Tag: FBI/US Attorney

Throwback Thursday Review: Something About You by Julie James

Posted April 26, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 17 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Something About You by Julie JamesReviewer: Rowena
Something About You by Julie James
Series: FBI/US Attorney #1
Also in this series: About That Night (FBI/US Attorney, #3), A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney, #2), Love Irresistibly, It Happened One Wedding, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, A Lot Like Love
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Publication Date: March 2, 2010
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 307
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Fate has thrown two sworn enemies...

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends with a death. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago—and for nearly ruining his career.

Into each other's arms...

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it's no joke; the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes—and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension.

Every Thursday in 2018, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books.

This review was originally posted on February 24, 2010.

It just keeps getting better with each and every book. James has shown that she is definitely no one hit wonder with this latest installment into her backlist. Something About You was an entertaining read from cover to cover. It had everything you could want in a great contemporary setting. Characters that leaped off the page, a storyline that kept you interested and a hero that was just to smexy for words.

The chemistry between Jack and Cameron was crazy good. Even when they were hating each other, the chemistry was evident. They worked well together and they were just great characters that I came to love over the course of the book.

Cameron Lynde is an assistant U.S. Attorney who had floor troubles at home so she treated herself to sleeping in an upscale hotel room instead of on her friend’s couch or guest bed or something. She thought she was treating herself but she was actually treated to the loud sex going on in the room next door. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the loud sex that was keeping her up all night stopped….only to start up again about an hour later. Fed up with all of the noise going on over there, Cameron calls the front desk and complains. She puts the phone down and waits for the security to come up and take care of her little noise problem but she hears thuds coming from the room, noises she didn’t hear before and then she hears the door open so she peeks through the peep hole and sees someone walk out of the room.

Turns out that she witnesses the murderer of the woman in the other room walking out after the murder and so the FBI turns up on her doorstep. One of the FBI agents that shows up to interview her is the one guy that she’d love to forget for the rest of her life. It’s none other than Jack Pallas, the FBI agent who told the entire nation that she had her head up her ass. They’re not fans of each other and Jack holds her responsible for his transfer to Nebraska. So when Jack shows up on Cameron’s hotel doorstep, to say that she’s annoyed is putting it mildly.

…and of all the hotel rooms to show up at, Jack had to land on Cameron Lynde’s hotel doorstep. Jack cannot stand Cameron because he felt like he wasted two years of his life gathering evidence and she wouldn’t prosecute. It pissed him off but he was a professional so he was going to get this job done, even if it killed him or he killed someone. Either or.

Watching these two battle their feelings and then come together was such a treat! First they hate each other and then they grow soft on each other and then their together. The transition from hating each other to loving each other made for an enjoyable ride that I was absolutely adored.

Jack was a great hero who was stubborn, arrogant and yet lovable. He was such a man. A man’s man who did man things and thought man things and I ate him up. He wasn’t the cookie cutter perfect hero because he assumed the worst in Cameron at every turn and yet I never once hated him. I never once thought, oh get over yourself because he the way that he protected Cameron was just too hot damn sexy that I’d forgive him anything. He was normal and the way that Julie wrote him made his character real. He was a very three dimensional character and I absolutely loved him.

Cameron was one of those heroines that I can appreciate. She was smart and she was capable but she wasn’t one of those heroines who thought she could do everything and tried to do it too. She didn’t need to prove herself to anyone, she knew her strengths and she did her best to let the professionals do their jobs. I loved that about her. She wasn’t the kind of heroine who hid from the bad guys and let everyone run her life but she wasn’t a pushover either. She didn’t think she needed to tell the FBI how to do their job and she trusted them enough to protect her and I admired her for that. She wasn’t that heroine who did the most. She did what she was supposed to and I loved her for that.

Overall, this book was really good. It was perfect for what I was in the mood for and I trusted Julie to entertain the socks off of me and I’m so happy that she did. She’s going to do big things in the publishing world and I’m so excited for her. The villain wasn’t scary or anything but as far as villains went, he fit the bill and I was pretty bummed that we didn’t get to see any scenes with Jack and his sister and nephew. Jack mentions that he wanted to spend more time with his sister and nephew now that he was back in Chicago but we didn’t get to see any interactions with them, I thought it would have been nice to get to know her since the only people on Jack’s side that we got to meet was his partner and his boss. It would have been nice to get some personal interactions but aside from that, I loved the book. I thought it was a great way to spend a few hours. James did a great job of keeping me interested in the romance budding between Jack and Cameron and she kept me entertain throughout the entire story which is exactly what I like in a book.

So really, kudos to Julie James on another winner and I think this is my favorite book by her so far. Would I recommend this? Heck yes!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

FBI/US Attorney

four-half-stars

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Julie James Comes to Los Angeles! (+Giveaway)

Posted May 1, 2017 by Rowena in Promotions | 11 Comments

The minute Holly and I found out that Julie James was coming to Los Angeles, we made plans to be there because if you know us…we love us some Julie James. Our love for Julie James was established in 2008 with the release of Just the Sexiest Man Alive. I adored that book to pieces. I adored it so much I forced Holly to read it, and have not missed a release of hers since. We’re just as much in love with her stuff now as we were then.

Friday night, Julie James was in town chatting with People Magazine’s Kara Warner at The Ripped Bodice in Culver City and our book nerd asses were over the moon. If you haven’t been, you really must make The Ripped Bodice, the only exclusively romance bookstore in America, a stop when you’re in LA. Sisters Leah and Bea have created funky, fun atmosphere where you can relax, browse new (and used!) books and be with like minded women who love romance as much as you do. Not to mention spend time with Fitzwilliam Waffles, the shop dog (https://www.instagram.com/fitzwilliamwaffles/). I live about 15 minutes away from The Ripped Bodice, but I don’t get out there nearly as much as I’d like. Which is a bummer, since they offer writing workshops, book signings and all manner of reader/writer events (check out their events page here to see what’s coming up).

It’s funny that we were much more excited about seeing Julie James than we were about People Magazine being in the house but well, I guess that’s not such a surprise considering our book nerd status. Having People Magazine there was just an added bonus.

Leah, Bea and their crew turned The Ripped Bodice into an awesome venue with a Chicago flair and we definitely appreciated their efforts (along with the refreshments, of course. :P). Julie James was welcomed with a good sized crowd. She regaled us with stories of her writing adventures, background on the books she’s written and her inspiration for The Thing About Love. She also took some questions from the audience, then signed some books. It was an all around fabulous book signing, even though my Dodger loving heart was a bit bummed that the Chicago Cubs game was playing in the background. Ha!  (H: Sometimes I don’t even know how we’re friends. CUBS 4EVER!!) If you have a chance to attend a Julie James signing, you really must. She’s a wonderful storyteller in person as well as in print. Holly and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.

To celebrate the event, we’re giving away a signed copy of Julie Jame’s The Thing about Love to one lucky winner. Please use the rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!!

Giveaway Alert

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Julie James, Kara Warner of People Magazine and everyone at The Ripped Bodice for a fun night. It was one for the books and I will definitely be making more time to visit the best bookstore in the entire universe! 🙂

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Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie James

Posted June 2, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie JamesReviewer: Rowena
Suddenly One Summer by Julie James
Series: FBI/US Attorney #6
Also in this series: About That Night (FBI/US Attorney, #3), A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney, #2), Love Irresistibly, It Happened One Wedding, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, Something About You, A Lot Like Love
Publisher: Jove
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 291
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From the New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Wedding comes a novel about a man and a woman whose summer is about to get very, very steamy…

Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. That doesn't mean she's opposed to casual dating—just not with her cocky new neighbor, who is as gorgeous and tempting as he is off-limits. But once she agrees to take on his sister's case, she's as determined to win as ever—even if that means teaming up with Ford…

Investigative journalist Ford Dixon is bent on finding the man who got his sister pregnant and left her high and dry. He's willing to partner with Victoria, despite the fact that the beautiful brunette gets under his skin like no other woman. He might not be looking to settle down, but there's no denying the scorching attraction between them. Still, the more time he spends with Victoria, the more he realizes that the one woman as skeptical about love as he is might be the only woman he could really fall for…

This book is loosely related to the FBI/US Attorney series by Julie James since it features Brooke Parker’s (heroine from book 4) best friend Ford Dixon but neither the hero nor the heroine worked for the FBI or the US Attorney’s office so it can actually stand on its own as well.

So this book follows Victoria Slade, a divorce lawyer who doesn’t believe in marriage and hasn’t been in a relationship in a long time and Ford Dixon, a journalist who is always the rebound guy. The hot rebound guy, but still. They’re both not looking for a relationship and when Victoria moves in next door to Ford, things get interesting.

