Title: On Dublin Street
Series: On Dublin Street #1
Author: Samantha Young
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: August 31, 2012
Format: eBook
Pages: 372
Reread: Lost Count
On Dublin Street Review
There are quite a few books that have landed on my most favorite books list, and On Dublin Street by Samantha Young is one of them.
This novel instantly drew me in when I started exploring New Adult Romances.
First in the series, you’ll follow the story of the original characters who started it all: Jocelyn Butler, a strong heroine, and Braden Carmichael, a billionaire alpha male.
From the push and pull and the slow-burn romance between the main characters to friends-with-benefits arrangement, to healing, and to ultimately falling in love, this book will take you on an unforgettable romantic ride.
“Was I shy? No. Not shy. Just, usually blissfully indifferent. I liked it that way. It was safer.”
Jocelyn ‘Joss’ Butler has experienced a lot of darkness in her life. Losing her family when she was 15 and her best friend just a few years later, forming attachments with people has always been a no-go for her. The walls around her mind and heart are coated with steel, unpenetrable, emotionless.
Following the incident, she lived in various foster homes across the US before relocating to Dublin at 18 to make a fresh start.
A recent college graduate, she’s on the lookout for a new apartment to rent. She meets Ellie Carmichael, a charming woman living in a high-end luxury apartment. Joss reluctantly likes her and the apartment and moves in.
However, Ellie and her infuriating alpha male of a brother – Braden Carmichael – test her resolution to keep a distance from people.
Sometimes the clouds weren’t weightless. Sometimes their bellies got dark and full. It was life. It happened. It didn’t mean it wasn’t scary, or that I wasn’t still afraid, but now I knew that as long as I was standing under it with Braden beside me when those clouds broke, I’d be alright.
On Dublin Street is written completely from Joss’ Point of View.
I was rooting for her from the moment I started this book.
With that tense prologue – a glimpse of why Joss is the way she is, and her fear of the future, made me want to be her friend. She’s strong enough to realize that she needs someone to talk to, but stubborn enough to put her head in the sand.
Although she sometimes made me want to wring her neck with her decisions, she was a realistic character, and her development throughout the story is one of the best parts of the book.
“You’re good with the words, I’ll give you that.”
“I’m good with my hands. Will you let me give you that?”
Coming to Braden… *sigh*
If you like your heroes dominant, who is determined to win the heart of his closed-off heroine and is very possessive about her, who loves his family and is protective of all of them, you’ll love Braden.
He’s charming when he wants to be, and a little manipulative to make things go his way, but he always has the best interest for Joss.
He is one of my favorite book boyfriends and I re-read this book because of him.
“I love you. You’re mine. I’ll kill any bastard who tries to take you from me.”
On the surface, this book might seem like a steamy romance with lots of sexy bits, but honestly, it’s a book layered with so much more. Both our characters have faced darkness in their lives, Joss more so, and in every chapter, every interaction, you see the way they open up to each other.
Braden especially knows what he wants and goes after it. He wants Jocelyn, and he’s always ensured that while pursuing her, he doesn’t cross that invisible line. I loved Braden. He’s highhanded, arrogant, an asshole at times, but he was always about Jocelyn and willing to fight for her.
Their relationship is beautiful. It’s like Joss was just waiting for Braden to rush in and break down her walls, and just love her. They were perfect for one another.
“I know you love me, Jocelyn, because there’s no fucking way I can be this much in love with you, and not have you feel the same way. It’s not possible.”
Braden and Joss have carved a space in my heart. I loved the story, the main character’s journey and their passionate romance, the secondary characters and their found family, and just about everything else.
It’s also that one book that always pops up in my mind every time someone asks me for recommendations.
Now that you’ve read my review, go read it
If you’re looking for more of Joss and Braden Content, here’s the list:
- On Dublin Street Christmas
- On Dublin Street Halloween
- Castle Hill (Novella)
- Stars Over Castle Hill (Novella)
- On Dublin Street: The Bonus Material (Novella)
Books like On Dublin Street by Samantha Young I have reviewed and loved:
- Wall Street Titan – The hero, a billionaire, is obsessed with the heroine who works as a librarian and a freelance editor.
- Bared to You – The hero owns a corporate empire and is obsessive over the heroine who works in his office building.
- Twisted Love – A dark new adult romance where the hero falls for his best friend’s sister.
On Dublin Street Blurb:
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.
Purchase Links
About Samantha Young:
Samantha is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee. Samantha has written over 50 books and is published in 31 countries. She writes emotional and angsty romance, often set where she resides—in her beloved home country Scotland. Samantha splits her time between her family, writing and chasing after two very mischievous cavapoos.
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