This Woman

Read it. I finished in 2 nights.

This series is my all time favorite!! I love Jesse and Ava!!! Seeing his side now is a great addition to this man series. I hate that I have to wait a year for the next one. Ugh

I loved reading This Man series and after years later since we last read of Ava and “lord” Jesse Ward. It’s nice to see his pov, but it would have been better to have had dual pov for the entire series. But I take it would have taken us longer to read them. Anyways, we now roll back from Jesse’s childhood to part early adulthood then to where he meets Ava O’Shea. The young lady who doesn’t fall for his charm. Not immediately, but we see his obesssion with her. That he is captured by her beauty and intelligences. But his devices to drown out his pain is not “normal”. Yet, the more Ava is in his life the more he needs her to center him. Of course this ends on a bloody cliffhanger! Lol darn it!

This Woman by Jodi Ellen Malpas is Jesse’s POV from This Man series. I knew I loved him already but after this I am still on Jesse cloud 9. It’s definitely 3..2..1..Zero Baby!!!! I have read and reread this series so many times and now reading it through Jesse’s beautiful green eyes it just helps you understand him so much more. The love he has for Ava is everyone's dream. It was pure perfection. Jodi you have outdone yourself!!! So much more than 5 stars!.

I was like so many other women who read Jodi’s This Man trilogy as they released, and at various times during that series, had a hate or love relationship with Jesse Ward. I even went so far as to message Jodi after reading Beneath This Man with some very passionate opinions about him. To this day I CRINGE every time I think about it, but hey, I was just getting back into reading and was new to the whole contacting authors on FB thing. It’s also the thing that has me holding my breath every time I approach her at a book signing, convinced she’s going to remember that “crazy American” who let her opinions on Jesse’s antics be known. But isn’t that the mark of a truly talented author, that they can whip their readers into a frenzy over what their characters are doing? To say I was excited to get Jesse’s side of the story is an understatement. Over the years I’ve gobbled up any and all tidbits from Jesse’s POV to try and understand his thinking, his motivations, his mindset as to how and why he does the things he does. And does this story start right off with a bang. The prologue already had me in tears, with this first glimpse of what his life was like in his teens and the events that occur that start him on a downward spiral. I was absolutely fascinated with this story. For someone who wanted to be a psychologist when I grew up, this story has so much meat to it. It is not simply a retelling of the events that took place in the trilogy from Jesse’s point of view, but it felt like an entirely new story. Granted, I didn’t re-read anything before I started This Woman, but to me it felt all new. Especially because Jodi delves so much deeper into Jesse. The things that frustrated me about Jesse before, all have new and deeper meaning to me, and I never thought I’d find myself saying it, but that love/hate relationship I have with Jesse is slowly moving towards just love. It was so much fun seeing all the gang again. Except for Sarah, I highly doubt I’ll ever find a compassionate bone for her. I just love John! I can’t wait to see who they cast for him when Passionflix films this series. As always, Jodi writes in a way that really resonates with me. The story flows smoothly and I just couldn’t put it down. I don't think I've finished a book this fast in a very long time! I’m SO happy to be on Central Jesse Cloud Nine again!

It took me a few days to really process this book. I have read all of the This Man series and I had a love/hate relationship with Jesse and Ava. These characters are so complex. This is Jesse’s story. It was such a revelation. Getting into his head was nothing like I expected it to be. We find out why he is so insane, desperate and anxious. We figure out why he needs control and why he acts the way he does with Ava. We realize he is his own worst enemy. My heart hurt for him because inside he was just so lost and so sad. Everything made sense and I can really appreciate his character. How Jodi Ellen Malpas was able to bring all of this story back and show us this side of This Man is beyond me. I definitely suggest reading the This Man series first and then diving into Jesse’s book. I really enjoyed Jesse’s POV and I hope he continues to talk to the author so that his thoughts are revealed about the rest of his and Ava’s story