This Man (This Man, #1) by Jodi Ellen Malpas Series: This Man #1
Published by Forever on June 18, 2013
Pages: 415
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
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Young interior designer Ava O'Shea has no idea what awaits her at the Manor. A run-of-the-mill consultation with a stodgy country gent seems likely, but what Ava finds instead is Jesse Ward--a devastatingly handsome, utterly confident, pleasure-seeking playboy who knows no boundaries. Ava doesn't want to be attracted to this man, and yet she can't control the overwhelming desire that he stirs in her. She knows that her heart will never survive him and her instinct is telling her to run, but Jesse is not willing to let her go. He wants her and is determined to have her.
Having completely fallen in love with Jodi Ellen Malpas’s One Night series, I doubted I would like This Man as much. There’s no love quite like your first love, right? Still, I kept an open mind and immersed myself in the world of Ava O’Shea and Jesse Ward.
Ava and Jesse are drawn to each other from their first meeting and they have insane chemistry. However, Jesse is controlling and secretive, and Ava is afraid and uncommunicative. Everything is perfect when they are in bed, but then Jesse places unreasonable demands upon Ava, Ava agrees to his demands while in the throes of passion, Ava leaves and ignores Jesse’s phone calls, Jesse goes crazy and gives Ava a “Reminder F*ck”, and then everything is perfect in their world again. Rinse. Repeat. It’s all very repetitious.
The book plods along like this and you feel you don’t really get to know very much about the characters, which is fair, I suppose, because Ava falls in love with Jesse even though she knows very little about him. She doesn’t even know his age because he makes a game out of keeping it a secret. Jesse is obviously keeping many secrets and maybe it’s because I read One Night but I guessed Jesse’s biggest secret from the beginning. Once the secret is out, the pace starts to pick up and I finally became more invested in the story. I’m beginning to think this is a Jodi Ellen Malpas signature.
The saving grace of the book is the compelling cast of characters. In addition to Jesse and Ava, we’re introduced to Ava’s quirky roommate, her lovable co-workers, and Jesse’s intriguing friends.
So the big question is are the characters and the cliffhanger enough to make me want to read the next book? Ordinarily no, but the quality of Malpas’s writing is superb. This series also has a huge fan base so I’m going to give it a shot. We’ll see how it goes.
Recommended for fans of:
Alpha males
Mysteries
Justin Timberlake
About Jodi Ellen Malpas
Jodi was born and raised in the Midlands town of Northampton, England, where she lives with her two boys and a beagle. She is a self-professed daydreamer, a mojito addict, is famous for her obsession with Converse, and has a terrible weak spot for Alpha Males. Writing powerful love stories and creating addictive characters has become her passion – a passion she now shares with her devoted readers
All seven of her published novels have hit the New York Times best sellers list – as well as the Sunday Times list and various international best seller lists. Her work is now published in over 24 languages across the world.
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