Contemporary Romance

Mini Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie James

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Title: Suddenly One Summer
Author: Julie James
Date of publication: 2 June 2015
Genre/themes: Romance, Lawyers

Author's links: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars




Synopsis

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.

Mini Review 

I'm a a big fan of Julie James' FBI/US Attorney series and this book is standalone but can be considered a spinoff since the hero, Ford, is actually, Brooke's friend from Love Irresistibly.

Ms James writes low on the drama and angst contemporary romances with strong characters. Her stories flow easily and leave you with a happy smile in the end. 

This book turned to be one of my favourite of hers. Ford and Victories are just two people in their early 30s going about their life and falling in love in the process. They feel refreshingly normal - smart, educated, professionals, successful in their jobs but no billionaires. They both some issues to deal with but who doesn't. I loved how ordinary and real this story felt. Both Ford and Victoria read like real people, easy to understand and relate to. 

The neighbours-to-lovers trope added humour to the story and made their bickering and subsequently friends-with-benefits scenario cute and sweet. 

The subplot with Nicole and her baby daddy also worked well. It was a bit sweet but didn't bother me, I found it fitting to the overall light and easy tone of the story.

If you are looking for a light contemporary romance with well-built characters and engaging plot, you can give this book a try. Fans of Julie James will enjoy for sure this simple, yet entertaining modern-day love story. 

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | BAM | iBooks | Indiebound | Kobo

Julie James

Review: Love Irresistibly by Julie James

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Title: Love Irresistibly (FBI / US Attorney #5)
Author: Julie James
Date of publication: 2 April 2013
Genre/themes: Romance, Lawyers

Author's links:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads  

My rating: 4 stars




Synopsis

HE’S USED TO GETTING WHAT HE WANTS…

A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table at one of her five-star restaurants so the FBI can eavesdrop on him. All Cade has to do is convince Brooke to cooperate—and he’s not afraid to use a little charm, or the power of his office, to do just that.

AND WHAT HE WANTS IS HER.

A savvy businesswoman, Brooke knows she needs to play ball with the U.S. Attorney’s office—even if it means working with Cade. No doubt there’s a sizzling attraction beneath all their sarcastic quips, but Brooke is determined to keep things casual. Cade agrees—until a surprising turn of events throws his life into turmoil, and he realizes that he wants more than just a good time from the one woman with whom he could fall terrifyingly, irresistibly in love . . .

Review


I have read most of Ms James previous books in this series and I really enjoyed them. Overall these are contemporary romances featuring strong professional heroes and heroines (mostly lawyers /attorneys, FBI agents and the occasional hacker genius).

In this story both main characters, Cade and Brooke are lawyers. He is an  Assistant U.S. Attorney and she is General Counselor for a restaurant company. US. They are very much alike - successful at highly demanding professions, yet their personals relationships are total failures. Cade and Brooke are both smart and witty and their conversations are a real pleasure to read - continuous jabs and inside jokes.

I was not a big fan of Cade from the previous books but he grew on me in this one. His background story and the side plot with his half-brother really made him stand out in a very positive light to me. He had a lot of personal issues to work through and his journey towards openness, forgiveness and love was an interesting one to follow.

I felt there was slightly more depth and development in Cade's character compared to Brooke. Don't get me wrong, I liked her very much as well, but her issues and how she dealt with them didn't grab my attention as Cade's did. She was very much focused on her career and it stemmed in a way from a kind of obligation she felt to her parents. She just needed to figure what was really important for her, what made her happy and things were pretty easy from then on. 

The relationship between Cade and Brooke started casually since they both have been dumped a few times too many, neither of them was willing to go for a more serious sort of relationship. I liked how naturally things between them happened and even the reasons for their break-up seemed quite believable and fitting to the characters.

The story feels very real, it shows some everyday issues couples face today - demanding career for both he man and the woman, some family issues. It was easy to relate to them, they feel like real people with real problems who need to find a compromise between a successful career and successful relationship.

I enjoyed the parallel plot line with Cade's brother and the girl he was trying to impress. It gave some rather cute insight into the complicated relationships of the adults in the story.

The next book in the series, It Happened One Wedding, will tell Vaughn's (FBI agent and Cade's friend) story. It will be released in May and I can't wait to read it!

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