{"id":2452,"date":"2014-06-11T07:57:07","date_gmt":"2014-06-11T14:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2452"},"modified":"2017-01-29T06:01:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T11:01:53","slug":"review-the-will-magdalene-1-by-kristen-ashley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2452","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Will (Magdalene, #1) by Kristen Ashley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n

\r\n <\/div><\/div>\n
\n

Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

4.5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Kristen Ashley. What can I say that I haven\u2019t said before? Absolutely nothing. KA has once again delivered a beautiful love story featuring a quirky, likeable heroine, and a gorgeously sexy, deeply loving alpha hero, and I absolutely loved it!<\/p>\n

Both well into their 40s, Josie and Jake meet upon the death of Josie\u2019s beloved grandmother. As the assistant to a famous photographer, Josie has lived a glamorous life of mingling with celebrities and travelling the world. Jake lives in the coastal town of Madeline, Maine with his three children. He hasn\u2019t had much luck in love, with three marriages behind him, but he has created a good life for his kids, who mean the world to him. Unbeknownst to Josie, Jake and his family were a very special part of her grandmother\u2019s life, and in her will, her grandmother makes a request that will alter both of their lives forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy most precious possession, the thing I treasure above anything else in this world, that being my granddaughter, Josephine Diana Malone, I hereby bequeath to James Markham Spear.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love the premise of this book, absolutely love it! And as the book goes on, and you get to understand more about Josie\u2019s grandmother, the players involved, and how the whole bequest came about, I loved it even more!<\/p>\n

\u201cJosie \u2026 She gave me you.\u201d
\n\u2026
\n\u201cShe wanted me for you.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Josie has had horrible experiences in her past, and has lived a mostly solitary life because of it. She has few people in her life that she trusts, and has created a public disguise in order to protect herself. And then Jake Spear enters her life and, in true KA style, barges his way into her life.<\/p>\n

Jake is made of awesome. A strong, protective alpha who knows what he wants and goes for it. He is loving and affectionate with a great sense of humour and he would do anything for his family, and OMG, I love, love, LOVE him! He wants Josie, but he also knows he has to go gentle, and the mix of alpha determination and tenderness is absolutely sensational!<\/p>\n

It hit him in that moment in a way he knew he\u2019d never forget that he could take that hand and she could lead him anywhere. Just tip up her lips, turn those eyes to him and hold out her hand and he\u2019d go straight to hell with her and do it smiling.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t say anything, baby. Don\u2019t think anything. Don\u2019t\u00a0be\u00a0anything but with me. Not until I get you safe. Not until we can talk this out where I know you\u2019re good. Promise me that.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The development of their relationship is realistic and beautiful (and dual POV too – WIN!). They come to mean something very special to each other very quickly but, knowing her background, Jake goes slow with her and real feelings soon develop. It\u2019s a slow build, with epic UST, and I was frantically flipping pages, NEEDING something to happen. Seriously, I needed something\u2026 anything\u2026 just a kiss! I was desperate for it!<\/p>\n

And then Jake brings Josie\u2019s walls crashing down in an epic scene which had me cheering for her big breakthrough, and then fanning myself madly at the aftermath. God. Damn!!!!<\/p>\n

My back hit wall and my skirt hit my waist a half a second before Jake\u2019s body hit mine.
\n\u201cPanties off, Josie\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jake and Josie together are absolute gold! Functional, very little angst, both accepting of what\u2019s happening between them and happy to move forward together to create a future for themselves and Jake\u2019s kids, and OMG, they are SO. FREAKING. HOT! They may be older, but these two can definitely steam it up, and with Jake\u2019s dirty mouth, their openness, and their mad passion for each other, it\u2019s all win!<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at me when I tell you I love you,\u201d he ordered.
\nI focused on the man I loved who loved me in a return for an instant before he said the words.
\n\u201cI love you, baby.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s so refreshing that they are both so open with what they are feeling. Jake knows he\u2019s finally found \u2018the one\u2019 and he embraces that and all that it means, and Josie is willing to open herself up to somebody for the first time in her adult life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d give him anything.
\nI\u2019d give him everything.
\nIf I had the power, I\u2019d give him the world.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They do have some issues to work through, but they are so amazing together, that even when big drama hits, you\u2019re just waiting for the resolution and you know it\u2019s going to be epic. And it was! It\u2019s not overly intense or dramatic, but the way it\u2019s done, the way it\u2019s written, my heart was pounding, and I thought it was perfect for them!<\/p>\n

