The Life & Times of a Book Addict: Samantha Young

Showing posts with label Samantha Young. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Fight or Flight by Samantha Young

Publication: October 9, 2018

Publisher: Berkley Publishing

Source: Publisher

A series of chance encounters leads to a sizzling new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

The universe is conspiring against Ava Breevort. As if flying back to Phoenix to bury a childhood friend wasn't hell enough, a cloud of volcanic ash traveling from overseas delayed her flight back home to Boston. Her last ditch attempt to salvage the trip was thwarted by an arrogant Scotsman, Caleb Scott, who steals a first class seat out from under her. Then over the course of their journey home, their antagonism somehow lands them in bed for the steamiest layover Ava's ever had. And that's all it was--until Caleb shows up on her doorstep.

When pure chance pulls Ava back into Caleb's orbit, he proposes they enjoy their physical connection while he's stranded in Boston. Ava agrees, knowing her heart's in no danger since a) she barely likes Caleb and b) his existence in her life is temporary. Not long thereafter Ava realizes she's made a terrible error because as it turns out Caleb Scott isn't quite so unlikeable after all. When his stay in Boston becomes permanent, Ava must decide whether to fight her feelings for him or give into them. But even if she does decide to risk her heart on Caleb, there is no guarantee her stubborn Scot will want to risk his heart on her....

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Ava is having a rough time at the moment. Having just buried her

childhood friend and dealing with all of the emotional baggage

associated with that. So it comes as no surprise that when a tall and handsome Scot (Caleb) steals a seat on a flight that should have been hers, she gets upset and yells at him. Needless to say, neither one makes a very good impression on the other.

What should have been a one-time encounter leads to multiple occasions where their paths happen to cross. The pair realizes that they have an attraction to each other, even if they don’t particularly care for the others personality. Ava and Caleb both have their reasons for not wanting to pursue anything serious. Though it isn’t long before Caleb and Ava give into that attraction and they decide to have a friends with benefits type of relationship. How long can these two keep what they have into turning into something more? What if it's fate that brought them together?

I had so much fun reading this book! Ava and Caleb have great

chemistry and their sarcastic banter kept me smiling page after page. I’ve long since been a fan of Samantha Young and I am so glad that this book met and exceeded my expectations. Her writing style and ability to create engaging story-lines and characters keeps me coming back. Fight or Flight is a contemporary romance that has tons of sizzling chemistry, banter, and is all around entertaining from the first chapter to the last.

RATING: 4½ out of 5.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Hero by Samantha Young

Publication: February 03, 2015

Publisher: NAL / Penguin Group

Source: Publisher / Own

The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that she and her mother weren't his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.

Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.

Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they're on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again…

The story was a little cliched at the beginning...Girl loses her her job, then goes to work for a hot guy, who dismisses her and treats her like crap, she takes it, and then because the sexual tension is so thick, they cave and have sex. Then afterwards he acts weird and distant, like nothing happened. I wasn’t terribly surprised by anything that happened in this story. I didn’t see what the big draw was for Lexie. Caine was hot and damaged. That’s it. He didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities, but that’s just me.

“I don’t know what this is you’re trying to do, but you and I are not the same.” He took another step back from me. “And I am not for you. I’m not your white knight. I’m just the guy who wanted to fuck you.”

Caine ends up judging Lexie without knowing her, based solely on the fact that her father was responsible for his mother’s death. He was rude and demeaning at times and she just takes it. His neighbor/friend kept telling her to keep fighting for him and don’t give up, but how long do you fight for someone when the other person doesn’t even know what they want or is just using you for sex? I think she fought too hard, and he didn’t even fight at all. Except maybe a little at the end, but to me it wasn’t enough.

I’m glad there was a happy ending, because I do love me some happy endings, but I wasn’t in love with the story unfortunately. I wish Caine was more fleshed out. It would have been nice to get his POV and maybe understand him more. It might have helped. Don’t get me wrong, I love Samantha Young’s writing. She has a way of making the characters feel real and the storylines are usually engaging and fun. But this book just didn’t do it for me. It was just only an okay read for me.

RATING: 3 out of 5.

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Friday, March 15, 2013

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

Synopsis:

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.

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From their first meeting in a cab, there was just something about Jocelyn that had Braden intrigued.

He has been hurt in the past, and it is hard for him to completely trust the person he is with. But when he is with Jocelyn, he lets her in little by little. Revealing more of himself in the process. Jocelyn has major issues herself. She never wants anyone to get too close to her. She tries to shut herself out from caring about people too much. This is why she believes their friends with ‘benefits’ relationship will work perfectly. No messing emotions to deal with. Easier said than done…

To me it seemed like he wanted to have a real relationship with her from the beginning. But because she did not, he was willing to make a deal they both would be happy with. He was a little sneaky in his attempts to ‘date’ her and get to know more about her life, which I thought was cute.

Of course it does not take very long for Jocelyn to realize that she actually cares for Braden; a fact that scares her. And she begins to question if it really is better to keep people at a distance.

What I liked:

I loved Braden. I think he is going on my book boyfriends list because I liked him so much. He is a great alpha hero. He speaks his mind, is determined, and very sexy….

Final thoughts:

I don’t know why I waited so long to read this book. Seriously. I bought it when practically everyone I knew was raving about it, and it just set there on my virtual shelf collecting dust. Finally I was in the mood for a little romance and On Dublin Street did not disappoint. It had just the right amount of drama, angst, and steamy romance to keep me turning pages. I loved it.

Rating: 4½ out of 5.

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