On Dublin Street By Samantha Young

Four years ago, Jocelyn Butler left her tragic past behind in the States and started  in Edinburgh. Burying the grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without any real attachments has worked well for her so far but when Joss moves into a fantastic apartment on Dublin Street, her carefully guarded world is shaken to it's core by her new roommate's sexy older brother.

Braden Carmichael is a man who always gets what he wants. And what he wants is Jocelyn in his bed. Knowing how skittish Joss is concerning any kind of relationship, Braden proposes a sexual arrangement that should satisfy the intense attraction between them without it developing into anything 'more'. An intrigued Jocelyn agrees, completely unprepared for the Scotsman and his single-minded determination to strip the stubborn young woman bare... to the very soul.

Contains strong adult content. For readers ages 18+

 Holly's Review:

I really did love this book, but I am knocking off half a star and only going with 4.5 stars because I have a hard time with the heroine Jocelyn, I tried, I really did, but she got on my nerves with her inability to woman up to her issues and let people in.

Or maybe I just really liked Braden so much that her issues were too much for me. Anyway, all that said, my bitching is done, I promise, this was a great book with a smokin', dirty talking hero!

Jocelyn Butler endured a horrible tragedy at fourteen and for almost a decade has done everything she can to forget, including leaving her home in Virginia for beautiful Scotland. Believing that if she can avoid and real attachments to anyone or anything she will never have to feel that kind of pain and grief again. Enter Braden Carmichael! When Joss realizes that her sexy mystery man that she was forced to share a cab with is in fact her new roommates brother things start to get a little dicey!

Totally unable to fight the attraction between them Braden pursues Joss with vigor, which she attempts to thwart at every friggin' turn. This is where I started to get irritated with her. I get it! She has issues, don't we all? (sorry, I said my bitching was done, didn't I?) But Braden was freaking amazing. Holy Hotness Batman! And an oh so dirty talker, you all know how I love that! Needless to say he doesn't give up and all's well that ends well and we all know that's what going through all the emotional rides are for, to come out on the other side with a HEA, right?

We go through a lot of series heartache before the HEA and yes, I cried a bunch a real tears for lines like this...

Braden never once looked back and that was a good thing. If he had he would have seen Jocelyn Butler crying real tears for the first time in a long time, and he would have known that I lied. And lied big. For anyone who saw me, knew they were watching a heart in the process of breaking.

'I know you love me, Jocelyn, because there's no fucking way that I can be this much in love with you and not have you feel the same way. It's not possible.'

Like I said, I really did love this book! I also want to point out how much I enjoyed all of the secondary characters, some of them had great stories all there own. This is my first book by this author and if this one is any indication it will definitely not be my last!

 

 

Blood Will Tell by Samantha Young (Warriors of Ankh #1)

What would you do if you were born to be a predator? Would you fight your natural instincts or give in to your nature?

Eden is a soul eater closing in on her awakening. Her family has convinced her that soon she will have to take a life in order to save her own. It’s a decision Eden doesn’t want to deal with even as her hunger for souls grows stronger every day.

To complicate her impossible position, new guy in school Noah Valois’ determination to befriend her puts Eden in touch with a humanity she’s never known. Addicted to his company, his friendship and affection, she becomes more and more terrified that giving into her hunger will mean losing him forever…

… But when she discovers that Noah is not what he seems, his betrayal forces her to face two choices. One will offer her revenge and the destruction of a boy she loved. The other may offer her a life of eternal redemption…

Rhonda's Review 

 

YA Paranormal Romance (16 up)

“It was a house of horrors. And she was part of it.”

To Eden Winslow her family, and their kind they are “Blessed”. To the Neith and Ankh Warriors that hunt them, they are “Soul Eaters”.

Eden Winslow is 17 and on the cusp of coming of age, but her life has never been normal. After seeing the terror that goes on in the basement of her home when she was only a child, Eden has feared what she would become once she was awakened. Eden is a loner, and her brother Stellan has always been her best friend, until she meets the new boy at school Noah, who is also a loner. Noah and Eden become fast friends, but it wasn’t until she met Noah that her predatory instincts awakened. This sends Eden into a constant internal battle with her humanity when all her soul eater side wants to do is what’s in her nature to do. She’s being pressured by her family to have her Awakening ceremony, and also facing a prearranged betrothal that she doesn’t want.

Noah seems to be the only person who understands her, even though he doesn’t know what she is…… or does he?? As the story unfolds, Eden becomes the most hunted by the Neith Warriors, as well as her own kind.

I will admit, cover love is what got my attention, and then I read the blurb and this sounded like my kind of story, something a little different so I took the plunge! This story hit all the right spots with me, I was hooked at the prologue, and could hardly put this book down. Eden is such a fabulous character, she’s multi-layered and such a bad-ass to boot. Eden suffers a lot in this story, betrayal, loss, and trying to contain the monster within. I found this story to be very well written and not the fluffy YA one might expect. I found the secondary cast to be well developed too. This story is full of action and Samantha Young isn’t afraid of violence and killing off some characters. There is alot that goes on in this story, and I don't want to give up too many details. I know there is more to this journey and I can’t wait to continue on with Eden and see where the story takes her.