Em um momento ruim da vida de Ronan ele se deixou levar em um encontro casual com Nova, que poderia ser uma baita distração para ele, já que a fantasia de Leia Organa fez a mente dele voar longe, só que esse encontro não foi memorável da melhor forma possível.

Agora eles se reencontram em Blue Belle, em que agora quem está em um momento difícil é a Nova, que perdeu sua mãe e juntou os caquinhos de sua antiga vida em Nova York para criar sua irmã mais nova. Eles são vizinhos, e entram em um acordo de falso relacionamento, que é mais vantajoso para Ronan, já que ele é o solteiro mais cobiçado da cidade e não quer criar raízes por ali.

O livro foi uma onda de me ajustar ao que ele parecia ser, quando peguei a e-arc imaginei que se tratava de uma comédia romântica, mas o início do livro pareceu que ia indicar que seria um drama, daí o resto do livro pesou mais para comédia romântica e me animou para a leitura.

Gostei de como a história tem muito coração, em que boa parte dos personagens são enxeridos na vida dos outros por boa vontade, e a Nova e o Ronan são chave de mudanças positivas na escola que trabalham, Nova fica atenta ao seu aluno que está tendo um luto tão recente quanto o seu, enquanto o Ronan treina seu time de futebol americano de forma leve e positiva.

Não fosse pela presença do plot de rivalidade feminina - a Melinda só aparece para rivalizar e querer a atenção do Ronan -, Beauty and the Baller teria uma avaliação um pouco melhorzinha, outro ponto que desanimou, foi que por mais que eu me divertisse com a Nova e o Ronan e achar que eles funcionam bem, eu não vi faísca alguma pulando pelas páginas, sabe aquela faísca torando na hora dos flertes? Não notei nada!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 Southern Belle Stars

🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧

It's been a year since I've read one of Ilsa's books, and I really enjoyed my way back to all the small town vibe that she's good at creating.

There's a few tropes on this one, that I love to entertain myself with every now and then, like second chance, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, small town, sports romance, and all that cliche around a good and funny rom-com.

Nova and Ronan met when he had hit rock bottom on his personal and professional life.
She came in for him like a blazing star and their connection was instant, until he messed up and she left.

When they meet up again two years later, both of them are in different places of their lives, and even though he doesn't remember her, their sparkle and chemistry are still the same!

I loved how strong, witty, honest and confident Nova was! All their interactions were entertaining and funny, and their little games put a smile on my face at every page turned (listened 😂).

I could understand Ronan's fears and insecurities about planting roots and having a relationship after what he had been through, but it broke my heart nonetheless when he still couldn't let himself fall for the girl that was there for him, with open arms and heart!

Their love story is messy, sweet, funny, hot and definitely worth reading!
Nova and Ronan are 100% swooning material!

All the side characters just added more personality to this book, and I still think of them as something out of a comedy movie, cause their mannerisms are to die for! 😂😂

Highly recommend it for your swoon and funny mood!

🎧 About the Audiobook Narration 🎧

Narrated by Savannah Peachwood and Sebastian York.
Savannah is a favorite, no doubts here! She can go sweety to feisty with or without a southern accent and it's pretty well done!
Sebastian is a great match for a grumpy character like Ronan, cause it fits really well with his gravely voice, but he can't do female voices to save his life! It's not good, even if his interpretation is. 😂😂

This was a super cute, fun, sports romance. It had some of my favourite tropes in it including second chance, enemies to lovers and fake dating.

I loved the comedy in the book it had some laugh out loud moments and I was such a big fan of the side characters, especially Sabine, the footballers, Caleb and Mrs Meadows, they definitely added some fun to the scenes. I found Nova a little annoying at the beginning but she grew on me and I enjoyed the intensity and broodiness of Ronan.

Whilst Beauty and the Baller contained some of my favourite tropes I did think there was something missing from the overall storyline. Like I’m not sure what the point of the fake dating was it didn’t really work and seemed a bit odd. There also wasn’t much of plot to be honest. Obviously stuff happened but at the same time not really. The chemistry between Nova and Ronan also didn’t really click for me but I did enjoy their banter.

