Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills returns with an all-new swoon-fest of a novel about what happens when you take a chance on love.Amazon Top 11 Bestseller; #1 SportsWanted: one hot guy with rock-hard abs and a big stick.Broke and desperate, Sugar Ryan has no use for arrogant, bad-boy athletes…until she’s forced to bargain with the cockiest of them all.If only he knew she … with the cockiest of them all.
If only he knew she was alive.
Her mission? Get on this hockey player’s radar any way possible.
Zack Morgan is the king of the ice and the bedroom, but nothing prepares him for the mystery girl who shows up everywhere he does–frat parties, his favorite bar, and finally his front door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only rule in her boyfriend bargain: no falling in love.
But after one (um, two) smoking-hot hookups, he’s done with pretending and vows to make their fake relationship real. Too bad she can’t trust a player with a reputation for breaking hearts.
Will this hockey star score his forever girl, or will this boyfriend bargain end in heartbreak?
“Who can turn down a bad boy hockey star with a big . . . stick? Zack is hot hot hot, and Sugar is the perfect blend of sweet and sassy! Their chemistry sizzles in Boyfriend Bargain!” ~Melanie Harlow, USA Today bestselling author
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Always You ….
I loved this story, Zack & Sugar are both flawed, make stupid decisions and let the past royally screw with their futures, well almost but I never doubted that they would wise up. Zack is delicious as the tortured star hockey player with enough guilt on his shoulders to sink a battleship or more to the point, a hockey team. Sugar for her part comes up with the dumbest idea I have ever read, but hey she’s kinda desperate and thankfully comes to her senses. With a supporting cast of characters that I could and would read about if they ever graced the pages of a book again, this couple is worth rooting for to the very HEA
I really loved this story! Sugar and Z were so steamy and amazing together and I loved the minor characters as well. This was such a well written, entertaining story!
Sugar Ryan has dreams and goals of getting into Vanderbilt for law school but when she receives her rejection she knows she needs another plan. That plan involves convincing the star hockey player to be her “boyfriend” for a meeting she has at Vanderbilt.
Zack Morgan is a hockey star who is being pursued by the Nashville Predators but he is also hiding a secret which he feels could ruin his chance at playing in the NHL. When he sees Sugar he feels like he sees a ghost and he can’t stay away no matter how much his brother Reece tells him to.
With both Sugar and Zack needing something from the other can they make a boyfriend bargain? When things begin to get heated between the two will they make it more official but when secrets are revealed will they be strong enough to make it through?
This was such a good book and I never wanted to put it down!!
I really liked Sugar and the more the book went on the more I liked her with everything she had to overcome. I thought the pie scene was great and it is so funny what is printed and how it may not be the truth! It was interesting to see everything with her ex, Bennett, and the similarities and differences between Zack and Bennett, especially with the girls hanging all over them.
Zack was a great character and I loved his vulnerabilities and his panic attacks. It really made Zack more human and not just some hockey star and I really love that authors are really bringing things like anxiety into their characters as so many people can relate. You knew a bit about what happened between Zack and Willow and why Zack blamed himself but you never really know everything until the end of the book. I get why he blamed himself but I was definitely mad at Reece at the end.
Veronica was just pure evil and so jealous of Sugar. I hated the stuff that she caused and it broke my heart that she showed Sugar things that Zack had not been able to up to that point.
The huge blow up as a result of Veronica broke my heart and I hated how both characters began to fall apart in huge ways.
I liked that Zack ended up confessing what was going on but I hated that he lost Sugar as he needed more time. I did understand why he did but I was upset at what it cost him as he had so much going on.
I liked the end with Sugar’s family and how Zack was there for her!
The end was great and I hope we get more with Eric or Reece soon!
This book was absolutely fantastic- I flew through reading it – loving every minute of Z and Sugar’s story. Not only was this book smoking hot, it was also full of so much angst and heartbreak that I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. From the first page I was hooked – my heart was racing right along with Z’s unable to anticipate what was going to happen to him or where this book would take me. I loved Sugar’s sassy determination to be more than her upbringing and her ability to speak her mind no matter what. The chemistry was off the charts hot between Z and Sugar leading to some very sexy scenes that left me begging for more. I would highly recommend this college romance! 5+ Stars for me!
This is my first book by Ilsa Madden Mills and all I can ask myself is why I waited until now to read a book by her! Z and Sugar are beyond perfect because they are exquisitely broken. I had to process all the emotions before I could write this and my heart is still overflowing with all the feels. This isn’t just a hockey romance this is about finding that one person that completes you in ways you never imagined. The chemistry was electric, the pain front and center and the love all encompassing. Anxiety is debilitating and for an athlete even more so. This story highlights what millions of people suffer with daily and reminds us that while people can be broken, they can be put back together with the help of the right person. I am so freakin in love with this book. Definitely put this at.the top of your TBR!
A entertaining read. Ok ending. It is a HEA but nothing mind blowing. In fact the whole book is that way. Good for a quick read.
Stephannie’s 5 Star Review:
Zack and Sugar both are attending the same University, Zack or Z is an all star hockey player and Sugar wants to go to law school a certain law school. She has a plan to get the star hockey player to fake date her to impress the University she wants to get in. Crazy huh? What happens when fake is anything but what they two are.
I love sport romances and this one doesn’t disappoint. I was hooked from the start. I read this one cover to cover. I was hooked. I love Zack and Sugar’s chemistry together. Zack noted Sugar and was interested in her when she came up with this fake relationship idea. I love that he plays along in hopes of winning the girl. Sugar wants him but her focus is getting into law school. The rules to this fake relationship is blurred.
I really love this story and I love the author. She one of my must read authors who I have to read all her books. I love a good sports romance. This one doesn’t disappoint. The chemistry of the characters is amazing. I loved it. I wanted their relationship to be real. I really loved this one. Its a must click.
I went into the Boyfriend Bargain thinking it would be a lighthearted sports college romance, since the premise of the story was a fake arrangement, and boy was I surprised! This one packs a wallop, it’s an emotional story that had me reading nonstop and I loved the main characters, Zack and Sugar. The writing is fabulous and when the story isn’t breaking your heart it’ll have you either sighing deeply or laughing out loud, the dialogue is deliciously witty and pulls the heartstrings. I loved the Future Boyfriend post it notes, wait until they come up and you’ll know what I mean!
“Nothing gold can stay”
Sugar Ryan was eleven when her single mother died. Her wealthy father wanted nothing to do with them; he had paid her mother to move away, so his family wouldn’t have to ever see them around town. Sugar was lucky her mother’s childhood friend, Mara, had traveled to Alabama, packed up the trailer, and taken Sugar with her. Sugar would have ended up in foster care instead, she had no other family.
“You are worthy, and you don’t need anyone else to tell you so. Someday you’ll face other obstacles, tougher ones, but you must hold your head high and carry on. Be true to you, Sugar, and happiness will come.”
That’s how she ended up living in Sparrow Lake, Minnesota and attending prestigious Hawthorn University. Well that and her grades, she has an IQ of 146. Sugar was going to attend law school, Vanderbilt University, when she graduated. That was the plan, until she was waitlisted at Vandy. She could go to Harvard, or any other school for that matter, but she wanted to prove to her father and his family, she was just as good as them, despite having grown up in a trailer park. She came up with a plan to be on the top of the list, if she could get a certain hockey player, the number one draft pick for the Nashville Predators, to agree to her plan. Maybe make some kind of bargain with him.
“She’s just a tiny bit intimidated by me when she’s the one who’s got me by the balls.”
Zack “Z” Morgan, a senior at Hawthorn, and the captain of the hockey team, had a reputation for being a heartbreaker. He was well known for having a girl-of-the-month, never a girlfriend, since he’d never dated anyone longer than that. But Zack had been hiding something from everyone, with the exception of his younger brother and teammate, Reece, and the coaching staff. Zach had been having anxiety issues and it was affecting his game, something he couldn’t afford, so close to the National Championship. It was all related to a tragic accident involving his high school sweetheart and he’d felt guilty about ever since. He needed to cut out anything that causeed him stress and focus on his final games and graduating.
“It’s like putting a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle together slowly. You’re a complicated person, Sugar.”
When Zack sees Sugar, he’s reminded of someone. So when she makes her proposal, he accepts, with some stipulations of his own. Obviously, they’ll have to spend time together and be seen, to be believable. Two total strangers, from different backgrounds and some very painful secrets they both hide, what could go wrong?
“Please, don’t let whatever this thing is between us…don’t let it hurt me…or him.”
Zack Morgan is the NHL’s number one draft pick, hot and a way for Sugar Ryan to get into the college of her choice. Sugar came from the wrong side of the tracks and has fought her way to get where she is today. She wants to be a lawyer but is wait listed for the college of her choice. After making a bargain with Z to be her fake boyfriend, she plans to get into the college. Problem with the bargain is Z wants to make things real and isn’t playing fair. Will Sugar be able to resist the sexy, hockey player?
