Audiobook Review: The One Real Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #1) by Samantha Young

Book info:
Title:  The One Real Thing
Author:  Samantha Young
Series:  Hart's Boardwalk #1
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  September 1st, 2016
Source:  Digital audiobook downloaded from public library
My rating:  5 stars

Once again I am blown away by this author's characters and stories.  I've been so sad about the end of the On Dublin Street series, so having this new series start, and having it be this good really helped out.  I finished listening to this audiobook in New Orleans right before I got to meet the author for the first time.  She was the very first author I had to seek out and meet, having to make sure to show her my Nate Sawyer shirt that I'd made.  And of course I have to share that picture!

 If you haven't read any of Samantha Young's books before, you could totally start with this one.  We have two main characters, Jessica and Cooper.  And unlike the On Dublin Street series, we get this book told from both viewpoints.  It's not exactly every other chapter, but there are chapters from each of them.  Jessica is a doctor at a prison, and she finds some letters in a book, and after reading them, really feels a connection to the person who wrote them.  She looks up the prisoner's information, and finds out that she died in prison.  Now Jessica feels that she needs to take the letters to the town, Hartwell, and find the man they were meant for.  Maybe to give him some closure.  Once she gets there though, things aren't exactly as seemed.  

Cooper is a bar owner on the boardwalk, and a very eligible bachelor.  His and Jessica's first meeting definitely has some sexual tension, but Jessica isn't interested in that, and Cooper doesn't want to take no for an answer, so he vows to woo her.  But when Jessica shows him the letters, his mother knew the woman who wrote them, he blows them off.  It is the way he acts here that makes Jessica think she couldn't be with him, because she has something in her past that she figures he would not be able to forgive.  

Of course they both have secrets, and keeping them from each other will drive space between them.  Reading this story made me want to move to a small town and open a bookstore.  I also wished that as I was on my own vacation at the time, that maybe I'd meet my own Cooper.  Alas, it wasn't to be, for me.  In the end, it is a romance, things will work out.  And then we will be left wondering about the other characters and who will get the next story or a future story.  I'm so ready to read book two, the author is giving away ARCs on Facebook right now.  I hope I win!   
 

Cover Reveal: Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #2) by Samantha Young

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I'm so excited to be part of the cover reveal for EVERY LITTLE THING by New York Times bestselling author, Samantha Young! The second book in the new Hart’s Boardwalk series returns to the picturesque Delaware beachside town for another heartfelt and sexy story…

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Hartwell, Delaware—the perfect place to get away from it all, and find what you never knew you needed…
 
Bailey Hartwell has many reasons to feel content—her successful business, a close circle of friends, and her steady boyfriend…even if their romance feels staid after ten years without a serious commitment. The only challenge in her life comes in the form of sexy businessman Vaughn Tremaine. She thinks the ex-New Yorker acts superior and that he considers her a small-town nobody. But when Bailey’s blindsided by a betrayal, she’s shocked to discover Vaughn is actually a decent guy.

Vaughn admires Bailey’s free spirit, independence, and loyalty. As his passion for her has grown, his antagonism toward her has only worsened. Every little thing Bailey does seduces him. But when Vaughn’s painful emotional past makes him walk away in fear he will hurt her, it opens an old wound in Bailey, and she uncharacteristically retreats.

Once Vaughn begins to realize he’s made the biggest mistake of his life, he has no choice but to fight like he’s never fought before to convince Bailey that the love they’ve found together only comes around once in a lifetime.

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I can’t wait for Bailey and Vaughn’s story! But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to the first book, The One Real Thing, that goes on sale September 6^th! Pre-order the first book in the Hart’s Boardwalk series today!

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…

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About the author:

Samantha Young is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series, including Moonlight on Nightingale Way, Echoes of Scotland Street, and Fall from India Place, as well as the standalone novel Hero. She resides in Scotland.

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