I am so glad I gave this author another chance!!
I absolutely loved this book! It was fun, steamy,
and it gave all kinds of feels. It was also refreshing,
the characters were AMAZING, all of them.
🏈Sport Romance
🥵One-Night Stand
🥺Found Family
I'm looking forward to read more book from this
series😉

The Princess and the Player is the second installment in the Strangers in Love series by Ilsa Madden-Mills. This story follows Tuck Avery, a NFL wide receiver past his prime, and Francesca Lane, an artist feeling lost.

After an unconventional meet-cute, Tuck and Francesca can't seem to avoid each other. In a city of millions, there seems to be a tether drawing them together. Is it fate? Or coincidence? In each other, they recognize a kindred spirit, leading them on a path neither anticipated traveling. A journey that is both amazing and terrifying.

Overall, this was a quality read. From the moment they met, it was clear Tuck and Francesca had great chemistry and an easy dynamic. Their romance was charming and spicy and moving. There was a nice balance.

If you are a fan of side characters with big personalities and even bigger hearts, this is the book for you! A great group of friends surrounded Francesca and Tuck, offering them so much love as they navigated a new relationship and various other life changes. Most of my favorite books showcase friendships that feel genuine and warm and constructive and that was on display here.

And as a lover of a good epilogue, my reader heart was shining during this one. You're going to want to stick around to see where these characters end up!

Potential Spoilers Below:

What I didn't love: I struggled with the length of time one character in particular was kept in the dark about something important. While I could understand the justification to some extent, the secrecy did invalidate some aspects of the romantic development for me unfortunately.

→ received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really loved how Ilsa dove into the complicated past of these two MCs and have them their HeA. There were tears, sass and a lot of laughs. I’m a sucker for this series so far!

Thank you to Amazon Publishing for the gifted copy of Princess and the Player by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Rating: 3.5 stars (rounded up)
Genre: Romance

After reading The Beauty and The Baller, I knew I wanted to read this one. The two main characters definitely had very intense, dark backgrounds. I thought the author did a great job handling that! Overall, this book was a miss for me. I just didn't connect to the characters, but I'm sure I will be in the minority on this one!

Read this if:
-You enjoy romance with characters with intense histories.
-You enjoy books by Ilsa Madden Mills
-You enjoy indie romance authors

Princess and the Player is the second book in the Strangers in Love series. It follows Ronan's former teammate Tuck Avery and a new female character; Francesca Lane. Francesca is meant to be getting married but that doesn't pan out who she hoped so she goes to a masquerade ball at an exclusive lifestyle club. At the club she meets Tuck but doesn't know he is a NFL star. They spend a night together but don't take their masks off. Francesca soon realises Tuck lives in the same building as her and they start going on walks together. It turns out Francesca is pregnant but with the tabloids and Tuck's fear of commitment what will she do? This book was an enjoyable read and the writing was very good. This is a four star book for me because I really did enjoy this just like the first book in the series. This romance book was a typical sports romance and the sex scenes were surprisingly hot.

*SPOILERS*
The only thing I didn't like was that Francesca didn't tell Tuck she was pregnant until after 75% and that just feels too dishonest. At this point they were already in a relationship and Francesca knew Tuck was a good guy. But that is definitely a personal issue and other readers wouldn't be bothered by this.

This book was definitely not what I was expecting in the best way possible!
I loved the immediate connection between Francesca and Tuck, I was rooting for them the entire time.
This book had me in my feelings and left me with a smile on my face when it ended! I would love to read more about their friends and their dynamic in more books!

Ilsa Madden-Mills has done it again. She has yanked at my heartstrings, caused a boat-load of tears, and made my heart twinge and pang with emotion. This is one of those stories that you immediately want to read again. Just like the first book in this series (Beauty and the Baller), it was an incredible ride of surprise, passion, happiness, devastation, redemption and many other amazing feelings. What makes this story different from many other contemporary romance books is that it these characters come with such depth. Francesca is a beautiful, strong woman who has overcome so much. All the while, Tuck is this successful NFL players with deep emotional trauma. Stories like this one instill the hope that all sorts of love can conquer many challenges life throws at people. I come away feeling a deep sense of fulfillment and awe after reading Princess and the Player and have decided Ilsa Madden-Mills books are an auto-buy.