Jessa Hastings

the Long Way Home

Magnolia Parks

She is a beautiful, affluent, self-involved and mildly neurotic London socialite. He is Britain's most photographed bad-boy lothario who broke her heart. But Magnolia Parks and BJ Ballentine are meant to be, and everyone knows it. They're in the stars... just suspended in a strange kind of love that looks like hurting each other a lot of the time: She dates other people to keep him at bay; he sleeps with other girls to get back at her for it. But at the end of their every sad endeavour to get over one another, it's still each other they crawl back to. But their dysfunction is catching up with them, pulling at their seams and fraying the world they've built; a world where neither has to ever let the other go completely. As the cracks start to show and secrets begin to surface, Magnolia and BJ are finally forced to face the formidable question they've been avoiding all their lives: how many loves do you really get in a lifetime?

They’re so petty I love it. The “my man!” Took me out 😂😂

BJ’s not looking is intentional. It’s intention is to infuriate me. It’s working.

Excuse me for not being able to instantly process the hideous image forced upon my retinas the other night. Sorry for being a little bit perturbed at the sight of you in the sexual throes - in the erotic embrace -

the venereal clutches of the twerking slut!

ReadwithZanariah 

“How many loves do you get in a lifetime?

			How many people do you get to call yours? There are all sorts of loves in this world, not all of them, but most of them are beautiful. Some are old, some noble, some brave. Others are dishonourable and weak and make you so by association. Some are a low whisper on a sombre night, some are maddening. Some you can’t ignore—they slow-burn inside of you, never quite going out completely but you’re too scared to dare try to fan that flame. Some loves you pretend you don’t feel, even when you can, even when you know you do, even if he’s the first thing you think of in the morning, even if he’s like a match in the darkened room of your heart—because loving something how you love him is a painful love that puts rocks in your pockets and melancholy in your eyeballs and if time has taught you anything it’s that it doesn’t matter. You’ll love him forever anyway.”

prawnie

I still love you, say the turned-down edges of his perfect mouth.

so proud of my girl parks even if she threw away her chance with tom. ATLEAST SHE DIDNT END UP W BJ!

“Loving him is killing me too, and I’m afraid because how many loves really, do you get in a lifetime? How many chances do you give it before you let it go?”

taci

Parks drops her wrist, takes a step away from her. "Magnolia, listen "It was you?" Parks says in a tiny voice and I'm already on my feet. Shit. Paili and my eyes catch. She's panicked. "Parks." I grab Magnolia by the arm, pulling her back towards me. She moves when I move her, looks up at me, eyes like a hummingbird with no place to land. She stares up at me, mouth open, frozen in an old grief that has a weight that hasn't even hit her yet. Was it her?" she asks in almost a whisper. "Parks." I shake my head.

And maybe I am too stupid and fucked up in love to think straight, but it seems silly to me, suddenly, to throw away what BJ and I have because he had sex with a random girl at a party once when he was drunk. 

His eyes flicker over my face, landing on my mouth, and then it's happening before I know it's happening. Like waves crashing into a cliff face, that's how we kiss. I don't know whether I'm the water or he's the rock, but his hands are everywhere, all over me, up my white, cotton midi dress from Bottega Veneta and I'm moving backwards- pull off his shirt, run my hand over my old stomping grounds-and then I'm pressed up against the treehis mouth is on my neck--his breath has jagged edges that snag on my skin- and I'm up on his waist--our eyes lock. They're always greener than you'd think they are-almost the colour of the leaves of the tree we're about to do this under once again. He stares at me, blinking, his face all serious. "I love you," he tells me, his voice low and throaty. I swallow, nervous. "I love you too," I whisper. And then he pushes into ne. A tiny gasp gets caught in my throat and I rest my forehead on his. I

After we broke up I read the articles the Daily Mail and The Sun ran about her. Shit like, "Close sources say sorry-looking Parks is on her way to rehab after worried parents obsess over weight-loss,"" and other ones about her having diabetes, one about her picking up a parasite, but really she was just sad. So Bridge's lying. It couldn't be worse than that. "She wouldn't sh0wer. She sat in a ball in her bed for nearly a week. She didn't eat. She didn't drink saying is killing me. dehydration." "She eats like a bird anyway," I say and shrug, like none of what she's "She blacked out," Bridget nods. “We had to take her to the hospital for My heart sinks. Parks never told me that. Fuck.

then I recognise it. My face goes still. "Are you high?" I ask quietly. He stares at me for a split second, then sniffs a laugh. “No." I lean into him closer, but it's dark-I can't see. "Are you?" I ask louder.

