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Motive
June
I can recall the first day I met Ava Stevens. She was feisty, gorgeous, and off limits. She still is, because the moment I step into a room, the wall of ice I face goes up quicker than I can say, “Oh, fuck me”. Never in my life have I wanted a woman so intensely, the commitment she deserves is a noose I will wear with pride. It’s driving me crazy. Too bad she wants nothing to do with me, that her distaste only makes me crave her more. But there’s a catch: she doesn’t take me seriously when I say I’ll kill every bastard that looks at her the wrong way…
She’s going to be so pissed, even more so when she realizes that it’ll only turn me on more.
Ava
Juniper Gunn is the bane of my existence. Every breath he takes, every syllable that leave his mouth, ignites a fire in my veins that I can’t seem to extinguish. The moment I find a guy I’m interested in, he butts in, sabotaging my love life to the brink of extinction. When I’m with Eric, June makes it more than clear that he lives in my head rent free, and I need to evict him yesterday. Long story short, I hate him, but with each passing day, and every bouquet of lilies he sends my way, I’m finding it more and more difficult to push him away.
I just can’t figure out why he wants me when he’s in the habit of warming every bed but his own.
I can recall the first day I met Ava Stevens. She was feisty, gorgeous, and off limits. She still is, because the moment I step into a room, the wall of ice I face goes up quicker than I can say, “Oh, fuck me”. Never in my life have I wanted a woman so intensely, the commitment she deserves is a noose I will wear with pride. It’s driving me crazy. Too bad she wants nothing to do with me, that her distaste only makes me crave her more. But there’s a catch: she doesn’t take me seriously when I say I’ll kill every bastard that looks at her the wrong way…
She’s going to be so pissed, even more so when she realizes that it’ll only turn me on more.
Ava
Juniper Gunn is the bane of my existence. Every breath he takes, every syllable that leave his mouth, ignites a fire in my veins that I can’t seem to extinguish. The moment I find a guy I’m interested in, he butts in, sabotaging my love life to the brink of extinction. When I’m with Eric, June makes it more than clear that he lives in my head rent free, and I need to evict him yesterday. Long story short, I hate him, but with each passing day, and every bouquet of lilies he sends my way, I’m finding it more and more difficult to push him away.
I just can’t figure out why he wants me when he’s in the habit of warming every bed but his own.
435 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2025
12 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Madison Abigail
2 books7 followersMadison Abigail is from San Diego, California, now located in Chandler, Arizona. She’s a lover of K-Pop,
getting lost in romance books and has a thing for going to concerts whenever she has the free time.
When she’s not writing or listening to live music, she’s selling books at her local Barnes and Noble.
Madison has always had a thing for writing and was notorious for her Wattpad fanfics in 2015, never
giving up that dream.
getting lost in romance books and has a thing for going to concerts whenever she has the free time.
When she’s not writing or listening to live music, she’s selling books at her local Barnes and Noble.
Madison has always had a thing for writing and was notorious for her Wattpad fanfics in 2015, never
giving up that dream.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 6, 2026
i fell in love with june in die for you, but this book just cemented how much i absolutely adore him as a character 🥹 his playfulness not only is the perfect balance to ava, but it also provides this element of reverse grumpy x sunshine that i will always DEVOUR 👹 also the ending??? HELLO. 👁️👄👁️
March 19, 2026
I’m happy to see they end up together, but it did take them most of the book to do so.
I love the love/hate relationship that they had. And loved how June did everything in his power to protect Ava.
Super happy that Eric no longer is bothering her (if you know what I mean) because he gave off a very eerie vibe and didn’t like that he put his hands on Ava.
I fell in love with June pretty easily. I mean come on. Flowers once a week??! They say “if they wanted to they would” and he did!!
Plus he would kill for her, and change for her. Putting in effort even though that’s not what he was used to. He wasn’t in serious relationships until her and I’m happy then ended up falling in love with each other. Although I feel that they were always in love, but the second they admitted not just to themselves but to each other was beautiful.
June and Ava are End game!! 🖤
I love the love/hate relationship that they had. And loved how June did everything in his power to protect Ava.
Super happy that Eric no longer is bothering her (if you know what I mean) because he gave off a very eerie vibe and didn’t like that he put his hands on Ava.
I fell in love with June pretty easily. I mean come on. Flowers once a week??! They say “if they wanted to they would” and he did!!
Plus he would kill for her, and change for her. Putting in effort even though that’s not what he was used to. He wasn’t in serious relationships until her and I’m happy then ended up falling in love with each other. Although I feel that they were always in love, but the second they admitted not just to themselves but to each other was beautiful.
June and Ava are End game!! 🖤
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2026
this book started really strong for me, i was completely into it but half way through i lost momentum. i don’t know if it was me or the book, but i lost a lot of interest and just finished the best i could. i liked the characters from the last book but they seemed kind of different here than in the other, their personalities were a bit off in my opinion. the slow burn was good but its really hard to take them serious when they were constantly lusting for each other.
other than that, it was an okay book for me. i think this might be someone else’s cup of tea and that’s okay!
other than that, it was an okay book for me. i think this might be someone else’s cup of tea and that’s okay!
January 10, 2026
This was such a good read!! I adored all of these characters and I read out of order, so I’ll need to revisit Die for You. The chemistry an the spice between these two was off the charts, and I loved the Korean pet names June gave Ava 💜 However it was definitely very up and down with the plot given that I hateddd Eric and the miscommunication trope 😭 there was also somewhat of a third act breakup??
May 23, 2025
Motive is an amazing book. It is a good slow burn which I can always appreciate as I have read a lot of books where everything can happen quickly. I love a good build up in a relationship. The double POV is also one of my favorites. I love being inside each of the main character’s thoughts. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a next read!
March 11, 2026
4.5 ⭐️ rounded up!
was this the most amazing piece of literature? no. did it keep my attention and had a somewhat solid storyline? yes.
loved june down, very happy to see him get his happy ending with ava. and i love how this book was dual pov!
smut was smutting, june is a very very raunchy man. can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.
was this the most amazing piece of literature? no. did it keep my attention and had a somewhat solid storyline? yes.
loved june down, very happy to see him get his happy ending with ava. and i love how this book was dual pov!
smut was smutting, june is a very very raunchy man. can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.
May 25, 2025
I read Die For You by Madison Abigail and as incredible as that book was Motive blew me away. From both the MMC (June) and FMC (Ava) from the beginning to the end of the book there is massive character growth. They both have to face their own challenges and come out stronger and together!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews