ARC Review: The Kiss Lottery by Ilsa Madden-Mills

 

From bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills comes a steamy novella about first love and second chances where a city girl returns home for a Valentine’s Day tradition…and the boy who broke her heart.

Roses are red, violets are blue—someone in Rose has feelings for you…

Yeah, bad ones. Everly Davis didn’t leave her tight-knit hometown on the best terms. It’s been ten years, but you don’t forget heartbreak like that. Then again, the anonymous invite to the annual Kiss Lottery in Rose, Tennessee, gives Everly content for her podcast. And she has a bone to pick with that old heartbreak anyway.

Beckett Whitfield has never left Rose—and he’s never forgotten Everly. He even named the villain in his latest bestseller after her. Turns out she’s not happy about that. Nothing about their reunion is particularly happy, and after the way they left things, what did he expect?

When the Kiss Lottery pairs them together, Everly and Beckett will have to confront old feelings that never went away and the secrets they never shared. But finally telling each other everything might be exactly what they’ve needed all along.

Title: The Kiss Lottery

Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Publisher: Montlake

Expected Publication Date: February 11, 2025

Review:

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I loved a short and sweet novella and this one filled that void. Was it the best love story I've ever read? No. But was it fun? Sure!

Evelyn Davis has been away from her hometown for 10 years, running away from her mistakes. When she's called back for their annual Kiss Lottery, she answers that call figuring the content will be good for her social media platform. But she secretly hopes to reconnect with her BFF, Beckett Whitfield who made her the villain in his most recent book, and find out just why he did it. Despite the time and distance, neither has forgotten the other, and their connection brings them closer the more time they spend together in their home town. Will the connection lead to a second chance for their love?

Evelyn was a likeable enough character. I could see where people would connect with her. She was a bit whiny for my taste. I did feel badly she really didn't have any family to speak of and how hard that would be to come back home and not have anyone on her side. There was a lot of her telling us about her past, though we did get a few flashbacks, as well. But I needed more showing of her story. Beckett was not as developed, in my opinion. I needed a bit more from his character. It's been 10 years and he's still pining? and she never knew? I just don't feel that being a real thing. I needed more about him and who he is. Plus their age didn't really vibe with their persona on the page. They felt much younger than almost 30 year olds. Overall, the character development was lacking for me. As was the chemistry. They kind of fall back into each other but I never really felt the build I needed to have it happen. And the sex scene was just not my cup of tea.

This story was great for a quick, romantic Valentine's day read. Very predictable and just a bit cheesey. The author did a nice enough job building the world and wrapping up the story in the short span of the story. It could have used a bit more character development as I didn't feel much connection or empathy for either main character. I could definitely see this as a full length novel and think the development would have been better had it been such. If you're a lover of Hallmark stories, this one will definitely fill that slot. This is my first time reading this author and I can see she has great bones for romance books. I would definitely pick up her other books and give them a try.

Author:

#1 Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills pens angsty new adult and contemporary romances.

A former high school English teacher and librarian, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She's addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online. ☺


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