Beauty and the Baller Audiobook By Ilsa Madden-Mills cover art

Beauty and the Baller

Strangers in Love

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Beauty and the Baller

By: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Narrated by: Sebastian York, Savannah Peachwood
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An Amazon Charts and #1 Kindle Store bestseller.

An NFL quarterback turned small-town coach gets sacked by a Texas beauty queen in this swoony, passionate romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills.

Gorgeous, talented, and brilliant, NFL quarterback Ronan Smith has the world in his hands. But after losing his career and his fiancée in a car accident, he falls into a pit of grief and bad choices. When a mysterious girl shows up to his party, he feels drawn to her and makes her his…for one night.

Former beauty queen Nova Morgan is on a mission. Scantily clad as a princess from a galaxy far, far away, she sneaks into a high-profile party to capture the attention of her favorite quarterback. But her hopes crash after an awful one-night stand.

Fast-forward two years. Broke and desperate, Nova returns home to Blue Belle, Texas, where, by a cosmic twist of fate, her broody neighbor is none other than Ronan, the shiny new football coach everyone adores. But he has no idea who she is.

The booster club keeps shoving women at Ronan to keep him in town. His solution? He proposes fake dating to Nova. But things heat up for real under these Friday-night lights when he realizes she’s the one who slipped away.

Has this jaded beauty found her forever baller, or will his past keep them apart?

©2022 Ilsa Madden-Mills. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Romance Romantic Comedy Sports Comedy Royalty Feel-Good Funny Heartfelt Witty

Critic reviews

“With a tremendous appeal to fans of Contemporary Romance Comedies…impressively performed…by the narrative team of Sebastian York and Savannah Peachwood. A fun listening experience from beginning to end.” —Midwest Book Review

“In this un-put-downable romance, Madden-Mills skillfully balances the emotional with the physical to produce a love story that’s equal parts scorching and sweet.” —Publishers Weekly

“A sexy, fun romance from an author who always delivers.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Heartwarming Romance • Witty Banter • Excellent Narration • Small-town Charm • Emotional Depth • Perfect Voice Casting
Highly rated for:
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⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 Southern Belle Stars

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 break 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. 😂😂

Another winner!

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loved it! I cried a little towards the end but it was beautiful can't wait for the next book
b!

so cute!

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I loved this book and the audio was amazing! Nova and Ronan are so sweet and I loved how they found each other!

So good!

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New to this author and I’m in love!! I love Sebastian York as an awesome narrator. This story is so full of love, laughter, tears and heart warming small Texas Family love!

Star Wars for the win!!!

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Sebastian and Savannah are the best kind of combo. This storyline was not what I was expecting and the narration made it that much better.

Good book great narration

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I loved this book. I had it saved in my library waiting for the second book to come out. There were several parts that had me in tears from laughing. The lice part was hilarious but unfortunately had me scratching my head as I laid in bed listening to the book! 😂 Loved all the characters and the second book on Tuck was really good. Narrators were awesome! Highly recommend

Great book!

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Sad at first and then things changed. Got better and she brought light to his life. Then things changed again and they both thought it was for forever. Then they changed again. Interesting story. Loved Nova’s character from the very beginning.

Loved it

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Ronan is stuck by grief by losing his fiancé and his NFL career cause of an injury. His friend gets him out one night and thats where he meets Princess Leia. One night stand that ends badly and never to be heard from again. Nova moves back home from NY cause her mom died and she needs take care of her sister. When she is almost hit by some woman in her front yard. She realizes that the girl is coming from her neighbors yard, who happens to be the star high school football coach. Low and behold when she finds out the new football coach is none other than Ronan, her one night stand. What happens when they figure out that they can both benefit by fake dating? What happens when history comes into play? What happens when small town gossip comes in?

This was such a cute sports small town story. This audio was great too. I really liked the fun small town life and how everyone knew everyone. I loved that Ronan was really jealous but scared and he was just confused and I really liked seeing his arc and really figuring out what he wanted. Nova was a really fun character and I saw a lot of myself in her.

Fun Sports small town romance

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Oh my AMAZING from the start and did not disappoint. GREAT NARRATION! AWESOME STORY! FANTASTIC!

LOVE IT WORTH IT!

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Ronan Smith has hit rock bottom. The all-star quarterback of the New York Pythons, he lost his fiancée in a car crash, and he lost his career as a football player, too. Now he's spending his days with whiskey and Tuck, his only friend and teammate. In a deep funk, one evening, Ronan stares as a beautiful, sexy lady waltzes in to a Pythons private party, dressed as Princess Leia and calling to him. His thoughts go from the past, into the present, and he's consumed with lust, but grief and guilt, as well. How can he feel pleasure when Whitney feels nothing. Ronan makes the biggest mistake when he calls out Whitney as they make love, and Nova is gone before he can so much as open his eyes. What did he do! Two and a half years later, Nova's mother has passed away from an aneurysm, and she's going back to Blue Belle, TX, to take care of her fifteen-year-old sister, Sabine. There's a loud party going on next door and an even louder car screeches into the street and right over Nova's rose bush. She's going to go over and ask for restitution from the new coach who moved in at the beginning of the year. The football coach, of course, is Ronan Smith, not only the coach, but the center of attention for every marriage-minded female in town. Nova confronts him and he doesn't even recognize her! It's going to be mighty interesting when he finally gets a clue. Once he figures it out, he's tense and unhappy, thinking he can't get involved, even if he's crazy-attracted to her. In his mind, he's not worthy of anyone's love and he tells himself he doesn't know how to love. It's a fascinating and clever story of seeing the outside of a person and the understanding that there's an entire other being on the inside. Nova sees right through Ronan, past the scars and into his heart, but Ronan's stuck in a bad place. His football team is what's bringing him the most attention and a bit of fame, none of which he really wants. He just wants his team to go on to the championship and win. I had the feeling that Ronan wasn't giving himself a fair chance and, even though it's obvious that he loves Nova, he can't bring himself to say the words. Fame catches up to him and he's offered the quarterbacks coaching position for the Pythons, but how can he take it when his heart is still in Texas. The emotions run high and I'm a little disappointed that Ronan doesn't ever make the grand gesture. We are told that he comes to the realization as to how much in love he is, but he doesn't show it for far too long. The HEA is rather rushed and not as romantic as I would like in the closet with his clothes! Those are just my thoughts and I'm sure most readers will be happy with how it ends. The Epilogue is so sweet and revisits the secondary characters who have become just as important as Nova and Ronan. Thanksgiving dinner? Brilliant! Savannah Peachwood and Sebastian York do a marvelous job with the narration. Both do both male and female voices well and the intonation and modulation are exceptional! 

Exceptional story!

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