The Truest Thing (Hart’s Boardwalk #4) by Samantha Young- Review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 18, 2020

Nine years ago, Emery Saunders moved to Hartwell to start her life over as a bookstore owner. Her inability to trust people made it hard for her to find a place in the small community until Jessica Lawson moved to town and befriended the shy beauty.
But there was one person in Hartwell who tried to befriend Emery long before Jessica arrived…

Jack Devlin has his secrets. One of them is that he fell hard for Emery the moment she appeared in Hartwell. Another is that his father blackmailed him into covering up a dark family tragedy. It forced Jack to sever his relationships to protect the people he cared about. Yet, staying away from Emery has not been easy throughout the years and he hasn’t always succeeded. When Jack’s mixed signals hurt Emery once again, she puts him out of her heart for good.
Until the Devlin family secret is finally revealed, freeing Jack from his father’s machinations. What Jack wants more than anything is to repair his relationships, starting with Emery.

However, Emery isn’t ready to forgive and Jack’s not ready to give up.
And when the town’s latest scandal ties Jack and Emery together, Jack is not above using their new reality to prove to Emery once and for all that their love is worthy of the legend of Hart’s Boardwalk.

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REVIEW:THE TRUEST THING is the fourth instalment in Samantha Young’s contemporary, adult HART’S BOARDWALK romance series focusing on the men and women of Hartwell, Delaware- a spin off from the author’s ON DUBLIN STREET SERIES. This is businessman Jack Devlin, and bookstore owner Emery Saunders’ story line. THE TRUEST THING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from first person perspectives (Emery ) and third person (Jack) using present day and memories from the past THE TRUEST THING focuses on nine years and the building but contemptuous relationship between businessman Jack Devlin, and bookstore owner Emery Saunders. Nine years earlier, heiress Emery Saunders moved to Hartwell, Delaware in an effort to escape her past. Shy and withdrawn, Emery struggled to make friends and meet people but her mutual attraction with local businessman Jack Devlin was often fraught with issues of trust, and Jack’s inability to commit to their friendship or anything permanent. A scandal would rock the small town of Hartwell, Delaware throwing Jack into the lion’s den, forcing Emery to reconsider their friendship, a friendship that had more ups and downs than a hotel elevator . Years would pass as our couple battled their attraction, Jack’s need to run, and the ongoing and often heart breaking and numerous scandals that continue to plague Jack and the Devlin family but all along Emery knew there was more to the story than the gossip revealed. Fast forward to present day wherein a night of passion would leave a heart broken Emery, once again reeling, when Jack disappears without a trace. Unable to move forward without looking back, Emery pushes Jack out of her life only to discover that life was about to change for everyone involved. What ensues is the back and forth, push and pull, yin and yang relationship between Jack and Emery, and the potential fall-out as the Devlin family secrets implode, and Emery is willing to sacrifice her own happily ever after if it means never having to suffer the pain of Jack’s rejection, ever again.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of familiar secondary and supporting characters including Cooper Lawson and Jessica Huntington (The One Real Thing #1), Bailey and Vaughn (Every Little Thing #2) , Boston detective Michael Sullivan, and metalsmith / jewellery designer Dahlia McGuire (Things We Never Said #3) Iris and Ira and their daughter Ivy, who own the local Italian eatery; Cooper’s ex-wife Dana Kellerman, Sheriff Jeff King and the embattled Devlin family including father Ian Devlin, mother Rosalie, his brother Kerr, and sister Rebecca.

THE TRUEST THING is an intricate story of fractured family dynamics; of power, greed, money and control; of friendships, relationships, communication and trust. An emotional, haunting and intriguing premise, THE TRUEST THING invites the read in and never lets go. The characters are broken and tragic; the romance is passionate, raw and heart breaking.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

The One Real Thing
Every Little Thing
On Hart’s Boardwalk
Things We Never Said

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Samantha Young is the New York Times,  USA Today  and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows.  Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us was published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook & hardback June 2017. Play On is an adult contemporary romance and the first in a brand new series set in Scotland. Villain is a companion novella to the New York Times bestselling romance HERO.

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.

Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

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