Everly and Beckett, lifelong best friends harboring secret crushes on each other, find their paths diverging as life takes them in different directions. Years later, Everly returns to her hometown to take part in the beloved small-town tradition of the Kiss Lottery. Ilsa Madden-Mills crafts a delightful and heartwarming tale that’s perfect for readers seeking a quick, fun read with a feel-good happy ending.

Madden brings the funny without ever losing sight of the heart. The Kiss Lottery is the sweetest blend of temptation and emotion. From sensory overload to heartbreaking romance, Beckett and Everly bring big city personality to small town romance.

“Love doesn’t always make sense, but it can endure time, distance, even mistakes.”

The annual Kiss Lottery in Rose, Tennessee, is about to kick off, and podcaster Everly receives an anonymous invitation—though she’s attending under the guise of covering it for an episode.

Of course, she immediately bumps into her former best friend, Beckett—a bestselling author who, funnily enough, once made her the villain in one of his books. Ha! It’s been ten years since they last spoke, ever since they tried (and failed) to cross the line between friendship and something more.

This romcom was such a delight! Beckett and Everly’s “I hate you” ping-pong match had me grinning, and their close proximity only heightened the undeniable chemistry. With so much history between them, it was only a matter of time before they pieced their broken puzzle back together.

A sweet second-chance romance with just the right amount of spice!

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Everly is finally returning home after being invited to The Kiss Lottery. Beckett has stayed in Rose his whole life. They dated back in high school but didn’t end up on good terms. Is Everly’s homecoming a second chance or will they finally realize they were never meant to be together?

The Kiss Lottery is a Valentine’s tradition in Rose. Every year people participate in a number of activities all themed around Valentine’s Day. This year, someone sent Everly an invitation to attend. She runs a travel blog and podcast. She plans to use the Kiss Lottery as a topic on her podcast. She has travelled all over the world but she’s not ready to settle down one place. Beckett is an author. He has happily stayed in town living on his farm. He suddenly and unexpectedly broke up with Everly in high school. He had good reasons at the time to break up but he never told Everly so she was heartbroken and confused. His best friend, Carson, fell in love with Everly in high school. The reason Everly fled Rose and never returned is because someone found her diary and copied it for everyone to read. The embarrassment and hurt was too much to handle. Everly and Beckett reconnect and get to know each other as adults. They have to work through the pain and embarrassment of the past before they can explore if they want to try again. There are secrets revealed and childhood traumas to heal. In the end I was rooting to them to figure it out and end up together.

This story takes place in Rose, Tennessee, a small town with all the quirks of quirky small towns. I you like straightforward second chance romances, then give this a try. It is a very fast read. I will read more from this author in the future.

This book is the perfect Valentine's Day book. It was so much fun! I adored the characters. The back story was intriguing and well developed. The writing was top notch with the perfect enough of conflict to keep me reading from start to finish. The banter was hilarious. There wasn't anything I didn't love about this story except it was too short.
Everly and Beckett definitely get their well deserved second chance. Everly is a podcaster and someone invited her to come back to her small town to cover The Kiss Lottery. It's a town tradition. The back story had Everly in a bit of a love triangle. It was the reason everything fell apart back then. There definitely isn't a love triangle in the present though. It's definitely Everly and Beckett's story. Huge thanks to Montlake and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

So fun, some angst, and some second chance. All things I eat up!

Everly Davis is back in town. A town where the people she left behind... oh boy, it was kinda a mess. Her best friend didn't want anything to do with her and proved it in front of everyone.

So why years later is SHE the villain of his latest story? An invitation to "The Kiss Lottery," a town tradition where singles in the town are set up, brings her back home. To her ex. To the enemy. And to that best friend.

It's heartbreaking to flash back to Everly and Beckett back then. Because as close as they were, we know what the future brings to both of them. And Beckett... there were times I wanted to bring him THROUGH the wringer. With my bare hands, lol.

I love small-town novels. Everyone knew the business, and of course, there were some who wanted to keep the friction going, and some who wanted that second chance at friendship to happen.

Beckett could have been a little more grovely IMO but it's really a sweet novella.