I liked that this was a second chance romance and Ronan was able to get past his fears and grief. Ronan and Nova definitely wouldn’t have worked if they had got together after the first night. The tension between the two at the beginning was fun but it didn’t really last.

If you are looking for a fun, easy sports romance read with second chance love then this could be a great book for you. It just didn’t quite blow me away as much as I was hoping!

*Thank you NetGalley & Social Butterfly PR for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*

<b>Sometimes you get lost and then found in unexpected places</b>

Let's start with, I LOVE this cover!

This is my 4th football book this month and my favorite. The book starts with a bang of a night for Nova and Ronan, but where Ronan is trying to hold on to a life he no longer has, Nova thought she was finding her person.

We skip ahead a couple of years, these two happen to be new neighbors and the hostility between them is downright comical. I fell in love with their banter and the care they had for those around them. The connection between Nova and Ronan is entertaining and delicious. The fake relationship is one of my favorite tropes and Ilsa did it right, a perfect addition to her catalog.

Can I just say I LOVED that River Tate was mentioned in this book because The Revenge Pact is one of my absolute favs!

This was an entertaining read. Im usually either all in or not at all when it comes to fake relationship reads. This one had me somewhere in the middle of both. Im a tad bit sad as I’m usually a BIG Ilsa fan but this one took me a while to grasp my attention. I think it has to do with Ronan’s past, usually a character that is jaded for traumatic past like Ronan’s is very hard to like or read in my opinion.

Regardless the read was entertaining at most. Some quirky moments and sexy times. Cant complain about either or.

Nova was a good average female lead, what I liked the most is how she uprooted her life to become her sister’s guardian and moving back to a place she swore off of.

Nova and Ronan where Good together, even if there first meeting was somewhat questionable. My biggest takeaway was that Ronan was a huge Star Wars fan like myself.

I feel like living in a town of 10,000 in Texas makes me the expert on if this book is worth the read and I would say it’s as good as a Dr. Pepper and Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell float. Ilsa Madden-Mills is an automatic read for me every time and this book delivered a perfect blend of humor, heat and heart. Nova and Ronan connecting and healing over their grief and getting a perfect HEA in the epilogue was everything. I appreciated the ASD/ND representation with Sabine’s character because that is near to my heart and would love to see more authors do the same.

I adore Ilsa’s books. I always go into them knowing I’m going to get pulled into the pages. This one didn’t disappoint. Ronan and Nova gave me all the feels. A broken-down quarterback who had the world at his fingertips and lost it all and a former beauty queen down in life come together to give this story its magic. A small town, sports, second-chance romance all rolled in one. Now a Ilsa book would not be complete without a few chuckles and some belly laughs and she nailed the pass on that one. Star Wars, goats, lice…. (Commences chuckle). This is a heartwarming, feel-good romance, one that pulls you away from the real world for awhile and leaves you with a smile on your face. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

I loved this book. I loved that Ronan is such a great coach. He wants his team to win but he also cares that they do the right thing and make the right decisions. And he also cares that they learn.
I loved the relationship between Nova and her sister. Her sister isn’t like everyone but Nova doesn’t resent that she’s left to take care of her sister. She cares and wants to make the right decisions by her.
Ronan has been through a lot. He’s had some big loses in his life and its understandable why he is the way he is.
I really enjoyed the teachers sneaking off to closets. I thought it was funny. They act like teenagers.
This had all the feels and emotions.
I highly recommend this book.

So many feelings explode off the pages of this book and embed themselves into your heart. My heart is bursting after reading this. It has the perfect balance of sweetness, hilarity, and sizzling hot chemistry. There are also heartbreaking, heartwarming, and emotional moments. It is about a disastrous one-night stand and a twist of fate that lands them in the same small town and next-door neighbors, no less.

