Jessa Hastings

How many loves do you get in a lifetime? And are Magnolia and BJ each other's one and only?
It's been nearly a year since everything happened between Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine on the steps of the Mandarin Oriental, and since then it seems like everything has changed.

Magnolia has a life in New York now and BJ appears to have finally let go and moved on.

But when they both wind up back in London and are thrust together once again, they find themselves asking their age-old question: How many loves do you actually get in a lifetime, and, most important--are they each other's?

Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home

“Through all the ways our parents failed us, my sister did not. My sister is the lace trimming around all of it ”

“Told me he was sorry a lot. Sorry that we didn’t feel we could come to them, sorry that I felt like I couldn’t come to him, that I had to navigate it all by myself, but Magnolia frowned at him and said, “He wasn’t alone, he had me.” And my dad smiled at her and said, “I beg your pardon, he did too”

Believe me HAMISH I KNOW BUT ALSO HAMISH BALLENTINE 🥹💗

“You played for keeps.” He smiles proudly.

    He nods, sitting back in his chair. “It’s been a long time coming.”

“Sorry, but I’m going to touch her forever, Sir.’ I pulled back, couldn’t believe my fucking ears.” He chuckles.

And I said, ‘Will you now?’ And he said, ‘Mmhm, I’m going to marry her if you let me.’ And I said, ‘Is that you asking me?’ And he shrugged and said, ‘Suppose it is…’”

“Had it in my pocket when I walked you home — thought about it. Probably should have, thinking back now.” My eyes pinch. “Would have saved us a bunch of time.”

    Give her a shrug because I don’t really care how we got here, just happy to have arrived.

    “It was always going to be you, Parks. Just a matter of when.”

“I wouldn’t like to take this one off. It’s the most important thing I own.”

    “Is that why you threw it at me in a fit?” I ask playfully.

    She gives me a look. “Do you really want to pull at that thread right now?”

“ “Because I fucking know you, Parks. And I’ve thought about marrying you since I was six.” I raise my brows. “And also your real subtle Pinterest board named ‘dream engagement rings’ was of some help.”

    “Ah.” She nods, a bit embarrassed.

    “A husband’s best friend, Pinterest—”

    She gives me a look. “You’re not a husband yet.”

    “Well, if you’d just take this fucking ring I’d be one step closer.”

“No, put it away,” she growls and then double takes. “What’s that?” She peers over at it from afar. “Three cushion cut diamonds in a row?”

    Roll my eyes at my living, breathing, pain in the arse. “Like you’d wear anything else—”

    I scoff, offended. “D. Obviously.”

    She puts her hands on her hips, huffs a bit.

    “How did you know that’s my dream ring?”

    I shake my head back at her. “Listen, I’m not running the risk fifteen years from now you throwing in my face that I never bought you diamonds in the middle of an argument because I forgot to pick up milk on the way home.”

    “What the fuck happens to you and I in the next fifteen years that we devolve so heavily that we’re forced to buy our own milk?”

“But I have, since I met you, deliberately knotted ours together.”

    “I’ve never loved anyone how I love you,” she says. No smile, no frills. “And I never will. And I’ve known that all along.”

“But every other girl I’ve ever been with has been about you.”

“I’d be hard pressed to find a time that wasn’t about you, or because of you. Because I missed you, because I wanted you, or because you were gone, because you were fucking Tom England or you flirted with a bartender. Sex for me, for the vast majority of my life, has been about you.” I give her a look.”

“You won’t get bored of waiting for me?”

    “Ah.” I nod. Heart goes heavy. Hate that my fucking around fucked her up. Force a smile. “Been waiting on you all my life.”

    She shakes her head. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m locking her down, putting a ring on it and all that shit.

    My eyes go blurry with this weird new want I’ve got for her. Different from before, different from the other kinds that still live in me.” 

I’m gonna ball at the wedding I just know 

“I have these moments where I can’t believe it. That we’re doing this. Properly, finally.”

“Hate long engagements—” Shake my head at her. “I’ll marry you tomorrow.”

“Waited to marry you all my motherfucking life!” she yells from inside her wardrobe. “And you — you big prick — decide to ask me when I have a fucking pin in my shoulder.”