Alexis Blau is a sore spot. Don't know whyI've never touched her. I'm going to later though. 

So, I guess she picked him, then? Hence the party. Every hot girl who has DM-ed me the last few months, every girl I've shagged that's still in my phone, every girl Parks felt nervous about in high school, I message them all. Invite every single one of them.

ca para mim foi a Paili que dormiu com o BJ

And he was very interested in Paili. And I don't know what happened, or why it was happening it was oddly out of character for her, like she had something to prove, even though she had nothing to prove. She's never been a real hook-up-in-a-club kind of girl, neither have Ibut that night, she was just going for it. Next to me. On a couch. And she'd been such a good friend the last few weeks, hadn't left my side. Lain in my bed with me, cried with me, sometimes for me.

mas ela não tem qualquer controlo emocional?

"Oy, Parks. Do you really not want me to come in there, or are you pretending that you don't want me to come in because you like to play hard to get because it makes you feel in control of me, or us and whatever the fuck we are but actually, you'd be fucking stoked if I jumped in there and felt you up against the wall?" There's a pause. A long pause. Fuck. And then, from the other side of the curtain... a small crestfallen voice. The second one."

cheated because wanted to? eu atirava para fora do barco 

" Her voice sounds small and I think she's killing me. “Why?" I lick my top lip, and my eyes can't meet hers anymore because I know what I'm about to do. I know how it's going to hurt her, sink her like an eight ball. I say it anyway: "Because I wanted to." That hits her how I knew it would.

"Six years," Marsaili says, quickly. At that, even my jaw goes lax. Six years." Magnolia repeats slowly.

Her dad...and Marsaili? She frowns. "That's strange." And it doesn't compute to her, because it wouldn't, because Parks isn't like that, she's not wired to think about the underbellies of emotion and because she's put Marsaili up on a pedestal all her life as the only adult who hasn't disappointed her, and I get this feeling like I need to get her the fuck out of here, like I need to keep her from seeing what she's about to see "Come on-"I grab her hand, pulling her backwards. “We should check on the room." "No." She snatches her hand back. "What are they doing here?" And as soon as she asks that, she gets her answer as they lean across the table and kiss in that fucking gross tender way old people kiss. 

"What's that?" He sounds defiant, but he swallows, nervous. "You need a foxhole too." He avoids my eyes. "She's your brother's wife " "It's complicated" Yeah, no shit" I cut in. "Im not playing mind games with a grieving widow." His jaw goes tight and he shakes his head. “You're not-we're not." Then what are we doing?" I look up at him, eyes wide and impatient. He takes a shallow breath that makes his barrel chest heave a bit. Blows that breath out of his mouth like there's a candle I can't see. He looks white as a ghost. "I'm in love with her."

Tom to Clara, and there's something. Some sort of weightiness. And maybe if I had eyes that could see invisible things I'd find a heavy chain from him to her that binds them--but my eyes can't see that. They can see, however, Tom's eyes-who find mine finally. And he looks, well, he doesn't look like a deer in headlights as much as a lamb caught in the thickets. And I don't know what it is but I know I'm not an idiot, and I know that I just caught something between them. I try to catch his eyes, give him a chance to talk my mind down. I don't know why it's up, if I'm honest, butI feel funny suddenly. On edge? Kind of exposed.

"He sleeps in my bed all the time." I shrug. "But it's just sleeping!" He blinks more. "He sleeps in your bed all the time but you're not sleeping...together?" "Right." I nod. "You sleep in your bed with your ex-boyfriend all the time but you're not sleeping together?" he clarifies. "Correct." I nod again. "That is fucked up." I pull back, affronted. "I beg your pardon?" He laughs. "That's so... fucking fucked." No. it isn't." My cheelks have gone hot, but I'm glad he's laughing.

giggles, you did need it- -you don't need to tell her every time you have it. You tell her to hurt her:" She folds her arms over her chest. "You have sex with other people and tell her because when you do, it makes her sad and her being sad about that validates your feelings for her. She still cares. She wouldn't be sad otherwise. She's sad that I'm sleeping with other people, it must be because she still has feelings for me. You do it to feel close to her." I scowl up at her, equal parts annoyed and confronted. "I don't need a psychology lecture, Bridge." "No, Beej." She gives me a pointed look. "You need a therapist."

He's completely shitfaced. He watches me, picks up a botle of Patron, bites out the cork, spits it on the floor then drinks straight from the bottle- -holds his arms open wide like, "what are you going to do", and then falls back on the sofa behind him and the girl keeps dancing on him, her hands slipping into his short-sleeved, yellow and brown. floral print Marni shirt. There are too many buttons undone. I want to go over and fix it. I don't want anyone seeing that much of him but me.

But then as I sat in my bedroom missing him, wishing I was with him, feeling frustrated that he wasn't there with me, I decided that the responsible thing to do--the grown-up thingwould be to go and find him and tell him all of it. That I like holding his hands, I want to keep holding his hands. That I like him cuddling me to sleep, that it was the best sleep I've had in three years that wasn't medicated. That sweeping his hair from his face, was the closest I've felt to someone since we ended. So, I put on my candy pink, square-neck knitted, mini dress from Balmain and the over-the-knee, suede stiletto boots from Casadei and took a car to Raffles, and then I get here and the first thing I see is that awful girl,

Jo gives me a wry look from his seat. Arse in my face, grinding, kissing my neck, kissing me, my eyes are closed, don't really care that I'm in a club and people can see me, people have seen me before-and then someone's hitting me. Jonah. Jonah's whacking me in the arm. I open my eyes and see past Surrey a blur of pink and realise that Parks decided to come after all. Her mouth's open. She's gone pale. "Fuck," I say and shove the girl off me and that's Magnolia's hint to Imove. She turns on her heel, hurrying through the crowd but I grab her arm, pulling her back to me. I shake my head. Parks" She shoves me off, eyes ragged. "Don't touch me." You said you weren't coming "Oh! Of course!" she calls loudly. "My mistake! Please do go on "Parks." I sigh, reaching for her. She gets close to my face, looks me square in the eye, thumps me in the chest. “You disgust me."

Leave london or the country and spare yourself the tourture, i don’t care how ‘bound’ you are to someone, that’s just complete shite.. she can tell what someone is wearing but can’t tell she’s being an absolute fool 😤

Lucy Williams

Overly problematic! 

Tom was the only saving grace! 

Leave london or the country and spare yourself the tourture, i don’t care how ‘bound’ you are to someone, that’s just complete shite.. she can tell what someone is wearing but can’t tell she’s being an absolute fool 😤

How many times can you read the same thing over and over again? the answer is every chapter ever 🫠

The drama had me wanting to know how it was going to play out but sad to say that’s all there was to this book. 

Toxic relationship, toxic people…and not just the main characters but the whole bunch. I mean for you to be rooting for them to get back together is actually crazy. The sister having this whole background of studying psychology and just got happy of them getting back together??

Not to mention the inconsistencies of the writing and information we’re given? One example was Magnolia claims Maisaille knew he cheated and gave her advice, then chapters later, she’s shocked to hear Parks say he cheated on her. Correct me if im just not reading properly but…huh?

Anyways, Tom deserved better, I called who BJ had cheated on with, and in my eyes, this is the only book that exists because she finally did what she should’ve :D

lily

How many times can you read the same thing over and over again? the answer is every chapter ever 🫠

The drama had me wanting to know how it was going to play out but sad to say that’s all there was to this book. 

Toxic relationship, toxic people…and not just the main characters but the whole bunch. I mean for you to be rooting for them to get back together is actually crazy. The sister having this whole background of studying psychology and just got happy of them getting back together??

Not to mention the inconsistencies of the writing and information we’re given? One example was Magnolia claims Maisaille knew he cheated and gave her advice, then chapters later, she’s shocked to hear Parks say he cheated on her. Correct me if im just not reading properly but…huh?

Anyways, Tom deserved better, I called who BJ had cheated on with, and in my eyes, this is the only book that exists because she finally did what she should’ve :D

I just want to be a rich London socialite with Tom England on my arm:( 

Nicole Mills

Talk about the ultimate betrayal. Feeling utterly drawn to someone by love, but being miserable in the process. It’s hard to read because it feels like looking at an abusive relationship from the outside and wondering why they don’t just leave already!

Amanda 

Well, I have started one of the most intimidating series I own. And while I can understand the angst and tension that can cause readers stomach ulcers. To me I felt it only slightly. All that my mind kept doing to me was wondering why the writing felt choppy. I think maybe if I read it a second time I could like it more but the writing and narrating of it just wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped. I will say the ending did make up for the beginning and end because everything felt better connected but we’ll see where the rest of the series will go. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️ • 1/5🌶️

Well, I have started one of the most intimidating series I own. And while I can understand the angst and tension that can cause readers stomach ulcers. To me I felt it only slightly. All that my mind kept doing to me was wondering why the writing felt choppy. I think maybe if I read it a second time I could like it more but the writing and narrating of it just wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped. I will say the ending did make up for the beginning and end because everything felt better connected but we’ll see where the rest of the series will go. 

