Day 5 of the 14 Days of Fictional Swoon Blog Hop - Masters of Swoons

Morning Swooners,

I'm super excited to be able to participate in this blog hop hosted by the lovely ladies from Fic Fare and the Swoony Boys Podcast. Over the next week and a half, 25 blogs will be hosting giveaways and a scavenger hunt where each blog participating will have an assigned word/phrase that needs to be found before being able to enter the grand giveaway. The word/phrase will be highlighted/bolded somewhere throughout the post. 

                                   

There come a point in every book lover's life where they just KNOW of an author that can provide them with the most sweetest, swooniest, dream-worthy, bring the feels, knows how make the book come alive for you author. And if we're really lucky, we can name several authors that just know how to provide the swoons. Today we have this list.

Our Masters of Swoons are as follows: 

Jennifer's pick:

1. Gayle Forman

2. Tahereh Mafi

3. Sarah J. Maas

4. Stephanie Perkins

5. Michelle Hodkin

Nahomi's pick:

1. Jane Austen

2. Kristi Cook

3. Jennifer L. Armentrout

4. Cora Carmack

5. Christina Lauren

I don't know about you guys, but this list gives me the excite!feels. 

than you think

Now, for the giveaway portion of the show. Nahomi and I decided we wanted to give away a copy of her newest fave swooniest book, Magnolia by Kristi Cook. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the grand blog hop giveaway, you need to enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

14 Days of Fictional Swooning Schedule

• February 1st- Fiction Fare 
• February 1st- Swoony Boys Podcast 
• February 2nd- Literary, etc.
• February 3rd- Adventures in YA Publishing
• February 3rd- A Soul Unsung: Book Gossip for the Soul
• February 4th- Bookish Things & More
• February 5th- Books and Swoons
• February 5th- Love at First Page 
• February 6th- Awesome Book Nuts
• February 6th- Mainstream Passionista
• February 6th- The Book Sphere 
• February 7th- I Turn the Pages
• February 7th- Andi's ABCs
• February 8th- Na's Not So Newsworthy Thoughts
• February 8th- WhoRUBlog
• February 9th- Gun in Act One
• February 9th- We So Nerdy 
• February 10th- What Sarah Read
• February 10th- Flutters and Flails
• February 11th- The Book Addict's Guide 
• February 11th- Effortlessly Reading
• February 11th- Lostbraincell's Bookish Blog
• February 12th- GReads!
• February 12th- Books Equal Awesomeness
• February 13th- My Friends Are Fiction
• February 13th- Lee Kelly: New Write City
• February 14th- Fiction Fare 
• February 14th- Swoony Boys Podcast

Thanks so much for stopping by and for Jaime, Erin, Meg, and Kassiah for hosting this awesome blog hop.

Favorite Friday (#21) - Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Have a favorite book? Series? One that you've just read or are currently reading? Favorite Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Books and Swoons where we spotlight some of our Favorite Reads. Everyone is welcome to join. Just enter your information on the linky or leave us a comment!

This week pick is: Magnolia by Kristi Cook.

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

 I love this story! I was in a book hangover for days after reading this Magnolia. The love story is beautifully written. I just want to read it over and over again.

About the author:

YA author Kristi Cook is a transplanted southern gal who lives in New York City with her husband and two kids. Her YA debut, HAVEN, was released in Feb. 2011 by Simon Pulse.

Author's links: Website / Goodreads / Twitter

I hope you can join us in sharing and talking about some of your favorite reads. Book talk always make me happy. 

What are one of your favorite reads?

Review: Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Magnolia
Author: Kristi Cook
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Personal Copy
Review by: Nahomi

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

5 stars out of 5 stars

I absolutely loved loved loved Magnolia! Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. This is the type of book that I want to read over and over again, that's how much I love it. I love the premise of the story; it's Romeo and Juliet with a twist. Now, I have read other modern takes on classics which shall remain nameless and I wasn't really into them, but this one takes the cake the caramel cake that is.

In the beginning I was a little hesitant because of my past experience but as soon as I started reading I was sucked into Jemma's world at Magnolia Branch. I love the setting and felt like I wanted to jump into the book and live in Magnolia Branch (except for the snakes, I'm not a fan). I loved the relationship the relationship between the Caffertys and the Marsdens. It was so funny to see how Jemma and Ryder's mom would try to push them together.

The pacing of this story is a mixture of fast and slow which worked well for the story. I say this because after the hurricane I felt like the pacing slowed down a little. I loved that although this is a romance the sole focus of the story wasn't just the relationship between Jemma and Ryder. There are a lot of other things happening simultaneously in the story; and it worked really well. The combination of the plot, the setting, and the characters had me falling in love with this story over and over again.

Jemma is a strong female lead; I love the strength she portrayed throughout the story. She had to deal with a lot of things at the same time and I feel she handled it very well. I love that she is a girly girl but isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and do the hard work. I also like that she is the best shot in her county and just to get on the boys nerves she wears the girliest outfit she can find to her shooting competitions. Ryder is the all American boy, quarter back of the football team, perfect grades, good looking, and popular. These are all great but what made me swoon was how thoughtful and sweet Ryder is and well you just have to read the book and see for yourself but he is definitely a gem.

I could go on and on about how this book is wonderful and give you all the reasons why I love this story so much; but you just have to read it for yourself and find out how great it is! I recommend this book 110 percent! It is a must read!