    “It’s in your clavicle, Parks,” I call to her.”

There are so many things I wish I’d done differently, too many ways I hurt her that I wish I could take back. But then I wonder if things now are exactly as they’re meant to me to be. Because we’re meant to be.

    Not a question in my mind. It’s her.

to start i found interesting but then it started to feel like the first book again but then the ending…😟 i’m very upset!

Lucy Williams

I actually can’t handle this series. So infuriating at times but I just love them so much. I can’t deal with the ending I’m tressed🙃🥲

Nicole Mills

It's been nearly a year since everything happened between Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine on the steps of the Mandarin Oriental, and it seems like everything since then has changed. Magnolia has a life in New York now, BJ appears to have finally let go and moved on -- but when they both wind up back to London and are thrust together once again, they find themselves asking their age-old question? How many loves do you actually get in a lifetime, and most importantly- are they each other's?

The Long Way Home

Magnolia Parks

i was entirely prepared to come here and complain about how these books are simultaneously and equally both addictive and infuriating,, but the ending has just thrown me tf off guard so i won’t complain atm — it feels insensitive to do so now 

Emilia Vulliamy

This is by far the best book in this series. And if you would have asked me after reading the first two books if I would have said that, the answer would be absolutely not. I won’t lie the first book was by far my least favorite but what I have come to is that I’m saying it was a world building book. I know kind of weird but I knew what I was getting after it. I was able to feel a better investment. I could laugh,feel frustrated, wanted to throw the book but also have to finish it to know what will happen. I also cried and yeah wasn’t expecting that ending and honestly wasn’t expecting my reaction to be that either. It was so good and I was expecting to start the next book!

Priscilla Stanfield

4.5/5⭐️ • 2/5🌶️

This is by far the best book in this series. And if you would have asked me after reading the first two books if I would have said that, the answer would be absolutely not. I won’t lie the first book was by far my least favorite but what I have come to is that I’m saying it was a world building book. I know kind of weird but I knew what I was getting after it. I was able to feel a better investment. I could laugh,feel frustrated, wanted to throw the book but also have to finish it to know what will happen. I also cried and yeah wasn’t expecting that ending and honestly wasn’t expecting my reaction to be that either. It was so good and I was expecting to start the next book!

Katie Avila

 had a chaotic, emotionally unstable love child, it would be 

. This book is like being handed a beautifully wrapped gift, only to realize it’s full of emotional damage and designer fashion. And yet—you can’t stop reading.

Wow, I’d love to read a book that emotionally destroys me while simultaneously making me want to max out my credit card on designer fashion

, then congratulations—this book was written just for you.

 is like watching two beautifully dressed people set a five-star restaurant on fire and then slow dance in the ashes. It’s intoxicating, it’s dramatic, and it hurts so good. Magnolia and BJ are the human equivalent of a “will they/won’t they” relationship trope that’s been stretched to its absolute breaking point—and yet, you still root for them like a delusional fan screaming at their TV.

BJ Ballentine, king of bad decisions, walks around like his only goal in life is to ruin both Magnolia’s peace and my own. But then he goes and says something like:

“Rummage through the drawer in my mind as fast as I can to find the words to tell her that I’m coming for her, I’m on my way back, that this is just the long way home. But the drawers are a mess, the words are all jumbled — I love her.”

Sir. SIR. This is not an acceptable way to speak to my emotions. And just when I thought I was safe, he follows it up with:

At this point, I’m physically holding onto the book for emotional support. But THEN—just as I begin to convince myself that maybe, just maybe, this relationship is a lost cause—BJ hits me with:

“There are so many things I wish I’d done differently, too many ways I hurt her that I wish I could take back. But then I wonder if things now are exactly as they’re meant to be. Because we’re meant to be.

Excuse me while I go lie down in traffic.

But the real moment that took me out? The one that made me reevaluate every life choice I’ve ever made?

“He laughs and for some reason it sounds like I’m ringing the doorbell of the home I grew up in.”

