I Hate You
By: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Genre: New Adult, Enemies-To-Lovers, Sports Romance, Second Chance, Standalone
Release Date: August. 19, 2019
Blurb-
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.
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.
Add to your Goodreads TBR: http://bit.ly/IHateYouILSA
My Review
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 in I Hate You 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 as hell and he knows it too! 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.”
Grab your copy of I Hate You now!
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I Hate You Excerpt
“Need some help?”
I’m on my tiptoes when the question comes, trying to reach a book on the top shelf in the
the bookstore at the student center.
My heart does a nosedive off a cliff as that familiar gruff voice washes over me, his accent a smooth drawl that’s reminiscent of hot summer nights and slow kisses—kisses we never had…well, except for that one time freshman year.
I ignore him and try to grab the book.
“You’re too short. Let me,” Blaze says, this time closer, his voice soft.
I ease back on my feet and whip around, internally wishing I’d worn something more I hate you and don’t you wish you still had me, but sadly, I’m not in my kickass shoes and itchy dress.
Today it’s flat-soled red Converse, black joggers, and a Yankees sweatshirt. I blow at a piece of hair in my face. Shit.
Of course, he looks magnificent in a tight long-sleeved black shirt that clings to his broad
chest and tapered jeans molded to those leg muscles. His face is unshaven, the darkness on his jawline adding a broody look.
Curse him and his hotness.
I stare at him a little too long, until I snap out of it.
“I don’t need help,” My voice is strangled as I move to brush past him—forget the
textbooks—but he reaches out and takes my elbow.
“Charisma—”
His fingers are a hot brand on my skin—it’s the first time we’ve touched in three months—and I pull away. A tremble starts in my legs. How dare he?
It was one thing to see him in a social setting and pretend I was fine, but when we’re face to face without people watching… “Don’t put your hands on me. I’m not your hookup anymore, football player.”
His face reddens, and he drops his arms. “I didn’t mean—” he stops, not finishing as he
studies my face.
I wonder what he sees. You know what he sees, Charisma—someone who wasn’t up to his usual standards.
Everything I didn’t say last night rushes out. “Didn’t mean to what? Dump me in the middle of my own sorority’s party in front of all my friends and half of campus? And you know, that’s totally fine. We both knew I wasn’t enough to keep your attention.”
His jaw clenches and he frowns, his brow furrowing. “I didn’t plan for things to happen that way.”
“How did you want to break up with me? Over candlelight? A text would have worked just fine,” I bite out.
The silence builds between us, and he watches me intently, as if trying to figure me out. He starts at my hair and works his way down to my feet, then comes back to my face. Just when I think I might combust from the intensity of his eyes, he looks away.
“What?” I cock my hip. “You look like you want to say something.”
He taps his hand against his leg. Ice-blue eyes, ones I used to stare into and get butterflies
from, glitter down at me. “You just can’t handle that I ended things, sweetheart.”
“Not your sweetheart.”
“Never were.”
Shit…shit…my heart feels like an anvil just landed on it, heavy and hard, and I can’t breathe for a second at his words, part of me pissed, the other part devastated. I wanted to be his sweetheart, I did, but he…
You’re not my type.
“Thanks for the reminder,” I say quietly, my anger folding away piece by piece and slipping into that horrible self-pity I despise.
He closes his eyes and scrubs his face with those talented hands, strong and big and capable, skillful with a football.
He steps in front of me, much like he did last night, and I tilt my head back to take him in. At my height of five feet, three inches, it’s hard to glare at a guy who towers over you and not look ridiculous, but I manage—until his eyes flicker with lingering emotion.
I dart my eyes around the store, searching for a way out, but I’m stuck between him and a bookshelf. “You’re blocking my path.” I focus on his legs. No sexiness there—well, except for the tight muscles under that denim.
“This is what I know,” he says in a low voice, ignoring my statement. “You told me we were just messing around. You set all the rules. Isn’t that how you operate? So why does me ending things with you even matter?”
“You never asked for more. You could have.” The revealing words fall around us, tinged with hurt, and I want to pull them back.
The silence between us crackles, yet I’m aware of other people around us. There are a few girls on another aisle, and I glance over as one of them pulls out her phone. No doubt she’s taking a picture of him. Part of me retreats, anxious she’ll get me in that photo—a girl who clearly doesn’t belong. He doesn’t notice. Everyone knows who he is, and they’re probably wondering why he’s talking to me.
“No, I didn’t,” he finally says, the words taut as if pulled from him unwillingly. He taps his leg, his tell that he’s anxious or angry. We weren’t together long, but every moment we spent together, I studied him like a wine connoisseur given a glass of rare cabernet. I know what makes him laugh, usually random things that make no sense. I know that groan he makes deep in this throat when he slides inside me, like he’s home. I know the feel of his hand when he cups my face and stares at me, a hesitant expression on his face—
“You can’t even look at me anymore. I wonder why,” he says, his voice a challenge.
Steeling myself, I face those baby blues. “You know why. I wish we’d never met up last fall. I wish you’d never flirted with me. I wish I’d never fucked you that first time in the library—”
“Same page. Same fucking page, Charisma.” And then he’s walking away, broad shoulders swaying as he stalks down the aisle…
About The Author
Ilsa Madden-Mills
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her angsty new adult romances and romantic comedies.
Eight of her eleven novels have placed in the Amazon Top 10 Best-seller List: Dirty English #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things #6; Boyfriend Bargain #8; The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, #4.
A former high school English teacher, 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.
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