With This Man (This Man, #4) by Jodi Ellen Malpas

With This Man (Jodi Ellen Malpas)

SUMMARY

Life is good for Jesse "The Lord" Ward. Perfect, actually. He still has the charm, he's in great shape, and he still reduces his wife, Ava, to a pool of desire with a mere look. He's in full control, just how he likes it.

But Jesse's perfect world falls apart when a terrible accident lands Ava in the hospital with a life-threatening head injury. Devastated and angry, he feels like his entire existence hangs in the balance. He cannot survive without this woman's love. So when she finally comes around, his shaking world begins to level out. But his nightmare doesn't end there. It's only just begun. Because his wife can't remember the last sixteen years of her life. That's all of him. All of their time together. He is a stranger to her.

Now Jesse must do whatever it takes to find her memories . . . and help her fall madly, passionately in love with him all over again.

MY REVIEW

* * * * * * * * * * 10 STARS

THE LORD IS BACK!

You may scream. There is no shame.

Jodi had a very witty idea and had created an attention-grabbing game with the series’ fans. She made Ava forget.
Ava has a horrible accident and she forgets the last 12-13 years of her life. The most important years of her life. She forgets about Jesse and about their children.
So, while Ava tries to remember and Jesse tries to help her, we basically revisit all the important moments of their life together. All the heart-breakings and the making up.

The book has mainly Jesse’s POV. So in this way, we can actually see how he was feeling during the first three books of the series as well:
-how he felt, when he met Ava,
-how he was feeling when he was pursuing her and she was running away,
-how much broken he was when he was rejected and almost destroyed himself,
-how important it is for him to maintain control of Ava and their family in general so that he will not be lost and desperate, so that he will have a purpose.

If you loved Jesse in the first three books, you will adore Jesse in this book. You will fall in love with him the same way Ava will fall in love with him. All over again!

Jesse’s shocking realization that he turned 50 will be added to his wounded pride when Ava more or less calls him old asking him if he is older than her mother. But then, they will start one of their favorite games ‘How old is Jesse?’ This time the game starts from 20-one years old.

Obviously this is not a standalone. There are many inside jokes that I suppose only if you are series hardcore fan you will realize.

I was so happy that this is one of the rare romance books with older main characters. I love books with mature characters in their forties and fifties who fall in love like they are in their twenties.

Jesse is middle-aged and he is sexier than ever. Ava is approaching 40 and Jesse does not allow her to feel insecure at all. He basically just forbids her to do any plastic surgery.

They are both crazy for each other,
they fight like teenagers,
they are jealous and possessive,
they care deeply and
they love without limits.


A peek:

I pluck the calla from the middle of the vase and turn, handing it to Ava. She’s unsure as she reaches for it, eyes flicking from me to the flower. “It’s beautiful.”
I smile mildly and pull her on. “Understated elegance,” I say over my shoulder, relishing the beam she gives me in return. “They’re your favorite flowers.”
“Since when?”
“Since the day you met me,” I tell her as we approach my old office, thinking I was quite romantic back then after all. I look up at the solid wooden door, my mind bombarded with so many memories, the most poignant and important being the first time that Ava O’Shea wandered in.