Off Campus: The Goal Review and Recap

What happens in The Goal by Elle Kennedy? If you’re wondering who John Tucker from the Off Campus series ends up with, this is the book for you. The Goal by Elle Kennedy is the fourth book in the Off-Campus series and focuses on John Tucker and his love interest, Sabrina James. In this review and recap post, you’ll find my non-spoiler review, vibes, and recommendations for who might like it, a fun little playlist, and a full book summary of all the main plot points. If you don’t have time for a reread or just plain forgot what happened, then this post is for you. Feel free to check out my previous posts for The Deal, The Mistake, and The Score. Let’s get into it!

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Non-SPoiler REview

The Goal by Elle Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

John Tucker and Sabrina James find themselves in a sticky situation where both their futures are uncertain, and they can’t return to how things used to be. Sabrina is as hard-working as they come, busting her butt to get in and excel at Harvard Law. She can’t afford any distractions. When Tucker stumbles across Sabrina one night at the bar, he feels an instant connection and only wants to spend more time with her, to become someone she can lean on. One thing leads to another, and they both end up falling, but only time will tell whether the fall is worth the risk.

We sleep on this book way too much. If you’ve finished The Score (spoiler incoming), you’ll know that Sabrina gets pregnant. I know that there is a lot of dislike towards the pregnancy trope, and therefore a little less interest in this book. If you don’t want to read the pregnancy trope, cool, then don’t. But I don’t think the trope takes anything away from the story. The book is well written and addictive (just like the rest of Elle Kennedy’s work) and focuses on two of my favorite characters. The book is fast-paced with memorable scenes and a multitude of cute moments. Also, I LOVE JOHN TUCKER. This man needs more appreciation than the fandom gives him. If nothing else, read the first four chapters and make up your mind from there, because within that beginning section, you will witness Tucker’s elite ability to flirt, and that is honestly what kept me hooked. Tuck’s emotional intelligence and patience, mixed with Sabrina’s lack of trust in relationships, make for a banger storyline.

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SPoiler ZOne

You are now entering the SPOILER ZONE, where we will be covering the plot of the entire book, so there will be spoilers for all the books in the series up to this point. If you don’t want to get spoiled, please stop reading. If you don’t care, please continue. 

Sabrina James is a busy, hardworking college student determined to get into Harvard Law. She lives in a run-down house with her stepdad and grandmother, splitting the rent, but tonight she’s not staying home; she heads out to Professor Gibson’s cocktail party to network with some Briar U alumni. After impressing some important people, her friends Hope and Cairn convince her to come out to the bar. 

Sabrina is hesitant to go out since she plans to drive back to Boston that night, as she has work bright and early the next morning. Hope and Cairn tell her she works too hard, needs a night off, and needs to get laid. Sabrina has a very specific taste; she is only interested in athletes, but not hockey players. After her brush up with Dean Di-Laurentis, her classmate who kept getting grades he didn’t deserve because he was sleeping with their TA, Sabrina has vowed that all hockey players suck. But she hadn’t met Tuck yet…

John Tucker, aka Tucker, aka Tuck, is hanging at the bar with his roommate Dean when he spots a beautiful woman across the room. Tucker knows about the beef between Sabrina and Dean, but he doesn’t care, and he works to flirt his way into her good graces. Tucker is 100% the smoothest flirt and knows how to read the room and utilize his emotional intelligence wisely. While Sabrina is charmed at first, the second he confirms that he lives with Dean, she is ready to make a run for it. But Tucker calls her out, noting that he didn’t think she would be the type of girl who would back down so easily. 

Not trusting that she would actually text him, Tucker followed Sabrina home anyway to make sure she got back. He ended up spending the night sleeping in the cab of his truck outside her house in Boston, and he can’t stop thinking about her. Tucker is trying to use every resource at his disposal to learn anything about Sabrina and ends up crashing Beau Maxwell’s workout. Beau and Sabrina used to be an item, and Beau confirms that she is a busy, busy girl. 

Unsurprisingly, Sabrina is in a rush. She is running around like a madwoman with her full schedule and only has 20 minutes to cram lunch in and bolt to her next lecture. Cue Tucker swooping in to buy her lunch. Sabrina says she blocked him, so she hasn’t been getting any of his messages, and he just nods. He figured, but has been tracking her down anyway. She insists that she has to sprint to the other side of campus for her next class, but Tucker buys her a sandwich and forces her to take a moment to refuel. 

