✰ Bianca ✰ Janeane ✰ 
★★★★★
5 Stars
Nora O’Brien chased a dream from Indiana to Scotland, so sure it was the right thing to do. Three years later she was left in her adopted country with nothing to her name but guilt and regret.
Until Aidan Lennox entered her life.
Older, worldlier, a music producer and composer, the sexy Scot should never have made sense for Nora. But somehow in each other they found the light they were looking for, the laughter and the passion—the strength to play on despite their past losses.
But when life dealt Aidan another unlucky hand, instead of reaching for her he disappeared. The agonizing loss of him inspired something within Nora. It fired her spirit— the anger and hurt pushing her forward to take control and reach for her dreams.
Finally pursuing a career on stage while she put herself through college, everything is how Nora wants it. She’s avoiding heartbreak and concentrating on her goals.
Sounds easy but it’s not. Because Aidan is back. And for some reason he hates Nora.
He’s determined to be at war with her.
And she has absolutely no idea why.
Nora is 18 when she leaves her little hometown in the United States to come to Scotland with 21 year old Jim.
But what she thought was her first real love, ended up with them being just friends. She just didn't love him the way he deserved to be loved - the way he loved her.
And now she's pretty much alone in Europe with no idea what to do with her life.
Then she meets Aidan. And life could finally be good for Nora.
But things are complicated ..... and Nora might not yet be ready for her Happy Ending ....
What will happen with Nora in Scotland??
Will she find her Happily Ever After??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT! ☺
Eeeep ... a new Sam Young series! (all standalones with no connected characters.)
I was sooo excited to get started .... and I loved it!
It wasn't this cute and sexy little new adult thing I was expecting. It was soooo much more!!
There was cute and sexy and funny and adorable and new adult, but there was also so much pain and hope and loss and grief and guilt and fear and love and ... ugh, so much 'stuff' in this one book. I wouldn't have minded a trilogy about Nora and her life!!! ☺
The book was a tiny little bit confusing in the beginning, because we go back and forth in time a bit. Not a good thing for someone suffering from Booksalzheimers like I am! ☺☺☺
First we get a chapter from 2015 - the prologue - which already made me cry. ☺
And then we go back with Nora to when she was 18 in 2011 - back home in Indiana.
How her hard life just sucked the joy and hope out of her.
She works at a fast food place.
She has to take care of her disabled and sometimes mean dad.
She has no hope of going to college.
She only has some very deeply hidden dreams of one day being a theater actress.
Then scottish cutie Jim with his sexy accent arrives in town - he's on a US-trip with his buddy Roddy.
And suddenly her future looks a bit brighter.
But once she's been in Scotland for a few years, she's not so sure about things anymore.
Her relationship with Jim is not what she wanted it to be - or rather what Jim wanted it to be.
And then we meet Aidan.
And he's so mysterious .... and a bit older (12 years) and rich and smart and talented and sweet and intense and so much more.
But things are just way too complicated. Nora is not sure if she's ready for Aidan. She thinks he deserves better than a stupid little girl with no idea what to do with her life. A girl with so much guilt about her family and about Jim ....
Time to start growing up and get your life sorted little Nora!
I just loved this story! It was so beautiful.
I cried a lot!!! (Don't worry, I do that in almost every book!!!! I'm just like Phil Dunphy with the crying!☺☺☺ ↓)
There is soo much story in this book. Actually, I think, we kind of have five different books in here.
Nora's time growing up in that US town with her complicated family. Her time with Jim. Her time after Jim. Her time with Aidan. And her time with Aidan - part 2.
I wanted this book to be so much longer!!!!
But it was amazing the way it was ....
We have so many moving and sad and heartbreaking moments.
But also so many cute and adorable and funny and sexy moments.
I sometimes wanted to kick Nora in the behind to finally start fighting harder for her happily ever after! But of course we all know that she'll get there by the end of the book... But it's a long way for her and the reader! ☺
What can I say ....
Perfect romance! With allllllll the feels!!! ♥
Can't wait to see where this series will take us in book #2!!!
PLAY ON was such a heartbreakingly beautiful & emotional love story. About a girl fighting to find her place in the world - in life, and especially in love ... Run to your nearest amazon to see if she finds her happily ever after with Aidan - but get your own hottie scottie - this one is MINE! ☺
ARC received for an honest review
I would pick up the phone book if Samantha Young wrote it, and even though I am not a big fan of YA (I am an old fart, they often feel wwaaaaaayy too young for me), I completely adored Play On.
I am not going to lie, I did struggle getting into the first 20% of the book. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but I did.