Ford can’t believe that the girl he was eyeing at the bar is his new next door neighbor. When he first finds out, he’s excited until she opens her mouth and basically hands his ass to him because she’s not a fan of the revolving door that is his apartment. She assumes the worst in Ford and Ford is immediately not a fan of Victoria’s right back.

The back and forth with these two was too funny. I loved seeing them give each other a hard time, at the same time that they were battling their attraction to one another and when Victoria lends a helping hand to Ford’s sister, watching these two melt for each other was entertaining.

Julie James is well known for writing strong heroines who mean business and know what they’re about but it was good to see that while Victoria was large and in charge at work, she was kind of a mess personally and seeing her work through her issues throughout the book was interesting. Her background kind of made my heart hurt and I was a little bummed that we didn’t get too much interaction with her mother. I loved seeing her fall in love with Ford though. I loved that she wasn’t expecting or even wanted the feelings that cropped up where Ford was concerned but once she realized what they were, she didn’t waste a lot of page time trying to make things right.

Ford was everything that I expected him to be. I loved getting to know more about him, seeing the Ford that Brooke knew and loved. I loved his family and was really glad to see that got to see him wrap up his story, the way that I was hoping it would wrap up.

The entire book was just flat out good. I loved seeing the recurring characters come through, I enjoyed Ford’s family and Victoria’s best friends, oh and Ford’s friends too. This book was filled with a great cast of characters that were just a lot of fun and I definitely recommend this book to fans of the FBI/US Attorney’s series. It’s a treat!

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Jove. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars

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Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie James

Posted June 1, 2015 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie JamesReviewer: Holly
Suddenly One Summer by Julie James
Series: FBI/US Attorney #6
Also in this series: About That Night (FBI/US Attorney, #3), A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney, #2), Love Irresistibly, It Happened One Wedding, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, Something About You, A Lot Like Love
Publisher: Penguin, Jove
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 304
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From the New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Wedding comes a novel about a man and a woman whose summer is about to get very, very hot...

Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. That doesn't mean she's opposed to casual dating—just not with her cocky new neighbor, who is as gorgeous and tempting as he is off-limits. But once she agrees to take on his sister's case, she's as determined to win as ever—even if that means teaming up with Ford....

Investigative journalist Ford Dixon is bent on finding the man who got his sister pregnant and left her high and dry. He's willing to partner with Victoria, despite the fact that the beautiful brunette gets under his skin like no other woman. He might not be looking to settle down, but there's no denying the scorching attraction between them. Still, the more time he spends with Victoria, the more he realizes that the one woman as skeptical about love as he is might be the only woman he could really fall for…

"If you need a great read to throw in your beach bag, make sure Suddenly One Summer is one of your choices." --USA Today

From the Paperback edition.

James is a go-to for smart heroines, and Victoria Slade is no exception. She’s witty, sarcastic, independent and in charge of her life. Her unexpected friendship with her next door neighbor made for some sweet, poignant moments, and also a lot of snickering and laugh-out-loud moments.

Victoria’s house was broken into while she was home. After having a couple panic attacks, she decides she needs a change and buys a new condo. While she’s waiting for the sale to go through, she sublets another condo and ends up sharing a bedroom wall with Ford Dixon. She’s already sleep deprived thanks to the attempted robbery, and his nighttime antics don’t do much to help the situation. Things finally come to a head when she jumps down his throat, and they vow to stay away from each other (despite a rather sizzling mutual attraction). Until Ford’s sister decides to find the father of her baby and Victoria inadvertently volunteers her services as a lawyer. Ford is determined to help his sister. so Victoria is forced to partner up with him.

The more time they spend together, the more they realize their initial impressions about each other were wrong. Neither is really in the market for a long-term commitment, but a summer fling might be just what the doctor ordered. If they can keep their hearts out of it…

Victoria was sarcastic and witty. Ford was charming and fun. Together they were a great couple. I loved the way their romance developed, and their unexpected friendship. Neither was good at being vulnerable, but they both ended up leaning on the other. The plot featuring Ford’s sister was interesting, and I loved the glimpses we got of their respective careers. One thing I think James excels at is giving us well-rounded characters. Too often in contemporary romance their main characters focus on each other to the exclusion of all else. That isn’t the case here. Victoria had her work, and so did Ford. He had his friends, and so did she. It wasn’t hard to immerse myself completely in the story, since I felt like we lived their lives with them.

This was everything I’ve come to expect from James; fun and flirty, with the unexpected bonus of a lot of spice.

