One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Light/Comedic Romantic Suspense
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 304 Pages, 4612 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle




A Lot TO Love

The FBI is following the money trail in their investigation into the illegal doings of the the Chicago mob boss Martino and that trail has led them to local businessman and wine connoisseur Xander Eckhart, a man who may have crawled into Martino's pocket to do some laundry. Getting an in with the security-conscious Eckhart, though, demands finesse and care...and the help of billionaire heiress Jordan Rhodes. Not only does she share a social circle and hobby with Eckhart, but FBI Special Agent Nick McCall knows Rhodes has one other thing that makes her the perfect choice for FBI cooperation. Her twin brother is in prison after a nasty bit of Internet terrorism (it was Twitter, people!) and she would very much like him out of there.

Jordan doesn't like Nick very much. Besides being an FBI agent, not exactly her favorite group at the moment, he's also snarky and manipulative. If he can get Kyle out of jail, though, just for dragging him along with her to an event she was planning on attending anyway, well...she supposes she can tolerate him. Maybe he'll show her some of the 10% of his personality she doesn't find abrasive and annoying. He does look pretty sexy in his new suit, after all.

When the undercover operation hits a snag that shocks Jordan and frustrates Nick, the two find themselves having to take their fake relationship further than either had ever intended. It's when that fake relationship starts to feel so, so real, though, that they both realize this case is far more dangerous than they had ever dreamed.

I've become such a huge Julie James fan since I stumbled onto her books a few months ago, and this sequel to her 2010 release, Something About You, provided just as much fun, sexy entertainment as that one did. Nick and Jordan are thoroughly likable and fit very well together as the romantic leads. I favor romances that start out with the lead characters striking the sort of sparks off each other that blow up into a lusty, yummy conflagration and there aren't many authors who do that with as much wit and humor as James does.

Her style of storytelling really appeals to me, with a pleasantly robust narrative that doesn't scrimp on the sort of tasty details that round out characters and plot to provide a fully satisfying read. Little snippets of scenes, like Nick's conversation with his brothers and mother, or the dinner with Jordan's friends...scenes and dialogue that doesn't affect the main plot one way or another, but provides a more layered and complex tone to the overall story. James does it flawlessly and it lends a much appreciated depth to the reading experience. I also like how she tied in a character of another of her novels in this book. Scott Casey, the narcissistic actor with the misogynist tendencies in James' Just the Sexiest Man Alive gets a mention here as the hot tub-loving bad boy that achieved some Twitter notoriety with Kyle's girlfriend. Very nice touch, James.

As a lighter-toned romantic suspense, I thought the suspense arc of the plot was well paced and blended well with the romance. I had a bit of a problem towards the end, when Eckhart's character made some questionable choices that tread a bit too close to plot contrivance for my taste.  I also didn't find the wine business, wine collecting, and winery aspects of the story very compelling, as it's not an interest of mine. I have to acknowledge and do appreciate that James seemed to do quite a bit of research on the topic, however, as the details that were included in the story felt very genuine and seemed pretty spot on, and James imbued her characters with the knowledge in a way that lent credibility to their character definition. It just wasn't to my personal taste.

The only other slight issue I had was that while the book is contemporary at the moment, it will quickly date itself with the pop culture references to Lost and Dancing With the Stars. Ten years from now, that's going to make this book hard for people to relate to, if it doesn't happen much sooner. The references were cute, though, even for someone who didn't last beyond the first few episodes of the second season of Lost. And hey...Sawyer was hot!

I don't even feel the need to mention how well the romance worked. I haven't seen James do a bad romance. With A Lot Like Love she provides a light, humorous, sexy, feel-good read with genuine substance. Her books definitely cruise the brain candy aisle, but they also serve up the meat and potatoes of solid, technically sound, and adept writing as the main course. She's on my autobuy list and I can't wait to read more.

Genre: Light/Comedic Romantic Suspense
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 336 Pages, 4990 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle



Something Seriously Good

Who would have thought that getting new floors in your home would lead to being a witness to a murder? Certainly not Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde, but a night spent in a luxury hotel for that very reason did exactly that. At first, the enthusiastic - and loud - sexual marathon in the adjoining room was just an annoyance. She couldn't sleep with all the...um...racket. Then, not long after her neighbors had finally reached the...er...climactic portion of their evening and had fallen silent, Cameron's quick trip to dreamland was rudely interrupted by what she first thought was round two...but what turned out to be something far more sinister.

A call girl is dead, a married U.S. Senator is under suspicion, and Cameron is the only witness. Sleep deprived and shaken, there's not much more she can take, so coming face to glowering face with FBI agent Jack Pallas doesn't exactly make her day. Three years ago he shoveled up some verbal abuse of Cameron to a reporter in the events following the bust up of a case he'd spent two years undercover securing and the footage went national. The fact that he thinks she's the reason he was transferred to a crap detail in Nebraska following that debacle doesn't do much to endear him to her, either. Now that he's back in Chicago and lead investigator on this homicide, tossing words like "protective custody" around, Cameron can pretty much cross off the next little while for anything resembling fun, too.