WHAT KIND OF SOUL-CRUSHING, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, HEART-WRENCHING SENTENCE IS THIS?? I am unwell. Absolutely ruined. Put me in rice.

In conclusion, this book is a masterpiece of emotional devastation. It’s toxic, it’s angsty, it’s an absolute mess—and I loved every second of it. Five stars, would let BJ Ballentine ruin my life again.

Extra emotional damage to these quotes.  I’m going to need to go to a therapist because my emotional and mental well being took HITS. JESSA Hastings will be getting therapy bill.

“I have all these ties to him. First boyfriend, first kiss, first love, first time, first everything, really. How he was my teacher and my partner in so many key life areas. My best friend and my family and my pillow and my quilt. Each of them are like bricks laid in the house I built to love him, but the point is really that house I built isn’t a monument to a love I used to have. It’s a house I want to live inside of still.”

“Maybe that’s unhealthy, maybe that’s fucked up, or maybe I just love her how someone like her deserves to be loved. I don’t know.”

“I’ll give her my heart for free in a heartbeat though, if she’ll still take it.”

If The Great Gatsby and Gossip Girl had a chaotic, emotionally unstable love child, it would be Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home. This book is like being handed a beautifully wrapped gift, only to realize it’s full of emotional damage and designer fashion. And yet—you can’t stop reading.

If you’ve ever thought, Wow, I’d love to read a book that emotionally destroys me while simultaneously making me want to max out my credit card on designer fashion, then congratulations—this book was written just for you.

Reading Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home is like watching two beautifully dressed people set a five-star restaurant on fire and then slow dance in the ashes. It’s intoxicating, it’s dramatic, and it hurts so good. Magnolia and BJ are the human equivalent of a “will they/won’t they” relationship trope that’s been stretched to its absolute breaking point—and yet, you still root for them like a delusional fan screaming at their TV.

BJ Ballentine, king of bad decisions, walks around like his only goal in life is to ruin both Magnolia’s peace and my own. But then he goes and says something like:

“Rummage through the drawer in my mind as fast as I can to find the words to tell her that I’m coming for her, I’m on my way back, that this is just the long way home. But the drawers are a mess, the words are all jumbled — I love her.”

Sir. SIR. This is not an acceptable way to speak to my emotions. And just when I thought I was safe, he follows it up with:

“We’re in the stars, Parks.”

At this point, I’m physically holding onto the book for emotional support. But THEN—just as I begin to convince myself that maybe, just maybe, this relationship is a lost cause—BJ hits me with:

“There are so many things I wish I’d done differently, too many ways I hurt her that I wish I could take back. But then I wonder if things now are exactly as they’re meant to be. Because we’re meant to be.

Not a question in my mind. It’s her.

It’s always been her.”

Excuse me while I go lie down in traffic.

But the real moment that took me out? The one that made me reevaluate every life choice I’ve ever made?

“He laughs and for some reason it sounds like I’m ringing the doorbell of the home I grew up in.”

WHAT KIND OF SOUL-CRUSHING, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, HEART-WRENCHING SENTENCE IS THIS?? I am unwell. Absolutely ruined. Put me in rice.

In conclusion, this book is a masterpiece of emotional devastation. It’s toxic, it’s angsty, it’s an absolute mess—and I loved every second of it. Five stars, would let BJ Ballentine ruin my life again.

Extra emotional damage to these quotes.  I’m going to need to go to a therapist because my emotional and mental well being took HITS. JESSA Hastings will be getting therapy bill.

“I have all these ties to him. First boyfriend, first kiss, first love, first time, first everything, really. How he was my teacher and my partner in so many key life areas. My best friend and my family and my pillow and my quilt. Each of them are like bricks laid in the house I built to love him, but the point is really that house I built isn’t a monument to a love I used to have. It’s a house I want to live inside of still.”

“Maybe that’s unhealthy, maybe that’s fucked up, or maybe I just love her how someone like her deserves to be loved. I don’t know.”

“I’ll give her my heart for free in a heartbeat though, if she’ll still take it.”



