On Hart’s Boardwalk by Samantha Young…Review

Synopsis:

One of New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young’s most beloved couples returns for the first time in a brand new novella set ten years after her blockbuster bestseller Before Jamaica Lane…

Nate and Liv have a great life together but they miss the spontaneity and freedom they enjoyed early on in their romance. Careers and their children have inevitably kept them busy, so when Nate discovers Liv is feeling disconnected from him, he plans an anniversary trip to the idyllic seaside town of Hartwell, Delaware. There he hopes they will have the opportunity they’ve been craving—a chance to reinvent themselves and fall in love all over again.

With each new day comes a new adventure, from wedding crashing at the five-star boardwalk hotel to pretending they are two strangers having a chance encounter at the boardwalk bar. In the midst of this daring, sexually charged game of romantic rediscovery, Nate and Liv discover the only constant they need is each other.

My Review:

Samantha Young’s On Dublin Street series is one of my favorites. Of all time. Set in Young’s homeland, Scotland, in the bustling city of Edinburgh, each book is an homage to the streets, lanes, roads, and ways—and all the places I can’t wait to visit—and this group of friends that become a family. And my favorite of all is Nate and Olivia from Before Jamaica Lane. Theirs is everything I love about a great romance: friends to lovers, lessons in seduction, curvy librarian heroine and sexy comic-lovin’ hero who only has eyes for her, once he sees the right one was in front of him all along.

The beauty of the series is growing with all the characters and every couple as the series progressed, and getting to see beyond the happily ever afters in nearly every case. On Hart’s Boardwalk is a very special novella because not only do we get a peek at Nate and Olivia TEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD (!!), but this time, it’s a crossover with Young’s latest series, Hart’s Boardwalk, or Nate and Olivia Do America.

The other real gem with this family is that they feel real, because they practically are real. In Scotland, they’re part of a bustling, everyday setting, and each couple deals with real family struggles and rough starts, terminal illness and substance abuse, incarceration and poverty, the things that affect us all usually in some way or another. And in the ten years since Nate and Olivia fell in love, they have two careers and two adorable daughters, and they love their life. But along with being busy turn-of-the-30-to-40-year-old parents in the midst of full-blown adulthood, Nate has suffered a loss, and Olivia can’t help but feel he’s pulling away for her when she was always the one he ran to. This angsty uncertainty is so in tune with the ups and downs of life, and so relatable. You’re anxious for Nate and Olivia to get back on track, but in the meantime, it feels so real to know that even our storybook characters go through these stages, the same as us.

Dreamy as he is, Nate’s solution is to show Olivia they’ve still got it, and the two set off on a 40th birthday trip for Olivia to the seaside town of Hartwell, Delaware. It’s hot and sexy—every bit as much as the first time around, because now they’re older and wiser. And the sexiest thing about two people as beautiful and loving as Nate and Olivia finding that new spark is that it’s the last ten years of history that make them so much more even now. It’s a perfect little story, and will only make us greedy to revisit all of our beloved On Dublin Street couples, one at a time, forever and ever.

Five Loves

Book Links:

Amazon | Goodreads

About the author:

Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author from Central Scotland. She’s been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for her international bestseller ON DUBLIN STREET, Best Romance 2014 for BEFORE JAMAICA LANE, and Best Romance 2015 for HERO. ON DUBLIN STREET is Samantha’s first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in thirty countries. Samantha’s YA contemporary lit debut THE IMPOSSIBLE VASTNESS OF US releases from Harlequin Teen June 2017.

Visit http://authorsamanthayoung.com for more information.

Comments

Kathleen Bylsma says

March 22, 2018 at 2:29 pm

Ok…sold! Shelved!

Kathy Valentine says

March 22, 2018 at 4:09 pm

Awesome review tiffany!! On my tbr gr list!! Shared on all my socials!!

Tiffany Tyer says

March 22, 2018 at 8:02 pm

Oh, you guys, it’s one of my favorite books of 2018 already, even though it’s a novella. So, so, so good!! Enjoy. 🙂