Special Release Day Price!Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills and USA Today bestselling author Tia Louise are back with an all-new romantic comedy filled with Southern sass and steamy scenes that will have you laughing out loud and fanning yourself. Pour the sweet tea and get ready… is to get under a shiny new stud…”
As soon as Mr. Tall, Blond, and Handsome walks into that bar, I know he’s the hook-up I need to get over stupid Cheater Kyle.
A few stolen kisses in a dark hallway, and I’m pretty sure we’re headed for a home run—until he disappears without a trace.
Whatever. Men are all snakes in the grass, and I don’t need a new one anyway.
I resolve to forget about his perfect lips (and chest of steel) and instead focus on turning my Granny’s old beach house into a profitable B&B.
What I don’t expect is for him to show up the next day in my kitchen.
You see, my sexy mystery man is none other than Jax Roland, the drop-dead gorgeous home improvement star of The Right Stud, and he’s got an offer I can’t refuse.
With a suitcase in one hand and a hammer in the other, he wants to move in and renovate my old house while he films his new show.
But my roommate has secrets, and they threaten to rip our blossoming friendship—and possible love—apart.
When push comes to shove, is Jax really The Right Stud or is he just another nail in the coffin of love?
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The writing duet of Ilsa Madden – Mills and Tia Louise is fast becoming one of my favorites. This story flows with a feverish current. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. You will swoon with Ashton and Jax all the way to the last word! 5 stars!
Jax Roland is a committed single and works as a Realtor. Graduated in architecture and with many views on his You Tube channel, he is seeking sponsorships to record the first season of his reality show The Right Stud, where he intends to reform, restore and modernize homes.
Ashton Hall and his brother Ben inherited from their grandmother a beach house that needs a lot of repairs. While Ben, the lawyer, single and successful wants to sell the house, Ashton wants to reform it and make it the nicest and most successful inn on the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to childhood memories with his grandmother, this home is her perfect chance to start over her life after the betrayal of her fiancé Kyle with her dentist. With no money for all the repairs she is applying for a new program of reforms that will debut on TV.
Jax and Ash know each other unusually. If they attract and repel each other, only to be reunited by fate: Ashton owns the house that Jax has selected to participate in the first season of her show. And after a night of mismatch and frustration, Ashton’s anger creates the perfect mood and a delightful tension to read.
The narrative is light, fluid and funny. The chemistry between the couple occurs naturally, though the two try to shake off these thoughts and focus on reform, which if successful will be beneficial to both. There are several hilarious scenes with Mrs. C and her parrot, Lulu and her pet goat, Jean Claude Van Ram.
Romance happens slowly, with many scenes full of tenderness and funny. But the protagonist’s brother plans for the beautiful, but old, beach house and Jax’s job can create a big mess.
And at the time of the great turnaround Ashton, who had everything to once again fall apart, turns around and shows all the strength a woman can and should have, to run after and make her dreams come true. As Jax feels the bitter taste of her bad decisions hinder her happiness.
Nothing that our old and dear friend cliché does not solve with its appearance. The problems are solved and the sun shines again. The closure and the epilogue comes full of tenderness and plated with sugar. Some say that you should not waste time with books like that. I say: how can I not read a fun and well written work that fulfills its role by bringing a little joy and happiness to our sometimes sad and tiresome daily life?
Can Ashton save the Conch Shell and keep her Grandmother’s memory alive? Soliciting the home improvement expertise of The Right Stud proved to be a questionable decision when she starts falling for the help. But when betrayal by those Ash holds closest threatens the developing relationship between her and Jax, it could all fall apart before the renovations are complete.
First off, the chemistry between these two was electric! His charm and her sweet personality was the perfect mix for this Southern romance. The procession of their relationship after the original chance encounter was realistic and relate-able. LuLu the best friend provided the quirky, laid back personality the book needed and Mrs. C with that darn bird were the icing on the cake for this read. The flow of the story and the ups and downs of emotional was perfect!
“I wanted to be your hero.”
This amazing and talented writing duo has teamed up again to bring us something romantic, hilarious, and insanely ENTERTAINING! This romantic comedy has SASS! It has STEAM! It has everything you could ever want from this genre…and so much more!
