[book-review] Jodie Ellen Malpas - With This Woman (Jesse's POV #2)
Sadly it took me quite some time due to continuing hospital visits and sickness to finish this so big shout out to the team of Valentine PR for their patience.
"Mate, don't ever do that to me again. I swear to fucking God, I'll kill you myself. You won't need vodka."
Now let's look into the synopsis before we dive into my own spoiler-free review.
The Manor—the heartbeat of hedonism and pleasure, the place where Jesse Ward lost himself for years in women and alcohol, escaping his past—was his life. His everything. Until the day Ava O’Shea walked through the doors and Jesse discovered something else to live for.
Her.Their love affair was passionate, intense, and all-consuming. She became his heaven. His escape. And eventually, his downfall. When Ava walked away from him, he was destroyed, even more broken than before.
But she’s come back, and Jesse vows never to lose her again.
Except Ava’s only scratched the surface of his broken soul, and as their relationship intensifies and their love deepens, Jesse’s pushed to the brink of insanity when his past creeps into his present and risks destroying everything.
They will never survive his truths, and Jesse will never survive losing Ava again.
So he’ll do anything to shield her from his dark, soul-destroying past.
Absolutely anything.
Now who's got goosebumps reading this? Yeah, I know.
Now, all fans of Jodie know the story of our Lord, so no surprises here one would think. Except that this was so much more I could ever hope for. She is not only retelling Jesse's story wonderfully, but giving us so much more insight into his mind that is - one has to admit - messy and crazy at times. After This Woman, I thought I would know him, but damn was I wrong. He's still crazy mad about his girl and we get to know even more about his past and darkness.
I have to admit I always had problems with the original series. Struggling to read on because Ava could be a handful sometimes and was exhausting at times. But With This Man and the first book we ever got for Jesse's POV, really made me fall head over heels for him. To say that I was thrilled when Jodie announced a full Jesse POV for This Man is the understatement of the century. And this is not disappointing at all - as one should think (yeah this goes out to all the reviews that wine that this is just a lame re-telling, IT IS NOT!). It is so much more than just a re-telling. It is a whole new exploration of our favourite character. With ups and downs.
I laughed while reading With This Woman, I cried my fair share, I swooned and blushed.
We get to see the vulnerable Jesse, the crazy mad Jesse, the lost Jesse, the begging and hoplessly, drunk in love Jesse. The Lord was stripped bare to his most vulnerable parts in this book and I loved it!
Jake talking to him and being sassy! Gold!
John being funny and protecive and kicking his ass? Perfect! (We need more of John!)
Seeing his relationship with Sarah and The Manor evolving. Wow!
His mind telling him he sees her and then shoving it away? LISTEN TO YOUR DAMN GUT MORE MAN!
Clive seeing more of him in boxers than dressed? Pricelessly funny! Cathy being a funny old lady. Hell, yes! Gimme more!
How I'm feeling, overwhelmed and weak, has nothing to do with functioning on a half-empty tank and everything to do with pure, raw love. It's crippling.
The size of this book is also massive! I had points where I thought this would never end and was shocked, but hell give me more! Because after the initial pain of the beginning, when Ava comes back to him after a week of binge-drinking, I never wanted this book to stop. I even forgot to eat and drink. *laugh*
Another part I absolutely loved is to see Jesse with his best mates Drew and Sam. We get so much fantastic details of their friendship, their sassy comments and snarky fuck-offs toward each other. Stuff we had in the initial series between Kate and Ava and that I was so missing before between the boys because Jesse is quite funny and relatable and that is something that we sadly didn't get to see much in the This Man Series, because for Ava he was always a bit dark and just crazy in most ways. Thankfully we all get his manners explained when we read this series now. So as I said before, this is so much more than just a simple re-telling of a story we already have. So many things I wanted to know, are now explained. Like why does he get whipped by Sarah? What does he do when Ava is at work? How and when does he get the ring for Ava and how he organises all with her parents?
All of this and more has been answered.
"Oh, you little devil, you. You're a suggar daddy."
Favourite scenes? Obviously the whole book. But let's try and see if I find some.
Jesse's interactions with Jake are always so heartbreaking and funny. I love it and so hope we get more in This Woman Forever. Cathy and John have only risen more in my favourite side-character list of books and damn her calling him a suggar daddy. I think I never laughed so hard.
The shopping scene in Harrods. Priceless! I definitely have to go to Harrods next time I'm in London because I need to seem the place of full on running from Jesse myself. That his card got declined? Priceless!
I also love the continuously flashbacks of his old live. The time Lauren stabbed him. The time he thought of Rosie in St James' Park with the ducks. I cried but I also really enjoy those!
The Proposal Fuck and invention of the Retribution Fuck. Funny as hell and steamy of course. Because if someone imagined it not to be steamy again, I have to disappoint you, it once more is.
Also loved the end. Her parents just showing up, him organising all for his birthday and the second proposal. I loved that scene in the original book, but now I love it even more!
So if you are a fan of the original This Man Series and adored the first book, This Woman, you should definitely go and read the second book as well, asap! It is funny, heartbreaking, relatable, swooning, sexy and absolutely a masterpiece!
If you think it is not, unravel your knickers and just go on with your life and leave The Lord to us. ;)
Oh and my rating? A full 5 ★★★★★
She gazes so deeply into my eyes, and I've no doubt I'm looking at a woman who is in love. And when I look in the mirror, I'm looking at a man who doesn't deserve it.
Oh and where you can get this masterpiece? Here are some links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/Gf3T
Apple Books: https://geni.us/Lu4vQ
Nook: https://geni.us/a5jJnYZ
Kobo: https://geni.us/9RkN
Audible: https://bit.ly/3MdfnDo
Narrated by: Shane East
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/40W6AKo
Comments
Post a Comment