A review by allingoodtime
Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is excellent. It starts with a bang. And I do mean that quite literally. It’s an interesting way for Nova and Ronan to meet, but their second meeting is such a fun and awkward scene. So good!

One of the things I love about this story is the characters. And I mean all the characters. There are some that I thought I wouldn’t like and I was quickly proven wrong. There were others I thought I wouldn’t like but they somehow grew on me. And then some are just not meant to be liked but aren’t so bad that I can’t see their redemption in the future for them to find their own happiness. When it comes to the main characters and their inner circle, those characters are all a delight from the very beginning.

The chemistry is dripping off the pages with Nova and Ronan. Nova has a lot going on, her whole life has been upended by her mom’s death leaving her with a teenage sister to raise. It’s not the life she envisioned for herself, but she never lets her sister see that. Ronan sees through her grit and determination though and goes out of his way to try to make things easier for her, even before they come to a cease-fire and realize they want to be friends. Nova isn’t afraid to call Ronan on it when he leans too heavily on his football royalty status in town. It’s not something he’s used to but he loves how real and direct she is with him.

This is my first book by this author, but I know I’ll be reading many more. 
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