A review by julie_loves_books
Dirty English, by Ilsa Madden-Mills
3.0
I was kind of excited about this book as I love MMA fighters and Declan, an underground street fighter, is essentially that. Plus, he's British...sign me up!
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. I think the story had good bones and I absolutely adored Declan and his brother Dax, but the writing just wasn't executed well. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters or their story. Due to a past assault, Elizabeth had control issues when it came to sex and it would have been interesting to see her work through those. The story just kind of skimmed over that and I think that was a missed opportunity.
The next book in the series is about Dax and he has a great personality, so I still may give that a shot.
Nicknames: Unicorn
Love is a knife that cuts out your heart piece by piece, feeding it to the boy you love.
Have sex. Never speak to him again. End of story. It was about control. My choice. My rules. I had to initiate the first move, and I had to be on top. Most importantly, I had to be in my own bed and around my own things.
“Look, I’ve seen you around on campus. You keep to yourself and underneath you seem, well, fragile—and honestly, I like my girls and sex hard. I’d be all over you, and somehow I’m sensing you aren’t down with that.”
“Maybe I want to use you, and I’m not fragile. No one hurts me anymore,”
Elizabeth Bennett was the most awkward person to ever come to a frat party. Not only had she came through the door like she was going to an execution, but she’d asked me to shag her in the most unsophisticated manner I’d ever seen in my days at Whitman. I could live for the next hundred years and my ears would never hear a come-on that bad. Weird or not, no one could deny she was hot as hell.
“You make it hard to stay away when you come in here with pink boots and wet knickers—which clearly aren’t granny panties.”
“I don’t believe in the perfect woman, just the right woman. Elizabeth knows she isn’t perfect, but neither is Darcy. They’re both flawed people who are at times too proud to admit their own true feelings—hence the title.”
“Your scars are beautiful. It means you survived. It means you’re here with me.”
“Are you ready to risk your heart, Elizabeth?” he said softly, watching me.
“Get in the bed with me.” I eyed him warily.
“You’ve got too many wires hooked up to you to get freaky.”
“I don’t want to shag you. I want to love you.”
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. I think the story had good bones and I absolutely adored Declan and his brother Dax, but the writing just wasn't executed well. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters or their story. Due to a past assault, Elizabeth had control issues when it came to sex and it would have been interesting to see her work through those. The story just kind of skimmed over that and I think that was a missed opportunity.
The next book in the series is about Dax and he has a great personality, so I still may give that a shot.
Nicknames: Unicorn
Love is a knife that cuts out your heart piece by piece, feeding it to the boy you love.
Have sex. Never speak to him again. End of story. It was about control. My choice. My rules. I had to initiate the first move, and I had to be on top. Most importantly, I had to be in my own bed and around my own things.
“Look, I’ve seen you around on campus. You keep to yourself and underneath you seem, well, fragile—and honestly, I like my girls and sex hard. I’d be all over you, and somehow I’m sensing you aren’t down with that.”
“Maybe I want to use you, and I’m not fragile. No one hurts me anymore,”
Elizabeth Bennett was the most awkward person to ever come to a frat party. Not only had she came through the door like she was going to an execution, but she’d asked me to shag her in the most unsophisticated manner I’d ever seen in my days at Whitman. I could live for the next hundred years and my ears would never hear a come-on that bad. Weird or not, no one could deny she was hot as hell.
“You make it hard to stay away when you come in here with pink boots and wet knickers—which clearly aren’t granny panties.”
“I don’t believe in the perfect woman, just the right woman. Elizabeth knows she isn’t perfect, but neither is Darcy. They’re both flawed people who are at times too proud to admit their own true feelings—hence the title.”
“Your scars are beautiful. It means you survived. It means you’re here with me.”
“Are you ready to risk your heart, Elizabeth?” he said softly, watching me.
“Get in the bed with me.” I eyed him warily.
“You’ve got too many wires hooked up to you to get freaky.”
“I don’t want to shag you. I want to love you.”