My mother’s New Year’s resolution for me was simple: make a serious effort at putting myself out there and dating again, and do it for one full year. Or until I fell in love. Whichever came first. How hard could one year of swipes and matches and awkward first dates be? In a word: bad. In nine words: bad and also hilarious, demoralizing, exhausting, and ridiculously amusing.But the only thing … ridiculously amusing.
But the only thing worse than dating in the era of hookup apps and unsolicited dick pics is the absolute whole-life-flail of falling in love.
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The Magnolia Chronicles is another outstanding, witty and overwhelmingly enjoyable book from Kate Canterbary. In a word: magnificent.
I unexpectedly loved this!
Full disclosure, I’m a huge fan of Kate’s work! I think she can take any character and give them each different personalities so that they feel like someone I could have lunch or a drink with. That helps you immerse yourself in the book and it seems so much more realistic! This was a little bit of a step back from what I’m use to, but it’s the book I was looking for a needed right now. Sometimes it’s not all throbbing members, it’s the suggestive relationship that does it for you.
On to the book at hand. I didnt know if I was going to love Gigi, I wasn’t sure at all, but I did and do. Her trials and tribulations of navigating online dating and the constant flow of d pics and disgusting men…and then a bright light where she least expects to find it. As always the men are delicious!
This series is about the Santillan triplets, Magnolia, Ash and Linden. Poor Magnolia agrees to her mum’s plea that she begin to put some real effort into dating. Her mum signs her up to a dating app and goes mad swiping right all over the place.
This book is full of hilarious dating app convos. So freaking funny! BUT she actually meets Rob through it and after some super funny chats they meet and go on a series of dates that lead to more. I’m not going to spoil things by giving you a full plot rundown but believe me it’s good.
Ah Amy McFadden, I had forgotten how much I loved listening to you read stories to me! Amy has perfect timing, can be funny, emotional as well as offering a range of voices. Her performance is stellar! She reads the majority of the book with Tim Paige coming in at the end to give us Rob’s POV and he does a great job too!
An audiobook that will have you laughing out loud but also cheering Rob on, hoping that Magnolia chooses well. Kate has delivered another amazing book, series, world!!! Honestly Kate writes heartfelt, funny stories with a shed load of steam.
I have to say that I liked much of the book. Magnolia was pretty funny and the texts between the different characters was overall pretty amusing. I knew going into this book that there was a love triangle and that isn’t my favorite but I’ve adored the other books in this series. So I went to try this book. And like I said, I liked most of the book. I giggled a lot and I liked the men, Rob and Ben. But I disliked her getting frisky with two men. I disliked that her final selection came down to when the guy says he wants to buy her a big big ring the night that she had gotten frisky with someone else earlier in the day. This is a personal preference but otherwise, there was what I thought was smart writing and I enjoyed the overall story.
I listened to the audiobook and it was good- Amy McFadden did amazing. Tor Thom was, uh, non-existent. He was only at the very very end. But I really liked Amy’s narration.
Reading/ listening to this book makes me happy. This is a fun book, the characters, the banters all are amazing. I love how Magnolia worked on discovering who she is and what she wants. She wants a man to love her and accept her for her. Completely agree with Magnolia. This is a different love story and so beautiful.
My gateway Kate Canterbary book. Started here and I enjoyed it so much. Great dialogue. Laugh out loud funny. I have now enjoyed several of her other books all because I enjoyed this one so much.
Loved this so much! I wasn’t sure about Magnolia as a character after the brief glimpses we saw of her in The Walsh series and especially after the little drama with Sam but I can honestly say she has become a favourite! Loved the interactions with my favourite characters from The Walsh series also. Her mother was is fab, loved her. Magnolia herself was extremely witty. There was one guy I was rooting for from the beginning and was my favourite. Fingers crossed her brothers get a book too! You will not be disappointed!
Modern dating meets Kate Canterbary in her wonderful side character, Gigi, who is now center stage and calling the shots (and I was hoping to see her again!) Before you know it there are two suitors and one ‘suit-ee’ made for an enjoyable read.
