I recently had a week where I just could NOT get into reading and couldn't really enjoy anything I was trying to pick up. Sometimes when that happens I gravitate to a contemporary or a romance and it usually goes by so quickly that by the end I am left wanting to pick up more romance and then eventually get back to my normal routine.
That was the case with the two following New Adult Romances I read last week. I needed something light and fun and these two reads have definitely got me back on track. Although they are both considered New Adult or romance they were definitely very different from each other. Keep reading if you are interested in New Adult or if you just want to know more about my thoughts and opinions.
Title: On Dublin Street
Author: Samantha Young
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: December 2012
Description:
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.
My Review:
I was introduced to this after watching a "Book Tube" review of it and was immediately intrigued by the premise. I have read some books from the Outlander series and was excited about another story taking place in Scotland, although this time in modern time.
First let me say that I didn't really love the main character, Jocelyn. She was a bit to in her own head for me reading from her perspective. I will say that her love interest on the other hand was very dreamy and perfect for the genre of the book. Seriously, rich and sexy Scottish man in a romance? Count me in!
I will also say that I was impressed with the development of their relationship and the character development of both Jocelyn and Braden. Jocelyn really matured and dealt with her issues although there were a few slip ups I think for the most part she really grew into someone who could face the world.
Braden was able to love again and not just base all of his relationships off sex which was also really great although even though they were sex friends he still was not too controlling or domineering. A lot of times in this genre there is an overwhelming boyfriend figure who controls the female character and although he was a little overbearing and jealous I don't think it was something that would upset the reader.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was fun, steamy, and had some deeper themes for a new adult which I appreciate and would recommend this.
My Star Rating:
4 out of 5
Title: On the Island
Author: Tracy Garvis Graves
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 2012
Description:
When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.
T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments -- instead of his friends.
Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.
Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.
My Review:
What a wild and crazy romantic ride this was.
We start the story with a long journey overseas to reach a small island where our two main characters will spend a summer vacation. The twist is these two aren't together, in fact on is a young boy who recently went into remission for cancer and the other is a teacher hired to help tutor him and get him caught up from what he missed being sick.
From the start the trip takes a rocky journey and when they are finally on the last leg of their trip and are headed out on a small chartered sea plane they are stuck with an overweight pilot who actually suffers from a heart-attack mid-flight, dies, and causes the two remaining survivors to spend the next section of the story stuck on a deserted island.
There is a lot going on in this novel that I loved. The relationships formed, the slow build, the actual sex and romance part but there was a lot I just couldn't get behind! It took them almost a year to decide to build a shelter. The characters were naive even the woman of 30 who should know better.
She was also overly concerned with what people would think if and when she got rescued about the relationship she formed with what would have been her pupil.
First, he was never actually her student and they had no previous relationship so I don't think it was that weird. The age difference can seem a bit strange but under the circumstances it should have just been a fleeting thought.
I did however love the direction it took and the ending and did find the romance both believable and steamy. I would suggest this to fans of the romance genre.
My Star Rating:
4 out of 5
