Very Twisted Things

Briarwood Academy Series, Book 3

By: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Narrated by: CJ Bloom, Roger Wayne

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Sebastian Tate never imagined his YouTube music video would go viral, sky-rocketing him to acting success in Hollywood. Okay, maybe he did. After all, he's a cocky dude who knows he's hot-as-hell, and it was only a matter of time before his stars aligned.

But life in Tinseltown is never what it seems. Spying on his gorgeous and mysterious new neighbor with binoculars seems innocent enough, but quickly escalates into an erotic game between two very unlikely people. Twenty-year-old Violet St. Lyons is a world-renowned violinist who's lost her mojo on stage. She hides away in a Hollywood mansion, trying to find her way through her twisted past in order to make her future.

He's the life of the party with girls chasing him down for his autograph. She's the introvert with a potty mouth who doesn't even know who he is. When they meet, stars collide, sparks fly, and clothes come off.

©2015 Ilsa Madden-Mills (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Ilsa is one of those authors I can count on to take me on a journey every time and Very Twisted Things was no different. The book started with a BOOM and never let me down after." ( Red Cheeks Reads)

LOVED IT!

I don't know how many times I laughed throughout this book. Great narration as well!

LOVE LOVE THIS SERIES ❤

Ilsa Madden-mills you are absolutely amazing ❤ I have read or listened to everything you have written ❤ You can never ever go wrong with a book by Ilsa Madden-mills ❤❤

Liked this book a lot

Loved this book, I laughed out loud a lot, especially because of Spiders character.

The only disappointment I had was the voiceover for Spider seemed to have an Australian accent but in the book “Spider” he had a British accent.

A very compelling story!

Would you listen to Very Twisted Things again? Why?

Yes, I would like to someday re-listen to the entire series in order without the gaps. Each novel has been fascinating and this 3rd one lived up to my expectations.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Very Twisted Things?

‘Nothing mattered but V.
Not money or power.
Not being the star of the next blockbuster or recording a number one song.
Not even world peace.
Because the only thing that makes a difference in our lives is love. My parents had it. Leo had it. Violet. Love. Us.'
~Sebastian

What about CJ Bloom and Roger Wayne ’s performance did you like?

I’d never heard either narrate anything prior to this novel. Overall, I liked most of CJ's acting choices, although I wasn’t super crazy about her voice acting for Sebastian. Roger was a new-to-me-narrator as well, and I especially liked that he made bold choices for different character voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I wanted to hug V when she reflected back on the sacrifice her father made so that she could survive the plane crash and how fully living again would honor him. It had taken her a long time to even remember how she survived, so I felt happy for her to finally have that knowledge back. Only then was V ready to really risk her heart 100% with Leo who'd also lost his parents in a tragic way but had coped with his loss much differently than she had.

Any additional comments?

In no particular order, there were a lot of random things I liked:

The opening! It was hard to hear about Violet and her parents’ fateful plane crash, but her tragic backstory sucked me in immediately.

The pre-chapter quotes for Violet and Sebastian! I think even Spike got one, ha!

Their mutual spying on each other! I couldn’t believe V’s bold almost full striptease after she finished her violin performance for her then unknown spying neighbor.

Swing sex! Who wouldn’t want to try this under the stars at least once in their youth?

V’s and Sebastian’s mutual need to help the young kids at Lyons Place. I loved that they eventually raised enough funds to run the charity organization for years to come as well as open an additional charity center.

The epilogue's where they are now kind of feel!

Good story!

Love the male narrator! One of my favorites
. C.J is also good. Look forward to more from this author.

Ohhhh it’s on!!!

This was a fabulous end to this series. Although I’d like to learn more about Spider!!! I feel like you had to right about him so I’m gonna go digging!!! But as side from that this book was above and beyond push and pull!! There’s slashing of hearts, stomping of egos, and mending for days. Get the tissues, toys and clean sheets out for this one girls!!! You’ll need it!!

💜💜

Oh Sebastian...you poor jaded soul...I seriously wanted to wrap him up; and sometimes shake him too. His ex did a serious number on him and he is determined to never make that love mistake again.
Violet knows loss more than most and now her music is gone too. I really loved her. Even though she had been dealt a rough hand, she refuses to spend anymore time missing life...thanks to him she sees that
Great book and fantastic way to end this series!

DNF

I couldn’t finish this one, the narration for Spider just drove me too crazy! Spider is supposed to be a wealthy, private school educated English man, but the narrator chose to give him an annoying working class accent. He sounded more like a thug that works on the docks, rather than a posh elite.

immature and annoying

I made it through​ to the third chapter but couldn't force myself to continue. female narrator was horrible. sad because I liked the author in the dirty English series.

2 stars

At about halfway through the story, I actually was rooting for the ex-fiance instead of the MMC. Yeah, the ex had been pushy in the past about the FMC moving on from her grief but, given his age and the circumstances, it's understandable that he would have moments of frustration. The way it was presented, he wasn't routinely cold or not understanding of what the FMC was going through. The FMC is the one who broke up with him; he didn't give up on her.

The MMC, however, at this point, has been giving mixed signals all over the place. I can't even summarize the rollercoaster ride it's been because it just keeps being one thing after another. He wants her. He won't let himself want her. He wants her. He needs to focus on his career/fake relationship. He wants her. He doesn't trust her. Maybe things will get better but, right now, the ex is the one that makes the most sense to me.

After finishing this book, I'll give it two stars. I just didn't buy into the love between these two characters. I like romances full of drama but the drama in this story was unnecessary. I didn't particularly like either main character and they seemed very willing to give up on each other multiple times throughout the book. Their interactions were exhausting instead of compelling and I wasn't sure why they even liked each other since they both kept getting angry at the other/shutting the other out instead of attempting to communicate effectively.