Magnolia by Kristi Cook #BookReview #DreamCast #Giveaway #FFBC

Magnolia
by Kristi Cook
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: August 5th 2014

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 have to say that I have really hit the lottery with contemporaries lately. Magnolia is definitely on my favorites list and will recommend it to a friend. I liked the book from the beginning but once the storm hit, it wrapped me around it’s little finger and didn’t let go. I couldn’t put it down until the end. So swoony, so perfect.

Jemma is such a fun character. I loved her. I like that she is snarky and fierce, I mean the girl is the best shot in the county. She has an artistic flare that she uses towards he passion with film. She also makes really cool dresses by reinventing vintage. She’s just an overall cool girl that I would want to be friends with.

I liked Ryder not only because he is dreamy and swoony. He has a little bit of Darcy in him. He’s smart and athletic but also has some snark. I like that we get glimpses of his sensitivity. In the way he acts about Jemma and how he handles the Rosies thing. Not that it was good but you could totally see what he was doing with that. He might dish it back to Jemma but you can tell he wants to reconnect.

The reason that Ryder and Jemma are no longer friends actually reminds me of an anime I used to watch. It also reminds of something similar that happened to me in middle school. Which made me like it all the more since it’s something that I’m sure has happened to other people. It’s also not too intense and I liked the lightness of the situation.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the Patrick situation. In one perspective I really liked that Jemma wasn’t just sitting around feeling sorry for herself. She has fun and carefree moments. I also liked how she was admitting she might be attracted to Patrick’s bad boyness a little bit. It was like she was experimenting a little.

I loved this story and I loved the writing. The whole thing just flowed so well and I was completely caught up. Like I said I could not stop reading and if the book had continued, I would have kept going. I loved these characters so much and the swoon factor was just so….well swoonarifec. Ya that’s probably not a word. Plus they talk about sweet tea and I love sweet tea so that’s just awesome.

So run don’t walk to your nearest book store and say yes please to this book. It is so so good and such a great contemporary for the summer or even Fall, Winter, Spring..you get my drift.

I used to try to pick someone with the right hair color and such. Now when I cast I think about the look I'm thinking of. Actors/Actresses can always dye their hair or wear contacts. :)

JEMMA

Ginny Gardner

RYDER

Young Henry Cavill

I'm thinking of a younger Henry Cavill. He just has that look.

As a child, Kristi Cook took her nose out of a book only long enough to take a ballet class (or five) each week. Not much has changed since then, except she’s added motherhood to the mix and enjoys penning her own novels as much as reading everybody else’s. A transplanted southern gal, Kristi lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

That’s the official version–here are some other fun facts:

~ As an undergrad, I majored in History and minored in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. While at Southern Miss, I was a member of Phi Mu sorority, and I was a Dixie Darling. And yep, Brett Favre was our quarterback at the time!
~ I studied American History in grad school at Columbia University. I *love* history, especially the Civil War era (U.S.) and Regency- and Edwardian-era British history.
~ My all-time favorite book *and* movie is GONE WITH THE WIND. My favorite literary characters are Rhett Butler, Atticus Finch, and Mr. Darcy. I kind of want to add Peeta Mellark to that list!
~Weirdly enough (or maybe not so weirdly?) I’m also a big fan of STAR TREK (the original series). I never can remember if I’m supposed to call myself a “Trekkie” or a “Trekker,” though!