Once we got past that, I was completely and utterly hooked. Nora's story is not always an easy one. I liked her from the start, and as the story continued, I couldn't help but love her.
And then there is Aidan. He made me all kinds of swoony - when he wasn't ticking me off!
I couldn't help but need this pair to make a real go of things. It just had to happen, I wouldn't have it any other way!
Play On had a bit of everything. I laughed, I cried, I got so so angry at times and yelled at my kindle. But most of all I hoped and I loved.
There are some fantastic secondary characters whom I hope to see more of in the future.
Can't wait for book 2 (at this stage untitled and no idea when it will be released)
Bring it on!
ARC received for an honest review
I would pick up the phone book if Samantha Young wrote it, and even though I am not a big fan of YA (I am an old fart, they often feel wwaaaaaayy too young for me), I completely adored Play On.
I am not going to lie, I did struggle getting into the first 20% of the book. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but I did.
Once we got past that, I was completely and utterly hooked. Nora's story is not always an easy one. I liked her from the start, and as the story continued, I couldn't help but love her.
And then there is Aidan. He made me all kinds of swoony - when he wasn't ticking me off!
I couldn't help but need this pair to make a real go of things. It just had to happen, I wouldn't have it any other way!
Play On had a bit of everything. I laughed, I cried, I got so so angry at times and yelled at my kindle. But most of all I hoped and I loved.
There are some fantastic secondary characters whom I hope to see more of in the future.
Can't wait for book 2 (at this stage untitled and no idea when it will be released)
Bring it on!
• EXCERPT •
The searing glance Aidan had given me before he drove off killed the smile as anticipation enveloped me.
Not long later, I got a text with his address and a time. I texted back a simple “I’ll be there” response.
And now here I was.
With my palms sweating.
I pressed the buzzer to his apartment and some seconds later heard his delicious voice, “Hello?”
“It’s me.”
The door buzzed and I smiled as I stepped inside, thinking that sometimes he was a man of few words.
Aidan lived on the second from the top floor and when the elevator binged open, it was facing his apartment door—he was standing in it, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorjamb.
My breath caught as I took him in. He was pure masculine, rugged perfection. Every time I saw him, he grew more attractive. His soulful eyes were focused on me as mine took in the fact that he was wearing a different T-shirt from earlier and ragged jeans. His hair was still wet so I knew, like me, he’d just had a shower.
Shivers tickled down my spine at the reason why. I stepped out of the elevator before the doors closed on me and approached him slowly, still drinking him in, disbelieving really that this kind, funny, smart and unbelievably sexy man was gazing at me like he thought I was all those things too. His eyes drifted down my body slowly and then rose, lingering over every detail, until they came back to my face.
“I like this dress,” he said.
I smiled softly. “You’re easily pleased.”
Aidan took my hand and led me inside his apartment, but I didn’t have a chance to look at it because he was speaking again, distracting me. “No, I didn’t used to be.” He closed the door, locking it behind us. “I used to be an arsehole.” His expression was almost one of wonder as he looked down at me. “A picky, womanizing arsehole.”
I tensed, not really enjoying the idea of him and other women. And picky? I remember Sylvie telling me her uncle dated the most beautiful women she’d ever seen.
Christ.
I tugged on my cardigan, wondering what possessed me to wear it.
“Don’t.” It was as if he sensed my sudden insecurity, sliding an arm around my waist and drawing me to him. My hands fluttered down on his hard, warm chest, and I tilted my head back to keep eye contact. “You’re perfect.”
“My hair is too short.” I touched the strands at my nape. “It used to be long.”
“I remember.”
“I cut it because of Jim,” I told him sadly…
Aidan squeezed my waist in reassurance.
“But I loved my hair too,” I said, feeling stupid about the whole thing. “I know it’s only hair … but I’m mad I cut it.”
He studied me so long, I was almost afraid to ask what he was thinking, but I shouldn’t have been. Aidan released my waist with one hand to brush his fingers through the bangs that had grown out past my ears. His fingers curled around my ear, his thumb stroking my cheekbone, and his eyes caught mine with a fierceness that made my belly squeeze. “You could shave it all off, Pixie, and still be so bloody beautiful, I can’t concentrate on anything else when you’re in the room.”
Wow. I exhaled slowly on his name, “Aidan.”
His eyes closed as if he was in pain and he dropped his forehead to mine. His cologne washed over me, the heat of him prickling my skin like I’d stepped out of an air-conditioned room into the hot sun. “I want to hear you say my name like that when I’m inside you,” he murmured against my lips.
If you haven't read Sam's #OnDublinStreet series yet - GET STARTED NOW!!!!
Sam's YA standalone!
Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook& hardback June 2017
Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.
Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.
