Title: His Magnolia
Series: The Mayflower Series
By: Dori Lavelle
ASIN: B07S1CJ2K5
Author’s Website: http://www.dorilavelle.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
I’m living a life I hate, then he walks into my world and changes it.
I’m thirty-two years old, but I feel like I’m still stuck in high school. I wear my hair the same way, I have a job in the same building, and I still fear the mean girls.
When I’m invited to the high school reunion, I decide not to go. And then the most handsome man literally knocks me off my feet, sweeps me into his arms, and offers to be my date.
His name is Brax Nash, the hottest man I’ve ever seen in real life. How could I possibly say no to him?
But how long will a man like him stay with a girl like me? Is this really happening, or is fate playing a joke on me? (Goodreads)
Review:
I have read the majority of books and novella’s that have been written by Dori Lavelle and I must say, this novella, His Magnolia, is excellent.
This novella begins with Magnolia Anderson returning to the tiny cottage she shares with her mother. Her mother, I might add, that does not seem to like her daughter, as can be seen by the following:
“I find her in the living room, sprawled on the couch, watching a celebrity reality TV show, a cigarette in one hand…. She knows I’m in the room, but she doesn’t glance up, doesn’t acknowledge my presence. That’s how little I mean to her. I don’t exist to her, unless she needs money.”
As the reader can tell, it is a bleak existence for this 32-year-old. Especially since the days of high school, every time Maggie suggests she would like to move, her mother threatens to kill herself. So what is a daughter to do? Needless to say, life is dreary without an end in sight. Then along comes an invitation to Maggie’s 15th year high school reunion. Is this the opportunity for Maggie to show her old classmates?
“But what if going to the reunion is my chance to take back the power they robbed me of, to show them that I’m not the weak kid they used to know back then?”
So it is obvious that Maggie will go to the reunion, but what is a girl to do without a date? Well, again, fate once again intervenes. While riding her bike (and thinking about her life) she is thrown from her bike. Luckily, Maggie is not injured too seriously. And the rest is history, so they say. The driver of the car is Brax, a handsome, and unbeknownst to Maggie, well to do.
An insecure Maggie makes an off the cuff remark (hoping that Brax did not hear, but he did). As events evolve, Maggie now has a date to the reunion and has left her mother “gob smacked” (so to speak).
Maggie is still very unconfident about herself and her attendance at the reunion, even with a great looking guy like Brax:
“What the hell am I trying to prove? One look at me and my high school tormentors will peel away the pretty layers to reveal the real me.”
I won’t elaborate any further regarding the story line. Suffice it to say, there are a few surprises at the reunion. As well, Maggie finally comes into her own as an adult.
I loved the story line, the characters and the writing. Glad to report that Dori Lavelle has done it again.
