Echoes of Scotland Street by Samantha Young

Title: Echoes of Scotland Street

Series: On Dublin Street bk 5

Author: Samantha Young

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Shannon MacLeod has always gone for the wrong type of man. After she drifted from one toxic relationship to the next, her last boyfriend gave her a wakeup call in the worst possible way. With her world shattered, she’s sworn off men—especially those of the bad-boy variety.

Cole Walker is exactly the sort that Shannon wants to avoid—gorgeous, tattooed, charming, and cocky. But his rough exterior hides a good man who’s ready to find “the one.” He’s determined to pull Shannon from her self-imposed solitude and win her heart.

As Shannon opens up in the face of Cole’s steady devotion, the passion between them ignites to blazing levels. But when Shannon’s past comes back to haunt her, her fears may destroy the trust Cole has built between them—and tear them apart for good.

Thoughts: I’ve been a fan of this series since the first book On Dublin Street, and I’ve been looking forward to this book since Down London Road. It’s been years since we were introduced Cole as a teenager and now he’s all grown up and very delicious.

I wasn’t sure about Shannon as the heroine for Cole and even up till the end of the book I still wasn’t a hundred percent in love with her as a match for him. I was also really hoping we’d get some time in Cole’s POV as he’s the reason I wanted to read this story. For me it was all about him, or it was supposed to be, at least in my mind.

All of that being said I did enjoy Shannon as a character. In the beginning she’s very closed off and with good reason as we get to know her back story, I can’t imagine anyone not being messed up over what happened to her. I gave mad props to her brother for what he does to protect her, and wanted to kill the rest of her family over their treatment of her.

As Shannon starts a new life in Edinburgh she slowly begins to regain her confidence in not only who she is as a person but also in her artistic abilities. This is where I really liked her and Cole together as couple because he was able to help her see just how talented she was.

One of the reasons I love series so much is because we get to catch up with past characters. It’s been several years since Down London Road, and a couple of years since Fall from India Place the last book in the series, and as such Cole and Ellie and Hannah’s brother whose name escapes me at the moment, are the only single members of their group. All of the other past couples have children as well. Which makes for some crazy confusing scenes at times, but also the reason we love series.

Overall this was a good addition to the series, and I’m curious as to what will happen in the next book which features Shannon’s brother Logan. I also want to know when the last Carmichael sibling will get his story.

Grade B+