Ashton and Jax stole every single page with their humor, wit, and undeniable chemistry. There is this instant lust at the beginning between these two and then when Jax promises to return and doesn’t, leaving Ashton high and dry, well, Ashton changes her little tune about men ASAP! Then fate has its way and drops Jax at the doorstep with an offer Ashton can’t afford to refuse, but they can keep things platonic and professional…can’t they?
The whole premise to this love story was right up my alley. Tons of laughter. Tons of hot steamy scenes. Tons of emotion woven in between the pages of this absolutely delightful and charming rom-com. I couldn’t get enough! THE RIGHT STUD is the perfect romance to start your summer on the right foot. So relax, grab a glass of wine…or two, and bask in the amazing talent that is Ilsa Madden-Mills and Tia Louise. Whether they are writing separately or as a team, they nail it out of the park, ever single time!
“I want someone to love me like he loves her.” A torn expression flits across his face, and his thumb strokes across my bottom lip. “You will, Ash.” My heart skips a beat. “How do you know?” I think I want him to say because you’re my Baby, and I’ll be your Johnny … but he doesn’t. He curls a roped bicep around my shoulder and pulls me closer. “Because you deserve the fucking world.”
This book was so cute! I loved getting to know someone that does remodels and is trying to get a show to take hold. It was like HGTV come to life! When Jax showed up at the beginning, I just KNEW something major was going to happen. And, of course, it couldn’t just be smooth sailing the whole way, but it seemed to be those obstacles that made the story truly worth it.
These two were pretty perfect together. Ashton was set on saving her little B&B to honor her grandmother, and it was complete with one of her grandmother’s eccentric friends and her … friendly bird. Pitted against her own brother, Ashton has a lot in front of her to make her dreams a reality. Jax presents a solution to her problem, but Jax isn’t all her appears …
I really related to Ashton, and I think that’s what drew me in. She had a lot of the same doubts regarding men and a heart for her family. There were many times I was almost rooting for her to stay strong and just let Jax go …
Definitely a good story. Contemporary, full of laughs & eccentric characters, and an almost real life HGTV romance!
I love these authors and their amazing writing. That’s why this is a hard review for me to write. I so wanted to absolutely love this book but it fell short for me. The story is well written and a hilarious, sweet, sexy romance that curled my toes a few times. The characters were warm, wonderful, and witty. Hot hunky Jax was divine and beautiful sexy Ashton was a fabulous heroine and their chemistry was steamy. But the secondary characters stole the show. Mrs. C and the animals are spectacular and so funny. There were a couple of iffy moments for me in the story. Jax’s confrontation with the town gossips seemed off in the content and the resolution for the B&B was a little too pat and seemed rushed. That being said this is still a fantastic LOL story with great characters and worth the read. I look forward to Lulu and Ben’s story and more of Mrs. C and Rufus. “F**king teenagers”! I voluntarily reviewed an ARC.
These two authors work well together. I read their last collaboration and loved it, and this one was just as great.
Ashton and Jax are great together, and Mrs C and her bird had me laughing. I felt like smacking Ashton’s brother to make him see sense and her side of things, but I was glad Lulu finally talked him into listening to Ashton properly.
If the authors write another collaboration, I won’t hesitate to purchase it.
If you love romantic comedies and HGTV home renovation shows this is the book for you. Ashton wants to renovate her grandmother’s old home much to her brother’s chagrin. She enlist Jax to help her. Ashton and Jax have great chemistry and they light up the pages. Also, intertwined in the story is a varied cast of supporting characters and animals that really enhance the story. I really loved this book, so if you are looking for a well written, sexy read this is the book for you. Advanced copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Ruthie –
This is a really fun read, with some super cute touches, as well as fabulous chemistry-laden moments. Be ready for some great laughs, some moving moments, and a whole chapter using Phil Collins’ lines which had be doubling up with laughter whilst predicting which title could be used next. As I am someone who enjoys such banter, that was just the most perfect chapter for making me smile!
The story is easy going, the characters all a little larger than life, and the romance is tinged with enough question marks to be interesting. There a number of ‘Oops… maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say or do’ moments, but there was a degree of certainty that it would be resolved eventually. I am not usually someone who enjoys too much inner thought dialogue (and I mean dialogue, not monologue), but it soon became easy to interpret and read, so I let it pass.
If you are in need of pulling out of your every day, then this will certainly give you a few chuckles, and with not one but two pet stars in the book, Jean Claude and the hilariously rude, but remarkable clever Rufus, nothing is safe or sacred.
