Review: Dublin Street by Samantha Young

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Publication Date: August 31, 2012

Wow, I've really broke my crappy contemporary romance streak with Dublin Street and Easy by Tammara Webber. This book was fantastic and turned out to be much more than the fluffy romance that I had expected it to be. It was addictive and I pulled close to an all nighter to finish it. 

Braden Carmichael is pure awesomeness. He's sexy, arrogant, rich-the total alpha male. What I liked about how the author wrote Braden is that I could actually root for him and Jocelyn as a couple. The problem I have sometimes in contemporary romances with an alpha male lead is that instead of rooting for the heroine to fall in love, I'm hoping she heads to the nearest police station to fill out a restraining order. Braden has a softer side and you could see early on how much he cares for Jocelyn. His affection for his sister was also endearing.

Jocelyn was sympathetic up to a point. I could understand why she had put a wall up around her, but towards the end I felt she was being unnecessarily angsty. I wanted to jump through the book and shake some damn sense into her. I liked the slow build of her relationship with Braden. Although they feel an instant attraction to one another, they don't jump into bed together within the first ten pages.

The love scenes were very hot. The first one especially was a killer since there was such a nice build-up  in the book. Boy, the two of them had gutter mouths on them! I loved that the gender roles were reversed and that Jocelyn was the one looking to have only a physical relationship. It really took a lot for Braden to break down her defenses and get her to open up to him. It was also fun to watch Jocelyn call Braden on his more caveman like tendencies.

The ending was sweet and wrapped their story up nicely. I saw on Goodreads that a sequel is in the works and I'm hoping it's about Braden's sister. She was a great secondary character and I wanted to know more about her relationship with Adam. 

Contemporary romance fans must read this book =) 

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars 

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for review!