Johanna Walker is used to taking charge. But she’s about to meet someone who will make her lose control....
It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.
But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.
Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets …even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.
But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.
Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets …even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
Where to find Samantha Young:
*** 5 Stars***
Not gonna lie...when the Kindle fairies delivered my pre-ordered copy of this book in my sleep (I sure do love those Kindle fairies), I knew that this was going to bump any and every thing to the side so that I could read it. I did and I was not disappointed.
1) Jo. We first met Jo in On Dublin Street as Joss's co-worker at the bar. I must admit I kinda thought of her as a gold digger and she kinda was. I know that sounds harsh and Jo would be the first to exclaim that she would never date a guy that she didn't actually care about...but honestly, a top priority for her was dating men with money. There is no guesswork as to why this is; we are shown from the start why Jo feels that men who can provide financial security for her and her family is her only dating option. Admittedly reading about someone who may be perceived as a gold digger isn't high on my priority list, but I loved Jo instantly and felt sympathetic towards her plight. She is such a strong, independent, loving woman who happens to also have zero ability to see any value or worth in herself other than being a good girlfriend and arm candy. It was frustrating to read about a young woman with so much ahead of her see herself as worthless; I really wanted to jump in my Kindle and shake her a little. Thankfully she had Joss and others working on opening her eyes to the real Jo.
2) Cam. The very first time I read the description of Cameron MacCabe I immediately pictured him as Adam Levine...this made my reading really enjoyable. Cam is this tattooed artist who has no time or patience for gold diggers like Jo and he has no qualms telling her this on the very first night he is introduced to her. He's exceedingly honest and calls it like he sees it, right or wrong. That being said, he has no problem admitting when he is wrong and apologizes for it asap. He ends up apologizing several times to Jo. It was nice to see a guy with these alpha-like tendencies also be man enough to admit when he was wrong. In addition to the fine qualities of being hot and honest, he's also a good guy. He is a good friend to Jo and Cole, the Joss and Braden crew, and obviously his hot male posse of BFF's. He looks after his friends and takes an interest in what they are doing and in helping them out when they need it. Even though he makes a few errors in judgement along the way, I am definitely adding him to my top book boyfriend list; he's definitely worthy.
3) The bad guys and the good guys. There are several bad 'guys' and they range from mildly annoying to dangerous. It wouldn't be a good contemporary romance without some angsty stuff thrown in and this one does not disappoint. I'll admit I'm being really vague here but I want you to be as surprised and angst riddled as I was. Not gonna spoil it. Sorry. Ask Court, she'll tell you--I don't like to share the book secrets. The good guys are great--Joss, Braden, Cole, Nate, Mick, Hanna, Ellie--they are a fun bunch. They add humor and dispense sage advice as needed. They are a nice balance to the turmoil that is created by the Cam-Jo tension. It's also nice to get a little more of a taste of Joss, Braden, Ellie, and Adam; I'd missed those guys and getting little snippets of how they were doing was an awesome added bonus to an already great read.
Just like I loved Kate McCarthy's Give Me Love Aussie slang, I loved the slang in this novel. It just enhanced the whole experience for me and as always I'm hopeful that I may one day get to go visit and practice some of my 'new' words and phrases, like the dorky American that I am.
2) Cam. The very first time I read the description of Cameron MacCabe I immediately pictured him as Adam Levine...this made my reading really enjoyable. Cam is this tattooed artist who has no time or patience for gold diggers like Jo and he has no qualms telling her this on the very first night he is introduced to her. He's exceedingly honest and calls it like he sees it, right or wrong. That being said, he has no problem admitting when he is wrong and apologizes for it asap. He ends up apologizing several times to Jo. It was nice to see a guy with these alpha-like tendencies also be man enough to admit when he was wrong. In addition to the fine qualities of being hot and honest, he's also a good guy. He is a good friend to Jo and Cole, the Joss and Braden crew, and obviously his hot male posse of BFF's. He looks after his friends and takes an interest in what they are doing and in helping them out when they need it. Even though he makes a few errors in judgement along the way, I am definitely adding him to my top book boyfriend list; he's definitely worthy.