No, because for all the people who told me to read this, why did they not warn me I’d want to rip my hair out right now? Like a heads up that this would fuck with my blood pressure would have been nice. Still ate. 

Katie Avila

there was so much going on and i simultaneously loved and hated reading all about it. there was more back and forth than a tennis match and i can’t say i actually liked any of the characters (other than tom england maybe), and yet i literally couldn’t put this down. i was thinking about it all the time, even though i’d get annoyed thinking about how crazy everything was. weird, right?

these people are genuinely more messed up than the gossip girl characters. chuck and blair look like the pinnacle of healthy communication compared to magnolia and BJ. and omg how am i to take you seriously when your nickname is literally BJ?? pls be serious 😭

that being said, i did find some twisted enjoyment in their highly dysfunctional (and chernobyl-level toxic) world. it weirdly helps that no one is the good guy? just a bunch of disgustingly wealthy antagonists running around london causing chaos and throwing wind to their self-respect and dignity.

i will say though: absolutely beautiful quotes. 

there are four more books in this series and whilst i would absolutely love to say that i am above indulging in the irritation i know will accompany the rest of this universe, i am simply not built to withstand the allure of a guilty pleasure read. apologies to those in my circle who will have to listen to me rant about it all x

Emilia Vulliamy

what the heck..

there was so much going on and i simultaneously loved and hated reading all about it. there was more back and forth than a tennis match and i can’t say i actually liked any of the characters (other than tom england maybe), and yet i literally couldn’t put this down. i was thinking about it all the time, even though i’d get annoyed thinking about how crazy everything was. weird, right?

these people are genuinely more messed up than the gossip girl characters. chuck and blair look like the pinnacle of healthy communication compared to magnolia and BJ. and omg how am i to take you seriously when your nickname is literally BJ?? pls be serious 😭

that being said, i did find some twisted enjoyment in their highly dysfunctional (and chernobyl-level toxic) world. it weirdly helps that no one is the good guy? just a bunch of disgustingly wealthy antagonists running around london causing chaos and throwing wind to their self-respect and dignity.

i will say though: absolutely beautiful quotes. 

there are four more books in this series and whilst i would absolutely love to say that i am above indulging in the irritation i know will accompany the rest of this universe, i am simply not built to withstand the allure of a guilty pleasure read. apologies to those in my circle who will have to listen to me rant about it all x

4.8 blazing fire arrows straight at BJs head.

Did I hate how much I loved this or love how much I hated it?? 

Is it me? Do I love toxic couples in the drama? I think yes, yes I do. 

This book felt like I was punched in the stomach and smacked on the ass and then given some champagne and I liked it. Tell me why I am crying over words on paper. Honestly they were so dramatic. The pettiest of the petty awards goes to them and still I ate it up because they’re all good friends of mine and I will hear no slander about them . This was like the best episode of reality television all put into one. It was just missing Nene leakes. The last 5% doesn’t exist for me and I hope Paili gets hit by a bus with friends like that who needs enemies? 

“Parks and me - it’s in the fucking stars 

“I’ve had the best life bring fucked up by you.”

“Two days ago, despite my insistence to the contrary you shared a very graphic story about you and the ex toyfriend in a boat in lake Como “😂😂 

“Oh dear god, can I get a copy of that?”

BJ is not looking as intentional. It’s intentional infuriate me. It’s working. 

The great detail on which he went into about cheating and how he was glad he didn’t think about M and how it was good even great???? 

If there’s going to be any I prefer the ones where they deeply regret it and it meant nothing and a knife was held to their throat 

Throws the book away turns out your girl can’t handle the cheating trope 

4.8 blazing fire arrows straight at BJs head.

Did I hate how much I loved this or love how much I hated it?? 

Is it me? Do I love toxic couples in the drama? I think yes, yes I do. 

This book felt like I was punched in the stomach and smacked on the ass and then given some champagne and I liked it. Tell me why I am crying over words on paper. Honestly they were so dramatic. The pettiest of the petty awards goes to them and still I ate it up because they’re all good friends of mine and I will hear no slander about them . This was like the best episode of reality television all put into one. It was just missing Nene leakes. The last 5% doesn’t exist for me and I hope Paili gets hit by a bus with friends like that who needs enemies? 

Fav quotes:

“Parks and me - it’s in the fucking stars 

“I’ve had the best life bring fucked up by you.”

Honourable mentions: 

“Two days ago, despite my insistence to the contrary you shared a very graphic story about you and the ex toyfriend in a boat in lake Como “😂😂 

“Oh dear god, can I get a copy of that?”

“Not my MC20!!! He cries.”

BJ is not looking as intentional. It’s intentional infuriate me. It’s working. 

Things I hated:

The cheating trope 

The great detail on which he went into about cheating and how he was glad he didn’t think about M and how it was good even great???? 

If there’s going to be any I prefer the ones where they deeply regret it and it meant nothing and a knife was held to their throat 

Throws the book away turns out your girl can’t handle the cheating trope 

it was toxic and i was over it at the end, but needed this after throne of glass series

julie reads

A romance series for the girlies who wish they were hot, rich, beloved by a half-dozen hot guys at once, and rather tortured about it

Amelia Hruby

i loveeeee drama, it was bomb after bomb after bomb, and then to leave it all up in the air like GIRL lowkey worst mmc cuz it really feels like he’s not even becoming a good person, just doing the same shit constantly… idk very weird but okay

debbie <3

How can I love a book that has just gutted me?

Mariah crawford

Entertaining, dramatic, ridiculous. BJ is the most insufferable man, I hate him and I hate everyone who enables his & Magnolia’s relationship. I’m begging Magnolia to move on!! If you’re looking for the reality tv brain rot drama in book form…look no further. I honestly think I loved it?? Idk. I <3 Tom England and I forgive him for being a blonde man. 

If Magnolia & BJ end up together I will get violent. I am embarrassingly invested in these insufferable characters lives, I cannot explain what Jessa Hastings has sprinkled into these books. I honestly tried not to like it but there’s a wattpad-ish charm here and I’m into it. This book had me gossiping to my husband like I knew these people. 

Alli

Entertaining, dramatic, ridiculous. BJ is the most insufferable man, I hate him and I hate everyone who enables his & Magnolia’s relationship. I’m begging Magnolia to move on!! If you’re looking for the reality tv brain rot drama in book form…look no further. I honestly think I loved it?? Idk. I <3 Tom England and I forgive him for being a blonde man. 

If Magnolia & BJ end up together I will get violent. I am embarrassingly invested in these insufferable characters lives, I cannot explain what Jessa Hastings has sprinkled into these books. I honestly tried not to like it but there’s a wattpad-ish charm here and I’m into it. This book had me gossiping to my husband like I knew these people. 

lowkey got bored of the back and forth between them being on good terms or not. don’t see how a lot of it got blamed on magnolia. so so annoyed at the ending. 2 stars for the drama bc i’m a fiend for that and that it served the purpose i wanted it for - something i don’t have to think about to pass my time

Gemma McCarthy

Jennifer Gosnell

Linara K.S

This both 
  infuriated
 and 
  enthralled
 me. I can't decide between it being pointless or a highly realistic cautionary tale on toxic relationships. I mean.... food for thought I guess?

update: the more I think about this book the angrier I get. Might as well give it 2 stars ⭐⭐
the first ⭐ for the entertainment value.
and the second ⭐ for the emotional roller-coaster these senseless, tact-less, immature characters made me go through for absolutely no apparent reason. The achievement is commendable.

So so SO much happened in this one… I can’t believe it started in NY… and ended up where it did. Really enjoyed the writing in this one, and I love how both characters’ internal thought processes really, FINALLY made sense.

 but I did not love this book.  It was compelling, but the main characters are awful and I suspect I am too old to see their behavior as romantic.

emily  amata

I love you @sagepalmer but I did not love this book.  It was compelling, but the main characters are awful and I suspect I am too old to see their behavior as romantic.

so dumb. wtaf. Don’t see how Magnolia was wrong in most of this book but sure. Never wanted her with BJ. Tom all the way 

Cameron Gleeson 

as fun as it gets when u despise one of the main characters

utsa

arwen

Hanna Rybchynska

Wow.. this was bad. I had to force myself to finish this book. 

I felt that the book run in circles and I never saw a resolution. This characters create their own problems and then are surprised that the problems exist. I was frustrated and couldn't find any connection nor feel empathy for any of them. 

Not for me... I will not continue this series.

kait

I have been so excited about this book and it definitely lived up to the hype. While this relationship is extremely toxic, I adored almost every aspect of this book. By that, I mean that the descriptions of hurt, loss, infatuation, obsession, first love, and more are incredible. They feel so real and I genuinely felt what the characters were feeling in those moments. It was easy to feel emotional for them but also to be very emotional about them. Some of the characters in this book are absolutely deplorable and I really hate all the men and their actions that they seem to think are perfectly okay (news flash: no). I was also getting annoyed with the descriptions of clothing in every chapter but it makes so much sense in the end, I promise it's worth it! I was absolutely shocked. I am actually very excited for the other books in this series because this was just so compelling and captivating. I honestly didn't want to put it down.

Magnolia Parks the Long Way Home

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