Author Spotlight and Giveaway: Ilsa Madden-Mills

I just love Ilsa Madden-Mills and her Briarcrest Academy Series so much I decided to spotlight all three books today!  If you have not read the series... Its a MUST READ!  They are hot, sexy, and bring out the inner cougar in me that I keep sedated with chocolate.  So scroll down... read what I have to say... and pick up this series for a great weekend read!  I've listed them in the reading order.  The two novels can be read as a standalone but why would you miss out on meeting the scrumptious Leo Tate or the sexy Cuba Hudson???!!!  They are both top book boyfriend worthy!!!!!!  And did someone say giveaway???!!!!!  Scroll down to the bottom for details!!!  xoxo Jennifer

Very Bad Things

Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any nineteen-year-old girl could desire. She's an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She's perfect. Or is she?

Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex.

Then through a chance encounter, she meets her soulmate. But he doesn't want her.

When it comes to girls, twenty-five-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about...until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.

As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy...where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things.

  

*Very Bad Things is a complete standalone novel without a cliffhanger.

    

 

There has been a lot of hype about a book and something that always worries me about that is will the book stand up to the hype?? Will it be as amazing as the author says it will be? With this one I will tell you that you will not be disappointed! This lived up to all it promised and MORE! I so feel in love with Leo Tate and his brother Sebastian. This is a true story about finding your own path and not allowing those to sculpt and share you in to what they think you should be. I would highly recommend this book and it should be on top of everyone’s TBR!! If you are reading this and you haven’t read it yet… go get it and make it your next read! That’s how much I loved it! This book is told from a dual POV switching between the female and male leads.

So we start with Nora Blakely, she has become the epitome of perfect that her mother always wanted her to be. She is intelligent, she is beautiful, but deep down she feels empty. Sure she is so smart she won the national spelling bee, she is so beautiful that she has won pageants, she is so talented she is an accomplished pianist but these were things her mother pushed to do. She needs to be perfect and be the show daughter. We start with Nora giving the “Welcome to Briarcrest Academy” speech to incoming students when she has something she has never had before, a panic attack. This is when I knew I would love this book! She gets up on stage and says nothing… then blurts out “F**k Briarcrest Academy, and fuck you all!” OMG loved it! This is my kind of girl!! She knows her mother’s wrath will come but at this point she didn’t care anymore. In the audience that day is Leo Tate. He’s there with his brother who will be attending Briarcrest but has an instant pull to Nora. He tries to deny it as he is older around 25 and Nora is a high school student. When they are both leaving the school, they make eye contact and Leo is enthralled with her but since she is younger he ignores the pull he has to her.

Due to Nora’s little outburst, she is severely punished but it’s to the point where she wants nothing to do with her Mother. That has always been more of a house of horrors than a home as there are secrets that come with being there. Her mother is the queen bitch and more than one occasion I wanted to drop kick her in the throat!! She is a news anchor and a local TV station and she cares more about her appearance then her family. It’s infuriating how she is!! Nora ends up moving out and moving in with her Aunt and helps out in the Bakery she owns. One night Nora decides to become rebellious after drinking her sorrows away and she vandalizes an Escalade. Little did she know this Escalade belongs to that of Leo Tate. He is in the process of opening a gym across from her aunt’s bakery. He catches her in the act and when he discovers who she was, he takes her in and to sober her up. They end up talking all night and little by little Leo finds his guard coming down. He also finds out that even though she is in high school, she is 18 almost 19… not the young one he thought she was.

Leo Tate… sigh… what’s not to love about him! He is musician with tattoos that everyone swoons over. His parents were killed in an accident and he was forced to become guardian to his younger brother Sebastian. He doesn’t do relationships. He does not want the attachment and heartbreak that goes with them. At a young age is a successful business and has opened a string of health clubs or gyms in California. Looking for a change, they move to Dallas. Even though he has the gym he also formed a band as music is what he enjoys. He discovers that Nora plays piano and invites her to a rehearsal. There he sees there is more to Nora than just a pretty face as she assists with the existing keyboard player that has autism. He discovers that he labeled her too quickly as being the spoiled rich girl and not the caring and kind person she is.

