From the Bookshelf of Turning Pages At Midnight…

The Will (Magdalene, #1)

Kristen Ashley

Start date: July 24, 2021

Finish date: July 29, 2021

Discussion: Buddy Reads

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What Members Thought

Apr 11, 2014 Ivy Deluca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: older-h-h, ka-books

The first book in a new series by Ms. Ashley, The Will begins when Josie returns to Magdalene, the little town where her grandmother Lydie lived and died, to take over the family home and to take care of Lydie’s affairs. She ends up at the reading of her grandmother’s will, only to find out that Lydie “gave” Josie in her will, to Jake. Josie is understandably upset, and at first tries to put up her walls to defend her heart against Jake, but sometimes the best laid plans....

I think it is a testa The first book in a new series by Ms. Ashley, The Will begins when Josie returns to Magdalene, the little town where her grandmother Lydie lived and died, to take over the family home and to take care of Lydie’s affairs. She ends up at the reading of her grandmother’s will, only to find out that Lydie “gave” Josie in her will, to Jake. Josie is understandably upset, and at first tries to put up her walls to defend her heart against Jake, but sometimes the best laid plans....

I think it is a testament to Ms. Ashley that she hooks me in time and again, even when I know how it’s going to go and she is not re-inventing the wheel. It’s the characters that she brings to life that I enjoy so much. When it clicks, as it does here, then I’m good and I’m all in for the ride. When it doesn’t (and on occasion this has happened, though not often), then I notice the similarities, I notice the flow and pacing of the story, so much so that I could tell you exactly at what percentage certain big plot points are going to happen.

With the Will, I really just loved Jake’s flaws that made him human, not just another typical, uber- rich alpha. Really, on paper, he’s a bad bet emotionally. He’s an ex-boxer whose made some questionable life choices, been married three times, has three kids with two of those exes, and he runs a strip joint (but he prefers “gentlemens club”). But what that description doesn’t tell you is how much he loves and protects his kids and those he loves. How he protects Josie even when she’s starts off just a (lotta) bit judgmental. How he loved Lydie, Josie’s grandmother and made her happy the final years of her life. He’s an interesting twist on an old formula and I loved it.

Josie’s way of speaking is jarring and it took me a bit to get used to it. Then I started picturing Josie in an almost Katharine Hepburn manner, formal and proper and using that as just another barrier to keep people away. She’s threatened a few times in this story and she has some damsel in distress-like qualities, but I liked that when the chips were down, Josie stood up for herself. She was a straight talker and didn’t take any crap - once she got over the freaking out portion of her program.

There are outside influences, but alot of this book is simply Jake and Josie growing to know each other, and working through the emotional minefields that they bring to the table. I like character-driven pieces and there’s really not alot of need for external forces to work against Jake and Josie - they can be their own worst enemies.

Bottom line, I like this book, even if there is a familiarity to the tale - the real gem of Ms. Ashley’s writing is her ability to create fully realized characters, and allows the reader to join those characters on their journey, with every bit of messiness that entails. ...more

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Jun 02, 2014 Christine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a Book!!!!! Beautifully written!

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May 20, 2014 Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, ebooks, 2015-mods-authors-challenge, 2015-abcs-of-you-and-me-chall, gr-group-reads, vixen-authors, vbb-recommendations

Really, really good story! Very poignant, I shed a few tears near the end. (Could have done without all the profanity, but I do understand why Ms Ashley included it. Her point was well-made.)

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