HOW MANY LOVES DO YOU GET IN A LIFETIME? AND ARE MAGNOLIA AND BJ EACH OTHER'S? It's been nearly a year since everything happened between Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine on the steps of the Mandarin Oriental, and it seems like everything since then has changed. Magnolia has a life in New York now and BJ appears to have finally let go and moved on. But when they both wind up back to London and are thrust together once again, they find themselves asking their age-old question: how many loves do you actually get in a lifetime, and most importantly - are they each other's? READERS LOVE THE MAGNOLIA PARKS UNIVERSE 'I was so wrecked by the ending I considered pulling a Joey from Friends and putting the book in the freezer.' (FIVE STARS) 'I never want to leave the Magnolia Parks universe! The obsession is real!' (FIVE STARS) 'If you want to obsess over a world and the gut wrenching love story that it revolves around - this book is for you.' (FIVE STARS)

Nobody talk to me ever again. That ending sucked😭

Sophia

I resent Sage for making me invested in all these stupid toxic people and their issues.

emily  amata

I don’t get the hype. Every fucking time Magnolia opens her mouth I just want to punch the wall,, she’s sooooo dramatic and everything always has to revolve around her (honestly hate her with all my heart). This book had much more depth than the 1st one so we were able to understand the reasons behind their actions but I don’t really think it’s worth it. THAT ENDING OMG NO WAY 

taci

What. The. Hell. I don't think I ever stopped crying when I was reading this book. Firstly, magnolia and BJ are the most frustrating couple i've ever had to read about ever. But I'm so glad he proposed to her man finally. they better get married now because if they don't I'll actually kill myself. Julian was definatly in love with Magnolia. Christian and Daisy belong together, but Romeo and Daisy is just Magnolia and BJ incarnated. Daisy and Magnolia need to be best friends. Magnolia's a bad girlfriend sorry not sorry. Taurie is the most amazing best friend ever, poor Jo and Henry. Now. The ending. JULES GOT SHOT???? AND BRIDGETS DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. Dude i'm telling you now I knew this was gonna happen. i could see it happening from the car accident. And when she starts rubbing her temples. Fammmmm I'm crying again. 

REREAD BC I GOT THE PHYSICAL COPY AND I WANTED TO ANNOTATE IT. Again y'all it's just so good I don't know how to explain how good it is. 

surtified™

What. The. Hell. I don't think I ever stopped crying when I was reading this book. Firstly, magnolia and BJ are the most frustrating couple i've ever had to read about ever. But I'm so glad he proposed to her man finally. they better get married now because if they don't I'll actually kill myself. Julian was definatly in love with Magnolia. Christian and Daisy belong together, but Romeo and Daisy is just Magnolia and BJ incarnated. Daisy and Magnolia need to be best friends. Magnolia's a bad girlfriend sorry not sorry. Taurie is the most amazing best friend ever, poor Jo and Henry. Now. The ending. JULES GOT SHOT???? AND BRIDGETS DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. Dude i'm telling you now I knew this was gonna happen. i could see it happening from the car accident. And when she starts rubbing her temples. Fammmmm I'm crying again. 

REREAD BC I GOT THE PHYSICAL COPY AND I WANTED TO ANNOTATE IT. Again y'all it's just so good I don't know how to explain how good it is. 

nya 

No one speak to me for the next 10 business days 

Jaclyn

This one took me a bit longer to get into but man oh man, rip my goddamn heart out. Also, Julian and parks?!?! They’re so good? 🥺🥺🥺 not ready for book five but want nothing more than to read book five right now. 

UGH things are making sense and we are getting more back story // This one left me in pieces

Madeline

Warning: these books are super toxic and kinda triggering, definitely not an easy, happy read, but the writing is so beautiful. 

Devon Van Loon

What the actual fuck WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD WHAT THW FUCK

Anushree Taparia

I loved every minute of this book!!! This was so frustrating but it was so worth it. It ended on a cliffhanger so I guess I’m now reading the 4th book…

Marcie Allen

5⭐️

I loved every minute of this book!!! This was so frustrating but it was so worth it. It ended on a cliffhanger so I guess I’m now reading the 4th book…

These books keep getting better and better.

I'm just glad there were no more of those miscommunication tropes that the second book was full of.

