Dillon McQueen: Babe. I promise. You want me.
Serena Jensen: Um, who are you?

There’s a legend at Waylon University: the first girl you kiss freshman year at the bonfire party is the one you’ll never forget. She’ll crawl under your skin and never leave. She’ll spark a passion so fierce you’ll burn the world down to possess her.

You might even put a ring on it.

As in all things with fate, timing is everything. That kiss can go horribly wrong. She might run in the opposite direction. And boy, did Serena run.

Dillon is Waylon’s hotshot quarterback with something to prove. All he wants is to graduate and make it to the NFL. What he doesn’t need is to finally meet the mystery girl he kissed at the bonfire freshman year. Isn’t it enough that she’s haunted his dreams for more than a thousand nights?

Fate laughs in his face when he runs into the quirky girl at the Piggly Wiggly. Surrounded by his entourage, he’s got all the Oreos in his cart; she gets revenge by buying every six-pack of his favorite beer.

Obviously, that legend is a curse. She’s not his type. She hates him. Worst of all, how can she not remember him when she left a Serena-shaped hole in his heart for the past three years?

So why can’t he stop trying to win her?

Will this quarterback score the girl or make the biggest fumble of his life?

Title: I Promise You
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Series: Standalone
Pages: 330
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, New Adult, Sports Romance
Hot Buttons: difficult childhood / death / miscarriage <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)


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Spectacular as always

5 stars

With this book Isla Madden-Mills takes us back to Waylon University (which is in Mississippi if I remember correctly), their football team and the women who bring the players to their knees. Some characters from her previous books do pop up, or are talked about as former team mates now graduated, but this book is a complete stand-alone.

But believe me, after reading this, you’re going to want to read absolutely EVERYTHING Ms Madden-Mills has ever written.

She’s got a way of writing a story that sucks you in from the very first. You’re there. You know these people and you can see what’s happening almost as if it’s happening right in front of you. But it’s her characters that are the stand out. We get so much richness and detail about them - but done in such a subtle way that you’re never overwhelmed with detail. Alongside that, their smart and realistic thoughts, inner monologues and banter, and you’ve got major feels for these characters in the blink of an eye.

Dillon is an absolute delight. Is he cocky? Sure. Is he drop-dead gorgeous? Absolutely. Is he a bit taken aback when Serena doesn’t immediately fall under his spell? Oh yes. But he’s got a vulnerability and enough emotional baggage to make him interesting and empathetic. Oh, and they way he gets nervous around Serena and starts getting really goofy and loses all his smoothness and charm was everything! You know a man feels something when he gets nervous around the girl he likes. Oh and the gift he gave Serena? *swoon*

Serena herself is the ultimate cool chick. She’s independent, spunky and likes Dillon for himself rather than his status. Well, after she stops thinking he’s an absolute douche, that is. A smokin’ hot douche - but a douche nonetheless. She also has baggage, and an understandable hesitation to put her trust in Dillon. But she’s smart with it, and I liked the way that she was sensible enough to listen and forgive people yet still stay true to her principles. And buying all the beer to stop Dillon getting any was the kind of passive aggressive shit that I can 100% get behind. I love it!

There’s a nice amount of sizzle in this book and I loved the sex scenes - especially as they mirrored the growing emotional intimacy between our couple. But it’s the moments when the pair are just having fun together - like paint ball or the safari trip - that made my heart sing. I even noticed myself randomly smiling at the book in the sweeter moments.

Ilsa Madden-Mills, for me, is the ultimate queen of the college new-adult romance and she’s definitely onto another winner with this book. She takes a couple who feel slightly damaged, and laden with emotional baggage, and gives them the ultimate happily ever after. True love is possible and it’s found between the pages of an Ilsa Madden-Mills book. I loved every second. A very enthusiastic 5 stars.

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AUTHOR BIO!

Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her contemporary romances ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

Seven of her ten novels have placed in the Amazon US Store Top Six Best-seller List: Dirty English hit #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You hit #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things all placed #6 in the Amazon US Store. The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, hit #4.

A former high school English teacher, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She's addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

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The first in the Campus Nights’ series, Secret Puck is a friends-to-lovers, brother's teammate romance!


Secretly hooking up with the team captain's sister was a bad idea.

Would I do it all over again?

In a heartbeat.

