THE ONE REAL THING (Hart’s Boardwalk #1) by Samantha Young-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway
THE ONE REAL THING
Hart’s Boardwalk #1
by Samantha Young
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 6, 2016
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: THE ONE REAL THING is the first installment is Samantha Young’s contemporary, adult HART’S BOARDWALK romance series focusing on the people and places of Hartwell, Delaware. This is thirty-something surgeon Dr. Jessica Huntington, and bar owner Cooper Lawson’s story line.
Told from first person (Jessica) and third person points of view (Cooper) THE ONE REAL THING is a small-town romance that follows our heroine Dr. Jessica Huntington as she embarks on a personal journey and a three week vacation to the seaside town of Hartwell, Delaware. As a physician working in a women’s prison, Jessica feels a connection to the ladies and sympathizes with many of their plights. When a vintage but destroyed copy of Pride and Prejudice crosses our heroine’s path she discovers four handwritten letters from a former inmate to a lover on the outside. What ensues is Jessica’s trip back to Hartwell, Delaware where she tries to reconnect the present with the past. Enter Cooper Lawson, the man who will steal our heroine’s heart, along with the town and people of Hart’s Boardwalk. But Jessica has a secret that if exposed could mean the end of her relationship with Cooper, and the friends that she has grown to love.
The relationship between Jessica and Cooper is one of immediate attraction. Cooper has struggled since his divorce from his cheating ex-wife, and in this Jessica is something new and exciting in his life. Jessica is a woman who has stagnated and is unable to move forward; lost in both her personal and professional life. Meeting Cooper Lawson, and the people of Hart’s Boardwalk, finds our heroine falling in love with both the man and his town. The $ex scenes are intimate and romantic.
We are introduced to a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Jessica’s co-worker at the prison Fatima, and her current friends with benefits Dr. Andrew Livingston. We are introduced to a number of Hartwell’s small business entrepreneurs, family and friends including Cooper’s sister Cat and her son Joey, Hart’s Inn owner and town descendent Bailey Hartwell, Paradise Sands Hotel owner Vaughn Tremaine-who may or may not have a thing for Miss Bailey Hartwell; Iris and Ira who own the local Italian eatery, Emery Saunders book store owner, and Cooper’s ex-wife Dana who wants a second chance with our story line hero. There are several developing stories involving the businesses and owners along Hart’s Boardwalk, and the animosity and tension with the Devlin family who are in the process of trying to buy up all of the properties- a family with very close connections to Cooper and his ex wife.
I did have some difficulty with the story line as well as the conflict as it pertained to Jessica’s secret. There was something missing in the presentation; the emotional depth and investment were lacking. Throughout the story our heroine refuses to divulge the truth about her past creating plenty of drama between Cooper and herself, so much so that Jessica is willing to walk away to protect the man with whom she is falling in love. Once the information is revealed I felt it lacked any sort of emotional impact. What I expected was heartbreak and tears but I felt distanced and a lack of enthusiasm when all was said and done. I think it was the toned down reactions of the other characters and the less than explosive disclosure that tempered my own emotions.
THE ONE REAL THING is a slow building story line that introduces the people and players of Samantha Young’s HART’S BOARDWALK. The premise is enjoyable and fated; the characters are colorful and eclectic; the romance was tender but lacked the wow factor. I am looking forward to Bailey’s story EVERY LITTLE THING March 2017.
Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
But before that night I’d been completely sure that Cooper was interested in exploring something more with me, and now I was freaking out that his interest would wane now that he’d had me.
I shook my head slowly. “No. It was good.”
He scowled, his arms tightening around me so much there wasn’t an inch of space between us. “It was better than fucking good, Jessica.”
I scowled back and pushed at his chest for some breathing space. “Well, I’m sure you’d know all about that.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“You use the word ‘fuck’ a lot.”
“It’s a good fucking word.”
I was tempted to laugh at how disgruntled he sounded and he seemed to catch my amusement because his hold on me eased.
“What’s going on in your head, Jess?”
I thought about evading this conversation. I’d never had to have an adult, open conversation with a man about sex. However, I realized, somewhat reluctantly, if I wanted something more with Cooper Lawson I was going to have to give him more than I was used to giving.
I couldn’t change his past, but I could figure out what it was he wanted in the future by just being honest and asking the question.
“You still want something with me, right? This”—I gestured behind me to the table—“it wasn’t just about sex.”
“No,” he said. “It’s not just about sex.”
As I heaved a sigh of relief, he let go of my waist to cup my face in his hands, dipping his head down to mine so our noses almost touched. He stared deep into my eyes and I shivered. I felt like he was trying to see right into my soul.
“I’m in this for the long haul, Doc. I was before you walked into my bar tonight, but now, after the best fucking sex of my life, after how wild that was, there’s no way I’m letting you walk out of here without me.”
And there he went doing it again.
His words resonated deep within me along with giving me that deep, sexual belly flip of arousal.
My fingers curled into the top of his biceps. “Best sex of my life, too,” I murmured. “It stunned me a little. Confused me . . . I thought maybe . . . you . . . this was old hat for you . . .”
He gave me a crooked grin. “You think I make a habit of fucking women in my bar.”
“You could,” I said. “You are definitely a man who could pull that off.”
Cooper threw his head back in laughter and I pressed my body deeper into his to feel his joy.
And then he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.
Just as I’d suspected, he was a really good hugger.
When he pulled back he was smiling gently at me. “You’re the only woman I’ve had in my bar.” He let me go only to take my hand in his. “No one sits at that table anymore.” He gestured to the scene of the best sex we’d both ever had. “It’s now a shrine.”
“You can’t do that!” I was mortified at the possibility of people finding out why there was a table in Cooper Lawson’s bar that no one was allowed to sit at.
“I can. It’s my bar. I think I’ll even carve ‘Coop and Doc were here’ on it.”
Finally getting that he was joking, I made a face. “Funny.”
“You’re slow on the uptake tonight,” he teased.
“My brain was just frazzled by the orgasm to beat all orgasms.”
He squeezed my hand. “You up for more brain frazzling?”
I shivered at the thought. “Definitely.”
His eyes darkened. “Let’s go back to my place.”
Exhilarated by the prospect, I followed him, and it wasn’t until we’d stepped outside the bar into the cool night air that I said, “I don’t suppose you know where my panties are?”
“I do, actually.” He led me to the back of his bar to the parking lot. A dark-colored GMC was the only truck there.
“Um . . . could I have them, please?”
He stopped me at the passenger side of the truck, pressing me up against the car. “Why?” he whispered against my lips before he kissed me deeply. He came up for air a few seconds later. “You’re not going to need them where we’re going.”
The nagging pressure between my legs increased. “You are so very, very good at stringing the exact right words together.”
He kissed me again.
“You’re just good with your mouth in general,” I murmured.
Cooper grinned and brushed his lips over mine. “In the truck, Doc.”
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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