-- Read this review, and others, on my blog www.hookedbythatbook.com –

Ah, this was a proper love story. Elena crashes Jack’s dinner for one when she mistakes him for her blind date. Jack was very intrigued when he realized that she had no idea he was football’s latest poster boy for scandal and gossip. Jack couldn’t get Elena out of his mind, and he kept contriving situations that will bring him closer to her.

Jack had a lot more going for him than he shows on the surface. He is a painfully shy person thrust into the spotlight by his chosen profession, and people can’t understand why he doesn’t like all the attention. He believes himself incapable of love until he tangled with the occasionally wild librarian.

I liked both Elena and Jack. Jack seemed to forget he was considered a big deal anytime he is around her. All he wants is to make her happy. Elena is funny, creative, and interesting. She sees beyond the surface to who Jack really is. The romance between them got off to a quick start, but the real relationship built up slowly and just right. It follows the usual pattern you would expect from a book like this, but there is a reason we love them so much.

This book made me sigh, and I was really rooting for Jack and Elena. The supporting cast of characters were also fun and interesting. And I had that “awww” feeling at the end, you know the one, right? When the hero convinces the heroine to pick him and live happily ever after? Yes, that one.

If you love romance, don’t miss this one.

Thank you to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I haven’t read many books by this author so I decided I would read another.

I enjoyed this story but it didn’t WOW me. I thought the book was too long. I felt the story dragged in spots and really slowed the progression of Elena and Jack’s story. This was a little too much of a slow burn for me.

By the end I really just wanted to smack Jack. So I kind of lost the connection I had to him and Elena’s story.

Just because this wasn’t a favorite of mine doesn’t mean others won’t love it. The storyline was entertaining enough and I loved some of the secondary characters we met. I just think there was some extra drama added that didn’t need to be.

I would recommend this book to romance readers. And I will still read future books by this author.

I’ve been a fan of Ilsa’s college sports romances for a while now. I was so excited to read a professional sports romance from her. I so enjoyed Not My Romeo. I started it when nothing else would hold my interest. It was fun, flirty, and steamy. Just what I expected from an Ilsa Madden Mills romance. I look forward to more from this world.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

When a Super Bowl quarterback is thrown into fried green tomatoes (the movie). Therefore, as a European, I wasn't the target reader for this book. Nevertheless, I'm a hard believer that no matter the story itself, good writing can hook up anyone. The main characters (Jack and Elena) are two broken souls that have been betrayed by the ones they loved. Well, I guess that was the primary explanation for their controlled behavior. The main problem for me was that I didn't feel much for them. I usually build an image in my mind, but this time I couldn't put a face on Elena or Jack. Something was missing, the little thing that makes them live in my head and ease in the story. Weirdly, it was more comfortable with some of the secondary characters.
Moreover, I didn't like the poor nerdy small-town girl's vibe, who never had an orgasm meeting a gorgeous ultra-rich guy who's going to teach her what good sex is. Overall, I couldn't understand Elena. Her arguments for the passion she's hiding weren't convincing.
The sappy storyline was also too predictable and disjointed. I only kept reading, wondering how the author would get them to the HEA, and how they would face up and be a little smart.
I won't spoil the story, but I didn't understand how Jack finally realized that Elena was the one. Added to that, I found some inner dialogs a little annoying and too many inconsistencies that I won't list to avoid spoiling. The writing was a bit repetitive: each time she saw him, she described how he was dressed and was overwhelmed by how hot he was. It was so recurrent that I ended up believing he was just a dumb hot jock.

I don't believe a good romance needs crazy twists or a lot of drama, but it has to be a little believable and go with the flow of the story. Moreover, why bother giving so many details about Jack's work and health issues and don't follow up. It was like the epilogue was there to make up for it. The bottom line is that if I had been transported by the story, I would probably have forgotten about the inconsistencies.

I ended up skimming this book. I didn't like how he led the the heroine on and slept with her while maintaining a false identity. Based on how she was described, I didn't get enough chemistry between them to believe she would just sleep with him after a bad date. I liked the heroine but felt she deserved better than the hero written for her

One of my favorite romance reads of the year!! 
I highly recommend it to every romance reader, this book has off the chart chemistry and unbelievably believable dialogue. 

It is hard for me to be critical or even write a review when you loved the book as much as I did love this one. I feel like I can’t express it well enough how much I enjoy reading this. 
What I find the best is writing more specifically the heroine. I haven’t read such a well fleshed out character in a long time. 