This was so angsty (which I love) and had me feeling so many emotions. I actually giggled aloud to myself, much to my own chagrin, and I also teared up, which is a plus. I loved the flashbacks of their teen years, and just them in general.

I love BJ and Magnolia together, and this just strengthened my love of them. They have a lot of issues but are two halves of a whole and complete each other, and I adore them.

I'm sad that I only have one book left, but I'm ready to see what's up with Christian and Daisy. It drove me a little nuts to just see little pieces of them and wonder how their story is going, but I loved BJ and Magnolia so much they distracted me back to their story.

Also, Julian was straight up adorable in this. If I didn't want BJ and Magnolia together so much, I would've wanted her with Julian. I love the tough man is soft with only her trope.

Anyways, the reread value of this is definitely huge, which just states how much I loved it.

Sarah Campbell

These books keep getting better and better.
I'm just glad there were no more of those miscommunication tropes that the second book was full of.
This was so angsty (which I love) and had me feeling so many emotions. I actually giggled aloud to myself, much to my own chagrin, and I also teared up, which is a plus. I loved the flashbacks of their teen years, and just them in general.
THE ANGST.
I love BJ and Magnolia together, and this just strengthened my love of them. They have a lot of issues but are two halves of a whole and complete each other, and I adore them.
I'm sad that I only have one book left, but I'm ready to see what's up with Christian and Daisy. It drove me a little nuts to just see little pieces of them and wonder how their story is going, but I loved BJ and Magnolia so much they distracted me back to their story.
Also, Julian was straight up adorable in this. If I didn't want BJ and Magnolia together so much, I would've wanted her with Julian. I love the tough man is soft with only her trope.
Anyways, the reread value of this is definitely huge, which just states how much I loved it.

Difficult to read but second of book was excellent 

Chyna Thomson 

Skye

♡ "I dare you to find anyone who loves anything more than I love him."

♡ “whatever happens I know I’m lucky to have had her. to have gotten to love her how I have."
•

buckle up, because it’s another long one! find my immediate bullet points first, followed by a more streamlined review.

⬡ BJ and Parks foreverrrrrrrr. how can i love two characters so much?! 
⬡ Julian Haites🥵…is it possible for a gang lord to be a cinnamon roll?
⬡ Christian Hemmes supremacy 🥵 …i need more 
⬡ these boys. help me!
⬡ Box Set for life
⬡ I need a Taura Sax
⬡ each book gets even better…how?!

•
it’s been almost a week since I finished this one, and honestly, i’m having trouble putting my thoughts into words because The Long Way Home was everything I wanted. please bear with me.

if you read my review for the first 
  Magnolia Parks
, you may remember that I talked a lot about the messiness that was Magnolia and BJ. well, this one has a lot of the same unhealthy shenanigans, but it was…different. 

yes, this book is still filled with the exhausting back-and-forth that makes you want to pull your hair out and shake the characters. but it’s filled with much more hope than what came before. lots of pain and trauma is uncovered. those uncoverings aren’t meant to be excuses, but they are intended to help provide some understanding. when it comes to the unhealthy habits, you see it through more of a self-preservation lens and less of a desire to hurt the person you love…it’s more about protecting yourself in order to survive and less about crushing your soulmate (although there are moments of that, too). 

we leave Magnolia Parks with the revelation of BJ’s big, ugly secret. with the truth exposed, it means Magnolia and BJ have to reconcile with it in their own ways. for Parks, that looks like it always does: running away…literally. for Beej it looks like self-help, therapy, and sobriety — a shocking twist, to be sure. 

when their magnetic pull inevitably brings their worlds together again, they have to navigate what that looks like and where it will go. enter a live-in girlfriend, a gang lord friend-with-benefits, and a friend group that wants nothing more than for you to be together, and you have the perfect ingredients for a zigzagged path. the question is…do all roads really lead home? 

one of the most beautiful things about this series is the internal monologues. The Long Way Home does a fantastic job showcasing BJ and Magnolia’s self-awareness and self-sabotage. you can’t help but desperately want them to end up together while constantly asking yourself if they really should. and just when you think it’s going to happen... that they are finally going to get it together, they take two steps back. every. single. time. 

