On Dublin Street by Samantha YoungSeries: On Dublin Street #1
Published by: NAL on August 31, 2012
Genre: Contemporary, Erotica, Romance
Pages: 415
Source: NetGalley
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★
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.
If you read my review of Just for Now by Abbi Glines, you’ll know that I’ve been DESPERATE for something sexy. Just for Now was okay, but it wasn’t really the hot, dirty, heavy, dripping with lust kind of book I was looking for. I’m very pleased to say that On Dublin Street rocked my sexual universe.
This book was HOT. I mean.. really, really hot. The book itself was screaming sex. I loved it. Consider my hunger for a heavy, lusty book satisfied.
But moving on from the sex for a second.. I really connected with On Dublin Street because of the whole American-in-Scotland thing. Jocelyn is an American but she moves to Scotland for university and then continues living there afterwards and then starts a relationship with a Scotsman. So we have people teasing her about her accent, people arguing over lingo, Jocelyn adapting to a new culture, etc. I can totally relate to this because that character is ME! I’m an American and I moved to the UK to go to university and I fell in love with a Brit! Well, it was more like I fell in love with a Bit so then I moved to the UK.. but let’s not get technical. It was awesome just to read about someone who went through the same experiences I did and in a similar part of the world!
What I found most interesting about this book was that the traditional male and female roles were reversed. In books like this, normally you have the girl and then the strong, badass playboy. The girl wants a relationship and the guy is kind of closed off and struggling to change. It was the complete opposite in On Dublin Street! I mean, yes, Braden was a bit of a playboy (or a serial monogamist), but Jocelyn was the one who was emotionally closed off and against having a ‘normal’ relationship.
On Dublin Street did more than just fulfil my craving for a hot book; it also fulfilled my craving for another mind blowing emotional roller coaster. I’ve been craving more books like Beautiful Disaster, Easy, and Seduced in the Dark. Well, ladies and gentleman, we have a winner!
On Dublin Street was certainly loaded with intriguing emotional baggage. As much as it is about a hot sexual escapade, it’s also about a girl struggling with her past and trying to come to terms with the horrors that linger there. I have to admit, sometimes Jocelyn drove me completely insane. She was an emotional wreck and refused to let people into her life. Towards the end it started bothering me most, because that’s when her friends really needed her to be there for them and she just closed herself off completely. I wanted to bang her head against the wall! But I just forced myself to remember that this was the point of the book—it’s about an emotional journey and overcoming traumas. Not everyone is able to deal with things like that, and it’s about Jocelyn struggling to overcome it.
And then there was Braden. Braden is a complete and utter sex GOD, but still manages to be a nice guy. Sure he may date a lot of women, but he doesn’t cheat on them. Yes, he’s rich, but he’s not an arrogant asshole. He’s kind and sweet and he truly cares about people. But in bed, he’s no gentleman. 😉 He does have his moments of jealousy, but don’t we all? Braden puts up with a lot of crap from Jocelyn and it was nice to see him hang in there. He supports people through the bad times and doesn’t just bail when things get tough.
On Dublin Street was everything I hoped it would be. It was HOT THROUGH THE ROOF, an emotional whirlwind, drove me to the edge of tears, and was also a little heart-warming. I highly recommend it!
The Verdict
OMG I loved this book so much !!!!! I was fun and sexy and excatly what I had hoped for!
Love the quote you picked: “Our attraction was nuclear” hell yes!! :)) I cannot wait for the next book!!
I’m so, so, SO glad you loved it too, Danny!! I’m totally psyched for the next book too! Why must we wait! LOL!
A female who is emotionally closed off and against having a ‘normal’ relationship? I think I’d like to read about that. Thanks for introducing me to something new 🙂
My pleasure! It is oddly refreshing, isn’t it?
Digging your new Gravatar! 😀
I loved this one too and was SO surprised by the unexpected depth in it. It had so much more than what met the eye and I was SO glad I picked it up. Fantastic review! 🙂
Your review is one of the ones that made me decide to read the book! So THANK YOU!! 🙂 🙂
Wow. An erotica with good sex and a solid plot. It’s not my typical genre but it sounds pretty good.
A fantastic review! I recently read & really enjoyed this book, I agree with you on Jocelyn, she drove me batty.
I’m looking forward to the next book, I loved this setting! Hopefully the characters are as smexy 🙂
That is nice it is what you were looking for and interesting that the male/female roles were reversed.
MEHR!!! I can’t wait to read this book. You made it sound so sexy and emotionally damaged. hehe. You know I love the same books you do so I will probably fall in love with this one too.
GREAT REVIEW
I’ve seen so much praise for this book, and your glowing review just amped up my excitement to a whole new level. 🙂 Even though I’m not normally a reader of romance novels, WOW does this book sound sexy ! Brilliant review, Ashley!
So cool that you could connect with the MC so well! And how exciting to move to the UK and fall in love. You should write a book!
I really really want to read this. I am like you, all this YA is not always satisfying and a lot of the time I just want them to get down and dirty (even though I know they won’t) I bought Easy for my Kindle a while back but haven’t gotten to read it yet, maybe I’ll have to start it today. And then buy this one! Great review!
As I’m sure you know from loads of other bloggers, Easy is awesome!! It’s not quite as hot as On Dublin Street, but it’s a fabulous read! I can’t wait to see what you think of it. 🙂
Really? This is one of those too-hot-to-be-true books? I mean, the cover should have clued me in, but I was completely oblivious until now. Truth be told, it sounds too good to pass. Count me in.
I have yet to read a New Adult book but I am definitely considering starting with this one! I love how the roles are reversed with the guy pining for the girl. And I’m definitely looking forward to the hot romance. 😀
Awesome review! ^.^
I really hope you love it Addie! You should read more new adult books – they’re fabulous! 🙂
Easy and Beautiful Disaster are both great ones to start out with too!
I am ripping my hair out because i want to read this book and my time is limited because there are other books in order to read! 🙁
I hate it when that happens!! 🙁 Sometimes I really wish I could read like five books at once because there are so many books I want to read and I can never decide what to read first…
And this is just horrible isnt?People suggest me to read it after Crossfire series! 😛
The two books go really well together! I went at it the other way around: On Dublin Street and then Bared to You. They’re kind of similar in style/vibe so if you love Bared to You, you’ll definitely love On Dublin Street!!
I agree. the more you like you read books from a spesific genre the more you are ”hunting” for the same genre too. It all depends from the mood ofcource. For example i cant read any YA book at the moment even that i read at least 90% of YA books most of the time