This Man Jodi Ellen Malpas Novels & Stories

Okay, I picked this one up because I saw the author's name and thought, hey, she wrote the 'This Man' series, right? Gotta be a ride. The setup is classic Malpas: impossibly rich, devastatingly handsome alpha male with a mysterious past and a mountain of issues, plus the kind-of-ordinary woman who gets swept into his chaotic orbit. The prose is very... direct. Like, if you enjoy a lot of internal monologue about how hot and confusing the guy is, you'll be set. Honestly, I found myself skimming whole paragraphs of the heroine's angsty internal debates. The actual plot, when it finally gets moving, has a couple of decent twists, but you have to wade through a lot of repetitive longing to get there.

My main issue, though, is the relationship dynamic. It's pretty consistently high-drama and leans into that possessive, 'you're mine' trope really hard. Some people are totally into that, and if you are, this book is basically catnip. For me, it started to feel a bit exhausting. I kept thinking, 'Girl, just talk to him properly for five minutes.' But then, of course, there wouldn't be a 300-page book. It's a very specific flavor of romance. If you loved 'Bared to You' or 'Fifty Shades' and want more in that exact vein, you'll probably enjoy it. If you prefer your love stories with a side of mutual respect and healthy communication from the get-go, maybe give it a pass.

This whole thing just sat so weirdly with me. The main character is Ava O'Shea, a successful interior designer who's supposed to be super independent. But the way her 'love story' with Jesse Ward unfolds, I could barely finish the book. He’s this absurdly wealthy, controlling hotelier who essentially stalks and manipulates her into a relationship. The story keeps calling it passion, but it reads like a textbook on red flags.

I know it’s meant to be dark romance, and Jesse is the 'This Man' of the title, but Ava’s journey to accepting him often feels less like empowerment and more like erosion. The book spends so much time on their obsessive, tumultuous dynamic that her character outside of him never fully materializes. I kept waiting for her to redecorate his problematic personality instead of his penthouse.

It's been a while since I revisited 'This Man', but the thing I can't shake about Malpas's approach to romantic tension is how incredibly physical it is. I mean, it's not just a series of near-misses and longing glances; it's this whole environment Jesse creates. The Avon Hotel itself feels like an extension of the tension, all oppressive luxury and controlled spaces. You get the sense Ava's breathing his filtered air, walking on his carpets, living in his gilded cage. The power imbalance isn't just emotional, it's architectural. He owns the ground she stands on.

That said, a lot of readers found it crossed over from tense into straight-up uncomfortable, and I get that. The tension sometimes hinges on Jesse being possessive and domineering in a way that feels less 'dark romance alpha' and more 'red flag central' depending on your tolerance. For me, the tension worked because Ava pushes back. It's not a submission; it's a constant, messy negotiation. The tension comes from wondering if this dynamic can ever become something healthy, or if it's just a beautifully decorated trap. I remember skimming some chapters faster because the atmosphere was so thick with his intensity it was almost claustrophobic. It's a specific, acquired taste kind of tension, for sure.