THE THING ABOUT LOVE is a sexy romance with a little bit of FBI action on the side.

When I read the description of this book, I thought that I would have a solid romantic suspense read. However, as I began flipping through the pages, I soon realized that it was much more of romance than anything else which is not a bad thing. All I had to do was switch gears (and genres) in my head. Once I did that, I really enjoyed the witty banter between Jessica and John. They know how to push each other’s buttons. And let me tell you…the tension between them will make romance lovers pull for these two.

James has a true gift for developing wonderful moments between her characters that will make the reader swoon, laugh, and sometimes cringe. These interaction made me keep reading. I loved Jessica and John. And I think you will too.

I've enjoyed many of Julie James's books. The heroines are typically whip smart and sassy. The heroes are also smart and always good matches for the heroines.
This book wasn't much different. A rivals to lovers trope is used in this book. Jessica and John were at the FBI academy together and although neither behaved as such, they each had a bit of a crush on the other. They are reunited through work and are paired up to go undercover.
There is a lot of work talk in this book. I think it was probably somewhat necessary but also kind of overboard. The ins and outs of undercover agents is interesting, but I am also here for a love story.

Honestly, there was nothing remarkable about this story. In fact, I forgot for several weeks that I even read it and only remembered as I was updating my lists. It wasn't a bad story, it just wasn't great either. It had some zippy dialogue and as rivals they weren't too horrible to each other.
A few references to characters from previous books, but this definitely is a stand alone read. If you've read other books by this author, you will probably enjoy this one.

Julie James
The Thing About Love
Berkley / April 18, 2017 / $15.00 print, $8.99 digital

Readers have long embraced small town romances, but reading the same type book over and over again is a sure-fire recipe for a reading rut which then leads to a reading slump.

Luckily for readers, Julie James has the perfect cure. Her settings are big city; her heroines are highly educated professional women who go head to head with their male counterparts. Heroines like Jessica Harlow.

Listening to her father’s dinner time stories about his civil litigation cases inspired Jessica to go into law herself. After only a year of law experience, Jessica was recruited into the FBI. She knew up front that being female would be a disadvantage and her youth too –she is the youngest in her class but there is more:


“You’re a woman. You’re fresh out of some fancy Ivy League law school with only a year’s worth of job experience. And you’re short.” In their final meeting before she’d left for Quantico, her recruiter, Special Agent Stan Ross, had ticked off those characteristics on his fingers, looking particularly peevish about the last one. “Not to mention, you look like you just stepped out of a shampoo commercial with all this. . . flowy hair.” . . .

“There are going to be people who won’t want to take you seriously. People who see a pretty, young blonde and make assumptions,” he’d continued. “So you make them take you seriously. Don’t give them any reason to doubt you in the Academy. You go in there, Harlow, and you’d goddamn better show them what you’re made of. You do that, and you’ll be fine. More than fine actually.”

And that is exactly what Jessica did. With her background in law, she was in the top her class in interrogations techniques but not so hot on the firing range or the more strength-focused tasks.

Jessica’s weaknesses were made even more apparent by John Shepherd’s strengths.

John Shepherd joined the Army right after college to pay off student loans, and discovered that Army life suited him. Being athletic, he thrived on the competition and challenges. Not too many soldiers make the cut to Army Ranger, but John did. Soon after, John was approached by Sean Piser, a FBI recruiter, about joining the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team –the only full-time counterterrorism unit in the FBI. Still John wasn’t impressed:


“With all due respect, sir, I’m a Ranger. If I wanted to put ‘badass’ on my resume, I think I’m set.”

Piser had cocked his head at that. “I hear you’re considering a career in law enforcement after you finish your tour this summer.” Now it was his turn to sound cocky. “We’re the FBI, Shepherd. You want to catch bad guys for a living? We’re pretty much the cream of the fucking crop. So you might want to listen to what I have to say.”

