On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
On Dublin Street Series
(Book #1)
Kindle Edition: 415 pages
First Published: August 31st 2012 by NAL
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Romance, Erotic Romance, Chick Lit
Kindle * B&N * Paperback * Audiobook * Goodreads
Synopsis (From Goodreads)
Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare…
Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.
Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.
But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.
My thoughts on On Dublin Street
WARNING: This may have spoilery information. You’ve been warned.
This was one of those books that you see on so many Booktuber channels and so many people talk about it, that you just have to pick it up and read it yourself. And I saw book #4 on paperback at my local book store so my interest was raised.
Started, On Dublin Street, in the audiobook version and let me tell you the narrators accent it was to die for. The Scottish accent made me melt right there on the spot when I first listen to it.
Joss, with all her personality and issues, was a great main character for this story. You can see from beginning to end how she fights and struggle against herself, her feelings, her decision, all of it. How she tries to protect herself from pain but it’s not always possible, as she finds out, to get a wall around yourself. You do that and you keep the pain away, but you also prevent happiness from reaching you.
Braden, as a main character was a problem for me at the beginning. He just got on my nerves, for some strange reason, but as the book progresses you see other sides of him, and you get to know him and the reasons behind his actions. He is a really good guy and I think that as a friend I would love to have him, not as a boyfriend… well… maybe *smiles*
The so-called arrangement between Joss and Braden didn’t sit well with me. It felt like a bad thing to accept on her part and, a dushbag move from his part. Yeah, yeah. Sex without strings and all that. It doesn’t work, most of the time, and to be honest I didn’t knew if I wanted to slap or congratulate Braden on some of his moves during the time it lasted.
The psychological aspect of this novel was what kept me on my toes more. What I mean by that is that the trauma of loosing her family and, later on Drew, left Joss with so many issues that I wouldn’t know where to begin with them. The good part was that during the story, she made the right decisions to get over those issues, one slow and painful step at a time. It was very realistic, in my opinion, the way Samantha Young wrote Joss.
When she, Joss, told Ellie that life was too short and Braden didn’t deserve a life dealing with her issues… I wanted to scream at her. I swear to God, I wanted to scream at her. And the way Braden got her to stay with him, it was shitty in some ways but at the same time he deserves an award for being clever during a moment of pain.
Adam and Ellie were the other couple here that was featured. Let me tell you that Adam deserves a kick in the but. The good thing is that he already man up and admitted his feelings for Ellie to his best friend Braden. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to happen between those two.
I like how Samantha Young writes, she is descriptive but not overly so and her story was not tiresome to read. Sometimes overly descriptive novels made me want to skip pages, this one was not one of those kind of novels.
On Dublin Street made me laugh, cry, cringe and I even hyperventilated during some situations. It has a feel of reality without being real. The characters are down to earth and solid. The situations where realistic and for me that counts a lot.
Quotes
“I have a girlfriend but I’m not blind. Just because I can’t do anything doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to look.“
“Shit happens, babe, there’s no protecting against it. You also can’t let it take over your life and rule your relationships with people. We need to enjoy the time we have, however long it’s going to be. Stop running.“
“You make me laugh, you challenge me, you turn me on like no else can. I feel like I’m missing something really important when you’re gone. So important I don’t feel like myself. I’ve never felt like someone was mine before. But you’re mine, Jocelyn. I’ve known that from the moment we met. And I’m yours. I don’t want to be anybody else’s, babe.“
Rating
I think it’s good and I like it a lot.
Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. She’s been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance 2012 for her international bestselling novel ON DUBLIN STREET, Best Romance 2014 for BEFORE JAMAICA LANE, and Best Romance 2015 for HERO. ON DUBLIN STREET is Samantha’s first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in twenty-nine countries.