Who Would Like This Book:
If you love college sports romances with emotional depth, relatable struggles, and a healthy dose of steam, you'll enjoy this one! Sabrina's ambition and resilience make her an inspiring heroine, and Tucker is ultimate boyfriend material - sweet, supportive, and steady. Fans of the Off-Campus series will appreciate seeing familiar faces and watching these two navigate real-life ups and downs with maturity and heart. If character growth, found family vibes, and a touch of Southern charm in your romantic leads are your jam, this is a definite must-read.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Those who aren't into the surprise pregnancy trope or who prefer more light-hearted plots might find this installment a bit heavier and slower than previous books in the series. Some readers found Sabrina hard to warm up to at first and thought aspects of her home life were relentlessly grim. If you dislike time jumps, parallel timelines, or crave nonstop banter and humor, you may not connect as much with this book's tone and pacing.
About:
'The Goal' by Elle Kennedy follows the story of Sabrina and Tucker as they navigate their relationship post-graduation. Tucker is portrayed as a sweet and caring character who is patient with Sabrina, despite her guarded nature due to her upbringing. The book explores themes of love, ambition, and overcoming personal obstacles, with a particular focus on Sabrina's determination to achieve her goals while balancing unexpected challenges like pregnancy. Readers appreciated the character development, chemistry between the main characters, and the emotional depth of the plot.
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Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The Goal includes content warnings for accidental pregnancy and discussions around termination, as well as emotional trauma due to family issues.
Has Romance?
The romance in The Goal is strong and central to the plot, engaging readers throughout the story.
From The Publisher:
She's good at achieving her goals…
College senior Sabrina James 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 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 your entire life to change.
But the game just got a whole lot more complicated
Tucker believes 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 a 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. more
Ratings (95)
Incredible (14) | |
Loved It (40) | |
Liked It (27) | |
It Was OK (8) | |
Did Not Like (3) | |
Hated It (3) |
Reader Stats (131):
Read It (102) | |
Want To Read (16) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (11) |
4 comment(s)
I gave every book in this series 5 stars and I was looking forward to this one but it felt very different than the rest of the series and i could not give it more than 3 stars.
The rest if the series was all fast paced college romances but this book was a lot slower paced and didn’t even feel like a romance as much as a book focusing on Sabrina’s journey through pregnancy and her life goals.
Which leads to my next point…I did not like Sabrina. I don’t think she’s as bad as some reviews say, i think she has good intentions but i still really hate her. Throughout the entire book she was determined to keep Tucker out of the picture as much as possible even though he made it clear he wanted to have a hand in raising his own child. She did do this out if good intentions (she thought she had already ruined his life and tied him to her with the child and thought he only wanted more responsibility because he was a good person) but it was still really annoying and she kept making comments like how he should start seeing other girls that didn’t achieve anything but hurt him. She also refused to admit she had any feelings for him until the very end of the book
“Because I’m trying to make this as easy as I can for him. Love complicates things, and shit is complicated enough right now. And…”
“And I don’t know if he loves me back.
Sometimes I think he does, but in the back of my mind there’s always a little nugget of doubt. I’m honestly not certain if Tucker wants to be with me because he loves me, or because he thinks we should be together for the sake of our baby” Even though he clearly says he loves her.
“Because if I tell him, then he’ll feel bound to me. He’s so honorable and so decent, he won’t even look at another woman.” Even though he clearly says he wants to be with her.
And Tucker himself well he was decent. I honestly did not like him as much as the other guys in the series but he’s not necessarily worse just very different. He’s a lot more gentlemanly and polite and old school and unlike all the other guys from the off-campus series he’s always preferred relationships over hookups and has always wanted a serious relationship and early marriage.
Overall, this book is not exactly “bad” but it’s different than the other books in the series, a lot slower, with the plot less focused on the romance and more on pregnancy and young parenthood, and different character types. I personally prefer fast paced romance focused books so i found this boring but if you enjoy slow burn romances then you might like this book.
Nope, not the book for me.
Tuck is great, and Sabrina is great - I really admire her for what she's managed to do given the circumstances of her life, and I thought her trying to "protect" Tucker was super in character. She was this steely outside with an inside of sweet mush. And I'm glad Tucker saw that.
But his mom is a straight-up bitch. Nothing excuses her behavior.
Also, man, I didn't like Dean much in his book, but in this book I
actively hated him. I wish Tucker had beat the shit out of him. I'm sorry, but no. He doesn't get to treat Sabrina like a bitch because she's pissed that he got handed special treatment in a class when she busted her ass to make her grades. She's correct. And he's being a whiny bitch about it because he's embarrassed ... NOT because she's wrong. And he holds onto it like some vendetta to the death, when she hasn't done a goddamn thing wrong. Maybe she held onto it too long, but maybe that's because he treats her like an evil bitch for even having a problem with it at all. Fuck that, and fuck him. And I hated what he did to her in this book, which is why I wish Tuck kicked his ass.
But I liked them together. My only quibble with them is how long it took for them to just open up and be frank about what they wanted. But it was a crazy situation, so I can cut them slack.
3.5 ⭐️
What can you read after
The Goal?
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