Before Jamaica Lane

On Dublin Street

By: Samantha Young

Narrated by: Lee Angel

Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The follow-up to the runaway best sellers On Dublin Street and Down London Road

Despite her outgoing demeanor, Olivia is painfully insecure around the opposite sex - usually, she can't get up the nerve to approach guys she's interested in. But moving to Edinburgh has given her a new start, and, after she develops a crush on a sexy postgrad, she decides it's time to push past her fears and go after what she wants.

Nate Sawyer is a gorgeous player who never commits, but to his close friends, he's as loyal as they come. So when Olivia turns to him with her relationship woes, he offers to instruct her in the art of flirting and to help her become more sexually confident.

The friendly education in seduction soon grows into an intense and hot romance. But then Nate's past and commitment issues rear their ugly heads, and Olivia is left brokenhearted. When Nate realizes he's made the biggest mistake of his life, he will have to work harder than he ever has before to entice his best friend into falling back in love with him - or he may lose her forever…

©2013 Samantha Young (P)2013 Penguin Audio

So many LOL moments!

I absolutely LOVED this book. The first book in the series is still my favorite but this book was wonderful. The story was engaging, characters well developed, and of course a handsome hero with a past he needed to work through. I liked this book so much so that I finished it all in one day. I could NOT stop. You won't either if you give it a chance.

Great Friends To Lovers Story!

Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young (Audio Edition)
Narrated by Angelica Lee
On Dublin Street Series #3

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ One of the best “Friends to Lovers” stories that I have read! Nate and Olivia have wonderful chemistry that can be both passionate and sweet. As this story is told only from Olivia’s pov, it makes me really wish I got to hear Nate’s side.

I think this book is my favourite of the series so far. The narrator is clear spoken and has a nice voice, however in the beginning, I found her Scottish accent had moments of “Dracula” in it, but as the story progressed, the passion and emotions she portrayed, had me completely lost in Olivia and Nate’s world and I didn't notice it again. Hey.. she does much better than I could ever do!!!

~Paragraphs and Petticoats~

What happened to the narrator?!!

What aspect of Lee Angel’s performance would you have changed?

The accents in the first and second in the series were fantastic. This story, they are barely tolerable.

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

The story.

One HOT installment, just keeps getting better!

I very much enjoyed the last 2 books in this series and I’m not quite sure why I didn’t just JUMP right into this one.

The theme of this story wasn’t very original, as I’ve read other books that had similar ways of getting hero and heroine together BUT I thought this one was well done. I love that these two were such great friends before anything happened between them. It made the sexual tension that much more intense. On top of that I love the cute banter they had with each other that came from their friendship and closeness. They both have also dealing with similar issues in grieving loved ones which brought them THAT much closer together.

There was NEVER a question of WHY Nate and Olivia were together it was always WHY it hadn’t happened already. These two were so compatible that it was just one of those inevitable things.

Nate was so cute. I loved his dirty talk, sexiness as he would whisper in Liv’s ears and how sweet he was to her. Olivia reminds me a little of me, she was like one of the guys at times. I used (before DH) to have TONS of guy friends that I can totally relate. Olivia was smart, witty and caring and I loved that about her.

There was also a wee bit of side story or continuation from the previous stories that was kind of nice too. It’s always nice to see past couples together and getting little slices of their lives after their HEA.

I can’t wait to continue reading/listening to this series, the writing is stellar and combined with great narration it’s definitely worth your time to listen to this series.

Narration: This series is strange in that all 3 books so far have had different narrators. Ironically enough they’ve ALL been great. Angelica Lee was great with her Scottish accents and very distinct with each of her voices. Her male voices were great, low and sexy. I would definitely listen to more from her.

A good continuation...great couple!

Alrighty! Well this is the third book in a great series. Overall the series is great! Totally enjoyable. I can say that I understand Olivia's point of view, her reluctance and respect her strength. I always enjoy getting to see previous couples and this one is no different, we really got to see how everyone was doing and even got to see a little drama from them too. I would say that this is not a high drama series, but a pretty high emotion series. You really get to delve into the psyche of the characters, understand how they tick and why they do what they do. This is not a fluff piece. Nate is hot, a player and needing to be tamed but the question is...will Olivia tame him? I'll never tell but it is worth the ride! Ups and downs, a realistic look at relationships. There are no multi-millionaires finding virgins to be their sex slaves (though I like that too) but this is more "normal" people. This group of friends could be mine. We also get to see the stirrings of future books (I hope) and that is exciting too! All in all, a great book!

Another Credit Worthy Story

If you could sum up Before Jamaica Lane in three words, what would they be?

Great stories with realistic characters and awesome love scenes.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Before Jamaica Lane?

The trip to meet the parents. I don't like giving too much away, but it was a great way to hang out with friends. Not all of it was good, but I enjoyed it.

Which scene was your favorite?

The time they spend in the apartment watching the first movie.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. I thought Olivia was being difficult for the sake of being difficult, but when I listened a second time, I changed my opinion. If more women made men work a little harder, we probably would be in better relationships. Yes, this is a fictional story, but you can still learn from the story.

Really fun to listen

Really save me from dying a boring death at work, thank god for books like that light and fun and easy to listen:)

Great story

Unexpected turn of events and loved the girl main character...she had the right amount of emotions and wasn't too needy and only became more confident throughout the story...
Very very good

Ending makes it worth it!

This was a tough one for me. By the end, the author won me over but I will say in the beginning I had to stop thinking about this book as a romance. It's a me thing and I'll explain why it didn't work for me at first.

This is a friends to lovers story. Nate had a traumatic experience with the first love of his life and now he puts women into two categories. Friends or lovers. He does not have relationships beyond friendship and plans on never having them. Since Olivia is friends with his friends, that puts her firmly in the friend category no matter how much they are attracted to each other.

Now, I know that doesn't sound bad to most readers but I personally struggle when one of the characters is constantly sleeping with other people. I hate that for my romance books. It hurts the other person and it aches to see it happen.

The thing is, I loved this group of friends and really enjoyed their interactions. Once I stopped looking at this as a romance, I really had fun listening to this audio. The narrator was fantastic! I loved Lee Angel's voice and they way she acted out each individual character. She is a big reason why I ended up liking this book more than I normally would have with the issue I spoke of above.

I would recommend the audible book. And if you have the same issue as I do, hang in there. I was very happy with the ending.

A beautifully written friends-to-lovers story that will make you swoon!

I loved Joss and Braden’s story, but I adore this couple even more! I’ve literally listened to dozens of books to get me through this pandemic and this has been my absolute favorite as well as the first book I’m taking the time to write a review for. Now, if you love the romance genre, you’ve most likely seen this plot or something similar in other books... a friends to lovers romance that began as a favor and developed into something more... but “Before Jamaica Lane,” in my opinion, is the greatest execution of this particular literary trope. Nate and Olivia have amazing chemistry and HOLY🔥HOT🔥 SEX! WOW! Olivia starts off with a very low self image, something I think a lot of women can unfortunately relate to, but don’t confuse her lack of confidence as weakness. She is smart, funny, and grows a lot as the story progresses. And NATE.... SWOON! Finally.. a leading man who isn’t a possessive, billionaire control freak! The way he makes Olivia feel beautiful and helps her to be brave and find confidence completely melted my heart. I also want to commend the narrator. I think she did an amazing job nailing the difficult accents and conveying the intense emotions you’ll be sure to feel if you listen to this book.