She should have kept the old flooring.

Julie James has another charming hit with Something About You. A little more serious in tone than Just the Sexiest Man Alive and Practice Makes Perfect, this book still scores big on the fast, witty, sarcastic dialogue and solid, likable, and sympathetic lead characters. I'm particularly fond of James for her ability to write intelligent, successful heroines that don't trip over into angst or bitchiness to match wits with their men. Jack Pallas was slightly edgier than the leading men in her preceding books, with a bit of a dark side from his years undercover and the torture he survived at the hands of a criminal kingpin. He was a solid, steady force of nature and the chemistry between him and Cameron developed at an even pace that was believable and subtly woven into their present as they dealt with their past.

As I've come to expect from James, the narrative was smooth, the plot well paced, and the tension well timed as it rose towards the conclusion. I was impressed by a couple of action scenes that I felt were very well written and clearly defined without overwhelming me with detail. The relationship between Cameron and Jack was very well done, evolving and changing as the characters lives are altered by the case in organic ways, but never once losing any of the increasing intensity. Strong, appealing secondary and ancillary characters are also a staple of Julie James' work, and I loved Cameron's best friends and the outlying plot threads they added to the book. Jack's partner was also a source of much humor and wit and I appreciated him as a character, as well.

There were a couple of things that didn't totally work for me in the book. James writes fabulous romantic comedy, but it's hard to strike the right balance between humor and murder, and I'm not totally sure James pulled it off here. I kept feeling like the victim got sort of forgotten in the mess, and while I recognize that the main plot of the non-relationship aspect of the book is centered around keeping the witness alive while the case is being investigated, there seemed to be a prevailing disconnect between that and the fact that a woman was brutally killed. I ended up feeling like the victim was inconsequential. Even Cameron didn't seem to have much of a reaction and little to no lasting impact from hearing a woman get strangled and seeing the man who did it flee the scene. It never quite sat right with me.

The ending was another issue, though to a much lesser extent. I'm usually very appreciative of a book that ties up the loose ends and provides a bright, happy glimpse into a lead couple's Happily Ever After, but there were one or two aspects of that HEA in this book that seemed just the smallest bit too convenient or too neat - like Cameron's promotion and who offered it to her. Especially the scene between Cameron and the cheating senator. Nothing about that scene really worked for me, and given the number of politicians we've seen destroyed in the media over the last several years, it also didn't seem all that realistic.

Still, Something About You was a solid, fun read with a bit of a darker side than James' earlier two books. It definitely catapulted James onto my Buy Everything She Ever Writes list, just as I was expecting it would. There was a lot of humor, a ton of charm, and plenty of good, solid characterization in this book and I enjoyed it a lot. Her next book, A Lot Like Love, will be out March 1, 2011 and I fully intend to snatch it up as soon it comes out. I think I've built up a bit of an addiction to her books and am not relishing the wait until my next fix.

Genre: Light/Comedic Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 320 Pages, 6057 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Jason Andrews has been voted The Sexiest Man Alive, and no woman under the age of 80 would argue against him being the hottest, most well known A-list actor out there. He is, of course, rather fond of being top of the heap. He runs through women as quickly and as casually as he changes his underwear, has entitlement issues larger than that big canyon in Arizona, and when he and his ego go somewhere, they need a stadium to fit comfortably. Like the one in Ann Arbor.

Needless to say, Jason's thrown a little off stride when he's completely blown off by gorgeous lawyer Taylor Donovan when he finally deigns to show up to the meeting that one of his people had arranged for the prior week. So what that he was supposed to show up Thursday, and again on Friday? The casinos in Vegas had been calling his name and he was entitled to have a little fun. How dare the sixth year Chicago associate, in LA to try a big case for her firm, not make time for him when he's ready for her to help him with his next role. And how dare she not only walk out on him after putting him rather neatly in his place, but repeatedly refuse to respond to his attempts to contact her after their less than pleasant initial meeting.

Does she have any idea who he is?

Taylor does, actually, know exactly who the superficial, self absorbed, womanizing prat is - and she has no time for the "Actor" with all his entitlement and ego issues. Unfortunately she's in LA, so when Andrews' publicist contacts her boss, there's absolutely nothing Taylor can do but work with the insufferable (though, admittedly gorgeous) man.

One is the unstoppable force, the other is the immovable object, and when Jason sets his sights on the titanium-skinned Taylor, something is either going to give, or break into the sort of pieces that even all the king's horses and men can't put back together again.

