This is a sweet sexy love story that invites you to fall in love with these characters. Jane is a single mom doing the best she can, and Jasper is a big marshmallow that is such a genuine person. I really enjoyed his interactions with his nieces and Jane's daughter London. The audiobook is a delight to listen to and a great way to enjoy this romance.

I’ve come to expect to enjoy books from Ilsa Madden-Mills and this was another winner! I hadn’t read book 1 but I don’t think that affected my enjoyment of the story. They do mention some of their past encounters that give you some idea of their history.

I loved the banter and tension between these two. Jane dislikes Jasper before truly getting to know him, and Jasper appears to have more of a reluctant attraction. He is intrigued by her but she is NOT receptive! So when he volunteers to be the first high profile client for her new matchmaking service, she agrees to set him up on dates, while inadvertently getting to know and like him in the process. This setup made for some interesting encounters and funny moments!

Their relationship evolves into a friendship, and eventually sparks are flying and things get spicy. Jasper’s history and how it related to Jane and her daughter’s path was really a great way to connect them. Though I would have liked a little more time spent with her daughter to see that bond develop between her and Jasper.

Overall another enjoyable read from Ilsa Madden-Mills and I’m sure I’ll be picking up the next book she writes!

**Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.**

Best way to describe this book is straightforward, sports romance.

Jasper absolutely won me over in this book and is the true reason I rated this book the way I did. Which says alot because we don't get his POV at all in this story.

Jane - she took some time to warm up to. I think it would have helped to have more scenes with her daughter (she is Jane's main focus) and seeing that side of Jane. I do wish there were more scenes overall with her daughter to show that connection between all of them.

My Darling Jane moves quickly and told only from one POV. Ilsa delivers some great spicy moments and some good humor.

Overall, it's a good read, especially if you enjoy stories that aren't filled with too much depth.

I do look forward to more from this series.

This was a good fast paced story.

I thought the pacing was a little too fast at the end and wanted to see more of them once they actually got together instead of just small glimpses of them

I enjoyed the storyline and really liked both the main characters

- single mum
- sports romance (pro American football)
- accidentally pregnancy
- hate (dislike) to love

I love Ilsa Madden-Mills’ books. I’ve read them all and any new releases I read without any prior knowledge. After reading My Darling Bride, and absolutely loving it, I was excited to dive back into the life of the Darling’s. This time we follow Jane, who is working hard to kick off her new matchmaking business. As a single mother, she balances her chaotic life. Enter Jasper, pro football player and ultimate single guy agrees to let Jane find his perfect match, but it might be closer than you think.
Jasper is a charmer. On the surface he comes across as a player who floats through life. As the book progresses we see a deeper side to him. He is a family man, who loves having his teen nieces over. Jasper was a really great character to get to know. Jane was so hard-working. She was prepared to handle anything alone. After a tumultuous relationship with her daughter’s father, she faces everything alone with some support from her sister, who we met in the first book and her brother.
This was once again another Ilsa book that I loved. She writes great romance, deep characters and I really hope Andrew gets his own book at some point. I can’t wait to see what she will release next.
Thank you for the eARC!

Overall Grade: B

Tropes: enemies to lovers; hate to love; he falls first; sports romance; matchmaker FMC; golden retriever MMC

Ilsa Madden-Mills’s My Darling Jane is an apt reminder of why we love her contemporary romances. In this newest story, it’s easy to fall hard for Jasper, this golden retriever of an MMC, who falls hard for the single mom FMC, Jane. These two circle each other, building an explosive chemistry that leads us to a surprise pregnancy, a reconciliation, and an absolutely gorgeous HEA. I enjoyed reading this story because I’m a diehard IMM fan.

However, and this may be an unpopular opinion, her usual storytelling magic is muted in this story. Yes, Jane’s story of needing to let go of the past hurt of her baby daddy ex, her rabid need to find success as a matchmaker to “prove” herself post-modeling career, and the resolutely erected emotional walls that protect her tender heart make us love her deeply. That Jasper becomes insistent on winning her heart and taking care of her even though he battles his own demons adds another layer of depth of their story. However…HOWEVER, there is something about the books that are published traditionally by indie romance authors…to me, they are always missing some key attributes.

In this story, Jane’s daughter, Londyn, is simply furniture. There is very little development of Jane’s relationship with her and Jasper’s burgeoning interest in Londyn. This seemed odd to me. Another missing relationship development is Jane’s sister, Emmaline, who we’ve met in her book, My Darling Bride, which was written before this one. Jane and Emmaline have an important relationship, and we get very little of it in this book. My Darling Jane reads underdeveloped to me because crucial relationships, ones that would develop aspects of Jane’s identity, were practically missing. And this is unusual for Madden-Mills, who has emotionally invested me in most of her books - just not this one.

Did I adore Jasper and Jane? One hundred percent. If Ilsa Madden-Mills develops a story for Andrew, will I read it? Absolutely! I’d just like more of the magic we’ve come to expect of IMM. I sometimes think Montlake underdevelops the stories of some of our beloved authors.

My Darling Jane is the follow up to My Darling Bride (Graham and Emmaline's story) and is the story of Graham's teammate Jasper, and Emmaline's sister Jane. I haven't read My Darling Bride yet, but I enjoyed this book, and Ilsa Madden-Mills writing, so I will be adding it to my TBR. From the beginning it was clear that Jasper and Jane had met before, and it would probably have given some more character insight into them if I had read MDB first, but I don't think it's necessary in order to enjoy MDJ.
This is a sweet, spicy rom-com with some cute kids in the mix. Both Jasper and Jane have issues committing to romantic relationships due to their pasts and feelings of abandonment. Still, they can't seem to stay away from each other. Jasper is a pro football (American) player, but I wouldn't call this a sports romance. Jane is a struggling matchmaker whose male client roster is thinning more by the minute, and she's desperate to hang on to her business. She's also a single mom, and I always love it when the MMC falls for the kid too. Jasper is also caring for his twin nieces during the majority of the story. They're 17 year old girls, and bring all the trouble that implies.
I found this to be a lighter Rom-Com with some decent spice, so if that's what you're in the mood for, I'd recommend this book. I've read several other works by Ilsa Madden-Mills in the past and feel confident when I see her name, I'll enjoy the story.
Thank you to Netgalley, Montlake, and Ilsa Madden-Mills for the ARC opportunity.

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!