Review: Magnolia – Kristi Cook

Posted August 18, 2014 by Andi in Books, Review / 0 Comments

Review: Magnolia – Kristi CookMagnolia by Kristi Cook
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: August 5th 2014
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In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.



Review

A swoonworthy contemporary; that was my first thought upon finishing Magnolia. It had all of the elements I love in a good contemporary. The love and hate vibe, the flirting, the scary storm that pushes them closer together and traps them making them deal with either feelings. Basically the perfect example of what all contemporary lovers love in a book. I started it at 7am one day and finished it by 11pm that night even with running out and doing errands. It was that kind of book and I’m so happy to have read it.

Magnolia is the story of Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden two teens that just so happen to be the same age and born into families that have been trying to unite as one for decades. Southern royalty is what they are referred to as. It has never worked out in the past but Jemma and Ryder are the chance to make everything perfect, to give their parents the dream they and their ancestors have dreamed of. Only problem is that Ryder and Jemma don’t actually get along. At one time they did get along and were maybe, possibly, kind of, on the verge of something, but that is no longer the case. That is until life happens and a storm rips through Mississippi forcing Ryder and Jemma to make peace with their past and start thinking about a future and what that means for each other.

I’m a sucker for these kinds of books. I very rarely dislike a book that has a couple that “hate” each other as the main plot of the story. I know, it is an old and tired plot device, but I love it. It is like Joey and Pacey on Dawson’s Creek and if you know me at all you know how I feel about Joey and Pacey. There is something about the fighting that brings out the chemistry between two characters and the chemistry was definitely there between Jemma and Ryder. I pretty much swooned through all 300+ pages of the book. Was there stuff in it that I thought was weird and just added for conflict sake, totally, but I still swooned. It was like an opposite Romeo and Juliet which was a ton of fun.

I don’t know, there isn’t really much to say about this book. It was well written and I had a blast reading it and enjoyed the characters a lot. It didn’t have all that heavy of a plot which was nice. It was just a good book for the contemporary fan that I am. I would recommend it for sure if you are looking for some non-heavy lifting.

 

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0 responses to “Review: Magnolia – Kristi Cook

  1. I’m actually super pumped about this book! I bought it the other day but I have a few books I need to read first. sounds perfect for me, being a contemporary lover.

  2. I can’t wait to read Magnolia! I just had to pick it up at the bookstore during release week, after seeing many reviews making it out to be a reverse Romeo and Juliet. I’m also a sucker for stories set in the South, so there’s that too! Glad you found it enjoyable 🙂

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