On Dublin Street: Braden POV Scenes (6)

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Synopsis

Five pivotal moments from On Dublin Street rewritten from Braden's POV include his and Jocelyn's first meeting in the cab, their second meeting at the flat when she comes out of the bathroom naked, their third meeting at the bar where she works, Braden and Joss having it out after their breakup and Ellie's diagnosis, and finally Braden finding the plane ticket back to the States that Joss bought, leading to a passionate and heartfelt reunion between them. There is also an additional scene, taking place years before Braden met Joss where he discovers his wife cheating on him.

Review

The novel On Dublin Street was written from Jocelyn's first-person POV, so this section of On Dublin Street: The Novellas consists of five pivotal scenes from On Dublin Street rewritten from Braden's third-person perspective, along with a sixth original scene that wasn't part of On Dublin Street. The rewritten scenes include Braden and Joss's three initial meetings: Their first meeting where they both go for the same cab and share the ride, the second meeting where Braden goes to his sister, Ellie's flat to discover that Joss is her new roommate when she exits the bathroom naked, and their third meeting where Braden accompanies Ellie and his best friend, Adam, to the bar where Joss works. The fourth scene is when Joss has just returned after Ellie's frightening diagnosis and she and Braden have it out over their breakup. The fifth scene follows Ellie's surgery, when Braden finds the plane ticket back to the States that Joss bought. They end up at his place in a passionate moment, followed by Joss finally telling him the whole story of her past and admitting that she loves him. Last but not least, there is a sixth original scene that takes place years before Braden meets Joss and details the night he found his wife in bed with his friend, which ended his marriage.

Since these are just a collection of scenes rather than a complete story, it's kind of hard to rate and review them. I settled on a five-star rating, though, because I enjoyed them every bit as much as the full novel, perhaps even a little more, so that seemed fair. It was fun getting to learn what was going through Braden's mind during these pivotal moments. His initial reaction to Joss was very visceral and explains why he pursued her so intently. It was also good to see just how much Ellie means to him. I knew she did from the novel, but the scene after Ellie's diagnosis from his perspective was touching because of the intensity of his love for her. I additionally liked seeing how protective he felt of Joss when she told him about her past. The final scene where he catches his wife cheating was interesting, because while he felt heartbroken on some level, he didn't end up caring as much he thought he should, which indicates that his love for her wasn't nearly as strong as what he feels for Joss. Overall, this was an interesting group of scenes, some of the best ones that the author could have chosen to rewrite from Braden's POV, and I enjoyed learning a little more about him from them. The Braden POV scenes can be found in the anthologies On Dublin Street: The Bonus Material and On Dublin Street: The Novellas.

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Samantha Young

Themes

Opposite Sides of the Track
Tortured Heroines