Arriving at Quantico, John felt completely at ease with the sound of gunfire, looking forward with anticipation “to have people barking orders at him and telling him to get his ass moving.” But he wasn’t prepared to be shown up by a cute little blonde:


Jessica, in particular, was a standout. And John would know, because throughout those weeks, their interrogations instructor played almost every single one of her videos as a “good” example of what to do in whatever scenario they’d been given that day.

John, on the other, had yet to find his groove. Given his military training, his natural inclination was to be a little tough and demonstrate who was in charge, but all that did was get the witness hollering about Miranda rights and demanding to see a lawyer.

“I said ‘take charge’ of the situation, Shepherd, not scare the crap out of the guy,” their interrogations instructor said, after John had completed an exercise with an actor who’d pretended to be a defense contractor suspected of stealing a blueprint he planned to sell to a foreign intelligence agent.

Competition is a good thing right? Unless, the individuals feel embarrassed or humiliated. Which is exactly what happened to Jessica and John –needless to say, their memory of their time together is not exactly favorable even though they had to fight against ample physical attraction.

Now, John and Jessica are thrown together again in a professional capacity. Both still have something to prove. Jessica is the newbie in the Chicago office, just having moved back to her hometown after a disastrous marriage and then divorce. And John, after finding his girlfriend cheating on him with a friend, is waiting to find out if he has been accepted Hostage Rescue Team. So he sure doesn’t want to blow his chances with reports of not being a team player.

Fans of James will rejoice with her return to her FBI series. Jessica is a dynamic powerhouse –the type of heroine we come to expect from James. Intelligent, competent, and to her male counterparts very sexy. And John –well certainly, he brings plenty of intelligence, and determination to the table, in addition to being quite delectable:


Six years ago, John Shepherd had shown up at the FBI Academy looking every bit the former Army Ranger. With military-short hair, cobalt-blue eyes, and six feet, four inches of ripped muscles, he’d had the kind of clean-cut, all American good looks that belonged on a Wheaties box.

But the man standing before her seemed . . . grittier. Gone was the buzz cut; instead he wore his deep gold hair in a semi-unkempt, textured style that was a bit longer and choppier. Also gone apparently, was his razor—at least judging from the week’s growth of scruff along his strong jawline.

It’s entertaining reading about how John and Jessica bring down the bad guys . . .but even more enticing is their romance—from frenemy to lover . . . and more.

Julie James continues her highly detailed romantic comedy FBI series with the The Thing About Love. James brings together two people who have been burned by love badly has them as FBI agents who are now paired together. Jessica is the non typical FBI agent who specializes in white crime who just relocated back to Chicago. Her partner John Shepard her nemesis from Quantico days aka Mr. Perfect former Army Ranger assigned to work with her. Being together shows them a different side neither was expecting.

Enjoyed learning about "FBI School" and even read a few lines about "FBI School" to my husband who never ever reads romance novels.

Julie James has brought me back from the dead. Figuratively speaking. See, when I see a Julie James book, best believe, I would go the long mile just to get my hands on it. And lo behold, Berkley has been kind to grant me an ARC (thank you!) which I devoured in one sitting. I’ve been so obsessed with Julie James’ Attorney-FBI series and they’ve all made it to my favourites list! I can’t stress how much I adore this woman’s books—a perfect mix of action and romance!

I knew I was sold the moment I read the synopsis for James’ latest FBI romance, The Thing About Love. Ex-army turned FBI agent John Shepherd has been partnered with newly transferred agent Jessica Harlow in an undercover assignment, but the catch is these two have hated each other since their time at the Academy six years ago. Rivals turned FBI case partners? Academy arch enemies? Sounds like a ‘frenemies to lovers’ romance to me, so sign me the f*ck up! This trope is my absolute guilty pleasure. A secret obsession. And I’m definitely not sorry about it. Imagine all the sexual tension and witty banter as they try to push through with a professional relationship while working together!

John and Jessica would have to be my favourite characters and couple by Julie James. I loved the stark contrast between the two—John, big, burly and broody while Jessica stood pretty and sassy at five foot three—but both were incredibly strong, intelligent and kickass characters anybody wouldn’t want to mess with. Also, the sexual tension between these two is just off the charts hot! I loved how these two absolutely complemented each other. I enjoyed how John and Jessica slowly developed rapport through their daily trades of snarky barbs and their interchanging POVs, especially about how their time together at Quantico went down.

