Mad Rivals

The Bradley Legacy, Book 1

By: Lisa Suzanne

Narrated by: Dane Anderson, Avery Caris

A steamy Pro Football, Business Rivals, Enemies to Lovers Romance from Amazon Top Ten Bestselling author Lisa Suzanne.

Pro football legend Madden Bradley was never supposed to be anything but my enemy. With one season left on his contract, he’s set to take over his family’s empire, and I’m his business rival. Forced into a partnership we both resent, the last place I should be is tangled in his sheets.

Now we’re stuck working together, and the more we clash, the more explosive the tension becomes…until it finally detonates.

He’s maddening, charming, and completely addictive. And when he murmurs exactly what he’s going to do to me, I forget that he’s supposed to be the enemy.

Our forbidden romance has to stay between us. Our families can’t find out. Our companies can’t know. The truth could destroy everything we’ve worked for.

But when we discover a buried secret together, Madden faces an impossible choice:

The legacy he was born to lead… or the woman he was never supposed to fall for.

©2025 Lisa Suzanne (P)2025 Lisa Suzanne

Fun New Series

I enjoyed diving into the Bradley brothers, and am looking forward to all their stories! What I really liked about this story is that it focused on what comes after football and left Madden really questioning his future and how he wanted it all to play out.

I enjoyed the rivalry, but loved when they decided to work together so much more!

The narration was great! I loved both narrators!

Steam, Drama, and Legacies

Mad Rivals is the steamy and dramatic first installment of the Bradley Legacy series, and it truly deserves packs a punch! Football start Madden is forced to face a lot as he falls head over heels for his dad’s rival’s daughter Kennedy and confronts the concept that his father is a manipulator who manufactured way more than Madden ever imagined. Through it all, Madden keeps his head up and follows his heart, showing true leadership in the face of adversity. The heart of who he is and how he chooses not to let anyone dictate that for him any longer is a beautiful growth arc to watch blossom. Kennedy is sassy and brilliant in her own right, but unfortunately she shows the emotional maturity of a 13 year old for the majority of this story. I had such a hard time getting behind her character. When she was on and adult, she is truly likable—and that part of her does come out. But then when she faces adversity with Madden, she backslides instead of moving forward, which is realistic but at the same time somewhat disappointing. The overarching plot kickstarts in a fascinating way, and the last part of the book is truly dynamic and opens so many doors for the growth of this series. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I look forward to meeting the rest of the Bradley siblings. The narrators performed their roles with magnetism, emotion, power, and pull. Their voices are easy to listen to, and they really brought the characters to life, elevating an already dynamic story to the next level with audio.

Good story

This book was okay. The main characters in the first half of the book were very annoying. The second half made up for the first half! I liked how it focused more on the business part of the story than more of the football romance side.

Tropes: strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers, Romeo and Juliet vibes, business Rivals, he falls first, forced proximity, forbidden love.

Favorite quote: "

Overall good!!!

The narration was great by Dane and Avery. Always enjoy Avery narrating and Dane was great. His voice was nice and deep and gravely just how I like it.

The dirty talk by the MMC was on point and I was here for that! The overall story was good and I like the bit of mystery.

That all being said….

I HATE third act breakups! The book was going very well until I realized it was going well and there were still 4 hours left. That’s when I realized there’s going to be either miscommunication or third act breakups or both. Honestly the book stalled out for me about 80%. I was ready for it to be done because it felt like it was dragging out.

Appropriately Titled Book

Our MMC, Madden Bradley, plays professional football in his hometown of Chicago...until he's suddenly traded to San Diego. Madden is also the oldest of 7 kids and the one his father is grooming to take over the CEO positon whether he wants it or not. He runs into our FMC, Kennedy Van Buren, at Starbucks, mere hours before they run into each other again when they realize they're competing for the same design build project. There's a mutual attraction between the two, which she then tries to stifle once her father tells there's bad blood between the two companies because of something that happened in the past. Kennedy is an only child and so her father is also grooming her to take over the business when he retires. Although both of these characters have that in common, oddly enough neither of them is really particularly close to their parents. Knowing it's probably a bad idea to get involved, Madden and Kennedy finally give into the strong attraction.
This is the first book I've read/listened to by this author. The narrators were good for the main characters, but I didn't care for the voices of the other characters. I liked these characters separately and as a couple. I did find it a little hard to accept some of the details. Madden and Kennedy met and worked together on the project during his summer off season. However, once football season begins, I found it hard to believe that a professional football player had time to continue project managing a large commercial development project remotely. Additionally, I felt like the situation concerning his father resolved itself too quickly? This is the first book in the series so I don't know if this book was laying the groundwork for an overarching storyline? It's not clear so I guess we'll have to see in the next book. This was a solid 3.5 star read for me.