Review: Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Magnolia

By: Kristi Cook

Pub. Date: August 5, 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 384

Source: Edelweiss

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.

 I received this galley from edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been obsessed with life in the South, from their old plantation style homes and histories to their way of life in modern times. I was really looking forward to reading Magnolia for this reason.

Magnolia deals with two families, the Cafferty's and the Marsden's. They have been best friends since the Civil War. For over a hundred years the families have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to blend their two families together through the marriage, and it finally looks like it can happen with Jemma and Ryder. The problem is that these two can't stand each other, or more appropriately, Jemma can't stand Ryder and we don't know why. We know it has something to do with a high school dance a few years earlier. I really wanted to know the history between these two, because they had excellent chemistry.

I really loved the two of them together. They were just so cute! Their story really picked up for me when they were forced to stay together during a terrifying hurricane. It was so adorable how scared Ryder was and how protective Jemma got of him.

I totally understand why Jemma's parents weren't able to come home before the hurricane, but I don't understand why Ryder's parents just told him to stay with her, alone, during the hurricane. They said it was because of the pets that Jemma's family has, but they couldn't make an exception for one night? It was a freaking hurricane! They could have just locked the pets in one of the rooms in their plantation home. Then at least two teenagers wouldn't have to be alone during a hurricane with multiple tornadoes.

Except for that one issue, I really enjoyed Magnolia and I absolutely loved the cover. This was my first Kristi Cook book, and I am excited to read more from her.