When I first heard Jodi Ellen Malpas was releasing a fourth book in the This Man series, I was a bit nervous. I was nervous that it wouldn't feel like a cohesive part of the journey between Jesse and Ava Ward, nervous that time might have changed my affection for this couple, nervous that With This Man might feel like an unnecessary addition to a perfectly complete series. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, there should definitely be nerves as you enter this book, but not the kind I anticipated. I should've been nervous about all I'd be made to feel on these pages. I should've been nervous for what Jesse and Ava would face. I should've been nervous about the heartache and the joy that would overcome me. But I never for a second should've worried about what a fantastic story Jodi Ellen Malpas had in store.
This was one of those books that called to me every time I was forced to set it down. It crept into my dreams and it demanded I pick it right back up when I woke. I was CONSUMED by the heartbreaking turn of events that evolves in With This Man. I was overwhelmed by how much I loved it, by how hard I'd fall for Jesse Ward all over again. I was so IN THIS STORY, engulfed by the intensity of Jesse, by the frustratingly difficult but exquisitely romantic circumstances in these pages. It was everything. Every. Thing.
JEM takes us into the current state of the blissfully romantic marriage of Jesse and Ava, showing us exactly where this unforgettable couple is twelve years after we last saw them. She reminds her reader precisely why Jesse and Ava intoxicated us with their gritty love story and why they remain a top favorite couple, but then she turns their world upside down and with it, she upturns the world of her readers, delivering a heartbreaking, wholly unforgettable story that I never wanted to end.
Jesse Ward is still the same controlling, protective, trampling sex God he was at 38. But now, at 50, he's a doting father of preteens and a devoted husband whose world still revolves around his wife. The lace, the countdowns, the bathtub talks and the retribution sex pepper this story, taking the reader right back to where it all began, reminding us of why we love this couple so damn much. But with the tragedy that occurs at the beginning of this book, a horrifying accident that steals Ava's memories and forces Jesse to start from scratch in winning her affections, a new, refreshing, unpredictable story is born. The forceful, mouthy Jesse has to change tactics. He has to bite back his demands and romance his wife in ways that aren't always natural for him. And it's beautiful to watch, gut wrenching to experience, and deliciously satisfying in the end. But true to form, secrets are kept, truths are withheld, complications arise and a messy story ensues.
This book tore at my heart strings but it also gave me deliciously giddy feelings as I got to sit back and watch Jesse and Ava fall all over again, revisiting the past in a way that makes me want to go back to the beginning and reread the entire series again and again. This book was so much better than anything I ever expected, so emotionally gripping, so completely addictive. I love Jesse and Ava even more than I thought possible after reading With This Man. This is the PERFECT addition to this series. Everything that drew me to the first three books-- the sensuality, the treachery, the villains, the jealousy, the addiction, the dialogue, the romance, the friendships, the peanut butter, the obsession-- it all comes full circle in this fourth installment and IT IS PERFECTION. I laughed. I hurt. I was infuriated. I was overwhelmed. This book is EVERYTHING I could've dreamed of getting from THIS MAN but never imagined I would. I absolutely LOVED IT.