Blog Tour! Review and Giveaway of Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Title/Author: Magnolia by Kristi Cook
Publisher/Date published: Simon & Schuster, August 5th 2014
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: 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.

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Let me confess something first: I love a good hate turns into love story. So obviously I was excited to start Magnolia, cause it promises just that. And guys, while it wasn't hate-hate, Kristi cook did not in the least disappoint me with Magnolia!

I really liked Jemma, she's smart, she has a passion for filming, is a crack shot and just a good friend. I loved the relationship she had with her sister! They're true sisters and get annoyed with each other, but there's real love there as well and I just love a good sibling relationship. Jemma knows right from wrong and I appreciated her not going along with DUI even if it was the boy she was sort of dating. Also: I really liked Jemma's best friends, they're supportive and just girls you can trust.

So then there's Ryder. Ryder is my kind of guy. Seriously. He's just a good guy, and you know how much of a sucker I am for the good guys. I love how he has a hidden passion and how he's just there for Jemma when she needs him. And also I liked that he was scared of the storm because no one can be perfect and it was adorable. Ryder has a bit of a hero complex, but not in an annoying kind of way, in the here let me solve this for you kind of way and it made me smile.

And together these two are just SPARKS! And FEELINGS! They have issues and don't always see eye-to-eye and there's tension and other people getting in the way and I was like JUST ADMIT YOUR FEELINGS DAMMIT. Cause I had them. Feels. And the time Jemma and Ryder spent together in her house during the storm was just perfect. Awkward and exciting and just a whole lot of chemistry. And then the storm passed and it felt so realistic how things progressed from there.

So there's that small town feeling that I love and a couple I could root for and lovely friends of said couple and dances and a storm and just a whole lot of things that make me happy. Though there's a dramatic event in the book, it's still a pretty light and fluffy read, perfect for a summer day!

My rating: 4,5 stars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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.

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***GIVEAWAY***
By courtesy of the lovely miss Kristi Cook herself!

PRIZE: Win (1) $25 gift card to an online bookstore of choice (Amazon or BN) plus an entire paperback set of the Winterhaven series (Haven, Mirage, and Eternal) [INT]

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