Guest Review: On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

      Today I would like to introduce to you one of my good friends, Nena. Recently, Nena started her own book blog, the good, the bad and the ugly, and I adore her quick and easy format for reviewing books. Please help me welcome Nena to That’s What I’m Talking About!

      Hello readers! I’m very excited to stop by That’s What I’m Talking About and introduce myself and my book review blog.

      First off, I have to tell you a little about myself, my favorite pastime is to get myself lost in a good story. Recommendations are a must for me as a reader, because I don’t ever read book blurbs or synopses. I like to immerse myself into a story without any preconceived ideas, expectations or knowledge.

      Over the summer I was given a book recommendation by a friend that knows what I like so I went ahead and bought it without thinking twice (buy-it-with-one-click compulsion, anyone?)

      To say the least, I loved the book and when I went to search for more information about the author, I discovered the world of indie books. I had stayed away from self-published titles for a good reason but after reading that book, I knew there had to be more diamonds in the rough and I embarked myself on a quest to find them!

      Goodreads is a great place to go and find treasures, but along with the gems I found, I came across a lot of not-so-precious rocks. The star rating proved to be flawed, and it quickly became meaningless to me. If I was going to read a book I wanted to know what were its strengths, what things could be improved, and ultimately I wanted to have a final statement of the book as a whole, so, the good, the bad and the ugly book review blog was born.

The good, the bad and the ugly blog has a simple format, and today I would like to share with you one of the best books I read this past summer.

      On Dublin Street by Samantha Young was self-published on August 31, 2012, and it quickly made its way to the top on Amazon’s best selling romance books, climbing ahead the Fifty Shades of Grey books which held the three top spots all summer. On Dublin Street surprised the publishing industry keeping the number one spot for 13 consecutive days. Needless to say a month later On Dublin Street was picked up by Penguin UK and New American Library (Penguin US).

      I highly recommend this book to all romance novel readers and here is what the good, the bad and the ugly blog has to say about it:

      The Good: Where to start? I only have praise for this book so be aware of that. This book is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Not only is the writing flawless but the plot and the character development are superb. Joss is an american girl with Scottish heritage living in Dublin, Scotland while trying to write a new chapter in her life. After a personal tragedy she finds herself with little options and no one to trust. Independent and career oriented, Joss is looking for company and a new place to live. Dublin Street may just be a little more than she’d expected.

      The Bad: This book will leave you wanting for more, and you will have trouble finding another book that you want to read after this one. This romance novel has one main plot and while there was room for a subplot development, the story doesn’t get complicated. I would consider this book a light but very enjoyable read.

      The Ugly: Samantha Young announced a second book in this now-series that will be released in 2013. This book was originally written as a stand-alone, and I’m a little concerned about the pressure of a publishing house penning this as a two-book deal. However, if anyone can do it, it would be this author. I’m confident that Samantha Young’s talent will impress us all by producing a remarkable sequel.

      So there you have it, a simple, non-spoilerish review about a great book! Thank you Twimom227 for the spotlight!

      Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with my readers, Nena! If you’d like to hear more from Nena, you can find her: