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Showing posts with label Ilsa Madden-Mills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ilsa Madden-Mills. Show all posts

#ReleaseBlitz ~ Very Wicked Beginnings (Briarcrest Academy #1.5) & Very Wicked Things (#2) by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Because Ilsa Madden-Mills fell in love with her beautifully flawed characters in Very Wicked Things, she penned Very Wicked Beginnings as a prequel novella to the book, featuring the story of football star Cuba Hudson and ballerina Dovey Beckham.

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, all May proceeds from the sale of the novella will be donated to The Keith Milano Memorial Fund which benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).  www.afsp.org 
Series: Briarcrest Academy #1.5
(A prequel novella to Very Wicked Things)
Synopsis:

Girls say I’m a walking, talking sex god. Guys call me Hollywood because my life is golden.
It’s not.

But, ESPN did rank me as a four star recruit, calling me one of the best defensive players since Briarcrest Academy opened its esteemed doors. So yeah, with football and a stellar GPA, my future seemed good.

Then Dovey Beckham shows up in her short skirts and ballet shoes. Driving me insane. Making me want to beg for her attention.

But that wouldn’t happen, because Cuba Hudson didn’t beg for anything.

She walked around BA like she owned the place, and most days she looked right through me…the one girl I couldn’t have.

So, of course, I made it my mission to claim her, to put her notch on my bedpost.
Because no girl can resist the Heartbreaker of BA.

But I never planned on destroying her.

I never planned on wrecking the one thing that could save me.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where wicked love begins…and ends.

Charity Information: 

The Keith Milano Memorial Fund was established to help raise awareness about the devastating and deadly disease that is mental illness. Keith’s spirit and laughter is kept alive through our efforts to increase awareness about mental illness and to raise money for education and imperative research. Keith often struggled with society’s perception of mental illness.  Our hope is that by having the strength to say that Keith was “Bipolar” we can strip away the stigma and help others to be more open about their disease. www.keithmilano.org
The Keith Milano Memorial Fund benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).  www.afsp.org 

AFSP is the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and to reaching out to people with mood disorders and those affected by suicide.
(Briarcrest Academy #2)
Synopsis:
Ballerina Dovey Beckham is a scholarship student at Briarcrest Academy, determined to prove she’s more than just a girl with the wrong pedigree. She does whatever it takes to succeed in her endgame, even if it means surrendering her body but never her heart. 
Until the day she meets him, and he rips apart all her well-laid plans. Suddenly, the girl everyone thought unbreakable might just shatter.

Cuba “Hollywood” Hudson is rich, spoiled, and a star football player. With his fast cars and superficial girlfriends, he lives the high-life, hiding his secrets from the world.

Until the day he meets her, and she offers him something he’s never tasted…love.

