On Dublin Street by Samantha Young | Book Review

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

On Dublin Street #1

First Published: 2012

Paperback

New Adult, Contemporary romance

Rating:

Re-Readability:

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.

On Dublin Street is one of the first contemporary novels I read back in 2013 that truly blew me away, especially taking in how high my expectations were because of the hype. Young's first foray into adult territory is written and executed amazingly well, with a story that keeps you reading, characters you can root for and a romance that will make you swoon. 

The novel is narrator by our main character, Jocelyn "Joss" Butler. A sexy, smart and caring young woman who has some heavy baggage from her family's untimely death. But don't worry, she's working on it. Or trying to. Unlike a lot of heroines (whom I find annoying, honestly), Joss doesn't sit around waiting for things to change. She's actively trying to get better. And sometimes, the actions she took made my heart ache, because I just wanted for her to get her HEA already.

And I wanted her to get it with Braden, our hot, rich caveman. It's very easy to err and make a douche out of an alpha male, but when you do it right, like with Braden, you get a charming mix of attitude, personality and tenderness. Braden is wickedly smart, impossibly stubborn, and somewhat manipulative, but he uses those powers for good. He follows his guts and listen to what his heart tells him, and more often that not he's right.

And most importantly - if Braden wasn't this way, his romance with Joss wouldn't have worked. Joss needs someone who can stand on equal grounds with her. Someone who won't back down until all her walls are rubble and she has no other choice but to surrender. Someone with whom she wouldn't need to put everything to words. 

As a side note... holly hawt chemistry batman! These two should stay away from flammable stuff otherwise they will catch on fire! It doesn't even matter whether they're arguing, bantering or getting along, they just heat the place up. 

My favorite side character from this installment has to be Braden's sister and Joss's roommate, Ellie. She's sweet, funny and absolutely adorable, not to mention a good friend and sister. She's a key factor in Joss's recovery, not just decoration.

So if you're looking for a good contemporary, you should pick this one. It really does have everything!

Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashley | Book Review

Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Fantasyland #1
First Published: August 15, 2011
Kindle Edition
Adult, fantasy
Rating:

Seoafin “Finnie” Wilde was taught by her parents that every breath was a treasure and to seek every adventure she could find. And she learns this lesson the hard way when they perish in a plane crash. But she never forgets and when she discovers there is a parallel universe where every person has a twin, she finds a witch who can send her there so she can have the adventure of a lifetime.

But upon arrival in the Winter Wonderland of Lunwyn, she realizes she’s been played by her twin and finds herself walking down the aisle to be wed to The Drakkar.

Thrown into inauspicious circumstances, with years of practice, Finnie bests the challenges and digs into her adventure. But as Frey Drakkar discovers the woman who is his new wife is not Princess Sjofn, a woman he dislikes but instead, his Finnie, a free-spirit with a thirst for venture just like him, without her knowledge he orders his new bride bound to his frozen world, everlasting.

But at the same time Frey plunges Finnie into a web of political intrigue that includes assassination plots, poison, magic, mystery and… dragons.

To tell you the truth, I have never planned on reading this one, or any book in the series. It was a mixture of things; the first being the unappealing covers, the second being the synopsis which was overly long and messily structured (imo).

But I have read another Kristen Ashley novel (Play It Safe) which I loved, so when this one only $0.99 I decided I would get it. For that price, what did I really have to lose? Luckily for this book, I almost immediately found myself in the mood for a romance, and picked it up. There were a lot of things that I liked about it. There were a few I didn't.

But at the end of the day, I decided to rate it based on my enjoyment which was a solid four stars.

In it's essence, it's a pretty simple premise: Finnie lost her parents when she was younger, so when she discovers there exists a parallel universe to ours where they still live and breath (even if it's a different version of them), she jumps on the opportunity to see them again, switching places with that world's Sjofn.

Only turns out it's that Sjofn's wedding day... so now Finnie is getting married, to a frightening beast of a man called Frey Drakkar ("The Dragon") and this Frey doesn't really like Sjofn and so he thinks he doesn't like Finnie.

Thus starts the little adventure that would eventually lead to these two falling in love.

Finne was a good character, and a good person, refusing to let any negativity control her life. She finds joy in whatever and wherever she is, easily excitable, and has a wondering spirit. She fit the Drakkar very well, despite a few hits and glitches along the way (and moments I was shaking my head because shame on you Drakkar!). The Drakkar is a natural born leader, a strategic, imposing figure with a lot of power at his hands, being (essentially), the true king of Finnie's country.

It's a marriage-before-love type of story, which is one of my favorite tropes in historical and this reads very much like an historical in the medieval fantasy world it presents. A fantasy world that is well thought out, but takes second place to the love story itself.

And I honestly, and truly enjoyed that story very much, even if I was a bit sad with the villain.

However, there were a few things that bothered me, and they mostly had to do with the writing. It's not the best... not even close. It took a while for me to get used to it and put it out of my mind enough to concentrate on the story itself. It was all kind of choppy at places and very young, which is a bit weird considering this has some very adult content. 

Or maybe, it felt young because of how Finnie talks and expresses herself. Finnie should be around thirty years old, but I wouldn't put her past twenty-two based on her voice. She sounded so, so young to me. Younger that I, and I am 22 years old. Her inner monologues included a tedious amount of "wow", "cool", "awesome", and the likes. Every new thing she encountered was awesome and freaking beautiful, more than the last one. After a while, I was desensitized to all her exclamations of beauty because they appeared so often and so frequently.

Then there were the descriptions. Good god. How many dresses and items of clothing can you describe to teeny tiny details? It drove me mad. I did not need to know the exact shade and shape of your dress, what fabric it was made from and how many bows and strings and belts it had in it. It gives nothing to the story. I can handle a few dress descriptions in order to establish the fashion and how it differs from ours. But almost every dress and every item of clothing you see? It was too much by far. You can leave some things to the imagination, and it won't take from the story at all.

These two things were the major issues I had with the book, and while they did bother me greatly, I decided to just skim the descriptions and focus and the story and I enjoyed that story enough to one click and start the second book immediately.