KRISTEN ASHLEY AT HER BEST!

Here's the deal, Kristen Ashley has kind of ruined me for other authors because of the incredibly detailed and beautiful love stories she creates! And, let me say, THE WILL, the first of the Magdalene series was a masterpiece!

You have this incredible build up and chemistry between Jake and Josie. Both of their backgrounds were so interesting, and you wouldn't think that a high class, fashion-savvy babe like Josie could fall in step with Jake, a man who lives in a small town, owns a boxing gym (and another business that might be perceived as indecent), has a string of troublesome ex's and 3 kids, BUT THEY WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER. K.A. builds an incredibly beautiful love story showing just how perfect they were for each other. In fact, this will be one of my K.A. favorites.

I loved how Jake and Josie fell in love. Regarding Josie, though, I had to get used to her extremely formal way of expressing herself. Most of the time she sounded like a person with high functioning autism, or a pedantic, university professor. However, if her speech wasn't a problem for all of the other characters who received and loved her, it wasn't a problem for me....LOL

The way Josie bonded with Jake's kids was so tender and melted my heart like butter. She found a way into the hearts of Amber, Conner, and Ethan and it was such a treat! Now regarding, JAKE, OMG that man is a fine man who understood women well. That is to say, he seemed to understand Josie well and gave her so much in terms of love, patience, attention etc. It's a tricky thing to date a woman while handling his businesses, caring for his children etc., but he was smooth, and overall a very strong masculine figure.

One of the most touching aspects of this love story is how Josie's deceased grandmother seemed to be present everywhere in their story. It was absolutely incredible how Gran found a way to set up Jake and Josie. What a wonderful lady!

To me this story was perfection and I can't wait to continue with the series!

Narrator: Hollis McCarthy performed well, but I would like for her to work on her masculine voice a bit more. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable K.A. novel.

51 people found this helpful

It was great until "He" opened his mouth.

Would you try another book from Kristen Ashley and/or Hollis McCarthy?

This story was so promising at the beginning and the narrator was great but as it went on and Jake started talking, it became tedious. This book probably would have been 5 hours shorter if the author had eliminated half of Jake's use of the "f" word. It really wasn't a bad story, it just got lost in his pathetic inability to communicate in anything other than four letter words.

Would you ever listen to anything by Kristen Ashley again?

Probably not, I hate to waste my credits and be disappointed.

Have you listened to any of Hollis McCarthy’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard any other books by her but she did a good job with what she had to work with.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Basically, this wasn't a bad story, it just got to be a annoying.

Any additional comments?

Could someone please explain to me what the excessive use of the "f" word adds to a story. Please note that I said excessive.

48 people found this helpful

Thus, I was very bored for almost 24 hours...

I think I will cringe every time I hear the word "thus" from now on. This was a very simplistic story that took way many words to tell. The overuse of profanity was also very annoying, not because I was offended, but because the author's use of the f numb and others made the characters sound ridiculous as opposed to tough or intriguing.

43 people found this helpful

Alas, different but good--Thus, Creditworthy

I think this is a love it or hate it book. The Will, like all of Kristen Ashley's books, has many great characters who have well-developed personalities, some of them quirky. I have read criticism of the heroine's "weird" speech in this book, but I actually liked it. I felt that it was an important part of her and served as a reminder of who she was and why she was that way. Josie deals with her history of being abandoned and abused by disguising herself and hiding her real thoughts and feelings behind a mask which shows the world a woman who is classy, educated, refined, capable and reliable but also cold and uptight. She has crafted this facade to protect herself, thinks carefully before she speaks and lives in her head a lot. I think that's why she formulates her sentences in a way that makes her speech much more formal than that of the average American who's more open and laid back. She overuses words like "thus," "alas," "therefore" and "however," especially when she's having an internal conversation. It might seem to some that it is not realistic for her to speak thus, and, alas, they have dismissed her character as absurd, not really grasping that this is part of her mask, she has been living in a very narrow world and is now in a totally different environment. For 23 years, her life has been about being the almost 24/7 assistant to the man she has wanted for her own but knows is out of her reach (so she shut down those emotions), being surrounded by artists, photographers and entertainment types in a high-fashion job (perfect place to fit in with odd speech where normal is the worst insult ever) and having only ONE close relationship- with her grandmother who is in her 90's (and probably wouldn't think it odd for her to not swear and to use "old-fashioned" speech).