But once in a lifetime kind of love doesn’t come easy…especially when dirty money, past sins, and old flames threaten the very fabric of their lives.
Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive.
Excerpt for Very Wicked Things
Book #2 of the Briarcrest Academy Series
by Ilsa Madden-Mills
I got out of the shower and dressed hurriedly, anxious to get back to Cuba.
The door opened, and like he did it every single day, he stepped inside the steamy bathroom.
“Think I need a shower, too,” he said, his fingers easing off his football practice shirt.
What? Now?
Trying to play it cool and failing miserably, I moved my eyes off his naked chest and checked out his track pants and the obvious bulge he sported.
Oh. Did his lower body match the rest of him? Was it all sinewy muscle and big?
Just, yeah. That thought got stuck in my head and went round and round.
“You staying?” he asked, a grin working his face. Pleased at my open admiration, probably.
“No,” I said, but made no move to go. ‘Cause I had no shame when it came to catching a glimpse of his muscular body.
“Good,” he said, his smile broadening.
He pivoted to turn on the shower, and my eyes betrayed me again, admiring the muscles in his back, checking out how they twitched and rippled when he moved. Football and rowing had been good to him. My fingers itched to know how they’d feel underneath my hands. Which was stupid because we had nothing in common. Not a rich Highland Park boy and a poor girl from Ratcliffe.
And most importantly, he was a player, not to be trusted.
He hooked his thumbs into his pants, paused a moment—maybe waiting to see if I’d run from the room?—but when I didn’t budge, he slid them and his underwear off. My mouth opened. Cuba Hudson, the most popular guy at Briarcrest was standing right in front of me, naked and beautiful. And like the cocky bastard he was, he posed for me, his big-ass biceps and chiseled abs making me vibrate all over. Need for him slammed into me.
Did I say he was hot?
Well, I was wrong.
He was off-the-charts, no-holds-barred, freaking going make-me-lose-my-mind-right-there delicious. The ultimate man-candy, the kind I knew to stay away from, yet here I was, ogling him.
“Still leaving?” he asked huskily.
“Any minute,” I said in a weak voice, backing up to the wall and propping myself up. “Just chillin’. Shower wore me out. I might need to hold this wall up for a sec.”
“I want you to stay,” he said, eyes at half-mast, glowing with heat.
“Why?” I said, aching to touch him. But that was crazy. I was a virgin, and I didn’t know jack about touching a guy’s you-know-what.
“Look at me, Dovey.”
I tore my eyes from his manhood, blushing.
His eyes burned. “There’s a sense of urgency in my head. Like our time is limited.”
I nodded. Yeah, same here.
“And, I’ll be honest, I don’t want to rush you, but I’m dying to sink into you. I want to set you on fire with need for me.” He ghosted his hands over the steel rod between his legs. Once, twice, and—holy shizzle, he didn’t stop.
My chest rose faster and faster, and I tried to chill-out, but I couldn’t.
He lowered his voice. “Kiss me again, Dovey.”
Oh. “That’s a terrible idea, Cuba. Cause you’re naked, and I’m turned on because you’re naked. And you’re touching yourself. And you’re naked.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “Not a good combo. Odds are we’ll end up in that shower together or back in your bed doing the double-backed monster.”
“Then join me in the shower. I’ll be good. For you.” He arched his back, his hands still doing that back and forth that was driving me insane.
Liar, liar, pants on fire, I thought. No way he would he be good.

Because he was the Heartbreaker of Briarcrest Academy. And one wicked boy.
Haven’t read the first book Very Bad Things? 
It’s on sale for $.99!!
Author Bio
Ilsa Madden-Mills writes about strong heroines and sexy alpha males that sometimes you just want to slap. She spends her days with two small kids, a neurotic cat, and her Viking husband. She collects magnets and rarely cooks except to bake her own pretzels. When she’s not typing away at a story, you can find her drinking too much Diet Coke, jamming out to Pink, or checking on her carefully maintained chocolate stash. She loves to hear from fans and fellow authors.
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SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT!! Very Wicked Beginnings (Briarcrest Academy #1.5) by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Because Ilsa Madden-Mills fell in love with her beautifully flawed characters in Very Wicked Things, she penned Very Wicked Beginnings as a prequel novella to the book, featuring the story of football star Cuba Hudson and ballerina Dovey Beckham.

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, all May proceeds from the sale of the novella will be donated to The Keith Milano Memorial Fund which benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).  www.afsp.org 
Very Wicked Beginnings
Briarcrest Academy #1.5
(A prequel novella to Very Wicked Things)
Release: Both books will release on May 13th!
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Cover: Photography by Toski Covey
Graphics: Sommer Stein at Perfect Pear Creative Covers
Model: Tanner Belcher

Synopsis
Girls say I’m a walking, talking sex god. Guys call me Hollywood because my life is golden.
It’s not.
But, ESPN did rank me as a four star recruit, calling me one of the best defensive players since Briarcrest Academy opened its esteemed doors. So yeah, with football and a stellar 
GPA, my future seemed good.

Then Dovey Beckham shows up in her short skirts and ballet shoes. Driving me insane. Making me want to beg for her attention.
But that wouldn’t happen, because Cuba Hudson didn’t beg for anything.

