overflowingshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
CW: Grief; depression; car accident; injury; death of a parent; alcoholism; cheating (not the main couple)
Recently, I was craving a heartachingly good sports romance, and Beauty and the Baller delivered! This book was the perfect fake dating, sports, and small-town romance that seriously gave me all the feels. I was instantly hooked as soon as I started and stayed up waaaaay too late to finish it in one sitting.
First off, I LOVED the premise of this! It has so many elements I truly adore, so I couldn’t help but be hooked by it.
The story starts with the most perfect, nerdy opening. Nova shows up to a party in Princess Leia’s gold bikini and instantly captures Ronan’s attention (he’s a Star Wars nerd), leading to a one-night stand (don’t worry, there are no surprise babies here!) And then, of course, when Nova moves back home after her mother’s death, who does she find as her new next-door neighbor? The new hot football coach, who just happens to be the sexy ex-NFL player that Nova slept with dressed as Princess Leia. Unfortunately (or fortunately), he doesn’t seem to remember her right away. With all the women in town trying to lock Ronan down so he stays the town’s football coach, he asks Nova to be his fake girlfriend to get them off his back.
This premise worked well with the romance and helped build the tension. Seriously, the romantic tension in this book? FIRE. And the chemistry! The chemistry was there from Ronan and Nova’s first meeting, which made the one-night stand element work perfectly. I was a bit worried that there could be some long-term deception since he didn’t recognize her, but luckily, that was resolved quickly enough not to cause long-term issues.
Fake dating is a trope that feels a bit overdone nowadays and one that I struggle with in contemporary romances, but it was utilized and executed perfectly here! I truly loved how Madden-Mills deployed it here. It fits the small-town vibes well and perfectly fits the overarching football plot. Plus, I loved that Nova was like, “This is a bad idea,” the whole time, as it felt very realistic. Obviously, with the fake dating trope, you always get a lot of emotional tension as the characters cannot tell what’s real and what’s fake, and I’m a sucker for that, and it was played up perfectly in this book. There is some conflict toward the end with Nova and Ronan’s relationship (and just a bit of miscommunication), but that worked really well here, given the situation and how it was set up.
Outside the romance, I truly adored both Ronan and Nova. With Ronan, he was in such a dark place in the beginning as he was overwhelmed with grief. The grief is not something that ever goes away, but watching him learn to live with it and come out of the fog of grief was heartwarming. This man also has a heart of gold, and I absolutely adored that. The relationship he has with his players – he’s sort of a pseudo father figure to some – and the contributions he makes to the town show how much he cares about Blue Belle, even if he says he’s going to leave it all behind it.
Nova is the beauty from the title, but she was not what I expected. As a former beauty queen, I expected her not to be super fleshed out as a character, but that was not the case. Like Ronan, she’s also dealing with grief after losing her mother suddenly and being forced into the parental role with her younger sister Sabine. Plus, she’s emotionally damaged from her past relationship, and being back in her hometown, face-to-face with her cheating ex, who claims he wants to get back to her, is extra challenging. I enjoyed watching her navigate this unexpected twist life threw at her, and I loved how she’s incredibly empathetic. Nova and Ronan are very similar in that way, and I think it’s why they work so perfectly as a couple.
I seriously flew through this book, leaving me with such a severe book hangover! I’ve been chasing that high for the last month or so, trying to find a book that will deliver all the emotions and the romance like Beauty and the Baller did, but falling short with so many books.
I want to check out more books from Ilsa Madden-Mills, as this one seriously blew me away! I don’t think I will read the sequel Princess and the Player because it deals with my least favorite trope – surprise pregnancy – and I know that will just prejudice me against it. But Madden-Mills has many other books on KU that sound right up my alley, so I’m excited to check some of those out! In the meantime, I highly recommend Beauty and the Baller if you’re craving a sports/fake dating romance, as it is seriously top-tier!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
morbookish's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Car accident
kb33's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
CW/TW: graphic descriptions of grief over death of a fiancée; short description of fiancé’s death in a car accident.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Car accident, Death, and Death of parent
lilyemmaaa's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
I am so glad that I listened the this book instead of reading it loll.
