This was a cute read! I really liked the banter between Jane and Jasper. The two of them don’t get along and I liked how much Jasper would push Jane’s buttons. Once the two of them got to know one another, I loved every moment of the two of them together. They have the perfect chemistry! I really liked that Jasper kept trying to get Jane to give him a chance. It was sweet reading how Jasper went on all the dates that Jane sent him up on, and yet he kept thinking of her the whole time. I really loved how Jasper wanted to be there for Jane and for Jane’s daughter. The only thing I wasn’t too crazy on was the fact that Jane and Jasper had more of a friends of benefits sort of relationship and I felt like at times it was a little bit unprofessional from Jane’s position.

Read if you like:
Dual POVs
Single mom
Hero falls first
Open door romance
Friends with benefits
Banter
Somewhat enemies to lovers
Football hero

When Jane found out she was pregnant, the father left. She has raised her daughter, Londyn, alone, and hasn’t dated since. To get clients for her new venture, matchmaking, she goes out in a cupid costume, catching the attention of a playboy quarterback named Jasper. He proposes something she can’t refuse, even though she cannot stand him: he will try out her matchmaking service. The publicity her business would gain from his participation is too good to pass up. Jasper only has one match in mind, though, but Jane has Londyn–and her heart–to consider.

My Darling Jane by Ilsa Madden-Mills is a standalone within an interconnected series. It is a sweet romantic comedy, but unlike most rom-coms, this story is full of emotion. Both Jane and Jasper have severe abandonment issues, but Jane’s prevent her from considering a relationship. With Jasper’s estranged biological mother and Jane’s ex both trying to re-enter their lives, there is a lot of emotional turmoil. While Jasper is a star quarterback, I wouldn’t classify this as a sports romance; the book doesn’t explore his career. Instead, we meet the side of Jasper that the public doesn’t get to see: the man who stepped in to raise his twin teenage nieces. If the rest of this series has this much heart, I’d love to read them all!

I love that Jasper got his own story. You defined need to read book one to get the background story of Jasper.
He is the sweetest man ever. Jane and Jasper make a lovely couple. They have a great chemistry and the story develops perfect, is really enjoyable.
My favorite trope enemies to lovers.

I’ve read a lot of Ilsa Madden mills books and usually love them! This one wasn’t my favorite. I loved the story line but felt like it was rushed or I was missing chunks from time to time.

Love Jasper’s character, the football player with a reputation and a sad past! Yes please!

Jane is a single mom with a matchmaking business and works at the family bookstore.
They definitely have chemistry together. At times it seems Jane just doesn’t like Jasper for no reason, but I’m sure it’s due to her past issues with men.

I loved Jasper and Jane's story. Loved the banter and all the crazy situations. They had such a great connection and this book had many emotional moments as well. Jasper was swoony and I really enjoyed their love story. Can't wait to read more in this series. Ilsa Madden-Mills does not disappoint!

I struggled to rate this book and ended up with 4-stars because it did entertain me and kept my attention. My biggest issue was not really liking Jane in the beginning of the book, and Jasper was more of an irritating character than a swoon inducing leading male character. I eventually got past Jane’s judgemental personality as she seemed to mellow after about the 25% mark.

Both Jane and Jasper were introduced in My Darling Bride (book #1), but as side characters I didn’t recall much about before diving into this book. I loved the previous book between Emmy and Graham - it was hilarious with fabulous characters. I was really hoping for more of the same humor to be present in this 2nd book, but this book is more serious. A good portion of the book it doesn’t seem like Jane and Jasper are even involved other than frequent steamy encounters after her daughter’s bedtime.

Both characters avoid the chance of being hurt, for good reasons, but it made the development of their romance a challenge. I enjoyed when she and Jasper would have some good and interesting conversations. During these vulnerable moments their relationship would seem to progress, only for the characters to take about 5 steps apart.

The last few chapters really helped up my rating of the book. Jasper’s dream and his ‘moment’ when he bares his heart for Jane was awesome and brought the story full circle.

I received a free ARC from the author and Grey’s PR; and I am voluntarily leaving an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this book, it was fairly light hearted. It was an easy to follow story but nothing really stood out to me. I didn’t fall in love with the characters and I did get a little bored of the lack of communication between them.

I enjoyed this book, it was an easy read but I didn’t love it like I have some of this authors other stories.

Jane is a single mum working in a bookshop but trying to get her matchmaking business off the ground. Jasper is a quarterback who is friendly with Jane’s brother-in-law and the 2 of them have been around each other but never felt any sparks.

Jane appears to dislike Jasper for no real reason but this changes quite quickly into the story. Soon enough they are spending time together with Jane trying to find him a match but at the same time they are flirting and having sex.

