The Charlie Method by Elle Kennedy is the third installment of the Campus Diaries series, which is a spin off series of the Off-Campus and Briar U series. This book follows Charlotte Kingston, sorority sister of Blake Logan (daughter of John Logan and Grace from the Off-Campus series), who starts to see both Will Larsen and Beckett Dunne, former roommates and teammates of the first two male characters in this series. While they may not all be roommates with the original guys, it’s still very connected character wise as Charlotte often hangs out with both Diana and Gigi.

Before jumping into my thoughts on this book, here’s the quick run down (blurb, details, etc.):

Synopsis

College senior Charlotte Kingston is living two lives―and she’s nailing both of them. By day, she’s the perfect sorority girl, a STEM student in biomedical engineering, and the adopted daughter of an overachiever family. At night, she’s Charlie: a risk-taking daredevil looking for fun who finds herself chatting on a dating app with two anonymous hotties.

Will Larsen may seem like the breezy boy next door, but his congressman father is a constant thorn in his side. After a scandal hits another Division 1 hockey program, Will’s dad is determined to distance his son from it, hiring a journalist to prove how squeaky-clean Will and his team are. Which means the last thing Will wants is for anyone to find out he and his best friend Beckett Dunne―a laidback Aussie shielding secret heartache―sometimes share girls in the bedroom.

When Charlie finally meets them in person and realizes she’s been chatting with two gorgeous Briar U hockey players, things get steamy―fast. But all their messy secrets are piling up, and real life soon threatens to shatter the fantasy. With Charlie, Will, and Beckett all coming to terms with what they want and what others want for them, difficult decisions will need to be made.

Especially when lust starts to look a lot like love.

Book Details

• Published: February 25, 2025
• Page Count: 577 pages
• Genre: Sports Romance

Thoughts on The Charlie Method

This book was different, while also not being different, from the other books in the Briar University universe in that this is following three main characters instead of two. So, there are three different character arcs that are happening in addition to the romance between the main characters.

Main plot arcs of the book (minor spoilers):

• Complexities of three-way relationships (Why Choose)
  • Beckett, Will, and Charlotte (Charlie) all start seeing each other with the agreement that feelings will stay out it. But of course, Charlie falls for both Beckett and Will, and they fall for her. It’s not the stereotypical relationship so they hide that detail from others and Will ends up becoming the ‘Public’ boyfriend of Charlie, which she feels guilty about though they eventually end up revealing Charlie is seeing both. However, someone in each of theirs lives point out “What happens down the road when someone wants to get married or start a family?” Which each of them have to come to a conclusion about that ultimately shapes how the story ends.
• Struggles of being honest/identity
  • Charlie puts on a bunch of roles to make others happy, while ignoring her own wants. She tries to be perfect for her family by joining a sorority her mother was part of (though she has little to no interest in it) and being the best at everything (maintaining a 4.0, going to grad school, etc.). And she puts on a model citizen role for her sorority when really she’d rather be racing cars and seeing both Will and Beckett without judgement of others. Two things she hides rather than being honest about with others.
  • Beckett struggles to be honest with his feelings after his high school sweetheart left him. The details of that Beckett is never clear on with anyone, only that he puts on a front and doesn’t fully let anyone in until Charlie.
• Pressures of family
  • Charlie on top of being perfect for the family that adopted her out of childhood fear that she’s not good often or would be “returned”, she finds out she has a biological brother. One who had a terrible and abusive childhood as he was adopted by a different family a year after she was adopted (her family was unaware he existed). This is something she struggles with as while she wants to get to know her brother, both he and her adoptive sister pressure her into telling the rest of her family for different reasons. Her brother more so to confront why they didn’t adopt him, as he is resentful about the fact that Charlie got a great life while he didn’t.
  • Will struggles to be the child of a congressman, who wants him to be the model citizen that he can use whenever to bolster his image. His father wants to control every aspect of Will’s life and has never treated him like a son as a result. This causes issues for the team when his father decides to use them as an example that while a different school may haze, that his son would never. And also gets mad when Will wants to take an opportunity in campaigning with a different district as his father.

Like the other books in this series, it’s fairly lighthearted with a lot of funny moments. The original characters from the various series pop in, including one of them becoming an assistant coach for the team. John Logan makes appearance through mentions and text exchanges as Blake is a side character in this book that’s close to Charlie. I’m really hoping for a book on her with Isaac as he reminds me a lot of her father with the over the top gestures like Logan did when trying to get Grace to take him back.

I loved all the relationships for the most part in the other books in this universe. This one fell flat between two of the characters: Will and Charlie. Maybe it was because there was no tension between them. It was more: you’re hot, we’re friends and have a lot of similarities in our views, let’s be together. Whereas, there was plenty of tension and building between Charlie and Beckett. Will was more just kind of there, though he did serve as the emotional anchor, in the three-way relationship. I don’t know I just didn’t feel the chemistry as much. Maybe as we’re told they spent a lot of time together, but we don’t see it. We get more of their personal turmoils, then them growing as a couple to the point where he’s the main one being seen in public with her. So, when he didn’t join them after college I wasn’t surprised, but their reunion later just didn’t hit for me.

The pacing also wasn’t the greatest as some parts dragged while other parts felt rushed or quickly wrapped up in a bow. And sometimes this book felt like a setup for Blake and Isaac, rather than being on the main three characters. The family struggles Charlie was going through also felt more of a plot device then a genuine exploration of who she is and felt forced at times. Her family was very clear they supported her in anything she did, and she felt the need to hide a lot from them despite that. Though the scene where everyone blurts out their secrets was hilarious. It’s not really a spoiler so I’m just going to meant it. Her brother, Oliver, reveals he’s getting a divorced after Charlie mentions she is seeing two people and then her sister, Ava, reveals she’s a lesbian.

But overall, I would still recommend this book, it just wasn’t my favorite in terms of the romance though I enjoyed the personal struggles they went through more.

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

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