The Kiss Lottery was a great novella for Valentine's Day. Honestly, it almost felt like a full-length book with all the detail and story that was packed into it. Everly and Beckett were a lot of fun. The chemistry between them was palpable and learning about what tore them apart and brought them back together was very entertaining. Madden-Mills did a fantastic job showing why they should be together despite everything they had been through as teens. What made this book even more fun was the cast of characters showing up for them. Their friends were hilarious, and they all reverted back to teenage troublemakers when they were together. I laughed at their antics. This novella was well worth reading to get in the Valentine's Day mood.

This was a super cute small town, second chance Romance.

Everly and Beckett were childhood friends, but as they grew up and life got more complicated it all came to a head and they stopped speaking. Everly heads off to college in New York, and Beckett stays in their hometown.
10 years later, Everly - now a successful podcaster - has followed an anonymous invitation to return home to take part in the towns valentines tradition - the kiss lottery.


At less than 200 pages it’s a perfect quick read/ palate cleanser. There were some hilarious scenes and i throughly enjoyed this. The characters had believable chemistry, although I felt like the author tried to pack a lot in here that it could definitely have been a full length novel instead of a novella to flesh out some of those storylines.

Everly returns to her hometown, where she hasn’t been for ten years, after receiving an anonymous invitation to the annual Kiss lottery. Soon, she meets Beckett, her teenage crush, but they stopped talking after a certain incident. It turns out that Beckett hadn’t forgotten her all these years and even named the villain in his latest book after her.

This is a sweet Valentine’s novella. I liked Beckett and the fact that he took the first step to reconnect with Everly, but why did he get that awful tattoo?
I was also moved by the storyline about the accident, but the part with the diary seemed strange to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes:
🩶small town
💖friends to lovers
🩶second chance
💖she runs a podcast
🩶he’s an author
💖secrets

The Kiss Lottery by Ilsa Madden-Mills is a quick fun novella. The story involves our two main characters of Beckett and Everly and what happens when Everly returns home to Rose, Tennessee after 10 years.

Everly Davis, who now travels and runs a successful podcast, left her small hometown of Rose, Tennessee ten years ago. She recently received an anonymous invitation to the towns annual Kiss Lottery. She wasn't going to go but then decided it's a good time to confront Beckett about what was written in his book.

Now Beckett Whitfield has cared for Everly ever since he was a little boy and didn't know what love was at the time. They didn't part on the best of terms and have not seen or spoken in 10 years. Secrets Beckett has been holding on to.

This is a great novella and while you do get quite a story packed in here. I am secretly hoping we get more Rose, Tennessee stories in the future because it did leave me wanting more.

Beckett and Everly had been friends forever until Beckett pull apart from her because of Everly Mom and Beckett Father they broke famiky values and when Beckett found out he distance himself from Everly without telling her the reason and that push Everly to Carson. Everly missing Beckett she left her diary on purpose where she wrote how much she love beckett and wanted to kiss him which broke their friendship and ten years later she back in town because someone send her an invitation and then she meets with her friends and they talk about Lily and Quincy tragic love story she talk about in her podcast. Everly find out family connection to Quincy and the secret Beckett has been keeping from her and she feels betrayed by her mother lies. She feels like she needs to run like she always has.

A valentine novella by Ilsa Madden-Mills, second chance and exs best friend. This book had so much potential especially as I love Ilsa's other books however this one didn't hit for me, there wasn't much character development in my opinion and I didn't feel the romance. It was short and fun so if that's what you want it's perfect for that but it just wasn't for me unfortunately.

The Kiss Lottery is a standalone title written by Isla Madden-Mills.

*Childhood best friends
*Second chance
*🍃😳 scene

This was the cutest book that I’ve read in 2025 so far!

Everly and Beckett were childhood best friends until they reached their high school years and life tore them apart. Ten years later, Beckett is ready to take his chance and get his girl back.

This book includes meddling friends, a mysterious ghost hunt, and a valentines kiss lottery that is meant to bring couples together!

No OW/OM drama, no third act breakup.

Thank you to NetGalley & Montlake publishing for the opportunity to read and review this title!