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Right Stud by Ilsa Madden-Mills & Tia Louise to read and review.
Awesome book!! I can not wait to read more from both these authors!! I absolutely loved everything about it.. except it makes me kind of jealous and I want that kind of relationship!!
So I was a little curious about the latest one by Ilsa Madden-Mills but boy was it more than I expected. I love that we have a woman who wants to bring back her childhood memories back to life and a man who just wants his dreams to come true. Together these two are hilarious, sweet and the passion between them is hot. We have a show that can change all their dreams but it comes with a cost. Ilsa Madden-mills brought this house to life in a way none of them expected yet with faith and hope anything is possible. Great book for the summer and tons of comedy to make you want more.
“I received an eBook copy from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own.”
Ilsa Madden-Mills is an auto 1-click for me. I’m also an HGTV addict. So, when I saw that this story was about a dude who renovates houses for a living, I was ALL IN. For the most part, I wasn’t let down.
There were lots of cute and funny and sexy moments in this one, and overall, despite a few missteps in the beginning, I really liked the hero, Jax. He was sweet and hot and shockingly patient with Ashton and all her “I-am-a-woman-scorned” hang-ups. I think any other hero would’ve bailed on her early on, but Jax saw the value in sticking around and he gave it his all to win her over. That is to be commended.
This was also pretty hilarious. There’s a TMI-sharing old lady who brings the comedy, a foul-mouthed parrot who speaks up at appropriate times in the most inappropriate ways, and a goat named Jean-Claude van Ram (you gotta love that, right?) I laughed out loud several times while reading, and after a string of rom coms that weren’t at all funny (from other authors, of course), I was super happy to see that this one was properly classified as a romantic comedy.
The dialogue is great, too. Very fun, very snappy, very flirty. And Jax and Ashton’s chemistry was off the charts. Sex scenes were of the holy-hell-that’s-hot variety, too.
So, why not a 5-star rating, you ask? Well:
1. While I liked Jax overall, in the beginning, when he meets Ashton, he’s on a date with another woman. Just because that other woman was an annoying blind-date doesn’t make it OK that Jax made out with Ashton—after he actively pursued her—while he was on a date with another woman. It was a dick move, and I would’ve expected more out of Jax. I almost didn’t keep reading because of that asshattery, frankly.
2. I realize that Ashton has been screwed over by her ex-fiance, but her distrust of all other men gets tiresome pretty fast. Yes, your ex-fiance screwed you over. But at some point, you need to quit whining about it, pull up your big girl panties, and move on with your life.
3. Speaking of the scumbag ex…he showed up at some point early on in the story wanting a second chance with Ashton. After she rebuffs him, he leaves without putting up much of a fight and never returns. I didn’t see the point of having him in the story at all, and if there’s one thing I REALLY hate, it’s characters who serve no purpose.
4. The fact that the cheating ex cheated with a woman who has an active, irrational hate going for Ashton annoyed me. Can’t the women in romance novels get along without being jealous mean girls? Whatever happened to girl power?
5. I won’t give anything away, but there was NO REASON for Jax not to tell Ashton what was going on. He kept it to himself for no good reason at all. That annoyed the crap out of me.
6. I was really irked by the fact that Ashton wouldn’t stand up to her brother in the beginning. She knew she didn’t want to sell the house, but she caved and let him bring in a property developer to appraise the place rather than stand her ground and tell him how she was really feeling. Then she had the nerve to get mad at him when he did EXACTLY WHAT HE TOLD HER HE WAS GOING TO DO.
So, long story short, there were some things here that didn’t work for me, but in the end, the good definitely outweighed the bad. These ladies are talented authors, and I anxiously look forward to their next collaboration.
(And, off topic, side note to HGTV: If you want to start a home improvement show featuring a hot dude who renovates houses called The Right Stud, I will watch the CRAP of it!)
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book! It made me laugh, an kept me glued to my kindle. There was just enough drama and conflict to keep things interesting without being over the top.
I have to say that I absolutely loved Jax. He was amazing. He definitely lived up to his show’s name, Stud. I loved that he was instantly drawn to Ashton and that he couldn’t resist helping her. Even when he knew that it would be more profitable for her to sell the B&B/the land, he set out to help her fix the place up.
Ashton was pretty awesome. She was strong and knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to let her jerk brother push her around. Speaking of her brother…I loathed him. I wanted to push him into the ocean. I sincerely hope he doesn’t get a book with Ashton’s bff Lulu because he doesn’t deserve a HEA. And Lulu deserves better than him.
