Published May 7, 2013
Publisher: NAL
Format: paperback - I own
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository
Rating: 5 STARS
(From Goodreads) It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.
But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.
Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets …even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
I love feisty, take no crap heroines. One of the things that endeared me to Down London Road right off the bat is that Jo's first meeting with Cam goes very badly. And, she gives him one of the best kiss-off lines ever.
"Well, I guess that makes us a pair. I'm a brainless, morally corrupt, money-grabbing bimbo and you're a jumped-up, pretentious, artsy-fartsy, know-it-all dickhead... See, I can judge a book by its cover too."Jo is one of my favorite adult contemporary characters. She has incredible strength of character, is so brave and goes after what she wants. I don't agree with all of her choices - sacrificing her own happiness in order to snag a rich man who will take care of her and her brother is almost akin to whoring yourself out to the highest bidder. Her intentions were in the right place, but her actions were sorely lacking.
Cam was no prize at first either. Thinking Jo was cheating on his friend (she wasn't), he is a complete jerk to her. Several times over, in fact. But, when he realizes the error of his ways, he makes up for it in big ways. Cam was amazing. I mean, UH-MAZING.
I thought Down London Road was a really tight story. We see Jo and Cam both go from being one person in the beginning to someone different at the end as a result of their experiences both individually and together. It's the way it should be in a really good story. There doesn't seem to be a lot of veering off into tangents or stalling in the middle. The story moves from one place to the next to the next with fluidity. I was never bored or wondering if it was close to being done yet."What I feel for you... It's all-consuming," he breathed, leaning his forehead against mine again. "It's almost debilitating. It's too much. It's... I can't even describe it, but being with you is... There's this intensity inside me all the time, this... constant pull, desperation... it's like you're branded on me or something. And it bloody well burns."
Another thing I loved about Down London Road is that we still saw plenty of Joss and Braden from On Dublin Street. I absolutely LOVE it when authors do this for us. They endear us to characters in book one, and then realize that, even though their story is largely done, that doesn't mean that we're done spending time with them. So, thank you, Sam, for giving us plenty of face time with Joss and Braden (but not so much that I forgot who the main story was all about). It was great seeing them again.
Things were set up perfectly for Nate and Olivia's story, Before Jamaica Lane, which will be out in January 2014 (NO! TOO FAR AWAY!). I can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment