelei Avalon?

Alternated between a male and female narrator for Hannah and Garrett's chapters. Maybe Madeline Maby and Zachary Webber...

Any additional comments?

LOVE the book! This is one of the few books I have re-read only a few months after initially reading -the dialog between the characters and the texts back and forth made me laugh out loud while reading. I was really excited to see it was coming out as an audiobook so I could listen to the story during my crazy daily commute.

The narrated version is not at all what I expected -Ms. Avalon has a very deep and nasal-toned voice and does not fit for a 20 year-old woman OR a 20 year-old man (she is playing both characters -even though the books chapters are split between the male and female POV); her intonation is off and does not do the story justice. I found myself annoyed when really common phrases were narrated in a way that stressed words in an oddly -I have no idea how old Ms. Avalon is, but based on the narration, I am guessing she is significantly older than the characters and has never uttered similar dialogue in her everyday life.

I'm glad I only paid $1.99 to add the audio version, because I am really disappointed with the result and don't think I'll be making past the first couple of hours :-(

✫✫ 4.5 Stars ✫✫

I really enjoyed this book! It was so refreshing to listen to a New Adult book without the immature drama. This book had hockey players, great friendships, a great love story which wasn't an insta-love woohoo and was pretty sexy too. I really like both main characters, they were both strong because of their past and ready to move past that all. They really were a great match for each other and brought out the nest in each other. I'm excited to listen to the rest of the series now!

The narration did seem a little to old for these 20 year old's but she still did a good job.

Great story but...

UPDATED FOR THE ADDITION OF MALE NARRATOR

I was VERY excited to see that The Deal was being updated to include a male narrator and Christian Fox is awesome as Garrett... but I can't really change my rating of this audiobook because having the male narrator just amplifies how unsuitable the female narrator is. I would have gladly paid to purchase this audiobook again if Audible Studios had re-recorded the female POV as well. Come on Audible Studios!!! Just do it!!

I really really loved The Deal. It's one of my favourite books of the year and I was hoping it would come out as an audiobook

Unfortunately the choice of narrator has kinda rained on my audiobook parade. I understand that it's not the author's choice for the narrator as once the rights are sold, it's out of their hands, but Audible Studios got it wrong big time as Lorelei Avalon did not have the right voice for these characters. Hers was a bit whiny and there was little distinction between the male and female characters.

I'm giving The Deal an overall score of 4 stars because I love the story and the author, but I'm glad I only paid $1.99 for this audiobook. I sincerely hope Audible Studios do not use this narrator for the third book in this series

Thank you for Re-Recording this Book!

UPDATED REVIEW: I accidentally clicked on this audiobook on my phone recently, and I was shocked to hear a male narrator. What a difference the addition of a male narrator makes. The combination of Christian Fox and Lorelei Avalon is fantastic. The captain of the hockey team is much more believable (and swoony) when read by a male narrator. I have listened to it twice since the re-recording, and now I am exceedingly happy that I never returned this book when I listened the first time.

Original Review: I loved this book, and I loved her other book The Mistake. Unfortunately, it loses something in the audiobook. The narrator is talented as a female narrator. However, I will never understand why authors (or is it the publisher's decision) who write books with alternating POVs elect to use only 1 narrator for the audiobook. The suspension of disbelief is difficult when the tough hockey player hero sounds like a girl with a cold instead of a guy.

Other than that, it really is a fun story that made me smile all the way through. Unless you need the audiobook because you have a long commute, read the book.

Good book, poor execution

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The voice actor.

What did you like best about this story?

This book is hilarious. I love how Elle Kennedy makes stories relatable and fun to read.

What didn’t you like about Lorelei Avalon’s performance?

I get that this is a book about college kids, and college kids can be whiny, but good grief. She has the uncanny ability to make every single character sounds like a whiny toddler, which is a shame because this is one of my favorite books/series. I regret buying the next book on Audible now.

Any additional comments?

If you can get past the poor performance, this really is a good book. Your money would be better spent on the ebook or dtb.

Great book but skip the audio

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No, I'm actively anti-recommending it. Lorelei's voice is not suited for Hannah and Garrett's playful, witty banter. She turned Hannah into a whiny girl and her attempts to perform Garrett's voice would be laughable if it didn't upset me so much. She sounded like a girl attempting to imitate her father. I have been telling all my friends who loved The Deal to avoid the audio.

What did you like best about this story?