Magnolia was first introduced in The Walsh series by Kate Canterbary. You may know her by Roof Garden Girl or Gigi. Gigi has been unlucky in love so her mother decides to help her out by placing her profile in a dating app and then volunteering to screen her matches for her. As you might guess this leads to some truly weird and horrific dates for her but highly entertaining for the reader.
Gigi has a very sassy attitude but a kind heart. I learned a lot from Gigi during her quest for love. He honest with yourself; let go of the past; hold out for the partner you deserve; and more. At some point you will pick Team R or Team B, and whichever one it is, you will love them both.
Gigi is the one girl in a set of triplets who spend quite a bit of time together. I’m looking forward to brother Ash’s story in 2020.
I thought I would have had a hard time figuring out who’s going to be the one for Magnolia. I’m just going to say that no matter how hard it has been for Gigi when it comes to dating, once she did bare herself to the right one, her love life came like honey on a dry throat. Smooth and soothing. And she definitely deserved the wonderful hero.
Most of all, I love how the author has shown how there are A LOT of ways to find true love. There is unexpected but easy like Matt and Lauren. There is too many to mention frogs before the ult prince like Gigi and her hero. There is no right or wrong. There is however, indeed, a right one for each other. Add in hard work, communication and compatibility.
It’s just really heart warming how Kate Canterbary tackles the issue of dating and finding true love.
Also, how precious are the Walshes???
Very enjoyable. Magnolia’s dates were so amusing and I loved her banter and connection with Rob.
I adore Kate Canterbary and love The Walshes series. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Magnolia who is a side character you can’t help but root for. This book had me cackling. It’s so funny. Magnolia is wonderful and her dilemma of a love triangle kept me guessing. Canterbary always writes with humor, depth, and steam. This book was more of a closed door for the steamy scenes though. While The Magnolia Chronicles is women’s fiction and not strictly a romance, I enjoyed reading outside my romance comfort zone for such an entertaining book.
Amazing book….Loved all 3 main characters….would love to see more from Ben…only wished we could have seen when Magnolia told Rob her choice…def recommend this one!
OMG! Kate Canterbury doesn’t disappoint! We’ve been waiting for Gigi’s story and it’s wonderful! Now I can’t wait for Ash and Linden’s adventures….
Magnolia Chronicles is such a great read. You finally got to understand her, see her side of the story. And the troubled relationships she’s gone through. This story is about Magnolia finally figuring out what she wants, how she wants her life to be. No second guessing about her decisions and coming to terms about her past mistakes.
I loved Magnolia and to see her grow and bloom into such an amazing woman. She is full of love, for her friends (those Walshes I miss them) her dog, her family. She was waiting for that right person to steal her heart. But of course, she didn’t think she’d have to choose between two men. One more complicated, then the other. But I think she always knew who it would be. There’s no denying those butterflies.
I love Kate’s writing. I’ve missed it, I didn’t realize how much until I started this book. It took me a bit to finish. I was savoring those words and wanted the story to keep going and never end. I was not disappointed, and there’s so much learn with this story. Not just about Magnolia but I find any woman could see a little bit of Magnolia within themselves. We’ve all been there.
Overall, Five Boundless Stars
The Magnolia Chronicles: Adventures In Modern Dating by Kate Canterbary was a fun, emotional and humerus story following Magnolia’s dating life.
Magnolia’s life was messy and her love life was even messier. It gets worse when her mother decides she needs to step in and help with signing her up using a dating app and swiping left or right as she sees fit. After several failed date attempts Magnolia tells her mom that she will handle it so when she meets Rob she knows that there is something special about him and definitely wants to see where this goes, but she also meets Ben and knows there is something special about him too. Is it wrong that she wants to date them both? Hey, she’s a modern girl and to be totally honest it’s her prerogative if she wants to date and get serious about two men everyone is just going have to deal. Even her…
I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.
I absolutely loved this page-turner. Magnolia hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to dating. Her mom sets her up on an online dating site and the laughs start. You will seriously be laughing out loud. Then Magnolia meets two different men. One is an investment banker, Rob, and one is a firefighter, Ben. It’s decided that she will date both men. How is this going to end without someone getting hurt? Grab your copy and get ready to fall for Rob and Ben.