She walked around BA like she owned the place, and most days she looked right through me…the one girl I couldn’t have.

So, of course, I made it my mission to claim her, to put her notch on my bedpost.

Because no girl can resist the Heartbreaker of BA.

But I never planned on destroying her.

I never planned on wrecking the one thing that could save me.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where wicked love begins…and ends.


Excerpt 
Chapter One
“Two things about me: I play football—and girls.” –Cuba Hudson
I wanted the gorgeous girl in the window.
More specifically, I wanted the dark-haired girl dancing inside the Symthe Arts Building as I stood outside on the twenty yard line at football practice, fixated on her when I should have been focused on the line of scrimmage. I adjusted my helmet and squinted through the afternoon Dallas sun.
Did I know her?
Movement from other players on the field pulled me back. Good thing. As defensive end, it was my job to put the screws to or sack the quarterback as soon as the ball snapped. But I was off today. Probably because I knew I had a shit ton of homework waiting for me at home. With my dream of being a doctor and getting into a good school, being on top of my game in class was important as well. Briarcrest Academy was one of the top-rated private schools in the country, making expectations here high.
Just like every eighteen-year-old kid out there, I had stresses.
But I did have more than the average. I had a sick mom.
But those thoughts faded when I looked back at the window and watched the girl run and then leap in the air, her body doing some kind of crazy in-the-air-leg-split-thing. Damn. She’d gotten at least four feet off the ground.
Then, after landing on her feet light as a feather, she danced away from my view. I waited for her to come back, wanting to check out her toned muscles again, especially her tight ass. And then I randomly wondered if her tits were small. Weren’t all dancers? Yeah. But still, she looked—
“Pay attention, Hudson!” Coach Howe yelled at me.
Fuck. Caught.
I automatically stiffened and tightened my defensive stance, running my eyes across the offensive line, waiting for the play. But the quarterback was pussy-footing around still undecided if they were gonna run or pass. Whatever. Matt the Quarterback was a complete jack ass. I ate guys like him for lunch which wasn’t hard when you’re tall and fast like me. 
I got bored.
Out of my peripheral vision, I caught a flash of pink dashing past the window.
She was back.
And like I was addicted to her, my eyes drifted to the building again, one part baffled by the fascination, the other part wanting to get another glimpse of her long legs. As I watched, she adjusted her ponytail as she laughed up at her ballet partner—who was a dude. Crazzzy. Yeah, you’d think he’d be all feminine and shit, but he wasn’t. Nope. Dude looked buff, like he could bench press a school bus.
Something about the girl called to me. Yeah, it was probably that short skirt she wore. I pictured slipping my hand underneath it to her panties. Her core would be hot, on fire for me, of course, and I’d ease my finger inside her wet—
Bam!  I took a hard hit from Tank Carson, an All District offensive guard I routinely ran circles around in practice. He might be big, but I was quick and smart and had more moves than a freaking octopus. So the chance to plant my distracted ass on the turf was an early Christmas present for him. That's what I get for letting some piece of ass get in my game, even if it was practice.  
And so. My unprepared body flew through the air with 290 pounds of Tank on top of it. My head followed my body and hit the turf, the contact reverberating inside my helmet and then everything went black…
Charity Information:

The Keith Milano Memorial Fund was established to help raise awareness about the devastating and deadly disease that is mental illness. Keith’s spirit and laughter is kept alive through our efforts to increase awareness about mental illness and to raise money for education and imperative research. Keith often struggled with society’s perception of mental illness.  Our hope is that by having the strength to say that Keith was “Bipolar” we can strip away the stigma and help others to be more open about their disease. www.keithmilano.org

The Keith Milano Memorial Fund benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).  www.afsp.org 

AFSP is the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and to reaching out to people with mood disorders and those affected by suicide.