Format: NetGalley ebook
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Romance
Overall score:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️
Characters: Everly (FMC) & Beckett (MMC)

The Kiss Lottery is a super cute Valentine's novella about Everly, a podcaster who fled her small town after a high school scandal resulted in her diary pages being passed around the entire school. It resulted in the loss of her boyfriend and best friend and she's made a point to avoid the town ever since. She finally comes back when she receives an invitation to the Kiss Lottery, something the small town does every year to match people up. She decides to go, figuring at least she can use the experience for a podcast episode and sees her former best friend, Beckett, again. She was in love with him but when everything fell apart, they never saw each other again. Being in each other's proximity again made them realize how much they missed one another. There are secrets that need to be revealed and things he's kept from her.

This was a cute story and didn't feel like it was missing anything as so many novellas frequently do. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a cute Valentine's story!

The Kiss Lottery is a charming and playful romance that blends humor and insane chemistry. The story follows Everly, a podcaster returning to her small town home after years, and Beckett, successfully author who cannot forget her. When they get paired for annual kiss lottery on Valentines Day, tension between them quickly rises again!

The banter between the two is sharp, and the tension between them is electrifying. Despite the fact that its novella, the story felt complete and just long enough to be adorable and steamy and funny, all in one.

The Kiss Lottery is a small town second chance romance novella by Ilsa Madden-Mills. I found the set up for the story a little strange. Everly comes back to her home town after running away from it 10 year earlier because she got an invitation to the kids lottery and she going to find out who sent it for some reason. The last person she wants to run into is Beckett Whitfield. Everly was dating Beckett’s best friend in high school but who think Everly and Beckett were together behind his back. So Everly comes to town and I’m not sure why Beckett sending the kiss lottery invite was such a mystery. I knew from the start it was him by how easily he agreed to be in the lottery and his reaction to swing Everly again.
However in terms of Novella this had great pacing. I don’t feel like i was missing any of the story due to there being less pages then a full novel.

• KISS KISS BANG BANG •
The Kiss Lottery is a short Valentine’s-themed, second-chance, small-town novella, featuring great side characters and a delightful found-family vibe.

To be honest, invoking Jane Austen in the first paragraph, only to follow it with a string of chapters that lean more toward telling than showing, was a bit disappointing. However, Madden Mills won me over again with Everly’s stoned, hilarious and sad inner monologue, which finally got me invested in the story.

This gem is pure gold: “You’re awesome. You’re Audrey Hepburn meets Snoop Dogg. Elegant, but cool. Sophisticated, but stoned…”

If you’re in the mood for a cute and sweet Valentine’s romance (with a dash of spice), Ilsa Madden Mills delivers with Everly and Beckett in The Kiss Lottery.

3,5⭐️

I wanted a good, quick read and this is exactly what I was looking for.

It has all the makings of a good romance novella: well-written, just long enough (aka not too short where you feel like you're missing a chunk of story), likable main characters in Everly and Beckett that you actually root for who have great chemistry, a cast of entertaining supporting characters, and a really fun premise.

And bonus points for dual POV, which I always love!

This novella started off so well. I was intrigued by Everly coming back to her hometown after running away 10 years prior. The plot set up a nice little backstory that I was excited to follow between her and Beckett and then it just sort of derailed.

Perhaps it’s because it was a novella and not a full length novel but the plot seems to move really quickly with Beckett apologizing for his previously awful behavior in the first 25% but then it starts to meander with odd twists and side plots that don’t really need to be there, an example is Summer Moon who feels spirits. I know that it’s used as a reason so discover vital information later but as it’s already such a short book it took up valuable narrative space.

Also Beckett is extremely unlikable. He apologizes constantly to Everly while also being annoyed at her for not knowing the secrets he knows and has been punishing her for and then tops it off by getting the lamest tattoo I’ve ever read

I couldn’t even enjoy the smut because my eyes were rolling too hard at Beckett.

A sad miss for me.

4.5 stars
This is a fun, sweet, entertaining, quick read. Becket and Everly are interesting, wounded, intriguing, complex, strong, entertaining characters. I enjoyed their romance and the path it took to get to their HEA. These two are fun to spend time with. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The story is easy to read and get into.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

DNF 25%

This was a damned strange novella. The main character breaks up with her boyfriend, receives a valentine inviting her to the Kiss Lottery, and the first thing that comes to her mind is to return to the town she ran away from to find out who sent it. And there, she ends up in the “club of offended people”: an ex-friend who didn’t take her side and now holds a grudge, half the town mocking her...

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this book. I love a good small town romance. There were at times I felt things were sequenced oddly, like finding out Beckett sent the invite just seemed to be glossed over. I loved the friend group and all the unique characters in it. Everly and Beckett being able to overcome their past and realize they were meant to be together was a great ending to the book.