Jake\u2019s kids are absolutely fantastic! I love that Connor, Amber and Ethan have their own storylines, and aren\u2019t just there for decoration. They are an integral part of the overall story and, as always, KA has pulled the whole family in and made it something incredibly special. I love how they want the best for their Dad, and the way they accept Josie as part of their lives. And I love the way she just walks straight into the family, sharing her opinions, doing what she can to help Jake and his kids, and naturally taking on the protective momma bear role. Her no-nonsense manner with them is both endearing and hilarious.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust me, you have a fabulous figure. You\u2019ve made two mentions of losing weight and you\u2019ve barely been here an hour. Cease doing that. It\u2019s ridiculous. And if someone tells you differently, simply inform them of that ridiculousness.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which brings me to Josie\u2019s speech – honestly, I found bizarre. I get that it\u2019s part of her character. It makes her quirky, it makes her cute, it\u2019s special and everybody loves it about her, but I thought it was weird. She\u2019s a worldly, well travelled and mature woman who has been working with models, top designers, singers and entertainers, and yet she speaks like she\u2019s from the 1800s. She got confused over the use of the word \u201cseriously<\/em>\u201d. Seriously? But it does allow us to show her acclimatising to Jake\u2019s world when she starts to speak like a normal person. And although strange, it didn\u2019t lessen my love for the book.<\/p>\n

He stared into my eyes and whispered, \u201cFuck, I love you.\u201d
\nI\u2019d never tire hearing that.
\nNever.
\nEven with the expletive.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is pure old-school KA. It\u2019s long, it\u2019s wordy, all of the guys speak exactly the same, and a lot of time is spent on the little moments that don\u2019t have much of a point at all other than just to add to the overall feel of the story. And it\u2019s absolutely awesome! Full of KA-isms that fans will recognise and love, this is KA at her self-published best, and this little speech had me laughing out loud\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cBabe.\u201d
\n\u201cBabe?\u201d
\n\u201cBabe.\u201d
\n\u201cIs that your response?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cNo, my response is, babe, shut up and sleep but I already said that so I condensed it to just babe \u2018cause that\u2019s easier to say and might not piss you off.\u201d
\n\u201cI can\u2019t read all that in babe, Jake.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll learn to read my babes.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are fantastic side characters \u2013 Alyssa is hilarious, I loved the romantic entanglements of Jake\u2019s kids, and even Amber\u2019s friends \u201cThe Taylors\u201d are great! And we are introduced to some of Jake\u2019s friends – macho-alpha guys who are both total sweethearts, so I\u2019m only assuming that Mickey and Coert will be getting the next books, and I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n

I was quickly swept up in Josie and Jake\u2019s story, and loved every long, drawn out minute of it. There\u2019s a bit of a bad guy situation going on, but it\u2019s low on action (no explosions or kidnappings to be seen at all!), but it\u2019s a beautiful love story with a bit of family drama and an ending that left me happily teary – and an absolutely beautiful epilogue!\u00a0

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s me,\u201d Ethan whispered, his voice now croaky, and Jake felt his own throat scratch as he looked down at his son. \u201cWe\u2019re givin\u2019 you me for your wedding.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nWAAAAAAAAAAAAIL! God, I love that kid!\u00a0<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never too late to reach for happiness and no matter what life has done to you, it\u2019s never too late to find it.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I loved it! 4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Magdalene Series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"The<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Soaring\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The Will (#1)\u00a0 <\/strong>(Jake & Josie)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Audio<\/a><\/p>\n

Soaring (#2) <\/strong>(Mickey & Amelia)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Audio<\/a><\/p>\n

The Time in Between (#3) <\/strong>(Coert & Cady)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Audio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more KA awesomeness, check out our Kristen Ashley Author Spotlight<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review 4.5 stars It\u2019s Kristen Ashley. What can I say that I haven\u2019t said before? Absolutely nothing. KA has once again delivered a beautiful love story featuring a quirky, likeable heroine, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,29],"tags":[22,538,48],"class_list":["post-2452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-kristen-ashley","tag-magdalene","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/The-Will.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-Dy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}