While she munches, Tuck says he wants a date, whenever her schedule allows. He is willing to play by her rules and has no interest in getting in the way of her goals. He admits that he’s noticed her around, but now that he’s met her, he feels a connection and simply wants to spend more time with her. Sabrina likes him, but that interest, coupled with his mention of ‘love at first sight,’ scares her. So, she stands her ground and tells him she’s not interested and that he needs to drop it. She can see the disappointment in his eyes, but she knows he’s a man of his word and won’t keep pushing if she doesn’t want him to.

Back at home, Sabrina gets her Harvard acceptance letter in the mail. She gets excited and instantly wants to celebrate with Nana (her grandmother), but the moment is ruined when Ray steps in to belittle her, and Nana enables it. Sabrina’s dad bailed before she was born, and her mother took off when she was a little kid, leaving her with her grudgy step-dad, Ray, and her huffy grandmother, who resents having to raise her against her will. Ray spends his days drinking and making uncomfy comments towards both Sabrina and Nana, but Sabrina can’t escape since he pays a third of the rent and she has nowhere else to go. 

Tuck admits that he was hoping he’d see her again, and he shoots his shot, asking to hang out with her after her shift. To his shock (and delight), Sabrina agrees. After her shift, they don’t know where to go, and Sabrina is embarrassed to show him where she lives. But Tucker speaks right to her insecurities, establishing that he doesn’t care where she lives and that it won’t change his opinion of her. He repeats that he only wants to spend time with her. So, she relents, and they go back to her crapshow house. 

Just like he said, Tucker hasn’t called or pursued her. When he sees her letter of acceptance to Harvard, he wraps her in a hug, and they share a sweet moment. Sabrina keeps battling with herself over whether or not to let him in, to allow herself a kindhearted distraction. Ray interrupts them, putting Tucker on the defensive immediately, wanting to protect Sabrina from such a creep. Sabrina only shrugs and assures him that she’ll be fine, so she calls him an Uber, forcing him to leave even though that’s the last thing he wants to do. 

A few days later on campus, Sabrina sees some girl flirting with Tucker, and she gets a tad bit jealous. Spotting her, Tuck makes a mad dash towards her and corners her into talking with him. She admits that she likes hanging out, but that she can’t afford to be distracted. She has to succeed at Harvard so that she can escape the miserable life she has now. Sabrina is embarrassed by her living situation and continues to doubt her worthiness to be with Tuck. He hits her with some affirmations and makes it clear that her crappy situation is not her fault. 

Tucker makes it clear that he wants to ease her load, not make it any harder. He confesses that his dad died when he was little, and it’s just been him and his mom ever since. He watched his mom work her butt off at two jobs to get them by and drive him an hour each way to one of the few hockey arenas in Texas. Tucker doesn’t want Sabrina to feel alone, and so he kisses her passionately and sweetly to punctuate his point. 

Tucker states his intentions once again, and her friends finally convince Sabrina to go on a date with him. However, Sabrina stipulates that it must be a double date so she can bring Cairn along. Tucker happily drags Fitzy along to be Cairn’s date, and they go to a paint and sip event. The four paint a nude model, pretending they are pros, and end up laughing, drinking, and having a grand old time because the whole thing feels ridiculous. To cap off the evening, they make friends with an elderly couple from the painting event, and all go out for ice cream.

Since their date was so fabulous, Sabrina says she’ll call Tuck when she has some free time for another date, so Tuck is ecstatic. Back at the hockey house, Dean and Allie just got together, and Tucker chooses to keep his relationship with Sabrina on the down low because he doesn’t want any outside opinions or criticism. Plus, despite their regular hangouts, Sabrina has been hesitant to describe it as a relationship. Nonetheless, Sabrina and Tucker fall into a somewhat routine. He comes over to hang out at the end of the day when she is off work, and they hang out (and occasionally make out) while she studies. Sabrina enjoys having someone there with her and not being so lonely. 