❤️ Rom-Com
❤️ Small town
❤️ Friends to lovers
❤️ Enemies to lovers
❤️ Second chance
❤️ Novella

Perfect quick read for February! Everly and Beckett are a little hostile when they meet back up, but the sparks are undeniable. Their conversations about the past and issues they had was great to see. There was still a good slow burn and buildup for being a novella. Loved the friend group as well. It had me laughing and cheering these two on!

Thank you @ilsamaddenmills & Montlake & Netgalley for the ARC!

3.5 rounded up to 4. Cute holiday read! I thought at times it felt a bit rushed. I feel like this one would have been much better a full length novel so that we got the entire story from beginning to end. I don't know that I would have been that forgiving so easily myself lol Still a good book and if you're looking for something quick with a HEA pick it up!

I absolutely adored this story! The chemistry between Beckett and Everly was incredible and I loved how effortlessly the story flowed. Highly recommend this book!

This book was a nice easy read and it was good to read close to Valentine’s Day, I felt that it was quite predictable but an enjoyable read. I was going to mark as 3 stars but then the ghost subplot came up and it felt entirely pointless and irrelevant to the story. The friends were also hard to distinguish from each other due to similar characteristics and similar names! Also, a character called Summer Moon - not for me! Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the book but felt that it was a lot of build up for not much of a climax, and then it was over. Thanks for letting me review NetGalley.

Thank you for the ARC and a chance to provide my honest review. While this store is a quick easy read, i think a few more pages may have helped with more back story etc. However, that being said, the characters were fun and interesting. The escapades they found themselves in were laugh out loud funny at times, even if some of the 'historical/ghost' info was not very well portrayed to the reader. I have read others by this author I have enjoyed more but I definitely will still read more as well.

Cute and sweet but a bit disjointed, this story about Everly and Beckett was overall fun but felt, a little forced in terms of direction. A secret admirer turned second chance romance, I enjoyed the progression for the second chance romance with just a bit of “who sent the invite” to Everly. I do love the premise and the couple and the small town romance.

This was a very cute and sweet novella. It had all the angst and passion that you would expect to find in a friends to enemies to lovers trope. The author did a great job flashing back to both good and bad memories from high school. You also had the one character everyone loves to hate.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

Wow!! What a great book!! This one was a page turner! Had me hooked from the first page! This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last. I enjoyed the plot, characters and the writing style!!

Very good book! Everly is returning to her home town for a Valentine's Day tradition. She received a special invitation. So much is about to happen including seeing her ex boyfriend again.! It's a must read! Interesting ending!

4.5 Stars!

Nothing compliments a cold snowy day than a second chance romance with well-defined characters and a Valentine's Day theme. The Kiss Lottery, by author Ilsa Madden-Mills, is a well-written novella that kept me entertained and hopeful for love. I read the book from cover to cover very quickly because the narrative was too good to put down.

Ten years ago, Everly Davis left her hometown of Rose to escape heartache and the gossip of living in a small town. She has become a successful podcaster, calling home New York City. Sadly, she has never felt that she belonged anywhere. Beckett Whitfield is a bestselling author and has never had a reason to move away from Rose. Everly and Beckett were the bestest of friends growing up and overtime fell deeply in love. Unfortunately, circumstances caused them to separate. Luckily, Everly is lured back to Rose when she receives an invite to the town's annual Kiss Lottery, which brings them back together forever.

I truly enjoyed this book. Everly and Beckett are an emotional ouple and their sexy times are hot.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you very much to Montlake and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication. Ilsa Madden-Mills is an automatically buy for me and is in my top 10 romance author recommendations to family, friends and strangers shopping in bookstores. When I saw the pagination count I was sad but I quickly got over this and reminded myself it was a new Ilsa Madden-Mills book!

This book was literally the chef's kiss for the small town vibes of bantering, chemistry and second chance love. As always, I continue to look forward to more books with this trope and what new chaos Ms. Madden-Mills brings us in her stories.

Adorable Valentine’s novella, enjoyed the characters qualities and the small town quirks. He wrote her into his book as a villain, I cannot this was so funny to me.

Unfortunately I did not see this was a novella when I first downloaded it. Novellas are not my favorite and I hoped this one would change my mind as I usually enjoy Madden-Mills books. Sadly I felt the characters in The Kiss Lottery were not fleshed out enough and the book moved too quickly for my tastes.

Very cute.
The chemistry and banter were adorable between the couple.
It was a great, refreshing read during the season of love