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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She's discovered his secret.

Now the trouble really begins...

After three years of mourning—and turning her dear deceased husband's gazette into the ton's sauciest source of fashion and gossip—Hollis Honeycutt feels her life has been strangely bereft of late... Her sister is living abroad, and her best friend moved to the country. What must a young widow of rank and reputation do? Why, transform her society gossip sheets into serious investigative news, starting with a rumored coup...and the rather dashing, mysterious gentleman whom Hollis suspects might be the villain of her first real story, and she is the only one who can write it.

Marek Brendan is investigating terrible rumors of treachery and treason that threaten his home country of Wesloria, but he must proceed with caution. No one can discover the truth. After all, who would ever believe he is Wesloria's lost crown prince? Only Hollis Honeycutt's cerulean-blue eyes seem to know more than she's letting on—and worse, Marek can't seem to resist her curious charms. But even as betrayal threatens a nation and a throne, nothing is quite so dangerous as the lovely young widow who's determined to find the truth...and a prince of her own.

 

Title: A Princess by Christmas
Author: Julia London
Series: Royal Wedding Series - Book 3
Pages: 384
Genre(s): Historical, Victorian, England, Royalty
Hot Buttons: n/a


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Rich and detailed Christmas romance

4 Stars

This is the third - and possibly final - book in the Royal Wedding series by Julia London. The series, set in Victorian London for the most part, follows Eliza, Caroline and now Hollis, as they find their matches and discover some intrigue, alongside some royalty from the warring European nations of Wesloria and Alucia. Despite this book probably being a standalone, it is so chock full of detail in and of itself, if you don’t have the background of the relationships and political intrigue from the first two books (The Princess Plan and A Royal Kiss and Tell) then you might be a wee bit confused. But do go back and read the first two books. The Princess Plan is especially delightful and I still have a soft spot for Eliza and Bas.

Okay, onto this book…

Our heroine, Hollis, is a widow and now also the sister of a future queen. While she has some modicum of independence due to her status, she’s also very overlooked by the royal set that her sister and friend now live in. She also feels herself standing still while feeling everyone around her - family and friends - are moving on, changing and leaving. As if that wasn’t enough, Hollis is also dealing with the guilt and grief of realising that she’s finally moving on from her husband.

Hollis in the previous books seemed quite stoic and sensible. In this book, we really get to know her. She’s feisty, flighty, smart and acts on her feelings. She’s also sweet, kind and loyal. I couldn’t help but cheer her on and wish her well.

Marek, as a hero, was perfection. He was tough, strong and silent - and yet he is so desperately in need of love and belonging. I wanted to hug him so hard. He was absolutely delightful. He was so baffled by Hollis - how she treated him, how she made him feel, and how she just ‘got’ him. They were a perfect pairing. It made my heart happy.

As you can imagine, Hollis has a lot to deal with - as did Marek - and, at times, it got quite emotional. If you feel any kind of parallels with what Hollis is going through you, like me, will find it quite emotive. Hell, you’ll be bawling like a baby as you read. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - it shows how good the author is at making her characters real - but, alongside other things in the book, it’ll leave you with an emotional hangover once the book is done.

Like the first two books, there’s also the political intrigue that both Marek and Hollis get involved in, bringing them closer together. The plotting wasn’t as intricate and convoluted as in the previous novels, but it was still fun and well thought out. I enjoyed it, especially the bribery using cakes - as I myself can be bribed using baked goods.

As I mentioned, Ms London provides such rich detail of the world of her stories, that you are immediately transported to Victorian London - and better yet, Victorian London at Christmas time. There are only a smattering of Americanisms to pull you from the story - “sidewalk” being the one I remembered most vividly. I also noted that same anachronism in the previous book in this series. Pavement. It’s pavement, dammit!

So the book is as rich as plum pudding in the detail, with wonderful characters who are made for each other and a hugely satisfying love story. We also get cameos from Eliza and Bas and a cute, mini-hea for Beck which I was 100% here for. So why didn’t I give the book 5 stars?

Firstly, all through the first 2 stories I was waiting for Hollis and Donovan’s love story. This was, as you can see, not Hollis and Donovan’s love story. And I was mad. Especially when during the first chapter of this story, Hollis declared that she got butterflies when looking at Donovan but it could never be. What do you mean it could never be? This is romance - anything can be! So until things progressed and were explained, I still had that residual madness - even if I loved Marek and Hollis as a couple.

The other reason is that one of the major themes in the book is finding where you belong in the world. Hollis, especially, worries about being left behind. So the fact that, at the end of the book, the family and friends are spread all over, well, it hurt my heart. I realise that compromise and making choices is part of life - but I don’t want to read about real life. I want ridiculous, fantastical conclusions. As it was, I had happy / saddish tears towards the end of the book. Just more to add to my emotional hangover!

This book was a joy to read. It gave me SO many feels and so much vivid detail that for a while I was transported to Victorian London, and into the lives of Hollis, Marek and their family and friends. It’s sad that this might be the end of the series, but I’ve hugely enjoyed the love, romance and political intrigue that this series has given me. 4 stars from me.

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* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *


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He’s the bad boy of baseball who’s about to lose everything.
She needs a husband to get custody of her teenage sister.
Suddenly a marriage of convenience doesn’t look so bad.

Pitcher, Jaxon Prescott has a lot on his plate. Major League Baseball. Reputation as a player. And now? He’s on the verge of losing it all. He didn’t mean to sleep with his general manager’s daughter or get into a brawl that was captured on camera. But his notoriety is a problem and everything he's worked for is at risk.

What’s a bad boy to do? Marry his sister's best friend to save his career, even if it’s the opposite of everything he wants and believes in.

Macy Walker is the sole guardian of her half-sister until the girl’s mother returns and wants her daughter back. In order to win custody, Macy needs to provide stability and marrying someone would do the trick. Luckily for her, her best friend’s brother needs a wife.

They're this close to getting exactly what they want - as long as they don't fall in love.

Title: Dare to Play
Author: Carly Phillips
Series: Dare Nation (Book 3)
Pages: 145
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Fake Relationship
Hot Buttons: n/a

Light, fun and sexy

5 stars


This is the third book in Carly Philip’s Dare Nation series - a spin-off from previous Dare series. I mean, all these Dares are connected in some convoluted way. Who knows how Ms Philips keeps things straight in her head! But for readers, this book does have cameos from other characters from this series and beyond, but it stands completely alone and comes with its own HEA. Job’s a good ‘un.

This is the story of Jaxon and Macy; two characters who, on the surface, seem completely different from each other. Jaxon is a big-time baseball player, currently in a spot of bother due to some brawling and less than stellar choices of sexual partner. Macy, on the other hand, is raising her 15 year old sister and is pretty much all business and no pleasure. She even has a wicked stepmother to deal with - back to challenge Macy for custody of said sister.

Despite their differences, and their tentative connection (Macy is the best friend of Brianne - Jaxon’s sister), at a wedding, the pair connect and spend the night together. From there, an ill-timed paparazzi shot brings the elements of our story together - Jaxon’s reputation and Macy’s custody battle - culminating in the plan for a quickie, if fake, marriage. Hey - it’s not the craziest idea ever and it would solve both their problems.

But even before the wedding, Jaxon and Macy are continually shooting sparks. They can barely keep their hands off each other - and I felt it. The sexual chemistry between this pair was stomach clutchingly fantastic and they get it on pretty frequently throughout the book. Happy campers, all round.

We’ve obviously got a little conflict which keeps us wondering whether our couple will be able to make it through to their happily ever after. I mean, of course they will, but we still need things to be interesting. The conflict is mainly about whether Jaxon can move on from his past, and whether Macy can get the courage to go after what she wants. Nothing insurmountable but it worked nicely as a possible barrier.

I always enjoy a Carly Phillips novel and this one was up to her normally high standard. You will whizz through this book - the writing keeping you interested in the characters and their storylines. This book was exactly what I needed; Light, fun, sexy and something to get myself lost in for a couple of hours. Whether you’re reading through the Dare Nation series or not, you will not be disappointed with this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 5 stars.

 

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AUTHOR BIO!

Carly Phillips gives her readers Alphalicious heroes to swoon for and romance to set your heart on fire, and she loves everything about writing romance. She married her college sweetheart and lives in Purchase, NY along with her three crazy dogs: two wheaten terriers and a mutant Havanese, who are featured on her Facebook and Instagram. She has raised two incredible daughters who put up with having a mom as a romance author. Carly is the author of over fifty romances, and is a NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller. She loves social media and interacting with her readers. Want to keep up with Carly? Sign up for her newsletter and receive TWO FREE books at www.carlyphillips.com.

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