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We Samantha Young and could not wait to read the first book in her brand new Hart’s Boardwalk Series. We’ve got a fun excerpt to share with you, as well as a fabulous giveaway and our thoughts on the book. First, you know the drill, here’s the 411 on The One Real Thing by Samantha Young.
***About the Book***
The One Real Thing by Samantha Young Series: Hart's Boardwalk #1
Published by Berkley on September 6, 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Fell in Love on Vacation, Small Town Romance
Character(s): Bartenders, Businessmen/Lawyers/Entrepreneurs
Pages: 382
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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….
***EXCERPT***
Why did it feel like having sex had complicated things so much? Usually sex was complication-free for me.
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.”
Keep Reading the Excerpt for The One Real Thing
Keep Reading the Excerpt for The One Real Thing
“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 Samantha Young***
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.
***Our Thoughts***
Kassiah: Samantha Young is definitely one of my favorite authors, and since I was so late to the game in her previous series, I was pretty stoked that I got to jump into this new series from the very beginning. Doctor Jessica Huntington is great at her job and a bit of a workaholic. When she finds some old letters hidden in a book in the prison she works at, she decides to take a much needed vacation to find the recipient of the letters and deliver them to him. What she doesn’t expect to find is a home, friends, and true love in the form of bar owner Cooper Lawson. Cooper’s been burned–by his ex-wife and his ex-best friend–and isn’t looking for a commitment, but he can’t deny the crazy attraction between him and Jessica from the moment he sets eyes on her. How will these two make it work when Cooper’s afraid of commitment and Jessica is only in town for a couple of weeks?
If you know Samantha Young, you know that she writes authentic characters that seem so realistic, you’ll want to head down to the local bar to have a drink with them. I loved all of the characters in this small town and can’t wait to get to know all of them more and more. Cooper was totally swoonworthy.
“You’ve got the prettiest mouth I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The chemistry between him and Jessica was crazy hot. And I loved their banter.
“You’re very handy, aren’t you?”
What?
Why would you mention his hands?
I flushed immediately when Cooper looked at me, eyes bright with amusement and not a little bit of flirtation. “You have no idea.”
Jessica had a big secret that she kept from everyone, and that annoyed me a little bit, since the book is told in dual POV, but I was willing to overlook it because I love Cooper so much. I also thought things worked out a little conveniently, and I’m surprised that the twists in the story came when they did. But I loved this book, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series–I love Vaughn and Bailey!
“Oh, Miss Hartwell, you don’t ever want me going after what I want.”
With characters you’ll love, an idyllic setting, and chemistry that will set the pages on fire, The One Real Thing by Samantha Young delivers in every way.
- {Review} Heartland by Sarina Bowen (with Excerpt) - January 31, 2020
- {Cover Reveal} Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen (with Giveaway) - September 26, 2019
- {Spotlight} The DNA of You and Me by Andrea Rothman - March 26, 2019
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| Overall: | 4.5 |
***GIVEAWAY***
Good luck, Pretties.
