Today I review The One Real Thing, the first book in Samantha Young's new series: Hart's Boardwalk. Samantha Young is famous for her On Dublin Street Series, which I've read and enjoyed so I was curious to find out more about this new series. Have a look at my thoughts of this first book: 

Title: The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #1)

Author: Samantha Young

Published: September 1st 2016 by Piatkus

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Welcome to Hartwell, a quiet seaside escape where uncovering old secrets could lead one woman to discover the meaning of a love that lasts…

While Doctor Jessica Huntington engages with the inmates at the women’s correctional facility where she works, she’s always careful to avoid emotional attachments in her personal life. Loss and betrayal taught her that lesson long ago. But when she comes across a set of old love letters in the prison’s library and visits the picturesque town of Hartwell to deliver them to their intended recipient, she finds herself unable to resist the town’s charm—and her attraction to the sexy owner of a local bar proves equally hard to deny.

Since his divorce from his unfaithful ex-wife, Cooper Lawson has focused on what really matters: his family and the boardwalk pub they’ve owned for generations. But the first time Jessica steps into his bar, Cooper is beyond tempted to risk his heart on her. Yet as their attraction grows hotter and Jessica remains stubbornly closed off, he begins to realize it will take more than just passion to convince her there’s only one real thing in life worth fighting for…

Review: Samantha Young is back with a new series, this time set in the American small town of Hartwell. When we first meet Doctor Jessica Jones though, she lives in a big town two hours away and doesn't do much else apart from working. So when she finds some letters that should have been sent to Hartwell 40 years ago, she decides to have a break and go there herself. I really liked the setting of a small town with a close community and I can totally understand why Jessica felt in love with the place.

The community certainly had a lot of interesting and charming characters and I loved getting to know them. As this is the first book in a series, it serves a bit as an introduction of who is who and it hints at possible future stories with some of the characters. This made the story a bit slow but it was interesting enough to keep me going. Especially as Jessica's past was a big secret for the most part of the story. I certainly had no idea what she was hiding and with every page I was more and more curious. 

The chemistry between the main two characters was palpable since their first encounter, and I enjoyed seeing all that tension build up for the first part of the book. As you can imagine, once they finally succumbed, things got sexy and hot. I really liked how straight-forward Cooper was, he played no games and was ready to accept his feeling from the beginning. All in all a good guy. 

All in all, The One Real Thing is an interesting and exciting read and I'm looking forward to the second book on the series already. Especially as it's gonna be Bailey's story, a character I really liked and I'm sure hers and Vaughn's story will be very entertaining. 

Rating: 4 stars

I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Blurb: The explosive, emotional and unforgettable new romance from the NYT bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series 

Alexa Holland's father was her hero-until her shocking discovery. 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 all-consuming 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... 

*First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: I really enjoyed reading In Dublin Street, Samantha Young's famous series, so when I was offered to review her latest work, Hero, I was over the moon. I must admit though that I was a bit worried about the premise at the beginning, a powerful CEO who has no interest in relationships and the PA who thinks that can save him from himself, has been used a lot in books lately. But I quickly saw that the story had a real depth, that the character had so much to offer and were well developed and that the story had nothing of conventional. It even had an element of mystery that I did not expect but that had me glued to its pages until I knew it all.

Cain and Alexa shared a family past that none of them wanted to remember but when faced with each other, the chemistry between them was undeniable. Cain, after making her lose her job, (unconsciously) did not want to let her go of his life, so he offered her a new job as his PA with every intention of making her life impossible. But with every stolen glance, every involuntary touch and every heated exchange, the sensual tension kept growing between them until there was no going back. I really enjoyed this build up, it was sexy and flowed naturally with the story.  

From that moment, they embark in a friends with benefits relationship. Alexa making sure friends is the key word, starts getting to know Cain better and piece by piece, we discover what really happened to these lonely souls to make them who they are now. I adored reading about Cain's other alter ego, not the powerful CEO that everyone fears, but who he is underneath it all. I am sure more than one will fall a bit in love with him.

Hero is a sexy, compelling and emotional story about two people who had to deal with their parents mistakes and learn how to leave their shadow. With some completely unexpected twists that will have you with your heart in your mouth, this novel will capture you. I highly recommend it to old and new fans of Samantha Young, as her sexy style and fast paced narrative makes this story one of her best works. I certainly cannot wait for more from this author. 

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About the author:

Samantha Young is the author of the runaway bestselling On Dublin Street, which sold over 150,000 copies within five weeks and has now been sold in more than 25 countries. Published by Penguin UK until recently, her first book with Little Brown (Castle Hill) was one of the top 10 Hachette ebooks for 2014. This year she has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance. She lives in Stirlingshire, Scotland and is available for publicity purposes, along with corresponding regularly with her 22,000 fans on FB and 15,000 Twitter followers.

You can visit her at www.samanthayoungbooks.com