Until Fountain Bridge

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Synopsis

Ellie Carmichael developed a crush on Adam Sutherland, her older brother, Braden's best friend when she was only ten, and over the years, that girlish affection has blossomed into love. While Adam has always treated Ellie with care and concern, he made it clear that he only viewed her as the little sister he never had. But on Ellie's eighteenth birthday, Adam starts to see her for the grown-up woman she's become and a mere brush of their lips awakens desire in both of them. However, fearing that if things don't work out between them he would lose Braden as the friend whose become as close as a brother, Adam refuses to act on his feelings, sending Ellie mixed signals as he tries to put her out of his mind but doesn't always succeed. Ellie keeps hoping that one day he'll change his mind, but when she tires of waiting, she, too, tries dating other men to forget him. But when Ellie faces a major medical crisis, Adam finally realizes that he could lose the only woman he's ever truly loved before he has a chance to tell her how he really feels about her.

Review

Until Fountain Bridge is a novella in Samantha Young's On Dublin Street series that takes place just a few months after the first book ends. Braden's sister, Ellie, and his best friend, Adam, shared a secondary romance that played out in the background of On Dublin Street, and this novella fills out their story. Ellie has just moved in with Adam and has been searching through boxes for her journals. When she finds them, they take a walk down memory lane, recalling all the stages of how they fell in love. Adam is seven years older than Ellie, but as her brother's best friend, she's known him most of her life. She's had a crush on him since the age of ten and that crush only grew throughout her teen years. During that time, Adam never viewed Ellie as anything other than his best friend's little sister, always protecting her and giving her brotherly affection, but never knowing how she really felt about him. Then on her eighteenth birthday, Adam is suddenly awakened to Ellie as a beautiful grown woman, but afraid of losing both her and Braden if things don't work out, he fights those feelings, refusing to allow them to be anything except friends. However, on a few different occasions, he can't seem to help giving in just a little, sending Ellie mixed signals. For the next five years, they dance around each other. Ellie tries unsuccessfully to forget her feelings for Adam by dating other men, but no one ever measures up, while Adam plays the manwhore, rarely dating the same woman more than once and never committing to anyone. Then a major medical crisis for Ellie finally proves to be the catalyst Adam needs to tell Ellie how he really feels.

I absolutely adored Ellie and Adam as supporting characters in On Dublin Street. In fact, in some ways I liked them even better than Braden and Jocelyn, which is why I really wanted to read their story as it had played out in minimal detail in that book. I was thrilled when I discovered that Until Fountain Bridge was their story. I really enjoyed the way in which the author wrote it, with them revisiting their past interactions via Ellie's diaries after they're already together. This hits all the major highlights in their romantic journey, starting with Ellie's crush growing to epic proportions when Adam comes to her school to defend her virtue after an older boy falsely claims to have had sex with her, and continuing all the way through Ellie's brain tumor scare that spurred Adam into finally declaring himself. Ellie is a hopeless romantic who never quite gave up on Adam coming to his senses, even though he fought it tooth and nail, giving her plenty of heartbreaking moments in between. Adam's parents are distant, so Braden, Ellie, and their family have always been Adam's family too. Although he eventually falls for Ellie, he deeply fears losing his found family if things don't work out between them, so he keeps denying his feelings until her health scare makes him realize life is too short to not be happy. Even though Adam and Ellie aren't together romantically for most of the story, it didn't feel that way, because they're always around each other and their chemistry is off the charts. I loved how, for Ellie, even having sex with other guys doesn't make her feel the same way a mere brush of the lips from Adam does. The angsty goodness tore at my heart a little, but it was all mended when they finally do get together. Then their relationship is full of tenderness mixed with explosive passion that gave me all the feels. I can't express how much I loved Until Fountain Bridge. It was pure romance perfection, leaving me eager to continue the series soon.

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Samantha Young

Themes

Friends Before Lovers
Medical Drama