the raw exploration of humanity…showing how we all mess up and handle things poorly at times is so relatable. Parks and Beej aren’t perfect, but they never actually claim to be. in fact, it’s the fear that they’ll never be enough that contributes to a lot of their drama. they are both aware of their shortcomings, and they are open to growing so they can be better for themselves and for each other. they don’t always do it right, but they want to. 

there’s no question that Magnolia and BJ are meant to be together. even if their external actions don’t show it all they time, internally they are working their way through the mess to find their way back to each other. you just have to trust that they’ll make it — even if they take the long way home… 👀 heyyyyyyyy, spot that title drop! 😆 

the long and short of it is that I’m absolutely head-over-heels, you-jump-I-jump, if-you’re-a-bird-I’m-a-bird in love with the Magnolia Parks Universe and all the characters that come with it. I want to squeeze myself in their dysfunctional found family and never return. my obsession deepens by the day, and I’m truly afraid I’ll never love any other books as much as I love these.

all that to say, The Long Way Home should come with a warning label, because while you may get the ending you want, Jessa Hastings throws a sharp stinger in there at the end to remind you that maybe you can’t have it all. 

I wish you well as you journey through this story, and I hope it’s as remarkable to you as it is to me. 

•

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ one bed 
♡ constantly wanting to shake sense into the characters 
♡ incredibly close friend groups 
♡ irresistible, ridiculous boys
♡ codependency 
♡ trauma bonds
♡ fake dating a gang lord
♡ therapy 
♡ anxiety rep 
♡ finding your way back to each other 
♡ personal growth journeys 
♡ London socialites 
♡ fashion 
♡ upscale nightlife 
♡ travel 
♡ soul mates
♡ childhood sweethearts 
♡ absolutely loving the world you're in 

trigger warnings:
☞ rape 
☞ loss of a child / miscarriage
☞ death of a loved one 
☞ sex as a coping mechanism
☞ sex as a weapon
☞ infidelity
☞ friendship betrayal 
☞ graphic violence

this FUCKED ME UP!!! bc wth, i love angst but damnnnnnn. i felt so bad for julian, and how things ended with him and magnolia. i 100% believe that the car accident was intentional, and that whatever happened with bridget at the end was meant for magnolia. i think some opposing gang wanted to hurt julian by hurting parks. my heart broke even more for bj and what he went through and finding out the real reason why he cheated. i love my girl magnolia, but she has got to take some sort of accountability for her actions as well. bj fucked up, but she also did too and i feel like no one really holds her responsible for her mistakes as much as they do with bj.

Danyella Barajas

CRYING LITERAL TEARS I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS AND THIS UNIVERSE SO SO SO MUCH AND THIS BOOK WAS LITERALLY A COMEDY I WAS LAUGHING OUT LOUD 24/7

!!!!! parks and BJ have my whole heart. the way this series has such neurotically loving characters with trauma, flaws, internal struggles, pride, decision making skills that make me want to scream - i live for it. truly a series i love and won’t find anything like. 

grayson gruber

i said it before but this series is so dumb but somehow still so good. idk how jessa managed to write a book where bj mostly redeems himself but she did it … though what she didnt do is hire a new editor because there are still SO MANY typos ?? and words missing ?? and weird spelling ?? 

otherwise tho, v good, v entertaining .. bj & magnolia’s drama went on a teensy bit too long but i’m not complaining too much bc its not unrealistic. also all i have thought ab while reading this is getting through it to get back to daisy haites & her perfect laundry room and julian haites & his stolen art <3 

i said it before but this series is so dumb but somehow still so good. idk how jessa managed to write a book where bj mostly redeems himself but she did it … though what she didnt do is hire a new editor because there are still SO MANY typos ?? and words missing ?? and weird spelling ?? 

otherwise tho, v good, v entertaining .. bj & magnolia’s drama went on a teensy bit too long but i’m not complaining too much bc its not unrealistic. also all i have thought ab while reading this is getting through it to get back to daisy haites & her perfect laundry room and julian haites & his stolen art <3 

Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home

Reviews

Highlights