Both MCs have been abandoned by parents and as a result are scared of committing so play their relationship off as friends until a random moment when Jasper decides he wants more and then boom everything falls into place.

There was a lot of disconnect for me in this story. The way Jane got over her unexplained dislike for Jasper and the quick turnaround from friends to engaged. I felt that the appearance of Jaspers mum wasn’t developed and was just a passing mention on a couple of occasions and I felt the same about Londyns dad Tomas who randomly appeared a couple of times. It didn’t feel like Jasper was a football player as he seemed to have a lot of freedom to go where he wanted without much attention, he had barely any interaction with Londyn so I didn’t feel the forming of a relationship there. I also felt the side characters were missing. Babs seemed funny but was hardly mentioned and Andrew and Emmy, Jane’s brother and sister were hardly mentioned.

It was an easy read and enjoyable but didn’t give me everything I have come to like and expect from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

I love and have read every Ilsa Madden-Mills book. The book previous to this was a fun time and this cover is gorgeous! The usual humor of Ilsa's books was there, and I enjoyed that. I think some of the things that drove the plot were things I wouldn't have minded years ago, but just didn't work for me as well now. I also hate when one of the characters is lying about something, so I struglled with that. Hoenstly, I wouldn't say this book was bad at all, it just had the few things I'm not a huge fan of!

This can be read as a stand alone but I have read and enjoyed the previous book in the series, My Darling Bride (Dec 2023). Jane Darling is the sister to the FMC in the previous book. Jane is a single mom and is trying to grow her matchmaking business. Jasper Jannich is a NYC quarterback who comes to Jane’s aid and then agrees to be her client. Of course there are going to be some funny date set ups. But the more time they spend together the more they like each other.

This is kind of a mix of tropes. It isn’t a sports romance even though he’s a professional athlete. And the single mom angle is weak as Londyn is hardly in the story at all. And I almost wanted to kick my reading device across the room at the unexpected surprise. But that is the negatives. Jasper is great, he is confident and maybe a little misunderstood. Jane has understandably locked herself off from her feelings while raising a child alone. I enjoyed when they were together having conversations. I didn’t think the storyline with Jane’s ex was necessary as it didn’t impact the story.

3.5 Stars. I liked the first book in this series so I was looking forward to this one too. I didn't feel that instant connection to the characters like I did with the first book, but I warmed up to them. I loved the chemistry between Jasper and Jane and that Jasper absolutely fell first. I didn't need the parenting plot lines, but that's just me.

As all Ilsa Madden Mills book this was enjoyable, easy to get into, and fast paced. It’s definitely a romance you can read in a single sitting of reading and not get bored! I love her writing style and the way she creates characters and the stories. I enjoyed most of the side characters we got and the side plot of Jane setting up Jasper on dates through the matchmaking business she’s trying to start up. There were some parts where random matchmaking business came up that seemed abrupt because there would be parts of the book where I did forget that was part of it but it wasn’t too bad. Also, Jasper being a football player seemed to take a major backseat to the story when in the beginning it seemed like it would play a bigger role.

I did really love both Jane and Jasper individually and loved their banter together! I usually love children in books as single-parent so I wish we got to see more of Londyn, especially with Jaspie. I also wish we got to see more of Emmy and Graham in this novel seeing as Emmy basically raised Jane and I think with what goes on it the book, having her big sister would’ve been nice.

I didn’t really like the ending surprise trope with how things evolved (and how Jane never actually took the pill but still stressed about it). I do typically like the trope itself, it was more how it went from the peanuts, to taking space, to having a weird dream, and then the bar scene. The conflict that occurred I just didn’t find to be all that great towards the story and it wasn’t told in the best way it could’ve been. I think it was just way too much going on between Jasper’s bio mom showing up, the hospital trip, the Freida video drama, the surprise, and Tomas. The POV’s not going back and forth and the traveling back to the past also threw me off. I love this couple so much and just felt like the last half of the book didn’t quite align to the first and didn’t give them the best story all around.

This was a 4⭐️ book for me up until the 70% mark and unfortunately I had to lower it some with how it was ended. I’m a little disappointed just because of how much I typically love her books that this one didn’t turn out the same but it’s still worth the read and won’t keep me from her future books!

I received a digital copy from NetGalley & Grey’s Promotions in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Ilsa Madden Mills for this novel!

"My Darling Jane" by Ilsa Madden-Mills is a fun and lighthearted romance that hits all the right notes. Jane Darling is a single mom trying to get her matchmaking business off the ground, and she finds herself in a playful rivalry with Jasper Jannich, the top quarterback in New York. His sole goal? To win Jane's heart.
Jasper comes across as a charming main character, especially through his enthusiastic attempts to win Jane's heart and the delightful moments he shares with his nieces. The chemistry between Jane and Jasper is vibrant, making their playful exchanges a delight to read.

