61 pages • 2 hours read
The Dixon Rule
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Background
Author Context: Elle Kennedy
Elle Kennedy is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario. She is the author of more than 40 romantic suspense and contemporary romance novels. Her career began in 2008 with her Out of Uniform contemporary romance series. Kennedy surged to widespread popularity when her Off-Campus series (2015-2016) gained major traction on BookTok. The new adult contemporary romance series follows the romantic and personal lives of college students at Briar University, specifically those of the hockey team. The series has since inspired many spin-off series, including Briar U (2018-2020) and Campus Diaries (2023-2025).
Elle Kennedy is a diverse writer with many genre interests, spanning from romantic suspense to contemporary romance, to the more niche sports or coastal romances. Much like Tessa Bailey’s Bellinger Sisters series, Kennedy’s Avalon Bay series utilizes a cozy, quaint town setting and close-knit community to explore the personal and romantic lives of new-adult-aged protagonists. Kennedy yet again explores new territory in her standalone, Girl Abroad (2024), which follows 19-year-old Abbey Bly, who studies abroad in London and accidentally finds herself rooming with several guys—one of whom she falls in love with. This young adult/new adult crossover novel illustrates Kennedy’s ever-present desire to branch out and build upon her craft.
Series Context: Campus Diaries
The Campus Diaries series is a spin-off of Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus and Briar U series. The original Off-Campus series follows the romantic and personal lives of college students at Briar University, specifically those of the hockey team. Among the series’ love interests are Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells, John Logan and Grace Ivers, Dean Di Laurentis and Allie Hayes, and John Tucker and Sabrina James. Briar U involves personal and romantic exploration of other characters, such as Dean’s sister, Summer, and hockey Coach Jenson’s daughter, Brenna, who each find love and personal growth.
The Campus Diaries returns to the familiarity of Briar University’s community with cameos from previous series’ protagonists and side characters. In the first installment, The Graham Effect (2023), female hockey player Gigi Graham—the daughter of Garrett and Hannah Graham—explores a romance with male hockey player Luke Ryder. The novel introduces a new cast of characters, including Will Larsen, Shane Lindley, and Beckett Dunne, who each have their own roles—and romances—to explore throughout the series. By the conclusion of The Graham Effect, Gigi and Ryder have secretly gotten married and plan to attend his father’s parole hearing in Arizona before venturing on their honeymoon.
The Dixon Rule picks up where The Graham Effect left off. Ryder’s friend, Shane Lindley, moves in next door to Gigi’s friend, Diana Dixon, and what begins as a fake-dating arrangement between the two to satisfy different motives regarding their exes turns into a real romance. Throughout all her series, Elle Kennedy weaves the lighthearted, exploratory dynamics of college life and athletics with the deeper, more complex, and sometimes darker aspects of personal lives—whether it be complicated family dynamics, dealing with mental health, or the aftereffects of trauma and/or abuse.
Kennedy writes from the first-person perspective of dual protagonists, which maintains emotional depth and highlights character development in her narratives. The humor and simultaneous introspectiveness of her novels are similar to the works of Hannah Grace and Abby Jimenez.
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