Not having an issue with her speech, I found Josie and Jake's story interesting and beautiful, if not particularly "exciting." It dug into a lot of real life problems, like dealing with the death of a loved one, divorce baggage, abandonment baggage, teenaged high school drama, stressed out parent issues and assimilating into a small town community, so it wasn't as "action-packed" as a lot of KA's other books. I think that may be why the reviews are what they are. As for the narrator, I think she may take a hit in the reviews because of those who hate Josie's speech, but I thought she was excellent. I have listened to her perform other books, and I thought she did great then as well. In fact, other than the mistake of "Own the Wind" (Chaos 1) not being done by the same narrator as the Dream Man Series which had a lot of crossover characters (fixed by Chaos 2), I think all the KA series currently on Audible have not only been narrated well but have somehow paired the perfect narrators with each series, and I think Hollis McCarthy will do well for the rest of the Magdalene Series. According to the author's website, Mickey's up next, and I look forward to his story.

Bottom line, if you like a well-written, well-narrated, character-driven, sweet romance set in a coastal Maine, small town, with a real-life feel, this is definitely worth a credit. If you are looking for your romance to be a little less realistic and to have more action, like axe-wielding maniacs, stalkers, crime lords, rapists, con men and the like being taken down by alpha, macho man badasses, go with the Rock Chick, Dream Man, Chaos and Colorado Mountain series. I like them all!!

38 people found this helpful

I could not get past the language

I only listened to a few hours because I could not get past the continuous foul language. Every other word was F--- and they took the Lord's name is vain over and over. I realize that when desribing some characters some bad language might be needed to set the scene, but I could find no reason that Jake needed to curse continually. He was a father of three, basically a good guy, not an inmate, drug lord or hit man. It just did not make sense.

37 people found this helpful

Happy I Used A Credit

1. Some people complained about Josie speech. If you like the Harlequin old english type books kind of speech then this will not irritate you. She is very proper and speaks old english so yes there are some "thus" and "indeed", but not enough to irritate. 2. The narrator to me was fine. I could tell the difference between the characters and no ones voice was just too bad. 3. The story itself was pretty good, not too predictable, not too smutty but gives you just enough. 4. There were some bad guys but not any real violence. 5. The alpha male wasn't too overbearing which is good to me because I can only take so much of that. 6. The main female character while she has her submissive old fashion ways she is still strong and frequently speaks up which I appreciated. It seemed more real that way where some of these book makes the woman so week that well you start wishing it to be over...quickly.
This book is 23 hours long and I will admit that I finished it in 2 days which means that I lost a lot of sleep. But it was well worth the credit. If you liked "Breathe" by Ashley then this book may be what you are looking for.

36 people found this helpful

I Loved It

I Love Kristen Ashley Books. She takes her time and let's you get to know the characters. And before you know it your hooked. Josie and Jake were a little older, but you don't have to be in your 20's to fall in love.
The kids and their relationship were great. The book provides laughs, tears and shocks. I enjoyed every moment of it.

35 people found this helpful

Horrible

Just horrible. Don't waste your time. Zero plot line, contrived, and pointless graphic sex scenes. Demeaning of women and. sexist.

33 people found this helpful

I don't get it

Do some woman really want to be talked to like this. This one sure doesn' t. I liked the story line. I could not finish due to the constant F--k. When it got to P___y. I was really done. My bad I guess. I didn't realize that it was a sex book. I'm all for some good sex. This was just vulger. I wanted to like Jake. If this was him showing how he loved her, I can do without. I prefer an author who can portray these scenes with a lot more finese.

31 people found this helpful

KA Rocks!

I love all books that Kristen Ashley has written, this one, for me, is by far her best. This book is so fantastic, I'd waste all 3 of my credits on it!

This story focuses on Josie and Jake and their struggles to overcome their pasts and move on together. Josie is left to Jake in her Grandmother's will, and this starts a nice friendship between the two of them and Jake's kids, and later leads into a beautiful family. I laughed and cried out loud several times.

Narrator is just "OK" I read this book on my kindle and have been waiting for the audio version. If you love KA, I would suggest reading the hard copy first so the narrator doesn't ruin it for you or prevent you from finishing. She's not terrible, she's just nowhere near as good as the other 2 ladies who narrate for KA. I am not struggling to listen, and I'm about 1/2 way through. But I saw another review where a credit was being returned due to the narrator. In my opinion, she isn't that bad - but hopefully KA goes back to one of the other two narrators for the next book!

25 people found this helpful