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Review

So I need to start this review by saying that I am a MASSIVE fan of On Dublin Street, so this book was always going to be a winner for me! Particularly because I loved Ellie in that book, and I loved Ellie and Adam together, so I couldn’t wait to get the full story from their perspective. And it was everything I wanted!

Their story is told mainly in flashback. In the present day, Ellie and Adam are together, and looking back at Ellie’s old diaries, so we get the opportunity to see the main turning points in their relationship, from Ellie’s POV as it happened, and then see the two of them reflect back on it. It’s awesome!

Ellie has crushed on Adam, best friend of her older brother Braden (aka – ‘The Fuckhot Scot’- squeee) since she was 10 years old, and he was 17. The flashbacks start with the moment where, at age 14, she realises that she loves him – and honestly, I totally fell in love with him there and then as well!

I loved watching their relationship change over years. It starts off with Adam joining Braden in the role of uber, big-brother-type protector, getting up in the face of her very first date…

“Ellie. You look great.”
“She does not.” Braden suddenly appeared behind me …. And I closed my eyes in actual pain after watching Adam squeeze in beside him. They were both trying to fry Sam’s arse with the power of their eyeballs.
“She looks fifteen. You remember that.”
Oh God. Kill me. Kill me know.
“If you touch her, I’ll make sure you lose all sense of feeling. Permanently,” Adam warned darkly.
“What he said,” Braden growled. 

I love that Adam genuinely cares for Ellie, even at this young age, and the two of them have a very special relationship. Things start to shift over the years as Ellie grows up, and Adam starts to take notice. But there are mixed messages, and lots of game playing with Adam freaked out at his best friend’s potential reaction to something happening between them. But despite his moments of stupid and frustration-inducing cold feet, I absolutely adore him! He is funny, playful, protective and loving, and heart-achingly swoony.

He clamped a large hand down on mine as I moved to lift the diaries. I glanced up at him and he shook his head with a small smile. “It’s painful to read how my stupidity hurt you at the time, but I like being inside your head. I like knowing that while I was struggling with the fact that I had fallen in love with my best friend’s little sister, she loved me back more than I could ever hope to deserve.”

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

I loved getting inside Ellie’s head. We see a little bit of her reaction to the Braden / Joss story which was great, but it’s very much her and Adam’s story, and I loved being inside of her head and watching all that went down with them. Their backstory is hinted at in On Dublin Street, but I was surprised just how deep and complicated their history was, and how strong Ellie is. She loves Adam fiercely, and gets her heart get trampled on time and time again, but she doesn’t sit at home pining for him. She lives her life, doing her own thing, and when the opportunity presents, she doesn’t shy away from making it clear to him how she feels – the good and the bad. You go girl!

“You should know,” I murmured softly, “That it all comes back to you.”

This was a gorgeous little read, with swoony romance, a bit of angst, and some steamy stuff as well. It’s a fantastic addition to the Dublin Street series. I can’t wait for more!

* * * * * * * * *

Bonus scene:

I jump at any opportunity to get anything extra from the On Dublin Streetseries, and I loved this little extra from Until Fountain Bridge from Adam’s POV.

Adam and Ellie danced around each other for years, both of them wanting each other, but Adam refusing to take the plunge.

His feelings for Ellie were anything but brotherly. Adam couldn’t hide that from himself even if he could from others—he wanted her. It hit him like a thunderbolt when she was eighteen … He could never have what other men could have from her, not if he wanted to keep Braden and his sister in his life forever. They were his family. He knew he couldn’t lose them over an attraction to Ellie. You didn’t fool around with your best friend’s little sister. End of story.

This little extra features the sizzling hot but also heartbreaking almost-but-not-quite scene with Ellie. Such an intensely emotional scene, and I loved the opportunity to be in his head and see what he was feeling

It could never be just a casual thing for her because… Adam knew she loved him.
And why oh why did that make him even more turned on. 

I think I may need to go back and reread the whole book now, just to see them get their HEA!

4 stars.

 

The On Dublin Street series

 

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