If you’re looking for a simple, uplifting sports romance, My Darling Jane is an excellent choice!

This book made me laugh so much! So funny!
On an ordinary day, Jane Darling wouldn’t be caught dead in a sports bar wearing a toga with angel wings. But she’s desperate to launch her matchmaking business to secure her young daughter’s future. Her mission: to attract new clients at any cost. Her Cupid outfit catches the eye of New York’s beloved star quarterback, Jasper Jannich. She and Jasper have always clashed, but when a pushy admirer goes too far, he steps in as an unexpected knight in shining armor.
He offers a tantalizing proposal: to be Cupid’s Arrow’s premier client. Reluctantly, Jane agrees, aware of the business potential despite her reservations about Jasper and his playboy reputation. As she sets him up on date after date, it grows clear that Jane’s the only woman he wants. She is his goal, his endgame.
These two made me feel happy and really frustrated sometimes, mostly Jane. She keeps trying to find a match for Jasper after they mess around. NO, HONEY, THAT MAN IS YOURS. I really enjoyed the banter, the witty dialogs and the chemistry. They are really great together. Both have abandonment issues and it’s treated really well. Jane’s daughter is super cute and an amazing second character.
The story is well written, with a mostly slow-burn romance and engaging spicy times. This is an author I definitely recommend!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved Jasper's character and really enjoyed his sweet love story with Jane. I look forward to reading more books by Ilsa Madden-Mills.

I normally really love Ilsa Madden-Mills books and can read through them fairly quick and I had a really hard time with this one. While I loved some things…mainly Jasper’s heart of gold and his relationship with his adoptive parents, siblings and nieces, there was a disconnect between him and Jane and I just couldn’t feel any kind of connection between them. This story dragged and was somewhat boring and I skimmed in some areas too.

I feel SO bad because I usually love her books but this one didn’t work for me at all. 😞

Loved every minute of this exciting story. Detailed well written books with just the right amount of drama and suspense. Likable characters, banter was entertaining, read in one sitting because I could not put it down.

My Darling Jane can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the previous book in the The Darlings series, My Darling Bride - that follows Jane’s sister and Jasper’s friend, and gives a little bit more background on Jane and Jasper’s dynamic. (Plus, who doesn’t want more books to read??)

We’re right in the middle of football season, so I was excited to read a fun sports romance starring our star quarterback, Jasper. We first met him (and Jane) in My Darling Bride, and while I had assumed that the next book would follow both of them, I wasn’t 100% sure. Jane used to be a model, and now she’s entering the next phase of her career - creating a matchmaking business. She finds help in the one person she least expects - Jasper - who has his sights set on the matchmaker herself.

This is a slow burn, single mom romance (although we don’t get to see as much of Londyn as I had expected), and it was fun getting to see how Jane and Jasper’s dynamic shifts throughout the story. As with most new adult/adult books, I recommend this for 18+ due to some of the mature content, but also as always, don’t let me tell you what to read :)

Special thanks to Ilsa and Grey’s Promo for letting me read an early copy in exchange for a review! My Darling Jane is available now.

Jane is a single mom who works in her sister’s bookstore while she starts her new business. She might be a matchmaker, but she isn’t interested in looking for love for herself. Jasper is an NFL quarterback that everyone thinks is a player. He might date a lot of women but now he thinks he might want what his friends have, a committed relationship. She needs high profile clients she can successful pair up with their soulmates and he needs a soulmate. What can wrong?

The story itself is pretty standard stuff. For example, Jane’s sister is married to someone that is friends with Jasper. That puts the two of them in close proximity with some frequency. Jane has a baby daddy who doesn’t want to be a part of his daughter’s life so Jane has become everything to her daughter. Now the baby daddy wants to reenter the picture. Jane is frazzled and overwhelmed. Jasper has always liked his life just the way it is. As his friends are now either in committed relationships or married, he is reevaluating his life. Jane and Jasper keep their budding relationship a secret and they fear it could blow up in their faces.

This book was not written to be deep and meaningful or to teach the reader anything important. If you are looking for a sweet romance between two people who never intended to fall for each other, give this a try. The one thing I really loved in this book was the epilogue. It tells the story of the future.

Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1\2
Trope: opposites attract; reverse grumpy/sunshine
Angst: 😱😱😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥

Beautiful story about two people with deep seeded abandonment issues, finding the strength to find love. I love a good grumpy heroine story and our FMC has plenty of reasons to be a bit on the bitter side, lol. Luckily for her, our hero likes a little extra saltiness his diet, but its definitely a bumpy road for all. The story paces well and had me invested to the end. Can't wait to see what's next!