This author just hit a Grand Slam in the bottom of the ninth
I have loved everything that this author has written. EVERYTHING. This author has a way of creating characters that are real. They have the same issues that I might have. From outward appearances, they seem confident or have everything in order when in fact they are anything but confident or perfect. Magnolia could have been me in every way. From, evil exes, lousy dates, wondering how to find someone who was my equal (instead of only seeing me as a sexual object), or to never having that perfect body( no matter how much I diet or exercise) she was my spirit sister.
I put off reading this story as it was being told in installments because I knew that there would be NO way that I could survive waiting for the next one to come out. I kept hoping that the other Kate Canterbary enthusiasts would give her the support she needed to get her to the end and thank goodness they did because this book is everything and more.
This book had a lot of crossover or references from her other books, and for that I was thankful. In fact, I call her my Six-degrees of Kevin Bacon author, because she always manages to do this without making it a story about them or an offshoot of that particular series. It is just a nod or recognition of the characters that feel like more than fictional characters but rather are as unique as family, and often they are better than my family. It keeps these other characters still in my heart and keeps them fresh.
This book is different than her other works in the sense that there were not steamy moments., not even fade to black. However, in this case, it worked primarily because I was so invested in watching this story unfold between Magnolia and her two men. I felt like I was Magnolia and struggled between who I loved more. Both of these men were truly delicious and perfect in their own way. I need the other character to have his story told. There was still so much that I wanted to know about his backstory. I also need Magnolia’s brothers to get their story too.
In a nutshell, I need this author to keep writing ALL the stories. Her words feed my soul. She offers me proof that not everything is as it seems and that to every season there is a reason. She is my technicolor in a black and white world.
This book by chapter was available on Book + Main as a series but I held off reading it because I was hoping that the author Kate would publish it in book form! It was so worth the wait. Magnolia is smart, funny, insecure, beautiful and so engrossing to read about her daily life. This was the woman who everyone thought tried to ruin Sam and Tiel’s Relationship in Necessary Restoration. Wait, there is another side to it and we finally got Gigi’s point of view. Well worth the wait too! Magnolia’s Mom made her promise she would work on herself and by doing so set her up on a dating web site! Hilarious! Anyone who has ever tried one of those sites knows exactly what Magnolia is going through. When she hears from Mr Nine aka Rob she decides she likes his quirky sense of humor. They immediately clicked even if he was on there for a completely different reason than he was. Insert Mr. Tile saw in the middle of the night aka Ben and you have a recipe for dating that she never saw coming. Magnolia had some choices to make and with the help of her friends the Walsh’s and her mother the former hippie cool vibe mom that she is Magnolia struggles with her doubts like women do every single day. A choice must be made, what will she do?? This book was amazing in its complexity, smart, sassy on all levels and sweet. There were a few sexy times but not overly done and just enough that you knew she wasn’t trying to lead anyone on but exploring her options. Gigi is awesome and I love her. I’ve lived all of the female characters that Kate Has created but she holds a special place in my heart because I feel she could be any woman reading this book. I would love to read more of Gigi’s and The man she ended up with in another story. Loved this book so much!! I received a complimentary copy of this book.
4.5 Stars
I adore Kate Canterbary’s writing, her books are always well written and packed full of emotion. What draws me back to Kate’s writing over and over again is her characters. They are always layered and flawed, but also incredibly endearing and their faults, insecurities, and vulnerabilities make them all the more relatable.
Anyone who has read The Walsh series, will be familiar with Gigi otherwise known as Roof Garden Girl or Magnolia. She’s had a terrible time when it comes to romance, and reluctantly puts her trust in her mother to find her a man. What ensues is a story full of heat, heart and most of all humor. It’s a sweet, steamy and charming read that completely captivated my attention from beginning to end. The banter is spot on, being full of sarcasm, wit and charm and copious amounts of humor, I was constantly laughing out loud.
I loved that so many of the characters that I’ve come to adore in previous books appeared throughout the story line.
I highly recommend The Magnolia Chronicles to anyone who loves a contemporary romance, and I with a side of humor. If you haven’t read Kate’s books you are missing out, there’s a reason she’s one of my go to authors when there are literally hundreds of books released every week.