The story is amazing. The Deal is easily one of my favorite books this year. Hannah and Garrett are individually strong, complex characters, and their chemistry, both romantic and not, is phenomenal.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lorelei Avalon’s performances?

Nope.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not even close. I almost abandoned it within three minutes. It was painful to continue.

Any additional comments?

I can only hope Lorelei won't be chosen for The Score.

Could have been better

I loved the story, but the narration ruined it. Lorelei is not a bad narrator but her voice didn't fit Hannah's character. Also they really should have had a male narrator for Garret's part. Because of this, it took me a long while to get into the story.

Once I was able to get past the narration, I really enjoyed the story. It's very funny and sexy. I Would recommend skipping the audio and just reading the book.

Loved the book, didn't care for audio

I read this book a while back and was so excited to hear it would be an audiobook (it's how I prefer to reread old favorites). I was not impressed with this narrator. Every supporting female character sounded the same as one another, and the males were the same way. I've listened to some narrators where there was no doubt who was speaking among many characters - not the case here. And why didn't Garrett have a male narrator for his chapters and parts? It was really weird that she narrated his thoughts and stuff. I won't be buying the second book, which has different main characters but still the same narrator.

Great book but terrible narration

I enjoyed the story very much, it was a really good love story but I had hard times listening to it.
The narrated should not quit her day job. Lorelei Avalon’s voice does not fit a college student, she sounds like an old lady who is very bland. When she would talk in her “sexy” voice, it was more of a joke. I will never listen to a book if Lorelei is narrating it.

Couldn't Continue

I wanted to like this book, but it is slooooow and the narrator was awful. Almost an hour in the lead characters had only had one conversation and the reader's style which sounds like a stoned Valley girl - laconic, flat and bitchy - got to much for me and I had to stop.

Great story, disappointing narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have read the book and enjoyed listening to the story as it highlighted things I had skipped when I read it

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Deal?

the first time Hannah and Garrett kiss

Would you be willing to try another one of Lorelei Avalon’s performances?

yes but I did find her voice irritating and I didn't like the way she read the male parts

Could you see The Deal being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

yes - it would be a great movie/tv series.

Christian Fox is AMAZING!

Really loved this story and the characters. Christian Fox made it 100x more amazing!

Awful female narrator

I love the story but horrible female narrator, she just sounded so lifeless and bored with no emotions. I wish they would've chosen a better female narrative but yeah

Enjoyed it way more than anticipated

OK so I've never read/listened to a "sport romance" novel in my life, so this was completely new territory for me... However I can honestly (and unashamedly) say that I really enjoyed this! Sure, it's got a classic plot that's been through the mill a few times: girl who aces a particular class tutors a jock, so he can still play sports, mutual attraction blooms , yadda yadda you get the picture, but it's executed really well and you can feel the chemistry of the two main characters whilst observing their thoughts from their points of view.
I will say I found the female narrator's voice to be a bit slow and drawly, but if you speed up the tempo to 1.15 or 1.20 it's a lot easier to listen to without disrupting the male narration too much 😉

I’ve read/listened to this book twice now

Omg! I’m addicted to this series! I literally can’t stop listening.
If they weren’t giving my SD a huge boost my hubby would be co
Plain I g that I am constantly listening to them.
I’ve listened to the entire collection and need more! Come on Elle I need a new fix!

Great listen - highly recommend romance

I love this book!! Listened to it a few times now, I love Hannah and garret, the characters are great apart and together,
I love the way Hannah is written, I really like her, why can’t we be friends?!?
There are some sad sections and some hurdles but it wouldn’t be a good romance good without them eh’
This is my fave book of the series….I could spend way more time with Hannah and Garrett, loved it.

Hard to listen to

Don't get me wrong, the story is great. But~, the only way to listen is to bump the speed up to 1.60s for the female narrator and back down for the male one.

The male narrator did a great job. His voice was amazing and so erotic at times. But the female narrator... She sounded a bit like she had something stuck up her throat and read really really slowly.

Great story if you can get past the narration

I really liked this story. It may have been a bit cliched at times but that’s what you expect if you’re into this genre of romance fiction. Elle Kennedy has a great talent for writing characters that you can warm to and Christian Fox did an excellent job at bringing Garrett’s character to life. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the female narrator. There were times when I thought her narration was going to prove so irritating that I’d have to give up but I hung in til the end. Only just though.

LOVE!

4.5 stars overall! Would of been 5 stars but I struggled listening to the female narrator 🙈