It seems that this book will be book one in a series. But don’t worry, it can be read as standalone. I assume the next book is about one of the side characters. Which I will be reading, of course. This book is about a football star Jack and small-town librarian Elena. They meet in a restaurant where Elena mistakes him for her blind date. From there all yumminess ensues. Jack can’t stay away from the mysterious Elena. But it seems that they also keep bumping into each other. 
Do opposite attract? Or do they have much more in common than they think? 
Many interesting side characters keep this story going. From Elena’s meddling mother who wants her to find a boyfriend to her damaged relationship with her sister, her cheating ex-boyfriend, her vivacious aunt, sweet roommate, Jack’s teammates, and a bunch of curious small-town people this book makes a page-turner. Once I started it I couldn’t stop reading it. Jack makes a sweet book boyfriend. I loved the pace of the book and character development. I would categorize this as a small town, mistaken identity, or even sport romance. But this book doesn’t shy away from some heavier topics such as cheating, abuse, trust issues, self confidence. 

Filled with funny moments, lots of steam too, but the emotional parts are what tied everything in a perfect feel-good read. Not My Romeo is a book that every romance reader will be in love with. 
This is a book I want to reread!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! 
I will be sharing it with my Goodreads & Twitter friends closer to the relase date. And can't wait for all of them to read this book.

This is one of those weird cases where my head says this book really should not have worked for me at all but I flew through it and know I will reading the other books in this series as soon as they come out because I really want stories for all of the side characters. So why did this book for me? Fun supporting characters are not generally enough but I loved the opening with the mistaken identity blind date and there is the comfort of an escapist Cinderella story where a celebrity falls in love with an average person. Make it a misunderstood supposed bad boy celebrity and my knees can’t help but get a little weak and the hero in this book delivers. It was enough to keep me engrossed and for me to forgive a kind of silly ending and other small gripes.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A fabulous rom-com, it ranks right up there along with all my other top favorites in this category.

The story was total rom-com magic....I laughed, smiled and sighed at times ...I also felt my positive endorphin levels rising with each new page that I read!!!
This has to be one of ilsa Madden Mills best books ever IMO.

It starts off with a Valentine's Day blind date misstep when Elena (a sweet librarian and albeit secret lingerie designer) mistakes Jack Hawke (a somewhat cynical and shy football player) for her intended date (a weatherman named Greg) and she boldly sits down at his table.

What followed was such a fantastic scene (absolutely one of my all time book favorites) and it definitely sets the stage for this zany, crazy and positively adorable ROMANCE .

I loved Elena so much and all her crazy family. In fact I loved all of these characters including the insufferable ones such as Elena's Ex as they are all part of the reason this was such an endearing and "very" special read.
The majority of the book is set in Elena's "oh so" cute and charming hometown of Daisy....delightful!!!

There is even a little Romeo and Juliet action going on here in terms of the town's annual play...note the choice of book title.

I totally devoured this delightful book and....

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IT ......thank you so much Montlake publishing for giving me this ARC...it was my pleasure!!!!

ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

Another amazing book by Ms. Mills! I fail in love with Elena and Jack! They are complete opposites him being an NFL Quarterback and Elena a small town librarian. Chemistry is off the charts!! Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down.

Jack and Elena meet on Valentines Day when Elena thinks Jack is her blind date. Jack figures out pretty quickly that Elena thinks she is her blind date who is. Weatherman but never corrects her. During their dinner Elena Ex Preston comes into the same restaurant with his new girlfriend who is Elenas sister. Elena is so over the night even though the date went okay. Jack convinces her to leave the restaurant with him since her Ex is there and it won’t look like she leaves by herself. Jack then talks her into going back to his place. At this point Elena
throws caution to the wind and decides why not have one night stand. Jack is still struggling with the fact that he isn’t the person she thinks he is but never tells her any different.

The next morning Jack leaves before Elena wakes up. He does leave her not saying he isn’t the weatherman and leaves her his name and numbers. He does leave out the part that he is NFL Quarterback. When Elena wakes up and figures out she slept with a complete stranger she is mad. When she figures out that Jack took her panties that she made she is down right furious with him. . She leaves his penthouse with all intentions of never seeing him again. However fate has a different plan.

I loved this story! Jack comes of at first as a rude, reckless jock. However as the book progresses the true is a very sweet and damaged man. It just takes Elena and her sweet town of Daisy to bring out the wonderful man that Jack Hawke is. This is a sweet story with dual POV, sexy times and loveable characters. Also all the supporting characters are funny, well meaning meddlers who made this book to me.