This was a cute and enjoyable read, that had a lot more spice than I thought it would going into it. It was a cute premise and was done fairly well. I enjoyed the aspect of Nova being a former beauty queen and then having to mother her sister when a tragic accident happened. And I loved how Ronan was the NFL star turned high school coach. Both the characters how more depth than I expected and I feel like that made it easier to enjoy.
I’m a sucker for second chances, and the way that Nova disliked him when they meet again made me happy, considering all the happened the first time they met. Seeing Ronan overcome his grief and the trauma he experienced when he lost his first wife was heartbreaking to read about, but also so enlightening. And seeing Nova express the love she had for her mother and the memories she once experienced with her was so heartbreaking to read about.
This book was enjoyable and it was also a really quick and easy read. The one thing I am just not a fan of is the Star Wars references. I’ve noticed that this author loves Star Wars, but coming from someone who has never enjoyed that universe, it gets annoying to hear about every chapter or so.
This was a cute and enjoyable read, that had a lot more spice than I thought it would going into it. It was a cute premise and was done fairly well. I enjoyed the aspect of Nova being a former beauty queen and then having to mother her sister when a tragic accident happened. And I loved how Ronan was the NFL star turned high school coach. Both the characters how more depth than I expected and I feel like that made it easier to enjoy.
I’m a sucker for second chances, and the way that Nova disliked him when they meet again made me happy, considering all the happened the first time they met. Seeing Ronan overcome his grief and the trauma he experienced when he lost his first wife was heartbreaking to read about, but also so enlightening. And seeing Nova express the love she had for her mother and the memories she once experienced with her was so heartbreaking to read about.
This book was enjoyable and it was also a really quick and easy read. The one thing I am just not a fan of is the Star Wars references. I’ve noticed that this author loves Star Wars, but coming from someone who has never enjoyed that universe, it gets annoying to hear about every chapter or so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Alcohol, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
ecravens's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual content, and Vomit
nbreezy17's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Car accident
gnlee26's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
it was okay 🤷♀️ i didn’t really like ronan very much (and every time i heard his name i just pictured ronan the destroyer and he does NOT fit in the world 🤦♀️) and nova was just okay too. i really enjoyed sonja and skeeter(?) though they were fun. and i’d love to read about toby and sabine but nova and ronan just didn’t really do it for me. it was definitely a cute and easy read but nothing super special
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Death
Minor: Death of parent
jonezzzing's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Deadnaming, and Vomit
mells_view's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I want to touch the stars, even if I get burned.
Absolutely loved Beauty and the Baller so much. It’s been a minute since I’ve read a new Ilsa book, and BatB was exactly what the librarian ordered. Did this book make me want to pack up and move to Blue Belle? 100%! I so easily fell in love with Nova, Ronan and just about every single character in this book.
This is definitely a sweet romance with an interesting meet-cute, and some hot steamy bits, but honestly the meaningful non-romantic relationships and self reflection from both Nova and Ronan really sealed my love for this one. These characters are not in the exact place in life that they planned to be, but they are figuring out that maybe they are right where they need to be anyway. There are some ups and downs between the main couple, but honestly they make sense to the characters and anything else would have been too easy. Ronan messes up a handful of times, but he wins Nova and me over every single time afterward. I felt so many things while reading this book. I cried, I smiled, I got mad, and I laughed my butt off at some parts. I think this was such a well written and well rounded story. It had a little bit of everything and was a definite reminder of why I love Ilsa’s books so much!
Obviously I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you like love after loss, sweet small towns with nosy neighbors, sweet as strawberry jaw sibling relationships, not so fake faking dating, and a love story that’s not easy going, but definitely worth it, then you’ll LOVE Beauty and the Baller!
AVAILABLE MARCH 29th!
*ARC
Content Warnings
Minor: Car accident, Death, and Death of parent
More...