This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

My Review

         Oh My Jesse…where do I even start. I am all for alpha males. Love them to pieces. But this man is on a whole other playing field on his own. I didn’t know how to feel about it. He’s super cocky (no pun intended), HELLA controlling, unreasonable, possessive, the list goes on. The only thing he had going for him besides his looks and for us non-Brits, the accent, was that he knows how to make a woman come apart.

         That time the pun was intended.

         But even during sex he was still too much to handle.

         I usually feel something for these guys, but I really didn’t feel anything for Jesse. He was just some crazy arsehole Ava was banging on the regular. This was a book I almost just stopped reading because I couldn’t deal with Jesse. But I kept on because I bought the third book, This Man Confessed, on the discount shelf at Books-A-Million before I got this one, and I didn’t want to waste money on a book I never got to read.

         Then I read the last three chapters and things started clicking together. His actions and reactions to things made sense. And I actually started to feel a little something for him. It took 400 pages but it happened. I just hope I learn more in Beneath This Man.

Final Rating: 4.5 Infuriating Stars

Steam Scale Combustible

Comments & Side Notes

§  Jesse is constantly telling Ava to watch her mouth when she cusses but it’s no biggie when he does. I don’t care much for hypocrites and I cuss a hell of a lot more than Ava does so Jesse and I would be a no-go.

§  I’m glad that the bonus chapter is in Jesse’s POV and it sheds some light on some of his behavioral issues. That chapter also made me glad to know that I’m not the only one who thinks his actions are questionable.

*** Mild Spoiler Below***

Quotable Highlights

“Just tell me one thing before you leave, Ava.” […] “How loud do you think you’ll scream when I fuck you?” –Jesse p. 34

         This is…what? The second time he’s seen her and he’s already coming out guns blazing.

“Ava, the sexual tension batting between you and that man was so fucking supercharged, even I was horny!”  -Kate p. 37

         Amen, Kate. Amen.

“I thought you would have grasped The Manor’s operations on our first meeting, Ava. When it became obvious that you hadn’t, it just got harder and harder to tell you.”  –Jesse p. 427

            This girl dumb as hell. Even I figured out what the Manor was about when she was there. It clicked for sure when he asked about that grid thingy. She clearly never read Fifty Shades.