3) The bad guys and the good guys. There are several bad 'guys' and they range from mildly annoying to dangerous. It wouldn't be a good contemporary romance without some angsty stuff thrown in and this one does not disappoint. I'll admit I'm being really vague here but I want you to be as surprised and angst riddled as I was. Not gonna spoil it. Sorry. Ask Court, she'll tell you--I don't like to share the book secrets. The good guys are great--Joss, Braden, Cole, Nate, Mick, Hanna, Ellie--they are a fun bunch. They add humor and dispense sage advice as needed. They are a nice balance to the turmoil that is created by the Cam-Jo tension. It's also nice to get a little more of a taste of Joss, Braden, Ellie, and Adam; I'd missed those guys and getting little snippets of how they were doing was an awesome added bonus to an already great read.
Just like I loved Kate McCarthy's Give Me Love Aussie slang, I loved the slang in this novel. It just enhanced the whole experience for me and as always I'm hopeful that I may one day get to go visit and practice some of my 'new' words and phrases, like the dorky American that I am.
**5 Stars**
Shelley made me so jealous when she said "Hey, I'm starting Down London Road" that I threw caution to the wind and to all of my responsibilities to join her. Yes, it doesn't take much to distract me obvs, but I was so excited and we'd been waiting a while so I justified it to myself, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
1) Jo. I must admit it had been so long since I read On Dublin Street that I couldn't for the life of me remember who she was. I loved that book, but was so focused on Joss, Braden and Ellie that I didn't pay attention to much else. Anyways, I wasn't sure at all what to think of her. I could tell early from the blurb that she was going to make things interesting with her philosophies but we really got so much more in this story with her loyalty. Eh, her methods are unconventional and albeit a bit shallow, we learn that she didn't have a good/any kind of example to follow in how to be a well functioning adult for most of her teen years. She has gone through a lot of stuff, and puts on 'fake' Jo to snow everyone so that they don't know the real her. I loved her for always trying hard and wanting more for Cole than she had, but like you said her sense of self worth was depressing with a capital D. Which brings us to ---> Cam.
2) Cam. He is the polar opposite of Jo in self assurance. He is my usual M.O. of hot tattooed, mysterious bad boy, but there is a lot more to him than meets the eye. He finds this out the hard way about Jo. Another point for her is that she isn't begging him to like her. She lets him keep his assumptions and isn't going to explain herself to him and that made me proud. He was judging the book by it's cover, and we all know how bad of an idea that is! I liked his story so much, and when it came to hitting the fan time he came SO CLOSE to ruining everything because of both of their stubbornness and failure to communicate. Still amazes me every single time how much that seemingly small thing could change so much! I can't fully blame him for all of their drama, because Jo was right there with him in fault, but I was freaking the heck out, as Shelley can attest to, and begging and pleading for her to have mercy and tell me anything. She didn't..of course, but as always I am glad. She puts up with me, and I survive the day to read another book. It's our circle of life!
3) Who Dun It. Yeah...this is spoilerific! So we can't tell you. I was developing scenario after scenario in my head of what was going to happen, and who was going to cause the drama. I was right a time or two, and wrong a time or two, but it was a fun time trying to figure it out! Joss is still Joss and opinionated and funny. I still loved Braden and was so happy with how much "screen" time they got in this companion as I love seeing what my favorite people are up to. This includes Braden's whole family, and new people including Cam's friends. I had a feeling that Nate was going to be a contender for the next book, and that is the only thing I will admit to being RIGHT about! Yay!
I will blushingly admit I have taken this week since finishing to calling my puppy a cheeky bugger on occasion! So I too enjoyed the slang! Nothing better than accents that I do not have, so keep 'em coming! I loved this book just as much as it's predecessor, and it ended a incredibly good week of reading for us! Check it out...we think you'll like it!