4.0 out of 5

four-stars

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Review: It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

Posted May 7, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: It Happened One Wedding by Julie JamesReviewer: Tracy
It Happened One Wedding by Julie James
Series: FBI/US Attorney #5
Also in this series: About That Night (FBI/US Attorney, #3), A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney, #2), Love Irresistibly, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, Suddenly One Summer, Something About You, A Lot Like Love
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: May 6th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
five-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

SHE KNOWS BETTER THAN TO SAY “I DO”

After a humiliating end to her engagement, investment banker Sidney Sinclair is done with commitment-phobic men. But when her sister winds up engaged after a whirlwind courtship, Sidney is thrown into close contact with exactly the kind of sexy playboy she wants to avoid—the gorgeous best man. She’s stuck with him, for better or worse, until her sister walks down the aisle, but that doesn’t mean she has to give in to his smooth advances, no matter how tempting they are…

BUT HE MAKES IT HARD TO SAY “I DON’T”

Special agent Vaughn Roberts always gets his man on the job and his woman in bed. So Sidney’s refusal to fall for his charms only makes him more determined to win over the cool and confident redhead. Only what starts out as a battle of wills ends up as a serious play for her heart. Because the one woman who refuses to be caught may be the only one Vaughn can’t live without…

Vaughn is in a coffee shop when he sees a gorgeous woman walk in and sit down with another man. Vaughn can tell within moments that it’s a first date and watches the pair for a bit. He can tell that the man is completely full of himself, as he can’t stop talking about himself, and Vaughn knows the guy is gonna strike out…which he does. After the man leaves, completely confused as to why the woman wouldn’t give him her number, Vaughn decides to turn on the charm and approach the woman himself. He, strangely enough, strikes out as well. Not only is she not open to his charm, she actually profiles him telling him what a womanizer he is. Well! Of course she’s right, but Vaughn brushes it off and heads to the restaurant where he’s meeting his brother, Simon, and his girlfriend of 3 months, Isabelle. Vaughn’s more than a bit peeved when Isabelle’s sister, who was invited as well, turns out to be the woman in the coffee shop, Sidney Sinclair.

When Simon and Isabelle announce that they’re getting married and that Vaughn and Sidney will be the best man and maid of honor, Sidney and Vaughn realize that they’ll be spending much time together and to try to make the best of a bad situation. Neither likes the other, though they each think the other is hot, hot, hot.

As time goes on Sidney gets into her job as a director of a private equity fund and Vaughn heads off to do his undercover work for the FBI that he’s so good at.

Sidney decides that she’s going to step up the dating (she’s got her profile on an online dating site) and comes up with a list of bullet points that are either a “must or must not” pass for each date. It seems that there’s no one out there that can pass everything on her list. While doing wedding things Sidney and Vaughn kind of become friends, and then end up sleeping together. They think that it’s only the one time but then it keeps happening and even then Sidney just thinks of Vaughn as Mr. Right Now – not Mr. Right. On top of that Sidney keeps asking Vaughn questions about her dates when she wants to know if she’s being scammed by the men she’s dating. Since Vaughn is a ladies man she figures he’s the go-to guy. But Vaughn, the more he hangs around Sidney, isn’t looking at other women any longer and only wants to be with Sidney.

I don’t even know where to begin to share my thoughts on this one. I think I loved just about every minute of reading this book and couldn’t put the darned thing down. Dishes didn’t get done, kids didn’t get fed (ok, their father fed them) and nothing much happened while I was reading this book because I was so entranced. I’m not usually one who goes in for couples who don’t like each other at first and continue to fight their feelings but this was different for me.

Vaughn – OMG what can I say about the guy? He was awesome. Yes, he’d been a womanizer in the past but we didn’t really see that in this book because even though Sidney shot him down he just couldn’t seem to get the woman out of his head. I loved the relationship between Vaughn and Sidney and how they became friends. It cracked me up seeing the texts between the couple when Sidney went on dates. I think I enjoyed it so much because it showed me how much Sidney was thinking about Vaughn even though she was out with another guy.

Sidney was a wonderful heroine. She was a tough woman on the outside but had a soft inside. She really wanted a man with the whole package and never in a million years thought that was Vaughn but as she got to know him she realized that maybe she was wrong. Seeing Sidney come to this realization was pretty satisfying.

I won’t tell you everything about the book but know that it’s damned good. James gives us a great story, great characters and family, humor and romance all rolled into one fabulous book.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Julie James

five-stars

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