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Amazon Publishing for sending me an advanced reader’s copy of ‘Not My Romeo’ by Ilsa Madden-Mills.

After reading ‘Dear Ava’ by the same author I was excited to read this new book because I knew it would be good.

This book is about Elena, a small town librarian with really cool hobbies and ambitions and a famous football player named Jack Hawke, a blind date, a misunderstanding and Romeo and Juliette.

It truly did not disappoint, It was funny, witty, full of angst and steamy. Elena is quirky, confident, and truly is the coolest librarian and holds her own against a very tall football player. What I loved about their chemistry is that it felt like their connection was kismet right from the beginning. It was fated because no matter if one of them tried to run. They always found each other. Another thing I loved about Jack is how despite being a very tall and large jock, He is shy, full of banter, smart and is not the typical alpha male but instead has very cute moments with Elena despite his trust issues and reservations and her past relationships, they decide to dive in and try to navigate through their intense feelings for each other. Another thing I really liked was the Dual POV, I liked reading both their thoughts and it really helped the story as a reader to see where both Elena and Jack were.

Overall, it is a quick read. I finished it in a few hours but it is definitely cute, steamy and well written. I would definitely recommend this book if you like a steamy romance book with humor.

Not My Romeo was a super fun read with fun and quirky characters and a story line that continuously surprised me. Elena and Jack were laughable, loveable and gave me all the feels I want from characters. I really loved how Ilsa Madden-Mills spun the usual tropes and cliches into something different and fun. From the awkward blind date in the beginning to the super sweet HEA ending and all the stuff in between. Definitely worth a read.

Well well well.....here we are again. It seems to be that I may have a trope type and it may have something to do with sport characters having a life of fame and falling for a commoner. Let's not read into this too much!

This sports type was so fun! This starts off with a blind date gone wrong ...that may turn out just right?

Jack is a famous football star in Nashville but very few know the real him. Small town quirky librarian Elena may just know how to get him to dive down deeper. Then again, she may ne risking it all...

I really loved this read. This was the first book of this authors that I read and I want more. (I just saw this will be a series and I am HERE FOR IT) I loved the writing style. The inner-dialogue was fantastic. It was witty and comical. There is a dual POV and I enjoyed that.

This was swoon worthy in parts and very steamy in others. Heads up, that steam comes at you very fast in the book!

Thank you Montlake and Netgalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My first book by this author will definitely not be my last. I loved everything about this story, from the way they met to how they got their HEA. The dates, the friends and family, the heartbreaking backstory, and how amazing both main characters are! I cannot wait for the next book, and who I hope it’s about!

Swoon!

I really enjoyed Not My Romeo. Quarterback with anxiety and feelings + small-town librarian with different career aspirations + a fair amount of steam = my kind of romance. Plus in between all the swooning, I laughed out loud a few times!

Elena and Jack have a somewhat awkward meet-cute, but I loved that this one wasn't a slow burn romance. The chemistry is there from Day 1.

I'm happy this is book 1 in a series, and looking forward to the next! Ilsa Madden-Mills did a great job introducing Elena's family and roommate, and Jack's friends, without making the book seem too long. I'm not sure who book 2 will follow, but it'll be an auto-add to my tbr regardless!

Just a few things held me back from 5 stars:
- Cigarette smoking (including by a 28-year-old! It's 2020. We know better, and it really isn't cool or OK)
- Throwing a Gatorade bottle in the trash, and using paper plates while at home (again, it's 2020 - ever heard of recycling? Not using disposable plates while in the comfort of your own home? Also seems like it'd be more in line with the plot for Elena to be using her Nana's old dishes)
- Jack picking up a 10-year-old to give him a hug (spoiler to explain why this wouldn't happen when it does, but it wouldn't!)
- Gender-reveal party (just not my thing. Given that Elena had a male roommate who wears heels, you'd think it wouldn't be her thing either)

All the same, I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to book 2!