I absolutely loved this one. The story line was amazing. There was off the charts amazing chemistry with the characters. Sugar has a plan. A plan that she needs to work so that she can hopefully get into law school. But the plan involves the best player hockey player who has his own demons. Sugar goes to one of the parties and Zack her target sees her and is instantly hooked. You can easily see the chemistry between these two. But as the plan is put into motion. Neither one of them can handle what is happening between them. Zack has his demons from his past that he is trying to deal with and Sugar learns things about her father and Zack that scare her and have her running . Will these two see what they have with each other? Amazing characters with amazing chemistry. I absolutely love Zack and Sugar. I loved the storyline and how Zack’s illness is dealt with and written about. I have not read a book from this author in a long time . I am so glad that I picked this one up. I am hoping to get so much more from the other characters in this book
I didn’t expect all these emotions in this book. Zack and Sugar story wasn’t exactly what I expected; it was way better. These two went thru so much to get together and to make their relationship work. Their level of maturity didn’t have me feeling like I was reading a college sport romance. Z wasn’t your typical hero that was a douche; he was the complete opposite and also had issues he was struggling with. Sugar also had her share of events that she went thru since a child but she was so goal oriented just like Z. This wasn’t an insta love story but it was instant attraction with so much feelings and heartbreaking moments. These two more than anyone deserved their happily ever after.
First off all I want to say is I loved this book. This book has everything. Great story telling, brilliant characters. I loved Z and Sugar and their whole fake to real relationship and you just knew from the beginning it wouldn’t stay fake for very long… I couldn’t put it down and I couldn’t devour the words fast enough. I was totally absorbed with their story and not only does it tackle issues that arise in college it also tackled a serious issue in Anxiety and I thought it was really well executed. This whole story made me laugh , made me swoon , made me sad and had me rooting for them all the way throughout the rough times. I loved Eric he was everything you needed in a best friend to both of them and he had me in stitches at times. Its easily a feel good book thats easy to read and you can forget yourself in it.
I highly recommend this book.
Am I dreaming? I ask because this book has left me feeling as though I had to have been dreaming for a book to have been as good as this one was! I am in absolute love with everything that IS this book!
A story thick with unexpected emotion it also had tremendous heart, humor and depth.
Sugar was a delight to read. Ambitious, sweet and a survivor who was slowly learning her worth and fighting for herself and what she deserved, even when it hurt her to do so.
Zack was every woman’s fantasy. Top athlete, popular, but behind all of that was a man haunted by a past only few knew about.
Sugar and Zack were an absolute dream to get to know as the story progressed. I for one could not read this story fast enough nor get enough from these engrossing and complex characters.
There is no way I can do justice in writing a review to express my love for this book so I will simply urge you to go out and read it for yourselves! I for one can’t wait to see what might be next to happen on campus!
As Always, Happy Reading!
“5/5 Beaming Brains!” – Lit-Up My Mind
It’s YA, an angsty story, and written by Ms. Madden-Mills, what more can you ask for? I read this book in one day, neglecting housework and other duties. The story sucked me in from the beginning and I was just anxious to know how the story of Sugar and Zack develops. They were both broken with issues, and being together was not necessarily the solution to their problems.
Zack carries a very sad and weighty guilt that has been harming his hockey play. He’s trying desperately to get over the girl he loved and tragically lost during high school. When he unexpectedly finds Sugar in a frat party, he’s struck dumb by her resemblance to his lost love, but very soon he realizes that the resemblance is only skin deep. Sugar is very much her own woman, highly intelligent and driven, quirky, introverted and has a dry sense of humor. She makes Zack laugh and forget his troubles. Sugar’s only issues comes from a poor childhood, a product of the rejection of her father who didn’t want to take care of her and her mother. When she lost her mother at eleven years old, she suddenly found herself alone, and it was her mother’s best friend who took her in and finished raising her. Meanwhile, her father lived his life, wealthy, married and with two kids that Sugar never got to meet.
Sugar is determined to get into Vanderbilt University to study law because that is where her father and all his family went to. They thought she was white trash so she wants to prove them wrong. She bargains with Zack to accompany her to a luncheon at Vanderbilt for waitlisted candidates, to help her chances of acceptance. Zack is the captain of Hawthorne University’s hockey team, is the number one draft pick in the NHL, he has already been drafted to the Nashville Predators, but they are allowing him to finish the senior year. The dean at VU is a diehard fan of hockey, so using Zack as an influencer would improve Sugar’s chances of getting in.
So Zack and Sugar enter into some kind of negotiated relation but it soon turns into the yearning of something more. Zack realizes she’s the woman he wants, she gives him peace from his anxiety, she makes him laugh and she gets him. Sugar is the one who falls in love first but is uncertain all the time. She has a thing about feeling not enough, that comes from her father’s rejection. Even though they have a great relation, it’s as if she’s waiting for the hammer to fall and break their relation, or for Zack to tell her she’s not enough. For this reason, she doesn’t work very hard to keep things good between them but rather runs at the first sign of trouble. Their shenanigans, their bickering, their sexy times, it was all riveting and entertaining. There’s a rift between Zack and his younger brother Reece that adds another angsty level to the story. There’s also Julia the roommate, who seems to have had a fling with Zack’s roommate and best friend but they are denying it at all costs. All these tidbits make me wish and hope for sequels to this yummy YA world. I can’t wait!