There's a sinfully sexy and talented NFL player turned high school coach with a Star Wars obsession, and Nova, a former beauty queen who is down on her luck and looking for a job. The hero has experienced an unimaginable tragedy that has left him broken, both physically and emotionally. The heroine has experienced loss and a bad break-up as well that has left scars. After the loss of her mother, she quits her job, is broke, and is forced to return to her hometown and care for her autistic sister, Sabine, and their strange cat who acts more like a dog. Imagine her shock when she finds out that her former one-night stand, Ronan is now her next-door neighbor. Throw in Lois, their meddling neighbor, who is trying to get Ronan married to one of the local beauties. What ensues is a fake relationship, lots of laughs, sexy times, and witty banter. The road to their HEA is a heartbreaking and bumpy one but they do get there and it is a beautiful HEA! I loved it from beginning to end. I couldn't get enough of these unique, quirky characters and their inspirational story. I highly recommend reading this book! It is one of my top favorites this year!

4.5 stars
I love slow burn romances. They give the relationship room to grow and evolve. The way this story was written just held my attention the entire time! This is one of the best romances written by Ilsa Madden-Mills.

In this one, we meet a very likable heroine, except she had a very specific type - athletes! Nova always went for ball players. Nova seemed uninterested in long term relationships but it is because she expected them to leave her at some point. That’s until she met her favorite football player Ronan and she just couldn’t kick her feelings for him. Ronan on the other hand was clear that he never wants to be in love again. So they embark on a “let’s just kick it for now. Those never end well Nova and Ronan had to decide if they could overcome their fears and go all in.

Ronan and Nova were both likable characters and their insecurities came from a traumatic loss. So their hesitancy was understandable. Ronan was such a good guy and I just felt for his pain. It explained his reluctance to fully commit to anyone. You couldn’t help but root for them though. And their supporting casts really added flavor to this story. The secondary characters added a fullness to the main characters life and their love story too.

I felt like the school community formed a make shift family and so there are opportunities for personal and professional growth in the midst of a romance. I was very happy with the ending because this book was just as beautiful as the cover.

A set up to bring a man on the brink of oblivion back to life. Dressed as his biggest fantasy come to life Nova meets Ronan for a night neither one will ever forget, that is until she wishes she could. Years later, she comes back home where her one one night is now her neighbor and he truly doesn’t remember what she wishes she could forget.
A romance that will have you in stitches, while you read how this brilliant woman not only shows him how to live again but he brings her back to life in return. A romance to rival all romanc

I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't stop smiling while reading. Besides, all the tropes that the book has made me so happy.
Sports romance
Grumpy=sunshine
Second Chance
Fake Dating
Small town

4.5 STARS!

"Who are you gorgeous?"
Silence, thick and sweet, stretches between us. "Yours."

Well, well, well, I do love a book that hits the ground running and this one HELLA does!

Nova waltzes into Ronan's party one night dressed head to toe as Princess Leia, while he is a HUGE Star Wars buff. Coincidence? Well, you'll have to read to find out. But they share an instant connection and I was so here for it. I'm not usually a fan of the couple hooking up at the start of the book but it SOOOO worked here. In fact, I don't see how this story would've worked without it!

It is major love and chemistry and HOTNESS at first sight. However, Ronan, who at the time is still grieving his late fiancée, pulls a major faux pas that abruptly ends the evening and the short-lived relationship.

It's two and a half years later and Nova lands herself back home after the death of her mother to her small town to care for her sister where none other than Ronan is her neighbor and soon, colleague at school too.

This book had all the components I love:

- Sexiness
- Small town
- Banter
- Hilarious secondary characters with dimension
- Second chance
- Friday night lights -- He's a high school football coach!

They definitely had their share of obstacles, but there was no stupid drama or misunderstandings. Just all around sweetness and fun. This was my first read by this author, but it will most certainly not be my last. (I picked up the paperback of Dear Ava immediately after finishing this.)

While the story centers around the romance, I loved the added message of self discovery and how, at the start, neither one of them wanted to be in Blue Belle, but how that evolves by the end...be still my heart!!

"I knew exactly which road to take, and it was back to you."