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Ilsa’s website 

Haven’t read the first book #1 New Adult Romance Very Bad Things? It’s on sale!!
Author Bio:
Ilsa Madden-Mills writes about strong heroines and sexy alpha males that sometimes you just want to slap. She spends her days with two small kids, a neurotic cat, and her Viking husband. She collects magnets and rarely cooks except to bake her own pretzels. When she’s not typing away at a story, you can find her drinking too much Diet Coke, jamming out to Pink, or checking on her carefully maintained chocolate stash. She loves to hear from fans and fellow authors.

Very Wicked Things 
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Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy #1) by Ilsa Madden-Mills


Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any nineteen-year-old girl could desire. She’s an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She’s perfect…


Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex. 


Then she meets her soulmate. But he doesn’t want her.

When it comes to girls, twenty-five-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about...until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.

As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy…where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things
A Strong Four Stars



He stiffened. “Nora!” he yelled out as he came, throwing his head back, his blond hair falling into his eyes, his muscles body straining forward and undulating in a beautiful symphony of ecstasy.

I wanted to weep.
I wanted him to love me. 
Long moments passed and he recovered slowly, opening his eyes and blinking up at me. “What was that?” he ask weakly.
I picked up my purse and stood up on wobbly legs. “That was a lesson in clarity, Leo,” I said in a small voice. “I have a date tonight with a guy I’ve fucked before, a guy I once had real feelings for. Think about what just happened in here between us and how non-epic it was. Think about me doing that with someone else. Think how good we could have been.” 

**Smirks**

Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but lead off with one of my favorite scenes in the book. There was something about this scene, about this quote, that perfectly exemplifies how achingly frustrating this story was; frustrating, but hot. 

I simply needed to do the things on my list: get drunk, get high, and get laid. Get relief. End of story. 

On the outside Nora’s life seemed perfect. She’s smart, beautiful and rich. What people don’t see is that Nora’s life is anything but perfect. Her mother is a complete psycho control freak. Her father is pretty much absent from her life and her brother, well, that’s a whole other hot mess there. She’s tired of living this secluded, miserable life and she wants to break free. So what does supposedly little Ms. Perfect do? Sabotage her welcoming speech at school and decides to make a list of things to escape her perfect cage. 

Why did I want her so fucking much? Why couldn’t I push her away like I did everyone else? Why couldn’t I breathe when I saw her?
My heart new the answer, and I’d realized it at the movies. I…I think maybe if I let her in, she might get under my skin so deep that I’d never want her to leave. That terrified me. 

Aaaaaannnnnddddd…here we go. Everyone meet Leo. Leo is thefirst Hero that frustrated the fuck out of me. Normally the heroine is the one I want to bitch slap, but nope, not in the scenario and Leo is definitely the one I wanted to slap the fuck out of. If you can tell by the amount of obscenities I mean serious business. LOL. It’s no doubt that Leo wants Nora and wants herBAD. But does he make any moves? Nope. Why? Well, at first he convinced himself it was because she younger and too immature, but he more he gets to know her, the more he realizes its much more than her age. She might only be eighteen, but this chick has gone through a lot. But does that change matters? Of course not. He’s a stubborn, stupid man. 

Nora Blakely was everything I avoided when it came to girls. Her kind expected love and commitments, two things I’d run away from a long time ago.
But still I stared at her, now focused on her pouty, sexy mouth as it tilted up in a smile. Fuck. 

I have to give this book and the author credit for making this story memorable. It was angsty, frustrating and just plain ole infuriating; the masochist in me relished in its fuckedupness. I wanted to put it down, but I was too determined to get to the part where Leo finally got it. However, there were many other things that kept this story flowing. As much as Leo frustrated the fuck out of me, he was still one sexy Hero. As for Nora, I loved her. She was such a strong heroine and never wavered, no matter what an asshole Leo was. 

So yes, this book was super angsty and fucked up. But I did enjoy the ride and looking forward to the next book in the series. Speaking of which: Cuba, baby, I can’t wait to read your story (though a part of me was hoping for Sebastian’s story, but I’ll take Cuba.)

P.S. On December 2, 2013, the author released an extended epilogue. You can find it here:http://www.ilsamaddenmills.com/#!exce...

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