WSJ bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills returns with an all-new, enemies-to-lovers second chance romance between the football hottie and the feisty nerd girl he can’t forget. I want you . . . even when I hate you. Blaze Townsend: I hate you.Charisma Rossi: I hate you more. She’s been expecting this ever since their latest showdown. She had good reason. Hottest guy she’s ever seen.Former fling.… had good reason.
Hottest guy she’s ever seen.
Former fling.
Dumped her in front of all her friends.
At her own party.
So no, she’s not about to forgive and forget just because he sits next to her in class. He thinks all he has to do is turn on those baby blues, and she’ll melt right back into his arms. Please. She’d be crazy to let this cocky player affect her again. (Tell that to her body.)
Charisma Rossi.
Brainy girl with a dash of bad.
The one who got under his skin.
The one he cut loose.
Blaze knows she’s the riskiest prospect at Waylon University, but none of the interchangeable girls he hooks up with have ever made him feel the way she did. There’s absolutely no way he can have the girl and the game.
So why can’t he stop trying to win her back?
Can this wide receiver score the girl or will he make the biggest fumble of his life?
*Steamy and flirty with all the emotional feels, I Hate You is a new adult standalone romance.
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Y’all this book! Clear your schedule because you won’t be able to put it down. 5 unicorn stars!
I Hate You is the new standalone, new adult, enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance by Ilsa Madden-Mills. Told in dual POV we are back in Magnolia, Mississippi at Waylon University. Get ready guys, this one has ALL the feels!
Blaze Townsend and Charisma Rossi’s story starts AFTER their three-week whirlwind hookup. Since the two of them were never really “together” it comes out of nowhere when Blaze chooses to “break up” with Charisma at her sorority homecoming party in front of pretty much EVERYONE, with the ol’ “you’re just not my type” speech.
Three months later Charisma is back on campus and FINALLY ready to face Blaze and get the closure that she needs and to prove that she’s TOTALLY over him.
There’s just only one small problem with her plan.
She’s NOT over him.
And Blaze… well, he’s not over her either.
“There’s a fine line between I hate you and I want you. Once you cross it, there’s no going back.”
This one is a MUST READ ya’ll!
If you have read I Dare You & I Bet You then you may be familiar with some of the secondary characters already. I LOVE seeing characters from past books, it’s like a little check up on “where they are now” LOL, either way, the secondary characters were great and I enjoyed the story even more ALREADY knowing THEIR story too. I wanted to mention to that the story flips back and forth a bit, showing memories from Charm and Blaze’s 3-week “romance” but the way it’s written isn’t confusing at all like it sometimes becomes when a story flips from past to present.
Blaze Townsend, number 82, and the wide receiver. Blaze is the typical football player. He’s hot and he knows it! He’s popular and just cocky enough that the guys envy him and the *ahem* girls want him. But the REAL Blaze is actually none of those things… well hot, he’s still hot LOL But Blaze has insecurities that he keeps hidden from everyone, ADHD and his childhood plays a huge part in those insecurities. While the jersey chasers, his friends, and the fans see this outgoing, happy go lucky guy the only person who’s ever seen the REAL Blaze, the one that is scared to death of letting people close to him in fear that they’ll leave him… just like his parents did, is Charm. Blaze could have his choice of girls but there’s only one that he can’t get out of his head, Charisma Rossi.
“Everyone in my life ends up leaving me at some point. You won’t, will you?”
The feisty and unforgettable Charisma Rossi (A.K.A Charm) She’s the nerdy-ish girl, that’s spunky, outgoing, funny, and has quite a freaky side LOL, she’s not paper thin like all the jersey chasers that are always hanging all over Blaze and his teammates but that just makes her even better. But just like Blaze, Charm has her own insecurities. Charm has low self-esteem when it comes to her weight and her looks. When she was younger someone said and did some pretty cruel things, so when Blaze said, “you’re not my type” in Charm’s mind all she heard was, “you’re not skinny enough, not pretty enough, etc.”, you get the jest… And then seeing all those size two girls hanging onto him after he dumped her, surely didn’t help matters either. Charisma was left feeling like she’ll never measure up to the type of girl that Blaze needs on his arm, when it reality she is EXACTLY the type of girl he needs, and wants.
“You were fire in my hands.”
