Before Jamaica Lane (On Dublin Street, #3)

by Samantha Young

The sensual, romantic follow-up to On Dublin Street and Down London Road. Perfect for fans of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy

'Scotland's answer to E. L. James' Sunday Post

Edinburgh was going to be a fresh start for Olivia Holloway. Crippled by shyness around the opposite sex, Olivia nevertheless meets gorgeous postgraduate Nate Sawyer and decides it is time to push her fears aside.

Before long, Olivia and Nate form a close friendship and she finds herself confessing her deepest secrets, and Nate, being her best friend, offers to teach her the art of flirting. As Olivia and Nate's friendship turns intense it soon blossoms into a passionate love affair.

For the first time Olivia opens her heart but what she doesn't realise is that Nate has his own fears and just when she finds herself hopelessly falling for him, Nate's past returns to haunt him.

Will Nate have the courage to confide in Olivia, or will he cut and run? And can Olivia face up to her own fears and keep him?

• ISBN10: 1405914939
• ISBN13: 9781405914932
• Publish Date: 16 January 2014 (first published 7 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

I really liked this book. Nate and Olivia were great characters and their romance was hot and steamy and just the way that I like it. Nate had me all hot and bothered and loving him, even when he was being a bonehead. Liv was a fantastic heroine, I liked her a whole lot more than I liked Joss. As much as I liked this book, Down London Road is still my favorite of this series. But still, this was a great addition.

[nitzan_schwarz]

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This book was just so much fun, which is one of my favorite type of contemporary stories. So it comes as no surprise to me that this is probably my favorite book in the series. From page one, the characters jump out at you like they're real people. You can see them so clearly in your head, that it just might make you say "they're adorable" out loud. It sure did me.

This book made me laugh, because Olivia and Nate have the best conversations. The dialogues were flowing, fun, funny and sweet... the kind of conversations best friends have--because they are.

This is another selling point for this book - it does the friends to lovers trope to perfection. I've always believed that the best relationships out there are the ones where you marry your best friend, and this book is one of those books that prove me right.

If you've read one of Young's novels, you know how fantastic she is at writing smart, funny characters, which both Nate and Olivia are, and how she manages to build such a rich environment for her characters to exist in through their relationships with their friends and loved ones. Before Jamaica Lane is a prime example of that talent.

However, don't go into this story looking for innovation. In it's essence, the story is fairly predictable. I didn't read the synopsis before buying it, having loved this series before, but immediately knew upon hearing how inexperienced Olivia was and how experienced Nate is where this story was getting.

This didn't stop the story for being hella enjoyable for me, but I did feel it was worth mentioning.


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[Ashley]

I'm sad to say that I think this series might be getting a bit old (which sucks because I love it).

I did mostly really like this book, although Olivia did start to annoy me quite a bit near the end, which resulted in some frustrated skimming. But other than that, I did mostly enjoy it. I think I just feel like all the books are starting to blend together. They all feel exactly the same.. you have a girl who meets a guy who's "THE ONE" and totally changes his ways for her and they help each other through traumatic pasts, then they all get engaged and/or pregnant

[EBookObsessed]

God, I love a good friends to lovers story, and this one included a bit of a twist. Usually in a friends to lovers story, good friends decide to take the risk to the friendship and add love, romance and sex. In Before Jamaica Lane, Nate and Olivia are good friends who like to hang out and spend their free time together. Olivia spent her most of her teens years caring for her dying mother so she didn't have that period of her life to experience flirting and boys and sex. Now she is in her mid-20s and inexperienced and uncertain of her own attraction to men. Olivia is a librarian and is attracted to one of the post-grads who comes to her help desk. Every time she sees him she gets tongue-tied. She enlists the help of her womanizing friend Nate to help her learn to flirt, and Nate teaches her to be comfortable with her own attractiveness to men.

As the time to turn the flirting practice into reality, Olivia realizes how uncomfortable she is with her lack of sexual experience (she only had one lover/one time and it was BAD). She again turns to Nate to show her how to please a man in bed.

Although the practice sessions with Nate gives her the experience she desperate wanted, it also solidified her initial attraction to Nate and turns it into love. But Olivia knows the reason behind Nate's decision not to have relationships with women. He gave his heart to his childhood sweetheart and watched her die of cancer at a young age. He never intends to feel that bond with anyone else.

Olivia needs to make a break from her practice session with Nate before she loses her heart completely, but it might already be too late.

THOUGHTS:
I have loved this series, but I think this might be my favorite couple. Nate and Oliva are just so much fun together and you can see just how perfect they are together as a couple. When they add sex to the relation, their passion for each other burns bright. But you know with Nate's background, what will unfortunately be coming down the road for them.

