Review: Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young

Posted January 2, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha YoungReviewer: Rowena
Before Jamaica Lane (On Dublin Street, #3) by Samantha Young
Series: On Dublin Street #3
Also in this series: On Dublin Street , Down London Road (On Dublin Street, #2), Before Jamaica Lane, Castle Hill, Fall From India Place, Fall From India Place, Fall from India Place , Castle Hill, Echoes of Scotland Street , Moonlight on Nightingale Way, Moonlight on Nightingale Way, One King's Way, One King's Way, One King's Way, On Hart's Boardwalk (On Dublin Street #6.7) , On Hart's Boardwalk, Down London Road, Echoes of Scotland Street, On Dublin Street
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 432
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating: four-stars

Despite her outgoing demeanor, Olivia is painfully insecure around the opposite sex—usually, she can’t get up the nerve to approach guys she’s interested in. But moving to Edinburgh has given her a new start, and, after she develops a crush on a sexy postgrad, she decides it’s time to push past her fears and go after what she wants.

Nate Sawyer is a gorgeous player who never commits, but to his close friends, he’s as loyal as they come. So when Olivia turns to him with her relationship woes, he offers to instruct her in the art of flirting and to help her become more sexually confident.

The friendly education in seduction soon grows into an intense and hot romance. But then Nate’s past and commitment issues rear their ugly heads, and Olivia is left brokenhearted. When Nate realizes he’s made the biggest mistake of his life, he will have to work harder than he ever has before to entice his best friend into falling back in love with him—or he may lose her forever….

Nate and Olivia have become really close friends. Best friends, even. They have a lot in common and they get each other so it’s easy for them to enjoy each other’s company. They connect in a totally platonic way because they both know what it is to lose someone they love to cancer. They bond over their losses and Liv is comfortable with Nate because he’s such a good friend to her and because she knows that he’ll never see her in a romantic light so she doesn’t have to worry about mis-stepping with him. She’s shy by nature around men and chalks it up to spending her formative years taking care of her ailing mother. When other young girls were learning the romantic ropes, she was playing nurse to her mother. She loved her mother dearly so it wasn’t a hardship for her. She liked spending time with her Mom and because she didn’t know how much time she had left, she made the most of their time together.

Olivia at 26 years old is horribly shy around men. She hasn’t had sex in years and her whole sexual experience isn’t much to write home to. Nate is the opposite. He’s got the experience, the confidence to knock women on their asses and he does it on a weekly basis. Liv and Nate are at opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to sexual experience and this is one of those books when one best friend goes to the other best friend for guidance. And shenanigans happen.

I really like this series and this book carried on my love for this series. I loved getting to know Liv and Nate more, though I wouldn’t have complained about more Nate time. I thought they were both great characters that carried this story. Young did a great job of telling their story and making the reader connect with the both of them as individuals and as a couple. Their friendship and their issues all made for an entertaining story that I enjoyed. It’s always good to see the couples from the other books and I appreciate that though Joss and Braden are like the series “main couple”, they didn’t usurp a lot of the story like I’ve read in some other series.

Young does a great job of writing the kinds of books that take me to my happy place. She did a great job with this book and I definitely recommend it.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from NAL. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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