Blaze and Charisma both have sooo much baggage. They have built up walls (reinforced with steel) around them to protect their hearts, just for different reasons. But there is a pull between them that no matter how hard they try makes it impossible for them to stay away from each other. Charm is scared to give Blaze another chance because she thinks she isn’t the type of girl he’ll end up with in the long run, Blaze is scared to be with Charm because he knows she’s a forever girl and with all his baggage he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her or that she will stay around for the long haul. The banter between the two was hilarious, but the back and forth pull was enough to make me yell at them through my Kindle. But when they finally cave into what their bodies want, everything just feels right again. Watching them overcome their insecurities to try and make it work with each other was *sigh* I LOVE these two together!
“Love only works if you try, if you take a chance”
This is NOT my first read for Madden-Mills and it most definitely won’t be the last! Kick back and get ready for the YA romance, angst, and total swoon-worthy moments that we all love!
I highly recommend I Hate You!
“Love is opening yourself up like a book, letting someone see your secrets with every paragraph and page exposed, knowing that the person you’re showing it to can walk away any minute.”
I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book.
Blaze
I absolutely loved this book and young story filled with angst and romance.
There are things in the past that makes Blaze keeping his walls high up in front of her but there’s also this thing called Love, that makes it’s way under the skin without warning and in no time when it’s for the right person or better said, for that person that completes our half persona.
Love it, great writing, beautiful created characters that grow upon the pages through the story and a love that can reach the stars.
How do you go on after being dumped in the middle of a party?… If your name is Charisma, you do it with reinforced steel walls built up around you.. But now throw him back into your life and how long can those walls stay up? Or do you just add more with locks and throw away the keys. Loved this book and these characters. Was such a nice, refreshing story and so different from the norm of the typical athlete.
Gah! I really loved I hate You by Ilsa Madden-Mills. This enemies to lovers story had ne hooked from the first page and felt all of the feels. Blaze and Charisma were kinda a thing for a very short time. Both have been shaped by their family situations, leaving them both feeling like they just aren’t good enough. My heart broke for them. Little by little they became friends, then more and it was an absolute joy to see it all unfold. I was seriously rooting for their HEA, which was perfect.
Blaze will light your soul on fire and make you enjoy every single minute of it.
I love it when an author kicks one of her books off your top three list and replaces it with another one of her own. Gahhhhhh! Another hot, steamy sports romance!!
What’s not to love about I HATE YOU? Hilarious blurb (“I hate you more.”) A cover that requires oven mitts. Rom-com laughs, sighs and HEA sniffles. Perfect weekend read!
I HATE YOU by Ilsa Madden-Mills is the story of Charisma Rossi and Blaze Townsend.
Charisma and Blaze dated last year for a few weeks until he up and dumped her in front of everyone. Charisma usually keeps boys at a distance but Blaze slipped into her heart but now she is on the other side of just hating him for what he did. But they have the same class and the same friends so there is not ignoring him….not to mention the spark between them is still there. Blaze is a player on and off the field. On the field he is trying to get the NFL attention so when he started to care for Charisma more than he felt he should, he broke it off. Not explaining how he was feeling and the worry that she was starting to matter more than his NFL goals. But now the feelings are still going strong for him but Charisma isn’t giving in to easily after being hurt by him.
This was a nice college age romance.
4 Stars
It’s a thin line between love and hate!
Isla Madden-Mills delivers the goods in I Hate You. While I’ve never been a huge fan of coming of age stories (highschool/college, etc), I love a story with multiple layers. I Hate You delivers a real push/pull with it’s characters and the story arc.
Charisma and Blaze are total opposites in a lot of ways, she’s kind of a brainiac with a bad girl side, he’s a football jock with legions of fans (most of them female). They were “together” for a hot minute then suddenly Blaze dumps her, without a reason, at a party in front of everyone. So even thought they tell everyone they weren’t really “together”, there’s all the angst of a college romance failing spectacularly. She doesn’t know why he dumped but this girl knows how to hold a grudge.
Blaze’s backstory was a little heartbreaking and tells us so much about his need to cut ties when he realized Charisma could consume him. After realizing he can’t get her out of his head anyway, Blaze realizes he’d rather work to be with her, than be miserable without her. Now he has to convince this girl, who hates him, that she really loves him. Both characters grow immeasurably throughout the story and it’s a pleasure to watch. I liked most of the side characters, as well but my truest love with Vampire Bill-the best bird ever! Great read from Isla Madden-Mills!
