The Right Stud by Ilsa Madden-Mills and Tia Louise

​ROMANTIC COMEDY

Publication date: 05/31/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

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!)  
   
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s clean and sober. No rehab needed.  

Other reading suggestions
Definitely read the Ilsa Madden-Mills backlist. My favorite of her books is Dirty English. ​

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