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Down London Road

By: Samantha Young
Narrated by: Elle Newlands
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Publisher's summary

Johanna Walker is used to taking charge. But she’s about to meet someone who will make her lose control....

It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may - or may not - fly.

But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.

Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets...even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.

©2013 Samantha Young (P)2013 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

“This is a really sexy book and I loved the heroine’s journey to find herself and grow strong. Highly recommend this one.” (USA Today’s Happily Ever After blog)

What listeners say about Down London Road

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Anohter great book from SY!

Have you listened to any of Elle Newlands’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I really enjoyed Elle Newland's performance. She allows you to sink into the story to see the different characters and feel the emotions of each. I think her performance was a major enhancement to the book. Terrific pairing!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Great narration, OK story

This was a relatively predictable yet steamy love story. The narrator's charming Scottish accent was what sealed the deal on getting this audiobook (I couldn't have replicated that in my mind while reading it!)

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

mmc is an asshole

This book, like all books by this author, is a complicated character study. I really like her writing style. And the authenticity.

But this story is sad and frustrating from the beginning. The mfc has low self esteem so she prostitutes herself to rich men to make up the shortfall on the bills. Her relationships with these sugar daddies aren’t completely transactional she calls them her ‘boyfriends’ but it’s all really messed up. She doesn’t know herself or what she needs.

The mmc, Cam, was abusive from the get go. And even when he apologized and later they got sexual and he mellowed out, I couldn’t forget how vicious he’d been when he first met her. And how unbalanced he became when they argued. 🚩. Cam is a really good representation of the average man: mostly okay, until they aren’t. And when their latent personality comes out it’s full of of misogyny, chauvinism and aggression.

Not one person in this book gave the mfc, Jo, good advice. And she never stepped up for herself. The mfc is a childhood abuse victim that’s grown into a woman who lives in a toxic cycle where she cohabitates with an abuser and is forced to constantly ‘forgive’ her. Jo then repeats the same pattern with Cam, constantly allowing him make assumptions/behave badly and then ending arguments with touch instead of talk. She just didn’t know any better.

Forgiveness is not shoving down our feelings of hurt so we can coexist with nasty people. It’s the long hard work of looking at everything that has happened, acknowledging our pain and culpability in all of it, admitting how it has changed us, then then loving that new person. It has nothing to do with anyone else. And it can’t be cheated. The HEA in this book felt like a bandaid trying to cover a horrible life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent!

Samantha Young is my new favorite author. I loved On Dublin Street and she actually wrote a second book to top that one! There are so many things I loved about this book: the real life drama, likeable and complex characters and a romance that builds great anticipation and intensity. The narration was very good too. A must listen to anyone who likes contemporary romances.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well Developed Characters Make this Work

I enjoyed the first book in this series, On Dublin Street, a great deal. I was impressed with the depth of the characters, the layers of problems that made the main character a complex, difficult yet compelling, woman to love. I bought Down London Road as soon as it came out, but for some reason I put off reading it. I think I put it off because the main character in Down London Road was a secondary character in On Dublin Street, and not a particularly interesting or sympathetic character at that.

When I finally did read this book, I was very glad I did. Like On Dublin Street, it is at its core a contemporary romance. But again the depth of the character makes it much more than that. The aspects of Jo I found unsympathetic and uninteresting in On Dublin Street were explained and she suddenly became a very strong, brave and sympathetic person. I think the open animosity against her expressed by her eventual love interest made the reader defensive and protective of Jo and suddenly she was a character worth knowing. The character of her younger brother matured throughout the book and the closeness between the two main characters was portrayed realistically but felt very genuine.

I thought the narrator did a very good job with the book.

I highly recommend this.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Johanna's Story

This sequel featured Johanna Walker and her younger brother Cole, who were mentioned in book 1.
I found it amusing that the narrator's name was Elle, because it sounded like Ellie Carmichael was telling Jo's story. But the narrator did a great job and I loved her accent.

Johanna had been presented as this low-self esteemed bimbo, always looking for a sugar daddy, instead of taking care of herself. I felt like while Joss worked with her at Club 39, Joss and Braden looked down on her and tolerated her out of pity.
I was surprised that in this book, Johanna, Joss and Braden were the picture of the best of friends. It felt like a bit of revisionist history, especially since Johanna had made a play for Braden in book 1.

Johanna’s story was a perfect reminder that there are two sides to every story. Johanna Walker was the daughter of an abusive father and an alcoholic mother. She worked two jobs to support her family as her mother’s illness prevented her from being able to work. Jo was afraid to loss her brother Cole to foster care system if anyone found out about her family, so she worked hard to hide their secret shame, while financially providing for them.
Jo’s pursuit of rich men was born out of her need to have the financial resources to feed her younger brother, and pay for him to go to college. It was humiliating, but Cole was her responsibility and she decided she would do anything she had to for him.

When she met Cameron McCabe, he encouraged her to stop being everyone’s doormat and figure out a more respectable way to take care of her family. It was a tense relationship because while they were very attracted to each other, Jo was determined to find a “safe” relationship that would accommodate her financial concerns and also be drama-free (no physical abuse).

After Cameron moved into Johanna’s apartment complex and got an understanding of Johanna’s hellish home life, he started seeing what a kind hearted person Jo really was. He began wooing her until he convinced her to break up with her current sugar daddy and give into their passion.

Their love wasn’t an easy ride, but it was an emotionally engaging one because clearly Johanna had not been emotionally attached to any of her previous beaus. Cameron was also good for Johanna because he encouraged her to stand up for herself, and he gave Cole another male to look up to. I really loved how Samantha Young flipped the script on what seemed like a simpleton gold digger, and showed us there was really a loving sister and woman who just needed support to fulfill her dreams.

I found Johanna’s parents to be the worst kind of people and I am amazed their children didn’t turn out to be mean and bitter people. They were actually happy considering their past. I also loved how Cameron sought out the person for Johanna’s past, to help her gain a sense of security and try to restore her faith in men.
Cameron was a good guy and he was just what the doctor ordered for Johanna and Cole. Book 2 was a great addition to this series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Job!

What did you love best about Down London Road?

I really liked the narrator. She did a great job.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Down London Road?

It's not a moment- it is the tension between the two- the back and forth and the ultimate way it worked for them

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Review: Down London Road

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, and I already have because it is a good romance book that I believe falls on the list of books you definitely should read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cam was my favorite character. He is such a jerk to begin with but you can tell there is a reason behind it. He's tattoed and hot and we eventually learn he's a huge romantic that refuss to take any of Jo's self-deprecating crap.

Have you listened to any of Elle Newlands’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not. But I really, really enjoyed her performance and would definitely love to hear her narrating again.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The bathroom scene between Cam and Jo. You could just feel the sexual frustration and longing leaping at you.

Any additional comments?

A continuation of the story of the lives of people we met in "On Dublin Street" this book stands omits own feet enough that it's not an absolute necessity to read "On Dublin Street" before this one, but I would still recommend it as that was a great book too.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Steamy Entertainment

What did you love best about Down London Road?

I could definitely relate to Johanna in this novel. Although there were a few far fetched scenes for the most part it was very heartfelt and genuine. The chemistry between Johanna and Cameron is impressive. Samantha Young's sense of humour is right up my alley.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hands down, Johanna. Definitely a honey badger.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Cameron gave Johanna a paint brush.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

It was pretty good

This book was not as good as "On Dublin Street" for me, but was still a good listen. I like this author and looking forward to her next book.

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