AnnMarie – Alphas Do It Better Book Blog
Stay” one little word but so much meaning! Charisma and Blaze are a fiery inferno of lust and pain! Something inside of each of them speaks to others soul yet they fight it every chance they get! Love is funny though because no matter how hard you push it will ALWAYS pull you back! “Stay” that’s all either of them want! Someone to just stay! So simple yet so hard when your heart has been alone for so long!
Ilsa crafted another beautiful story about the struggles we face in life and how they can affect our future, but with family, friends and love we can achieve it all as long as we don’t give up!
Absolutely wonderful!
Ilsa is one of my favorite authors and this right here is one of the reasons why. I Hate You is one of those books that pulls you in and keeps pulling. It’s passionate, exciting and yes even funny.
Blaze and Charisma are both great characters that will having falling in love with them. She’s scared of getting hurt and he’s never been loved, put them together and it’s explosive. The story…everything was spot on and I really loved it.
*Review by Michelle
I always love a good sports romance and a good enemies to lovers so this one is right up my alley and Ilsa does a great job with this one.
From the moment their lips first touched they knew they had a connection, one that would involve serious feelings if they let it go that far…. which is why Charisma bailed moments after, and acted like it never happened. After witnessing her philandering father cheat on her mother her belief in love was left tarnished, and she promised herself then that she would never put herself in the position her mother was in.
Which prompted her to make a list of dating rules, if she followed her rules down to the letter her heart would stay intact, and remain protected by it’s impenetrable wall. It seemed like a fool proof plan.. but then again, she never counted on meeting a man quite like Blaze to wander into her life and demolish that wall in one fell swoop!
Beneath the pages of I Hate You lies a beautiful love story with the power to break your heart in pieces, and the power to mend it all before the last page is turned. These two wounded souls carried a lot of misgivings about love with them, one never knowing the true meaning of it, and one witnessing what happens when it fails you. It hurt my heart to watch them avoid their true feelings for one another all because of their fear of love, often leaving me to wonder if it would ultimately keep them apart. But little by little they let their fears subside and they began to see that the risk was totally worth it, and when they finally found the courage to embrace it my heart began to soar right along with theirs. I absolutely loved every minute of this one, the words were addictive and rich with feeling, and it was impossible to not fall for these characters, they felt so real and were easy to connect to, they had my heart and attention instantly! Highly recommend this one, it’s rough on the heart, but so totally worth the angst and pain!!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
Another amazing read by Ilsa Madden-Mills. If you love sports romances, I most definitely recommend this book. I was so excited to read this. Ilsa has been teasing forever and I was anxious to get my hands on this. She did not disappoint! This is hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year!
Blaze and Charisma. They’re both broken from their pasts. Blaze is focused on football and just making it through and Charisma has got her rules to keep things the way she wants to make sure her heart doesn’t get broken. Hate turns to friendship that turns to love. Trust me, you don’t want to miss reading this one.
Ilsa, you have done it again! Blaze and Charisma’s story is one of my favorites.
5 Stars!
„I’ve been saying football is the one thing I can’t live without, but it’s a lie. She is. It’s her.”
I’m always so excited for another book from Ilsa, because for me she’s an expert when it comes to NA college romances. And I Hate You is another book from this author that I fell deeply in love with! This story is filled with indescribable tension, burning desire and so much steam that it could melt the iceberg! Cherry on top? Emotional depth. Because both Blaze and Charisma are carrying a lot of baggage that shaped their attitute towards relationships.
Handsome, smart and driven- Blaze Townsend is a star in Waylon University. As a wide receiver determined to get into NFL, his main focus is football. But he never expected that the girl he fooled around with will get so deep under his skin. That’s why he cut her loose and publicly embarrassed. He can’t afford any distractions from his main goal. Besides, people leave so it’s best to spare yourself another disappointment.
Charisma Rossi is inteligent, sassy and nerdy girl who can’t stop thinking about the football player who dumped her. But after months of seclusion she decided to bring back her old, outgoing self and face her former hookup. But she didn’t predict that now she’d see him on daily basis and that he’ll want to be friends with her. But is it possible, when the heat is still blazing and tension is getting stronger? How can they keep their relationship platonic, when every banter feels like a foreplay?
I loved Blaze and Charisma so much! I adore that she’s not looking like a jersey-chaser, but is beautiful in her own nerdy way. I also love her feisty nature and her sense of humor. Charisma is full of insecurities and some of her past experiences left her with a list of rules she follows, but Blaze somehow is breaking all the walls she built around herself. Our football player has his own baggage- from the outside he’s a confident, easygoing player that everybody worships, but underneath this facade is a vulnerable man, who’s got abandonment issues. That’s why he pushed Charisma away in the first place and why he thinks that he’s not good enough for her. Their constant push and pull can make the head spin, but I can totally understand why they keep to hide their true feelings. But with their guards down- FIRE! Their chemistry is off the charts and the passion between them is simply flaming.