Title: Secret Puck
Author: Rebecca Jenshak
Series: Campus Nights (Book 4) 
Pages: tbc
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, College Romance, Hockey Romance, New Adult, Sports Romance, Secret Romance, Brother's friend romance 
Hot Buttons: tbc

Release Date: 19th October, 2020

 

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AUTHOR BIO!

 

Rebecca Jenshak is a self-proclaimed margarita addict, college basketball fanatic, and lover of the Hallmark channel. A Midwest native transplanted to the desert, she likes being outdoors (drinking on patios) and singing (in the shower) when she isn’t writing books about hot guys and the girls who love them.

 

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Harper
I fell in love when I was sixteen. Landon was my entire world and I thought he would be my forever. But I was young and dumb, and with one error in judgement, I destroyed any chance of a future we could’ve had together, along with our hearts.

Twelve years later and I’m going through the motions of life, but not actually living. Which is why I let my friends, Bridget and Simon, set me up on a blind date. Turns out, it’s not so blind after all. Because the man sitting in front of me is the same man who’s held onto my heart all these years.

Landon
They call me a Clutch Player because I’m good under pressure and quick on my feet. I was also quick to fall in love. The first time it was with baseball, the second was with Harper. And for a short time I had them both.

Until I lost Harper and all I had left was baseball.

For years, I focused on my career. I had accepted that baseball was my one true love.

Until I saw her again. I never imagined we’d ever get a second chance, but now that she’s sitting right across from me, I know there’s no way in hell I’m going to let her go again.

Title: Clutch Player
Author: Nikki Ash
Series: Cocky Hero Club - Standalone
Pages: 245
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, new adult
Hot Buttons: sex with dubious consent, teen parent, controlling (ex) spouse, accidental death of character <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

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A rollercoaster read

5 stars

A total standalone, Clutch Player takes place in the Cocky Hero world that Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward created. It is related to British Bedmate and Simon and Bridget from that novel do appear in this one as supporting cast.

The first part of this book (until nearly 30%) shows us the origins story of Harper and Landon aged 16 and 17. I love a new adult story (or is it young adult?) and it was an absolute delight to see a couple get together and growing feelings for each other. Even in a second-chance love story, we rarely get to see the beginning other than in flashback - so to have a whole chunk of their beginning was really good to see. And although they are each other’s firsts, in sexual terms this was a fairly gentle section with no real explicitness.

After the 30% we move to ‘present day’ - or 12 years after the original section and Harper and Landon’s lives have gone in completely different directions. Although I was so excited to get to this section of the book, I honestly can’t say which section I preferred. Well, probably the later section only because of the sex and the HEA, obviously!

Both Harper and Landon were really interesting characters. I especially loved Harper’s change from a young girl in love, to a woman and mother, and then back to her roots and her love for Landon and more finding the person she was supposed to, and wanted to be. Landon was a cutie pie (a hot and sexy cutie pie) and he was the perfect hero for Harper. I liked the fact there was no messing about for him. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid to go after it. And he was a bit of a dirty talker, too, which always makes me weak at the knees!

And since he had the dirty talk down, it’s just as well that he backed it up with actual actions. And boy did he do that. The sex between Harper and Landon was delightfully hot. And frequent, too. There was some talk of anal sex,  a little anal play and then a quick flashback of the actual anal sex - which was easy to skip over if, like me, that’s not your thing. If it is, then it’s all good.

A lot of things happen in this book and it’s definitely a rollercoaster. I actually think that Ms Ash might be an evil genius. Every time the story got to a place where I was hopeful that things were on the upward slide, and she threw in a curveball (no pun intended!) and got me all riled up and reeling…and then hoping for things to be better. This happened both when I expected it and at times that I didn’t.

As I said, a lot of things happen in this book - at times emotional, upsetting and difficult things - and yet this book was surprisingly low on angst and the emotion was never so deep as to cause me, as a reader, to be overcome or overwhelmed. However, despite this, I judge a book on how entertaining it is - and boy was this book ever entertaining.

The writing was great - hugely engaging - and the characters were likeable and people you could really root for. There was a great mix of chat, banter, action and drama - and just enough emotion not to bog you down. This book has a little bit of something for everyone and it’s such a fun and entertaining read that I would recommend it to anyone to while away a couple of hours. A definite 5 star read.

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AUTHOR BIO!

Nikki Ash resides in South Florida where she is an English teacher and mom by day and a writer by night. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand. From the Boxcar Children to Wuthering Heights to the latest Single Parent Romance, she has lived and breathed every type of book.

Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out. – Pam Allyn

While reading and writing are her passions, her two children are her entire world. You can probably find them at a Disney park before you would find them at home on the weekends!

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Two blue lines. That means not pregnant, right? Right? Oh, sh*t.

Five years ago, Colm Frost asked me to marry him and I ran. I ran from my painful past too raw and fresh to escape. He was the only one who looked at me like I wasn’t broken and made me believe it. He made me feel it.

Now, he’s the hot, angry, hockey player on the mend.

I’m the physiotherapist who’s supposed to get him back on his feet.

I don’t think our night together was what his doctor prescribed, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t dreamt of him every time I close my eyes. I woke up beside him with my body still singing from the way he fanned the flames of my desire, but I couldn’t stay.

His lips on my neck. His hands wrapped around my waist. His impressive...ahem, touch leaving me breathless.

One moment of wild inhibition and it’s come back to bite me in the butt. Kind of like he did that night.

But a baby? Our night was supposed to be a one time thing, closing a door on the future I couldn’t handle.

Will this new bump in the road be everything we needed to find our forever?

Heartless King is a standalone friends to enemies to lovers, accidental pregnancy romance that brings all the laugh out loud, angsty feels!

Title: Heartless King
Author: Maya Hughes
Series: Kings of Rittenhouse Book 5 (Standalone)
Pages: 326
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, New Adult, Hockey Romance
Hot Buttons: death of parents (all prior to book starting), death of former partner (prior to book starting), grief, loss, depression<-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

Release Date: 23rd April, 2020

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Maya Hughes has a way with words that really brings you into the story. But it’s her skill with the angst that really pulls at your heart and makes you feel all the things and then some with whatever book she writes.

This is the 5th - and last - book in the Kings of Rittenhouse series. Each book follows a different couple, but since they’re all such close friends, if you’re looking to pick up this book and haven’t read those that have come before it - pick the first four in the series as well as getting this one! And we’ve obviously got to know the Kings, their Queens and their backstories - so I feel we’ve been building up to this story for a long, long time!

Colm has had his share of heartache in his life yet he’s always been the responsible one in the group. I’m not sure quite how Ms Hughes makes us feel so sorry for him even when he’s being a monumental douche - especially at the beginning. I just wanted to hug the poor man and tell him things would be okay. The fact that he was big, brash, broken and grumpy - and still a little bit of a control freak - just makes me love him more. Colm is my kind of hero even before you find out he’s so vulnerable - especially to Imo. He’s a big ol’ teddy bear.

I think that’s why Imo was so perfect in my eyes. She was the perfect foil for him - a calm to his chaos while also drawing the calm from him when she felt more chaotic herself. Imo also had a pretty heavy past and while I don’t normally go for stories where either of the main character’s have had a previous love of their life - in this case it works just fine as we ultimately know that Colm and Imo are soulmates.

The pair definitely give off that soulmate vibe - despite all the ups and downs that they go through. Fear not though, the angst is real, my friends. There’s no silly drama or convoluted points to move the story forward. Every word is so real - and you’ll race through the story with the power of Ms Hughes’ storytelling abilities. So as well as the soulmate vibe, the two also have hella chemistry. It’s the kind that clutches your stomach and makes the butterflies swirl in delight. So sexy. So, so good.

As I said, this story is so well written, with such rich and vivid details on the lives of these characters that they start to mean so much to you in the short time it takes you to fly through this book. It makes you laugh, cry, but ultimately makes your heart soar with all the feels.

Maya Hughes is an absolute goddess of the romance world. She writes with heat, heart and in a way that makes me feel like I’m coming back to meet with a well-loved friend, every time I pick up her books. And the fact that this is the end of an epic series - and I’ve come to know and love this bunch of hockey players and the women they fall for - makes it all the more emotional for me as a reader. And all the more satisfying along with it.

As with the previous Rittenhouse King novels, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. You get everything you want from a love story - all the feels and enough angst to make the HEA all the more satisfying when it comes. A very worthwhile 5 stars.

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Maya Hughes can often be found sneaking in another chapter while hiding in the bathroom from her kids! :-) I’m a romance writer who loves taking inspiration from everyday life, namely my husband and biggest fan. Inspiration also strikes when I hear a song, meet someone new or daydream while at soccer practice.

I’m the mom of three little ones, the wife to an amazing husband and also work full time. Some of my favorite things are cinnamon rolls, white wine, laughing until I can’t breathe and traveling with my family.

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