A slick, sassy narrative with a strong, intelligent female protagonist who takes no crap and who has a solid head on her shoulders really sets this Julie James romance apart from a full pack. I thoroughly enjoyed Taylor's grounded and sharp-witted personality and appreciated how she was so firmly entrenched in the real world even as she disabused Jason of his ideas on his. Wounded from a past relationship, I liked how James incorporated that ding to her pride into a genuine fear when things between Taylor and Jason turn serious. It added depth and a realistic dimension to the romance.

It took me quite a while to warm up to Jason as anything more than a punchline, and the portrayal of his inflated idiocy and adolescent behavior, combined with the sleazy machinations of up-and-comer actor Scott Casey, provided a harsh commentary on the brittle fantasy of popularity and did little to recommend actors or LA to the romantic-minded. I was, however, highly amused at the parallels between Casey's breakout role and that of Legolas for Orlando Bloom. There were lots of tongue-in-cheek moments to be had there.

Just the Sexiest Man Alive lacked a bit of the laugh out loud comedy of James' Practice Makes Perfect, but it had more sardonic humor with a bit more bite to it. I enjoyed both books and fully intend to keep going with the most recent of Julie James' work, Something About You. I have found myself genuinely and delightfully entertained by James' smooth, polished writing style and completely appreciate the witty, sassy dialogue and the solid, three dimensional, realistic characters (even when that "realism" is Hollywood fake). True, I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth given to Jason in this book, though maybe that would have started to tiptoe into the waters of cliche. But even at the end the actor still seemed in need of some humility and I would've liked to see a bit broader redemption for him.

I was completely entertained, though, regardless of a few minor issues or slight preference differences. I'm just a book away from putting James on my instant-buy list. If I like Something About You nearly as much as I have this one and Practice Makes Perfect, I just may have found another preferred author for light romantic comedy.

Genre: Light/Comedic Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 304 Pages, 4823 Locations
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


For eight long years Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson have been professional adversaries and fellow associates at a prestigious Chicago law firm. Payton thinks J.D. is a supercilious jerk, J.D. thinks Payton is an ultrafeminist liberal shrew. They dislike each other with equal fervor and have spent the past eight years sniping, snarking, and jawing at each other...in private, of course, as to do so publicly would hardly be professional. Consistently trying to one-up each other (seriously, what other reason would Payton set her alarm for the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m. if it wasn't to beat J.D. into the office?) they've taken professional competition to an art form and were quite settled in that routine as they worked their obscene schedules, both on the cusp of being made partner.

When the firm that they have both poured their blood, sweat, and tears into, however, announced that only one of them would make partner and the other would be shown the door, the two long-time rivals are forced to take a second look at their spitfire relationship. With their firm as the new object of their horror and angst, suddenly the differences between them aren't nearly as annoying as they have always been...and that's about when the sparks not only start to fly between them, but pretty much erupt into a massive conflagration.

Julie James has created a highly entertaining romantic comedy that is rich and full bodied, with a lightning quick dialogue of quips, cracks, and competition, and a smooth narrative that rockets along at a breakneck pace. Without doubt, this is one of the most entertaining light contemporary romances that I've read all year. Admittedly, I have a special fondness for enemies-turned-lovers romantic comedies, so I was predisposed to enjoying this little gem, but above and beyond that, Practice Makes Perfect is the real deal.

The dialogue is genuinely funny, the situations that Payton and J.D. get themselves in are a riot, and the backbone of the story included some depth for the characters and provided a surprising amount of explanation for the driving forces behind these career-driven rivals. Both Payton and J.D. are tops in their games, both intelligent, and both charmingly flawed...but not grievously so. They make excellent protagonists, and never so much as when they're fighting with each other and...well...when they're not.

I wasn't totally convinced in the main conflict of the firm's decision to only take one partner, and not being in the legal profession, I don't know how realistic it is that one would have to leave the firm after eight years of dedicated and exceptional work (that sucks a lot, by the way). The conflict seemed a bit odd given that the story had already established that there were only Payton and J.D. left in the class eligible for partnership and that each year previously, the entire class had made partner. Even with the judgment that the firm decided to preemptively address, taking only one when in the past it had always been more than that seemed a little like manufactured conflict for the purpose of creating angst instead of organic development of the characters' lives.

And okay, there were two instances where the competition between Payton and J.D. tiptoed over that line between hijinks and flagrant, adolescent immaturity, but...I, um...still thought they were pretty darn funny. And I can't say enough for just how perfect the chemistry was between them. It sizzled and it smoldered, and even had moments of sweet tenderness. I was also pleased by the moments of insecurity that each character showed and how dealing with those insecurities added another level of cohesiveness to their relationship.

This was my first experience with a Julie James book and not only will it not be my last, but as soon as I finished this one, I quickly purchased her earlier work, Just the Sexiest Man Alive. I was thoroughly satisfied and completely entertained by Practice Makes Perfect. It was the perfect light, funny read and just what I needed for some pure enjoyment. Great stuff.