Steam, angst and all the feels- I Hate You has it all. Ilsa Madden-Mills created beautiful and heartwarming story with wonderful characters and swoony moments. I was hooked from first page to the very last sentence and I recommend this book with my whole heart!
Love Without Rules
A lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers second chance romance between the football hottie and the sexy nerd girl. It’s going to deliver on the hot and sweet and make you fall for the southern boy who’s a little bit broken.
A hook-up gone bad. They were lovers who became enemies. Blaze was a college football star. Charisma hung out with the nerdy crowd. Their pairing was unlikely but it was like an inferno. They burned hot and fast, then just when feelings were about to become more, Blaze put an end to it in an epically humiliating fashion.
Blaze was a man with many layers. Gorgeous, talented, smart and carrying a whole lot of baggage. He is a man with a passion for football and a dream of playing in the NFL. He is also his past…a lonely little boy left behind by the people who were supposed to take care of him. He is a man who loves hard but is too afraid to let love happen to him. A future in football was his sole focus…until her. He is the man who will steal your heart.
Charisma is beautiful even if she has a hard time accepting it. She’s also independent, driven and intelligent. She‘s afraid to love completely, so she holds back and has her own rules. She’s just too scared to give anyone all of herself. Trusting anyone with your heart is the surest way to end up hurt. After Blaze, she’s just done with letting someone get close or anywhere near her heart.
Second chances are the best and Blaze wants his with Charm. He may have srewed up royally, but he’s about to lay it all on the line to get his girl back.
Attraction was something that they had in spades. It was letting their guards down that they both struggled with. They were focusing on their future’s because that’s what was supposed to matter most…until that was no longer most important. Success is the best when you can share it with the person you love, who loves you right back.
With her he found the family he always wanted and the love he deserved. With him she found unconditional love without rules. They were each other’s Happy Ending.
A second chance college romance ! Charm and Blaze are sexy, funny, quirky and have a few secrets . It may have been a fling but three months later and neither one is quite over it . Here they are back after winter break and it is like they never left when they end up in the same room !
I loved Charisma’s sassy, sexy intelligence.
Blaze has been though so much in his young life and just wants better. He wants to prove himself to the outside world. Sports are his ticket and he is going to show everyone what he is made of what he didnt count on was the lovely Charm to want to believe in him too !
~~Michele McMullen ~~
I loved Blaze and Charisma’s story! Dare I say it’s my new favorite by Ms. Madden-Mills?!? It’s definitely my favorite of this series, that’s for sure.
Blaze is one of those heroes that I just adore. He does a good job of hiding his vulnerability from everyone, but he’s so damaged by his past, it just kills me.
Charisma, she reminded me of myself to a certain extent- never believing someone like Blaze could really and truly be interested in her. Add in the fact that her feelings about relationships are tainted by her parents, she was careful to hold herself back.
These two had such baggage they needed to work through and get past, at times I wanted to give them both a slap upside the back of their heads. And then hug them hard!
Ilsa really did such a wonderful job with these characters and their story. I was completely invested in them finding the way to their happily ever after, no matter how long it took, or how many bumps and roadblocks they encountered, sadly, and frustratingly, many of them put there by themselves. But when they finally faced their true feelings for each other, and were ultimately able to see what was there in front of them all along, there was no better feeling! The angst, the emotions, the smoking hot chemistry- I Hate You is a perfect enemies to lovers romance.
5 likes
Oh my goodness, this story! This sweet, beautiful, chaotic story! What’s not to love, no really… I’m asking because I can’t find a single thing wrong with this book.
The chemistry is sizzling and dances off the pages. The characters are legitimately perfect for one another, and I fell hard and fast for Blaze. He’s extremely lovable and more than redeems himself throughout the story. The hatred that the MC’s throw around to mask their deep feelings is nothing short of epic. The tension between these two crackles and burns. You will not be disappointed in the least.
This is one of those stories that I know I’ll be re-reading. It’s just too good not to repeat. I am a huge mega fan of hate to love stories, and although this one didn’t fit the typical mold or prototype I loved every single second. There was some real depth in this story, some actual layers that got my little black heart pumping. Anyway, this is a total must read for the year. Don’t miss out!