Even though their practice sessions last for weeks and they are perfect together, Nate does eventually freak out about his own feelings for Olivia, and gives her the "you know I don't do relationships" speech. But watching him try to win Olivia back makes for a great story as well.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[kimbacaffeinate]

I am such a fan of the On Dublin Street series, and this tight, close-knit group of friends and their families. Before Jamaica Lane delivers Olivia and Nate’s story and oh, man I swallowed this one whole, it consumed me with the need to have my HEA. The tale was hot, bittersweet, intense, and so dang sensual I melted on the floor. This was the type of read where I needed total quiet, and a comfy blanket to snuggle with. Mini review: sensual, with witty banter, angst, heart-breaking moments and a love story you cannot help but embrace.

Olivia moved to Edinburgh with her father to be near her half-sister. She has slipped into this group of friends who have become fast and tight buds. Nate Sawyer is yummy and a total player, but there is so much more to Nate beneath his never-care facade. She is interested in a post-grad student at the university but gets tongue tied and turns three shades of red when she sees him. One night Olivia confesses her woes to Nate, and he hatches a plan to help her and she readily agrees.

Olivia is a nerd, and librarian with beauty eyes, and long legs who appears to have it all. I found her to be funny, friendly and at times awkward. On the inside, she lacks confidence and has some self-esteem issues. She also has very little experience with the opposite sex, and usually ends up falling into the friend category with them. She thinks Nate is sexy, and he has become her best friend even if she dreams of something more. Nate Sawyer, oh, where do I begin? He is a sweetheart, loyal to his friends and visits his parents regularly. *swoon* He is also a player, never getting attached but straight up with his conquests from the beginning. Oh, he is so complicated, and learning Nate’s story undid me. I wanted to hold him as I watched him complicate things. We spend time with previous characters and learn more about them, but this was Nate and Olivia’s story.

Before Jamaica Lane explored one of my favorite tropes, friendship to lovers. Young cleverly weaved in the arrangement trope which left me positively giddy. These arrangements offer the perfect amount of angst, and humor. It’s always an emotional ride, and when angst is done right it is simply delicious. I loved Nate and Olivia’s friendship, from their wicked and hilarious conversations to their struggle to find themselves. As a couple, they made me warm and fuzzy. It was one heck of a ride watching these two flawed, stubborn characters, figure things out. Young takes us into Olivia’s mind, and we see her fears, feel her heart-beating out of her chest and watch her knees turn to jelly as Nate looks at her through hooded eyes. I would have liked to get inside Nate’s head on this one, but Young really made me feel his emotions, his fears and even when he wasn’t sure – I was. The lessons, OMG peeps they were hot I mean leave me alone, do not disturb, I am reading HOT! It left me breathless, believe me when I tell you, Young can write heat and romance. She even made non-sex scenes so incredibly hot and delicious it stole my breath. While the heat was wonderful, Young also fleshed out these characters and created depth to this friendship. We had a few flashback moments that really helped define their friendship. My only complaint is that I wish Young chose to give us dual POVs. I can honestly say, I think their story was my favorite of the series to date.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review​. ​Review​ originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer​

[Cocktails and Books]

Samantha Young writes an engaging story of two people struggling to move on from adversity. Olivia is a librarian who has relocated to Edinburgh from the States. From the moment Olivia and Nate meet, they connect, but because they are in the same circle of friends, they deny the attraction they feel for each other and become best friends. As they get to know each other they find they have many similarities. They both like Sci-Fi movies have a similar sense of humor and enjoy hanging out together. Nate is handsome with kind eyes and Olivia always feels comfortable with him. This is unusual for her, because she is usually uncomfortable with guys she is attracted to. Olivia admits to Nate she lacks confidence around men and the dating scene. Although Nate is surprised to hear this, he convinces Olivia she needs lessons in flirting. Nate is a love them and leave them kind of guy. He dates many women and isn’t interested in settling down.

BEFORE JAMAICA LANE is an entertaining story and the fifth book in the On Dublin Street series. Each book is a stand-alone and features a different member in the group. I enjoyed the camaraderie between all the friends. They gave each other a hard time, but also had each other’s back. I liked both Nate and Olivia. Olivia is a strong, confident woman except when it comes to men. Nate is a nice guy who also happens to be hot, flirtatious and has women falling all over him. They have sizzling chemistry and Nate has fun teaching Olivia everything he knows. Olivia is a good student and enjoys the lessons, more than she wants to. Can good friends become lovers? Will their lessons ruin their friendship?

Reviewed by Karen for Cocktails and Books