Princess and the Player

🎧︎Princess and the Player  by Ilsa Madden-Mills is the second book in the Strangers in Love series and it works well as a standalone. I didn’t know what to expect, this being my first experience with the author’s work. Well, Madden-Mill gave her readers an emotional, sexy and light-hearted story.🎧︎Princess and the Player  introduces Francesca Lane, an artist, who currently works as a tattooist and Tuck Avery NFL wide receiver for the Phytons. Francesca caught her fiancée in a compromising position before their wedding. She ends things with him right there and then. On her supposed wedding night, she, wearing her wedding dress, along with her bestie, went to Club Decadence for their fairytale masquerade night. The night did not go as expected, but then she met the handsome prince player. Tuck is celebrating his 35th birthday and by NFL standards considered old for a wide receiver. He knows retirement is not far away, but he is still not ready for that chapter of his life. All he wants for his birthday is cake, but his friends/teammates had other plans. Plans which involved the underground sex club, Club Decadence. Although not his idea of a birthday celebration, he tried to make the best of it.... And then he met a princess wearing a mask. Soon the two became engrossed in each other and engaged in one night of decadence. No strings, no names and the masks remain on. However, ten weeks after their night of decadence, they discovered fate had different plans for them. Plans riddled with surprises.I had fun with the 🎧︎Princess and the Player. It provided the perfect blend of romance and humor. Although not a fan of the surprise pregnancy trope, I thought this was well done. The story had my full attention from the first page. I started out reading the e-book, then switched over to audio.Both the hero and heroine have tortured pasts. A past which can cause severe emotional damage. They both survived. However, they were not at the point when it didn’t influence their decisions. Tuck grew up surrounded by wealth, but lived in a dysfunctional home. While Francesca was abandoned as a baby and spent all her life going from one foster home to the next. She never experienced the true meaning of family until she turned eighteen, when she met Cece, Brogan, and Mr. Darden. They brought light and fun moments to the story, with their crazy antics and snarky remarks.My heart ached for them both, learning of the pain and hurt they both went through. Despite the difference, their past crippled them both, hindering them from forming meaningful relationships. Their pain helped to fuel their careers. Francesca found joy in her art, while Tuck buried his pain in his love for football. So one can understand the reason retirement from the very thing that saved him would scare him.Now, regarding the pregnancy, this was kept a secret from Tuck for the majority of the story. I kept wondering when she would tell him and how he would react. Her reasons, fueled by fear of rejection, for holding out for so long, were understandable. His reaction upon learning the truth disappointed me, but he redeemed himself. After his redeeming moment, it would have been nice seeing him more hands on during the rest of the pregnancy. The ending was good, but the epilogue warmed my heart and left me with a big smile.The narration was good. Lee Samuels and Stella Bloom delivered solid characters and provided the perfect complement for each other. This is my first time listening to both of them together, although I have listened to Stella Bloom collaboration with another narrator before. I enjoyed their performance and wouldn’t hesitate to listen to either again–whether as a solo or a dual narration.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading