Actual rating: 3.5 
 I think I overhyped Magnolia for myself. Or all the good reviews I had seen about it overhyped it for me. Either way, I was hoping for a whole lot from this book but sadly it didn't live up to my expectations. 
 Magnolia has a great southern atmosphere that was almost a character itself. I've never been to the southern United States but the way Kristi Cook wrote about Mississippi really allowed me to imagine the sights and sounds as if I was. 
 The relationship between Jemma and Ryder is something I both loved and wished was better. Hate to love romance is one of my favourite tropes because I love watching characters transition and realize that they may have more in common with each other than they originally thought. Jemma and Ryder's families have been extremely close since the Civil War and have been waiting for two children of the opposite sex to be born around the same time to marry and unite the two families as one. They've basically been shipped since they were born so it's easy to understand why they would want to rebel against the wishes of their parents. 
 They had solid chemistry together but I felt that there was a lot of passion missing, in both their love and hate for each other. The initial dislike came off as more disdain for their parents' wishes rather than each other. While they were closer as kids, they still hung out with the same people in high school. Their romance followed suit. There was really only one big moment of passion that got me excited but then it fizzled and didn't really impress me as much for the rest of the story. I loved them together but there should've been more sparks. 
 I didn't hate Magnolia by any means, but I did expect to love it more. I really enjoy Jemma and Ryder together and truly would have liked to see a more passionate romance than what was given.