I recently purchased the Magnolia Island box set by new-to-me author Malory Ford. The series has five short contemporary Christian romances, each featuring one of the Jameson siblings. The stories follow familiar tropes, including friends to more, second chance romance, enemies to more, and fake relationship.
I enjoyed all the stories, with each one getting successively stronger.
Oceans of Mercy
Oceans of Mercy brings together marine biologist Allie and her longtime friend, boat captain Knox. I’m always a sucker for a friends-to-more romance, and Oceans of Mercy ticked all the boxes while providing an original and engaging heroine. If this story had any faults, it was possibly that Knox was a little too perfect … at least, he was perfect for Allie, and that’s what I love to see.
Flames of Faith
Flames of Faith features single father and firefighter Rob reconnecting with elementary school teacher Lexi, his college sweetheart. But she isn’t so keen to rekindle what they once had when she does the math and realizes how soon Rob’s daughter was born after they broke up … One of the problems with Christian romance is that we don’t often get to see what a good Christian dad looks like, so it was great to have Rob show us a man who has overcome the mistakes of his past and dedicated himself to providing the best possible Christian upbringing for his daughter.
Growing Hope
Growing Hope was probably my least favourite story, for two somewhat shallow reasons. First, I’m not a fan of enemies-to-lovers stories. They’re just not my jam. Second (and this really is shallow), I have a black thumb so have an unhealthy aversion to people like Sage who can grow anything.
Fighting for Truth
Fighting for Truth was a fake relationship romance with an added twist: Gwyn isn’t a Christian and Levi (obviously) is. Some Christian readers don’t like fake relationships because it’s lying, although that doesn’t really bother me. Other readers don’t like Christian-meets-non Christian romances because the couple are unequally yoked. I can see their point, but I also love stories where there is a compelling conversion scene. (Not that I want a return to the days where it seemed every Christian romance had a conversion scene, but it’s great to read one occasionally).
Melody of the Heart
Melody of the Heart is the perfect end to the series. Aiden Jameson has only appeared in the series via Zoom, because he’s serving in the US Army in the Middle East. Melody of the Heart brings him home, but he’s and angry man who has lost his faith. While that was initially a little shocking, it also made for an excellent redemption arc and an excellent end to the series.
Overall
What made the Magnolia Island series (almost) unique to my mind was the overarching mystery thread running through the entire series. The series opened with marine biologist Allie finding a necklace she recognized as belonging to her oldest brother’s high school girlfriend—the girl who mysteriously disappeared one night close to fifteen years ago. Over the course of the series, the siblings discover one clue after another that brings us a little closer to understanding the “why” behind Charlie Edwards’s disappearance.
The other thing I liked was that I was able to track the relationships of the siblings and their partners through the series (which got occasionally confusing once we had Lexi and Levi—I admit I mixed them up a couple of times). It’s always fun to see characters from previous stories, even if I did binge all five over Easter weekend!
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the Magnolia Island series. Recommended for contemporary Christian romance fans, especially those who like to see a common plot thread through a series.
Hi Iola, Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the series. I was thinking the author’s name sounds familiar and I went to Amazon and discovered I have this box set in my Kindle. I downloaded it when it was free a few months ago. My question: If I decide to read the books in the series out of order, maybe pick the stories via tropes I feel like reading, would I find the series mystery confusing and therefore should read in order? I add notes in my Kindle on reading order for when I eventually read it.
I would definitely read the first and last stories in order. The others move the mystery plot forward, but the focus of the stories is on the romance (and the tropes), not the mystery.