5 sexy, captivating stars!
This is a standalone hockey romance by Ilsa Madden Mills. It has so much feeling and depth. It grabbed me from the start and didn’t let go until the end, and what a wonderful ride it was. I loved all of the characters. Zach, aka Z, and Sugar were perfection. I fell in love with them! The supportingcharacters were awesome too. Ilsa did a great job of touching on the subject of anxiety, a prevalent issue with many people. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly highly recommend it. This is one of my top reads of 2019!!!
Oh, my lord, LOOK at that cover! This book is going to the top of my TBR mountain right this second. Obsessed with long-haired boys, sipping strong coffee, and ready to make a Boyfriend Bargain.
I just love it when a book comes along and wraps you up in warm arms and pulls you inside of it. When the characters get under your skin and mean something to you, you care about what happens to them. This is one such book. I loved it so much.The characters are beautifully written and I really cared what happened.I could feel their emotions and I did want to shout at them a couple of times. Just read it, it’s great.
Gah! I think I may have a new book boyfriend and his name is Zack Morgan.!
I have always loved reading NA romances, most especially if it’s a sports romance. I mean, there’s just something irresistible with a guy who knows what to do with his hands and his stick *wink wink*. This is a certifiable unputdownable, steamy, fake-boyfriend story that I have read in years! Years!
Sugar needs a fake boyfriend, specifically Z to help her get that spot in the law school that she wants. It doesn’t hurt that her pretend boyfriend is the famous, hot, superstar of the hockey world in Hawthorne University. With ninja stealth, she stalked Z in places while planning and trying to muster up the courage to ask him out.
Z is at the end of his rope. With the pressure of winning the championships and maintaining the image of NHL’s number one draft pick, Z just felt suffocated, feeling used by all the women he encountered who only wants his fame while dealing with the guilt from his past. So, when Sugar came to his attention, it was like a breath of fresh air that he was missing from his life. Never mind that he agreed to Sugar’s crazy “boyfriend bargain”, he is nothing but determined and he will do everything to convince her that she was his; that they belong together.
I’m digging the witty banter between Z and Sugar, try as they might to rein in their undeniable attraction. It is just explosive whenever they are within each other. I swear the sexual tension, chemistry and steamy moments were enough to melt my e-reader and I agree. Their moments together were just so hot that I had to cool down myself. LOL. Z is an intense kind of guy. There is no just no other word to describe him. His personality shouts to me across my e-reader and it is just plain crazy but I love it. I like Sugar’s character because she feels like someone who could be my bestie. I feel for her predicament all the way to my soul because it is something you will be able to relate to, even Z’s story too. And oh, Sugar’s friend Taylor? I would love to have him as my BFF. He is just so full of fun, sassy male.
Boyfriend Bargain is a fun and great romance read and I highly recommend it for all sports romance fans out there.
I love fake relationship romance trope, theres just something amazing watching two people fake a relationship only to end up falling for each other and being a perfect fit!!! This is a Hot College Sports Romance with a sexy athelete and a heroine who is very determined! Loved this story,!!!!
This book is absolutely delightful, swoony and sexy! I loved EVERYTHING about it and finished within hours.
I fell in love with sports romance last year and ever since then, I’ve been utterly addicted to them. This book had all the FEELS I could ever want and more! I’ve never read anything by Ilsa Madden-Mills, but after this delicious and heartwarming story, that is definitely going to change.
The writing style is engaging with the perfect blend of drama, swoons, steam, a little sadness, and plenty of heart and humor that had me completely smitten the entire time. I enjoyed Sugar and Z (Zack) and their chemistry is absolutely adorable and sexy. I loved all their interactions, their bantering, and all the emotional and touching moments.
Sugar and Z are both such loveable, wonderful, and intriguing characters. They stole a piece of my heart and I just really loved the both of them. I also really liked that Z has this vulnerability due to his anxiety. It was really interesting how his mental illness played into his character and the story. Sugar is just so darn adorable, quirky, sweet, and funny. There really isn’t anything I don’t admire and love about her. I rooted hard for these two and I could not get enough of them. I think they’re quite a charming couple and deserved all the happiness.
Boyfriend Bargain by Ilsa Madden-Mills was a captivating and addictive sports romance story that’s surely going on my favorite list. I loved every moment I spent with Sugar and Z and swooned so much. Fake relationships turned into something more are always entertaining, hilarious, and just so much fun. This book amazingly does that and also beautifully mixes wonderful drama, heartbreak, and plenty of achingly lovely emotions. I LOVED this book so much and I’m really excited to read more books by Madden-Mills.
If you’re looking for an enjoyable, sweet, and touching sports romance with a fake relationship trope that will make you laugh, swoon, and melt your heart, then you need to READ this book NOW!
I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via Social Butterfly in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.