DIRTY ENGLISH (British Bad Boys #1) by ILSA MADDEN-MILLS

 “The British are coming, the British are coming.”

Yeah we can safely say we fancy us a bit of Dirty English – this story has one of the most swoon worthy heroes and our hearts melted into a puddle on the floor. The dynamics in this story felt quite original in a saturated market of male players and virginal heroines. We absolutely loved that. There were no excuses made and after reading an overwhelmingly traumatic and vivid prologue which gave us chills and had us in tears we knew this was going to play a huge part in what was sure to be a fab read.

“I’m not going to judge myself on the past. I don’t live there anymore.”

We fell in love with Declan; he was a complete attractive mixture of sexy, sweet, vulnerable, rough and dorky. In some ways it could have gone horribly wrong – but it didn’t. At no stage did we feel anything but love for his character. Again, this role reversal worked a treat, a great big passionate yummy one.

As for Elizabeth; you’d think we’d find her a complete turn off in some respects but we didn’t. She is what she is and she makes no apologies for it. What she’s had to endure and still is going through in many respects broke our hearts. It’s no wonder this girl struggles with her heart and her emotions.

“I won’t judge you, Declan. I have my own scars.”

Dylan and Dax were the perfect cheeky chappies from England and the Britishness was done perfectly – it was never overdone, crude or exaggerated – again – it just was and we believed in them. Twins McHotties in fact! We want more!!!!

“The moment that dragonfly landed on you, I knew you were going to rock my world.”

Again we use the word simplicity – in a great way, this story just was and we loved it – so well written and flowed naturally. We connected with the characters, loving them and feeling frustrated with them in equal measure as they made their way through a journey of self-discovery, stumble blocks, parental arseholes and relationship issues.

“I got you, Elizabeth. Let me take care of you. Let me be the one you run to. We can figure it all out together.”

We were disappointed to find Dirty English concluded at only 80%. We felt there was more story to tell and would have loved the last 20% to have contained more of Declan and Elizabeth’s story instead of promotional material which is a bit of a bugbear for us.

**Reviewed from an ARC copy provided by the author, with thanks**