When the holidays roll around, Tucker heads back to Dallas, Texas, to visit his mom. His current plan is to move back to Texas after graduation to stay near his mom and to take care of her. When his father died, Tucker got a decent chunk of insurance money, which, with his major in business admin, he plans on putting towards a business venture when he finds one he’s passionate about. But as Tuck starts thinking more about his future, Sabrina keeps crossing his mind. He can’t think of his future without her in it. As he’s visiting in Texas, his mom keeps trying to set him up with girls and with a job at the local real estate place, yet Tuck is quickly realizing that home doesn’t offer any good business opportunities. 

In Boston over holiday break, Sabrina is working double time (literally). She gets sick and tries to call out of work, but they won’t let her. Her shift drags miserably, and she gets home to share a sentimental moment with Nana, who is also recovering from the flu. Nana admits she is glad Sabrina’s mom kept her, and Nana apologies for not being able to be a better parent. Sabrina’s family relationships are complicated to say the very least.

Sabrina attends Beau’s memorial with Tucker, where Dean is noticeably absent. Tucker’s mind keeps drifting back to Sabrina and the baby, thinking about what will happen next since they haven’t truly discussed the matter since they discovered Sabrina was pregnant. In his state of overwhelm, Tuck wants to confide in his friends about the situation, but out of respect for Sabrina, he stays silent. 

Similarly, Sabrina is going through the whole loop of emotions. She keeps questioning whether she’ll be able to do it all. Tucker mentions his plans to pursue a business venture, and Sabrina fears she is tearing him away from his dream. Still, he relents, saying he wasn’t completely sold on moving back to Texas because the business opportunities are minimal. He has been very patient during the whole process, waiting for Sabrina to broach the topic with him when she is ready. 

As Sabrina struggles to decide what’s next, she runs into Beau’s sister at a coffee shop. They have a heart-to-heart, which helps Sabrina work through her grief and develop a plan for moving forward. Sabrina visits her mentor, Professor Gibson, to ask whether she regrets not having kids. And as Sabrina mulls over the advice, she reflects on her life, feeling unwanted by her own parents, and concludes she doesn’t want that for her kid. With that, she knows her decision is made. And that there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her child. 

When Sabrina tells Tucker that she’s planning to keep the baby, she asks if he’s seeing anyone, clarifying that it would be alright if he has, since she hasn’t been texting him. Tucker is like, girl, have you lost your mind? Tucker’s just been giving her SPACE to PROCESS. Things get real very quickly as Tuck and Sabrina start to discuss where Sabrina will live, what she will do about law school, who will watch the baby, and what Tuck’s post-grad plans are. Sabrina feels guilty for changing his whole life and wants to do her best not to screw it up. 

Sabrina’s walls are instantly back up, and she confirms that it’s okay if Tucker wants to move on and see other people. Tucker, meanwhile, is resisting the urge to shake her silly for just an absurd statement and plays it off by saying that if he finds someone, he’ll let her know. They agree to be friends, and Tucker says to let him know if she wants to be more. Tucker comforts her and assures Sabrina that she is not alone in this, which freaks her out more. Still, he knows she’s not used to people sticking around, so he is content to be patient and play the long game until she finally processes that he’s not going anywhere. SABRINA GIRL NEEDS TO ACCEPT SOME LOVE AND HELP. LIKE GIRL, YOU ARE TOO STRONG AND PRECIOUS AND SELF-RIGHTOUS.

Tucker goes with Sabrina to her ultrasound, and they find out they’re having a baby girl. Sabrina is still wracking herself with guilt because she keeps making excuses for Tucker to stay around, but she doesn’t want to fully lean on him because it doesn’t feel fair. When Tucker drops the news that he’s moving to Boston, Sabrina’s heart melts, and the baby kicks – awwwwww. Meanwhile, Logan and Garrett have made a formal competition for becoming the godfather, which is how Logan attempted to sew a teddy bear. Sadly, he’s not very good at it because the bear looks like something out of a horror film. 

Tucker mentions how much he wants Sabrina to come around and meet his friends, so he drags her along to the hockey house, where everyone is helping Tuck move out (sad sad sad). We then get a lovely scene of Garrett, Hannah, Logan, Grace, Tucker, and Sabrina all interacting, and it made my heart melt. Turns out, Garrett is officially the godfather because Logan backed out after he decapitated a doll during newborn CPR.

