Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills
An NFL quarterback turned small-town coach gets sacked by a Texas beauty queen in this swoony, passionate romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills.
Gorgeous, talented, and brilliant, NFL quarterback Ronan Smith has the world in his hands. But after losing his career and his fiancée in a car accident, he falls into a pit of grief and bad choices. When a mysterious girl shows up to his party, he feels drawn to her and makes her his…for one night.
Former beauty queen Nova Morgan is on a mission. Scantily clad as a princess from a galaxy far, far away, she sneaks into a high-profile party to capture the attention of her favorite quarterback. But her hopes crash after an awful one-night stand.
Fast-forward two years. Broke and desperate, Nova returns home to Blue Belle, Texas, where, by a cosmic twist of fate, her broody neighbor is none other than Ronan, the shiny new football coach everyone adores. But he has no idea who she is.
The booster club keeps shoving women at Ronan to keep him in town. His solution? He proposes fake dating to Nova. But things heat up for real under these Friday-night lights when he realizes she’s the one who slipped away.
Has this jaded beauty found her forever baller, or will his past keep them apart?
Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Beauty and the Baller Shines With Heart and Depth
5 Stars
Read “Beauty and the Baller” if you like:
✔ Small Town Romance
✔ Sports Romance
✔ Enemies to Lovers
✔ Beauty and the Beast homage
✔ One-night Stand
✔ Dual Points of View
✔ Complete Standalone
Nova Morgan, 29 (ex-beauty queen), crashes an end-of-season New York Python’s football celebration dressed in a full slave-Leia-from-Return of the Jedi costume. Scarred and grieving Ronan Smith, 32 (ex-football player) is drawn to her. He just lost his fiancée the year before in a horrific car accident. Ronan and Nova have a one-night stand that ends badly and she runs away.
Two and a half years later Nova has returned to her small Texas town of Blue Belle following the unexpected death of her mother. She’s living in her mother’s house and is now guardian of her 15-year-old sister who is on the spectrum. She’s shocked to learn that her neighbor is Ronan, now a high school football coach, much beloved and pampered by the town. Blue Belle will do anything to keep him and his winning record including trying to get him to settle down with a nice local girl.
When Nova and Ronan “meet” for the second time he doesn’t recognize her at all. There’s a mutual animosity between them as Nova calls him a “pompous jerk” and Ronan doesn’t understand why she doesn’t like him.
Despite this, Ronan cooks up a scheme to get the Blue Belle folks off his back regarding setting him up and to help Nova face some people from her past: fake dating!
I love the fake dating trope and Ilsa Madden-Mills serves it well with this book. Nova and Ronan’s chemistry is scorching from the start and the added pressures of fake dating only kindles the flame.
Besides their chemistry, they are both damaged from the past but are trying to pull through to the other side.
Nova: “Beauty is how we go on, the life we create around us. Living a life that’s meaningful.”
I liked how the book plays with the meaning of “beauty”. They are both scarred but Ronan’s scars are visible. They are transcending the interior limitations and barriers life and they themselves have placed in front of them.
Ronan: “…it isn’t just her beauty. There’s an infectious quality about her smile, a sense of irrepressible joy that surrounds her.”
This theme of beauty and both visible and invisible scars permeates the book and gives it depth. They both need to learn to get past the things that prevent them from moving on, embracing love and living again.
Nova: “Life will always be scary. It’s better when you do it with someone.”
“My adorable beast, we’ll take it one day at a time.”
I truly loved Nova and Ronan. Madden-Mills has created some great characters in them. Ronan is wounded and scared but he finds Nova irresistible as will readers of “Beauty and the Baller”. Nova is a bright personality with a side of snark and she knows how to push his buttons. I loved the Star Wars references, their playfulness and the spice factor was superb.
All of the side characters that make up the town of Blue Belle were compelling without overwhelming the main storyline. None of them were underserved by the plot or characterizations and most (the ones you were supposed to) were fun, lovable and only added to the story.
If you love small town romance with some angst, comedy and real depth, then you will love “Beauty and the Baller”. I highly recommend this football romance and give it five stars. Fans of Lucy Score and Tessa Bailey should love this book.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.
View all my reviews
About the Author
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.
http://www.ilsamaddenmills.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ilsamaddenmills/
https://twitter.com/ilsamaddenmills?lang=en
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ilsasunicorngirls/
I hope you enjoy Beauty and the Baller as much as I loved it.
Here’s a link to a review of a previous book by Ilsa Madden-Mills, Not My Romeo. For May 2022 Romance Book Releases, click here.