While I enjoyed the scenes with Mrs. C & Rufus, I couldn’t help but think that some of the things coming out of Mrs. C’s mouth weren’t…well…something she’d really say. Rather, someone her age. I could be totally wrong but I kept picturing my grandmother and couldn’t imaging her saying some of those things. Rufus was definitely funny and had some colorful phrases. I wouldn’t mind learning more about his life and how he learned those things.
I wasn’t quite as enamored with Jean Claud van Ram as my reviewing partner was. He was ok, but I found him more irritating than anything else. Stupid goat.
While part of me wishes that this book had been longer (because it was so enjoyable) I’m also grateful that it wasn’t because then there might have been unnecessary drama that the characters just didn’t need.
The Right Stud by Ilsa Madden-Mills & Tia Louise. The Right Stud is a Romantic Comedy Read. I absolutely love both of these authors Ilsa Madden-Mills & Tia Louise. Right Stud was an awesome Read, and a page turner. I had this book read with in a day and half. I couldn’t put the book down. The Right Stud is Story of Jax and Ashton. Ashton is trying to get over her ex fiancé Kyle. One night Mr. Jax Tall, Blond, and Handsome walks into a bar, and Ashton know’s he’s the hook-up For her to get over stupid Cheater Kyle. A few stolen kisses in a dark hallway, and Ashton was pretty sure she had Jax hooked until he disappears without a trace. What Ashton don’t expect is for Jax to show up the next morning in her kitchen. Ashton sexy mystery man is none other than Jax Roland, the drop-dead gorgeous home improvement star of The Right Stud, and he’s got an offer She can’t refuse. With a suitcase in one hand and a hammer in the other, he wants to move in and renovate my old house while he films his new show. When push comes to shove, is Jax really The Right Stud or is he just another nail in the coffin of love? This read will have you drawn to the characters, and the chemistry between the two characters is hot and steamy. The plot is so consuming you won’t want to put the book down. I would definitely recommend this book to read!!!!!
This book had a lot of my favorite things: Beach house. Home improvement show. Sassy older lady with inappropriate stories. Blueberry muffins. Heroine trying to save herself and Hero who tries to do it too but trips himself up. Ashton and Jax are a great pair! The supporting cast is top notch and the whole world very easy to just drop right into and want to stay a while. Highly recommend this funny, sexy, romantic read!
This stud is the perfect weekend steamy, dreamy, romantic comedy.
I really enjoyed these characters, (human and animal) and the unexpected situations they would get into. It wasn’t all funny though, there were times my heart hurt for them. These 2 authors nailed it with The right Stud.
What a freaking cute book. I love when these two ladies get together and write. They always write cute romantic stories. I really loved Ashton and her personality. Jax was definitely a stud in this book. I loved his character and how he changed his views on love when he met Ashton. The two of them together were freaking adorable. I also loved Lulu and JC. Those two characters had me laughing. Another fantastic book by these two ladies!!
3 1/2 stars. I thought I was going to not like Jax because of how they started off, but I ended up being OK with him ditching his date. Ashton was on okay heroine for me. I thought she was a bit bland. Her brother was a big jerk and he seamed to do a complete 180 for no reason at the end. I did love the parrot and Mrs.C. So amusing.
It’s a pull yourself up and dust yourself off moment. When life kicks you in the shin you search for the nearest exit and the hottest escape.
He may be the best goat saving, skunk whispering handy man this side of the globe with rippling everthing and panty melting swoon but hey …who really needs panties?
Tons of smiles, laughs and fun.
Toss out that stud finder cause he’s right here at your fingertips.
I love these two authors separately but together they are pure gold! They delivered a great flawless, fun, hot and romantic read that once you start you won’t put it down until you have finished it.
They have delivered a great storyline, and some brilliant characters that I adored. How can you not like the sweet and sassy Ash, the totally swoon-worthy Jax, Mrs C who comes with a one-tracked mind and a dirty talking parrot, and who can forget the goat Jean Claude Van Ram and the stinky skunks. With all the madness these character bring you will be crying with laughter in no time.
I absolutely adored Jax and Ash from the moment they met, although I think Jax did need a slap upside the head a few times for being a clueless stupid idiot.
I cannot wait to read more from this amazing duo.