The more time Leo and Nora spend together the more his walls start to break down. Nora is also on her own path of self-discovery. She is doing things she would never imagine. She dyes her hair from blonde to red and gets a very large tattoo of angel wings on her back to signify her freedom. Even though her mother has disowned her, her family is still a source of heartache. Her brother has a secret that he keeps dangling in front of her that threatens to expose just what the secret is. Can she confront her brother and deal with those secrets that seem to haunt her??? Can Leo and Nora build a relationship even though he is firm about his “no relationship” status? This is such a fantastic book about self-discovery and building your own self-worth and learning to love even when its least expected.

I love these quotes from Leo! 

“This was no lukewarm, vanilla feeling. It was a madness, making me feel like a week-kneed boy on his first date, like I had fucking butterflies in my stomach when I pictured her face. She consumed my, my head my heart, my skin, my blood, my muscles, everything aching for the physical touch of her body against mine.”

“And when I look into your eyes, I can see all the way to your heart, to the strong beautiful woman you are.”

See… what’s not to love about him!

Very Wicked Beginnings

100% of the May proceeds from the prequel will benefit the Keith Milano Memorial Fund for Suicide Prevention. 

Meet Cuba Hudson:
  

Girls say I'm a walking, talking sex god. Guys call me Hollywood because my life is golden. It's not.

But, ESPN did rank me as a four star recruit, calling me one of the best defensive players since Briarcrest Academy opened its esteemed doors. So yeah, with football and a stellar GPA, my future seemed good.

Then Dovey Beckham shows up in her short skirts and ballet shoes. Driving me insane. Making me want to beg for her attention.

But that wouldn't happen, because Cuba Hudson didn't beg for anything.

She walked around BA like she owned the place, and most days she looked right through me...the one girl I couldn't have. So, of course, I made it my mission to claim her, to put her notch on my bedpost.

She would be MINE.

Because no girl can resist the Heartbreaker of BA.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive.

I fell in love with Cuba Hudson in Very Bad Things and about fell over when Ilsa Madden Mills announced that he was getting the next novel. He is so sexy and arrogant, I loved it! Imagine me doing back flips when I discovered there was also a novella!!!!!!!! More Cuba… YES PLEASE!!! With Very Wicked Beginnings we get a glimpse into Cuba and Dovey and what shapes them into who they are in Very Wicked Things. Without reading it first, you would lose some of the background story. It’s a journey and you need to know the beginning before you get to the end. This novella is also something that is near and dear to me as well as it deals with depression and suicide. I also love that 100% of the May proceeds from the prequel will benefit the Keith Milano Memorial Fund for Suicide Prevention. So for those that think this is just a ploy to get more money for the author, STOP! This is for a very good cause and since I personally have been affected by suicide I would tell you that this makes my heart happy that there are people out there like Ilsa that raise money for such a worthy cause.

For Dovey Beckham there is just one love, ballet. She lives and breathes ballet. She is on scholarship at Briarcrest Academy and has hopes one day to become a ballerina in a top rated program. She doesn’t do relationships and has only one close friend Spider. Unlike the other students at BA, everything she has she has fought for. Nothing is given to her on a silver platter. She is her own unique self and she doesn’t conform to the norm.

“Love didn’t matter. Only ballet.”

Now what can I say about Cuba Hudson…. Lord have mercy! He is that alpha male athlete with the body and attitude to go with it. He knows he is God’s gift to women and take full advantage of it. While at football practice one day, something catches his eyes… a beautiful dancer. He is mesmerized by her. He cannot take his eyes off her, until an offensive lineman lays him out flat! He knows he has never seen her before and is curious to who this mystery girl is. Imagine his surprise when he heads to class and sees her.

“My world… my fucking life... altered when her eyes connected with mine for what seemed like a long time but it only had to be a few seconds.”

If you have to pick up the novella to see how their story all starts! And again, in May 100% of the proceeds go to an amazing charity! 5 huge stars! 

Very Wicked Things

 Born on the poor side of town…

Ballerina Dovey Beckham is a scholarship student at Briarcrest Academy, determined to prove she’s more than just a girl with the wrong pedigree. She does whatever it takes to succeed in her endgame, even if it means surrendering her body…but never her heart.

Until the day she meets him, and he rips apart all her well-laid plans. Suddenly, the girl everyone thought unbreakable might just shatter.