Dean manages to corner Sabrina before she leaves and chews her out, calling her selfish for ruining Tuck’s life, saying she doesn’t love him. He basically throws all the things she’s been feeling bad about right in her face, causing her to breakdown, and that’s when Dean realizes that she does love Tucker. Sabrina confesses that she loves him, but that she can’t tell him because she doesn’t need to make the situation more complicated. She reassures Dean that she will take on the bulk of the responsibility even though she is still going to Harvard. That’s when Dean slips out that he’s actually moving to Manhattan to become a gym teacher and a hockey coach. He reveals to Sabrina that he tried to fail the course they took together after he got that undeserved A. So Dean and Sabrina set aside their beef and call a ceasefire. 

Many painful hours later, Sabrina delivers their baby girl into the world. Since they couldn’t decide on a last name for their daughter, they named her James Tucker in honor of both of their names. Welcome to the world, baby Jamie. 

At the hospital, while they are both holding Jamie, Tucker drops an “I love you.” He quickly clarifies that he loves both of them, causing Sabrina to tense up, so Tucker quickly changes the subject, afraid of her response. Once they leave the hospital, the real world comes rushing in, and circumstances are far from perfect. Sabrina is still living with her angry grandma and poopy stepdad, and Tuck doesn’t have much of a better setup. But Sabrina is determined to make it all work because she loves Jamie and Tucker. She just has to adjust to her new mom life now that the baby is here.

When Sabrina tells Hope and Tairn that she ignored Tucker’s ‘I love you,’ they call her dumb, and I wholeheartedly agree. What are best friends for if not to judge your life decisions? Sabrina finds herself becoming super mom within the first few weeks. Tucker is the only one hyping her up, working to help her believe in herself, while Nana chides her about breastfeeding Jamie, and Ray pops in with lewd comments. Law school adds another layer of complexity because she is falling behind on readings due to her newborn’s sleep schedule, and Sabrina’s professor pulls her aside to say there are no exceptions for motherhood and warns her that someone has to be at the bottom of the curve. 

During all of this, Tucker is doing his best to take away some of Sabrina’s stress, but she doesn’t want to let him, and he doesn’t want to overstep. However, his hatred of Ray persists, and he is anxious to get his girls out of there. With school out and everyone moving on to their next phase of life, Tucker wishes he could be spending more time with his friends and have them spend more time with Jamie. On a walk with Jamie one day, Tucker stumbles across the same bar he did when Jamie was born, and he is pleased to see a for-sale sign.

Sabrina and Jamie move into the apartment as Tucker continues renovating and eventually opens the bar. On the day of his grand opening, all Tucker’s friends show up to support him. Since Garrett and Logan are playing professional hockey now, they are bringing good attention, business, and connections to Tucker’s fancy sports bar. And what would the opening be without his family? At the opening, Tucker is carrying Jamie around in a little front pack and making the rounds to all his friends. 

Tucker can’t stop his admiration of Sabrina. He loves her, but is scared to say it again after she brushed him off the first time, so he has been taking his cues from her. Now that they live together, Sabrina is back on the same page with Tuck about being together and raising their daughter. 

Mama Tucker makes a trip to town again, arriving a little early, which catches Sabrina by surprise. Sabrina was rushing home after a study group for law school (which has been going well since she got into a solid routine after moving in with Tuck, aka the best support system) and didn’t have time to pick up some items at the store. Mama Tucker is disappointed with Sabrina, and since Tucker is gone to the store, they get into a verbal sparring match. Sabrina is trying her hardest to show Mama Tuck that she can do something right, but Mama Tuck straight accuses Sabrina of trapping Tucker in the relationship once she learned about his inheritance. She says that Sabrina is just using Tucker for his hard work and his money while she goes off and ‘studies’ with other men. So, Sabrina takes a deep breath and speaks her truth.

parting thoughts

I seriously can’t tell you how many banger quotes I had to leave out of this post. John Tucker knows how to pull on the heart strings and Sabrina James knows how to call me out. Call me crazy if you must, but I am still under the belief that the Off Campus fandom undersells this book the most. Just because the pregnancy trope comes into play, doesn’t mean it’ll be an awful book. See you next week for an R&R post on The Legacy before the Amazon Prime show drops!

Much love!