Would recommend this book to fans of:

Penny Reid's Homecoming King
Tessa Bailey's Too Hard to Forget
Friday Night Lights the NBC TV show

En bref, j'avais beaucoup aimé les précédents romans de l'autrice que j'avais pu découvrir et celui-ci ne m'a pas fait défaut. Ronan et Nova sont tous les deux touchants et attachants, ils vont nous faire vibrer avec eux, nous faire rire et parfois avoir les larmes aux yeux, j'ai aimé les voir se battre pour ce qui compte pour eux et vouloir aller au bout de leurs rêves. Ils vont devoir faire face à des décisions qui pourraient changer leurs vies et forcément, le tout n'est pas évident à négocier après les drames qu'ils ont vécu. Ils apprennent à faire confiance et à apprécier l'autre, j'ai aimé l'intrigue et ses rebondissements et le final qui est vraiment très chouette ! Deux personnages attachants et vibrants qui nous donnent le sourire !!

This was such a wonderful book. I immediately loved Ronan, and Nova was the exact bright light he needed in his life. Their chemistry and the way they cared for each other was so sweet. Another touch down from Ilsa.

This was a really sweet grumpy and sunshine romance. Once I started reading, I wasn’t able to stop! This is a really steamy and fun read! The characters are great and I loved their connection. This book was so great and had a little bit of everything in it. I highly recommend checking it out!

Sigh! Have you ever read a book that after turning the last page, you want to go back in? That was my blissful experience. This book felt like perfection. Thinking about this story produces the biggest smile and warms my heart.

Ronan and Nova have a wonderful story to tell. The brilliant writing has me weaving in and out of emotions, bursting out with gales of laughter one moment and the next welling up with tears. Plan for a full cast of characters with the beauty of the south being its backdrop.

Nova is a broken hearted daughter, dealing with loss and she is the best big sister. OMG I love her so. Ronan is the new local football coach after retiring from the NFL. He is a much sought after golden boy in his new community.
They have a brief history in another place and time that sets the stage of this story beautifully.

Did I mention this story is funny? I know I did but it bears repeating. The quick whit is the best part of this book though a close second is the sweet sexy moments. Wink.

I am sure you will find this story five star worthy. Happy Reading Everyone! XOXO

I have new crush and her name is Nova. She is one of the most lovable heroine’s I’ve read since Violet Waters in the Pucked series. She is quirky, funny and doesn’t hesitate to give the hero, Ronan a hard time. I loved their fated lovers story. It made me laugh, cry and fan myself from the heat and chemistry jumping off the pages. (Hello Pool Table and Pantry scenes. Just damn.) I couldn’t get enough of the small Texas town called Blue Belle and all of its residents. I wish I could go back in time and read this book again for the first time. Such a great ride.

I really enjoyed this one! It has small town vibes, grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, second chance and a bit of enemies to lovers that quickly turned into friends to lovers!

Nova and Ronan’s story was fun and filled with banter, which by now you know I love!!!

I hope we get Sonia and Skeeter’s story next or a book featuring Sabine! These were all fun side characters!!

If you’re looking for a fun, sweet but steamy romance, I’d recommend you check this one out!!! Also, it’s free on #kindleunlimited !!

✨Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for providing an eARC in my exchange of an honest review! All opinions are my own.✨

Review posted on Instagram: @bm.bookish.girl

Beauty and the Baller was a cute read. This story had a mix of spice, wit, and emotions. Nova and Ronan were good main characters and when they were together it was spot on. I liked their back and forth, it was entertaining. I liked seeing Nova and Ronan worked through their past history. A friendship started to build after animosity and that leads to something more. These two definitely had chemistry. And reading about them building something was nice. I really liked the small town feel in the book. The supporting characters were delightful and their interactions were fine. The relationship between Nova and her sister was beautiful. I liked their sisterly bond. Of course, I did want more of Nova and Ronan especially of them together. They needed to be more in the center of everything. I enjoyed seeing how things progressed and how everything would play out for this small town. Overall a nice story with great characters, storyline, and relationships of all kinds.