Born into wealth and privilege…

Cuba “Hollywood” Hudson is rich, spoiled, and a star football player. With his fast cars and superficial girlfriends, he lives the high-life, hiding his secrets from the world.

Until the day he meets her, and she offers him something he’s never tasted…love.

But once in a lifetime kind of love doesn’t come easy. When trust crumbles and doubts creep in, both will have to decide to either love or let go…forever.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive.

How they say opposites attract could not be truer with Cuba and Dovey’s story. I loved this twist on the fairytale story all girls dream about. What girl doesn’t daydream of being whisked off their feet by the most popular guy in school?? I loved the journey that Ilsa Madden-Mills took us on an amazing rollercoaster of a story. When you think you know how they story is going to unfold and bam…. Ms Madden Mills throws you for a loop and that I never saw coming. My heart broke from both Cuba and Dovey and I wanted them to find that happiness in each other. This amazing story is told in a dual POV moving from past to present tense and can be read as a standalone.

Dovey Beckham is not your typical Briarcrest Academy student. She comes from the wrong side of the tracks, she wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth and she doesn’t wear the latest fashions straight from the runway. She’s there on a dance scholarship as it is her dream to become a dancer. Growing up was not easy. Her mother was a always strung out on drugs and alcohol and could care less if her daughter had clean clothes or food to eat. Her apartment was over a dance studio and that would be Dovey’s saving grace. Dance became her life.

“There’s many reasons why I dance. My body craves the impossibility of it, all those crazy twists and turns. IT’s where I pour out all my fears and frustrations. But really, dance gave me life once when I think I was close to dying.”

Cuba Hudson appears to have it all, amazing good looks, charm, money, and the perfect family. All that comes crashing down the day tragedy strikes their family and tears them apart. Cuba is left guilt ridden and feeling like he’s responsible for it all. He uses girls and alcohol to mask the pain he truly feels. Until the day he sees Dovey dancing. He is mesmerized by her and the way her body flowed.

“It was as if I was finally waking up after being submerged in water for a year. Drowning my feelings had been comfortable, and I wanted it back. Because barely living worked for me. It’s what I deserved anyway. But something had changed. “

He pursues her relentlessly until she agrees to go out with him. Even though they were opposites they clicked. They were spending more and more time together and falling fast. Then out of the blue, something changes and Cuba leaves Dovey without an explanation. It appears that he was just using her like he did with everyone else. This part of the story was so emotional for me. It was heartbreaking and my heart literally ached for them both. Remember there are two sides to every story and with Cuba, he’s story broke my heart into a million little pieces.

“Life isn’t fair. Even for a kid from Highland Park who seems to have it all but doesn’t.”

“Forget her. You’re a fuck-up, I reminded myself. And fuck-ups don’t get the good girls.”

A year goes by and it’s like they are strangers to each other. They don’t acknowledge each other; they just completely ignore the other until a class project brings them back together. Old feelings resurface but Dovey cannot get past the fact he just dumped her, with no explanation. Can they work through the past to find where they belong in the present?

“She was someone who’d loved me at one point, and right now, I just needed some forgiveness for the things I’d done.”

There are defiantly some moments had me screaming WHAT! And moments that had my heart ripped to shreds. Their road to a HEA is not an easy one…. If there is one to go down at all??? It’s a must read and an AH-MA-ZING addition to the Briarcrest Academy series. If you loved Very Bad Things you will devour Very Wicked Things. For me it was an emotional roller coaster that I never wanted to end!

“After bad things happen, it’s up to us how we go on. The sun may be gone, but the stars are still there, waiting, always giving you light.”

5 HUGE FANTASTIC STARS FROM ME! 

Ilsa Madden-Mills writes about strong heroines and sexy alpha males that sometimes you just want to slap. She spends her days with two small kids, a neurotic cat, and her Viking husband. She collects magnets and rarely cooks except to bake her own pretzels. When she’s not typing away at a story, you can find her drinking too much Diet Coke, jamming out to Pink, or checking on her carefully maintained chocolate stash. She loves to hear from fans and fellow authors.

 Website: http://ilsamaddenmills.com

Who would like to win the entire series???  Well just leave a comment below letting me know how much you would love to win it and I'll pick a random winner on Monday!