CW for recollections of domestic abuse, gun violence, death of a parent, car accident that hurt a child, assault, DUI, fatal car accident

Not My Romeo by Isla Madden-Mills a bounty of a read as boundless as the sea. What a story, this kicks off with sparks galore, a blind date is my idea of hell, so Elena has bigger kahunas than I do, as I would have been smoking a pack of 20 never mind that I don’t smoke. That blue shirt has a lot to answer for, Weatherman Wannabe just made me smile all over, honestly I didn’t expect I would like him like I do, he just is an enigma wrapped in mystery and that mystery just made him so readable, he could be my Romeo any day. I must say a special mention to Topher as he is the sparkling Mercutio to a different Romeo and that also made me smile. As that’s what this whole story did, I was grinning like a loon as I read it, there was just something special about it and I don’t think I have read anything else by this author, but I will be picking up some more as I enjoyed the writing so much and I look forward to being a Unicorn Girl.

I fell in love with the author’s books last year and since then I couldn’t get my hands fast enough on anything she writes.
To say I absolutely love this story isn’t enough because I adore it.
From the first chapter, I’ve fallen in love with Elena and her quirky self. I laughed out loud so many times and in a true Ilsa Madden-Mills way, the angst wasn’t missed from this book.
I devoured it in a few hours because I couldn’t stop reading and flipping the pages fast enough to get to know Jack more and see how everything will unfold in this beautiful love story of two people who found themselves by accident or maybe it was fate’s hand.
Love it and can’t recommend it enough.

Not My Romeo is a delicious love story and I fell for it almost immediately! Ilsa Madden-Mills is a wonderful storyteller and I love how she can write both angst and comedy! I can't wait to see what others think of this one because I know my romance lovers are going to adore it!

ADORABLE.

That is exactly how I would describe Not My Romeo. I loved it from the very first chapter with the hilarious case of mistaken identity all the way to the swoon worthy end. There were a lot of bumps in the middle, but they were all relatable and felt true to a real relationship.

Elena was a great main character. She was this tight-laced Southern belle who had a sultry side. I loved her slight awkwardness and overall attitude. She was the perfect match for a professional football player who didn't trust anyone.

Jack... Well, Jack was misunderstood by a lot of people. He had his reasons for being the "jerk" that he was, but he truly had a good heart. Even when his dumb actions made me mad, I could understand him. I rooted for him and Elena.

Jack and Elena's romance, like I said before, wasn't an easy one. There were so many feelings, history, and other people adding to their issues. I mention this because those people were a smart addition by Madden-Mills. Every single one of them added to the fun of this story. I absolutely loved them, and I can't wait to find out which one of them is going to get the next book. I'm already imaging some of the fun combinations that could happen.

Honestly, I could gush about this story for a long time. It was just such a great contemporary romance. It contained a bit of Madden-Mills' trademark angst, but also proved once again that she write a more lighthearted romance. I absolutely loved every minute of reading it, and it's sure to put a smile on your face like it did mine.

An original spin on mistaken identity. Liked that author didn’t drag out the mistaken identity but it factored in into the storyline weaved throughout. Characters were like-able and the side characters were a great addition to the book. First I’ve read by this author and enjoyed it! Will recommend to customers

4.5 stars

‘Not My Romeo’ is yet another success from the inimitable Ilsa Madden-Mills. It’s endearing, it’s funny, and it’s powerful. A Madden-Mills novel is always an insta-buy for me, and this new book did not disappoint.

When Elena Riley sits down at NFL superstar Jack Hawke’s table at dinner, he’s more than a little bit confused. She mistakenly thinks he’s her blind date (a weatherman named Greg), and he can’t help but be intrigued by the small town librarian who has no idea who he really is. After their unexpected hookup, Jack comes clean, but Elena wants no part of getting involved with him. But, events keep conspiring to put Elena and Jack in each others’ path. Is it coincidence? Fate? Sheer chemistry? And can they both get over the hurts in their pasts to give a real relationship a try?

One of the things that Madden-Mills is great at is writing complicated, layered characters who deal with real-life traumas and situations. There are plenty of lighthearted moments throughout the novel, and lots of witty dialogue and humor, but there’s also the juxtaposition of circumstances that are not idealized and are serious and traumatic. Elena and Jack both have to process their pasts, and do so in a way that feels genuine and not overwrought. Plus, their chemistry is INSANE. Madden-Mills is quite adept at skirting the line between the idea of fate and coincidence in her pairings. Her couples always seem meant for each other, but in a more realistic way than others who rely on more simplistic iterations of the “insta-love” trope. The supporting characters in this story are also delightful, and left me wanting to know more about their stories.

Fans of Madden-Mills and new readers alike will thoroughly enjoy this novel, and I am excited to see the direction this series goes!


Thank you, NetGalley and Montlake Romance, for providing me with an ARC of ‘Not My Romeo’ in exchange for my honest review.