The only issue I had with this book was the information overload at the beginning. I thought there was a little too much of the FBI technical talk at the first few pages of the book, but the pace immediately picked up right after.

If you’re into books with a little mix of action and romance, Julie James’ books come highly recommended, especially The Thing About Love. It’s fast-paced and hilarious, not to mention cute, fluffy, hot and steamy! Also, it can be read as a standalone.

I read a few of Julie James FBI/US Attorney series about 5 years ago, and remember enjoying them, so when I saw she had a new FBI book this month, The Thing About Love , I grabbed it and I’m glad I did. It doesn’t seem to be related to the series, as it is a total standalone, but clearly, this is her specialty.

Jessica and John were in the same FBI training class, and they totally clashed. They were both highly competitive and a thorn in each other’s side the whole time. Luckily, after training, they moved to opposite sides of the country. 6 years later, they are paired together to work undercover on a white collar crime case.
"Nearly fifteen thousand special agents in the FBI, spread throughout the United States in fifty-six field offices, and she had to show up in Chicago for what was quite possibly his last undercover assignment.
As his new partner.
And here he’s thought HRT tryouts had been hell."

Both of them are just getting over long-term relationships, plus John is getting ready to ship out to join the elite hostage rescue team. So when the nasty banter turns to flirting, and then genuine respect, and then sexy times, they both know it’s just a fling.

At first I really didn’t like Jessica. She had a major chip on her shoulder, and hated John for no reason except the fact that he was good at everything and she was jealous. But I warmed up to her, and liked her by the end.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to look at me this way?”
She assumed he was teasing her. “What are you talking about? You didn’t even like me for most of the time we’ve known each other.”
He bent his head before turning to go, his voice low and confident in her ear. “Or maybe I’m just that good of an undercover agent.”

I feel like there may have been almost too much research for this book and the author felt like she had to put it all in. It was more about the FBI inner workings than it was about the relationship, so I kept waiting for some big climactic scene, and there never really was one. I guess I expected a little more adventure in an FBI book where the hero is portrayed as almost a super hero and the heroine is a tough girl who can take down a man double her size.


Likes:

•Enemies to lovers
•Witty banter
•The way a woman was better than most of the men in a “man’s world”.
•Well written and well paced.
•It broke a reading slump for me.
•Good sexy times.

Dislikes:

•I prefer covers with object rather than people, but I don’t get the lollipops.
•There was so much going on outside the relationship that the love felt secondary.
•I kind of felt like I never saw them fall in love.
•John’s like a superhero, but he never got to use those skills! What a waste! I was waiting for some excitement!

The Down and Dirty:
The Thing About Love is a fun and sexy enemies to lovers romance. With both of the main characters being FBI agents, and one being constantly compared to a superhero, I expected to see a little more action and adventure where we see the superhero skills put to use. But sadly, this never happened. I enjoyed the book from start to finish, but never felt that gushy love that made me want to scream about it from the rooftops. There was a lot of FBI inner workings, a lot about the white-collar, non dangerous case they were on, and not quite as much about the relationship they were developing. Still, I was in a reading slump, and this broke it, so I really enjoyed the story, I just wanted a little more in every way.


Rating: 4 stars, 4 Heat

This was a good book, but for me it lacked a little "I have to finish this story right now!" feel. The characters were great and a lot of fun. I liked the settings and the plot line. I liked the ending and the way the story got to the end. What I liked the most were the main characters Jessica and John. The chemistry between them was great and so much fun. Their jobs were exciting and I loved the detail surrounding their cases. My biggest problem was this book didn't catch my interest quickly and it took me too long to be invested in it. I enjoy books more if I can't put it down after the first few pages!

Jessica Harlow (love that name) and John Shepard went to the FBI academy together – and everything was a competition. After six years in different offices, they’re back in their hometown of Chicago, working an undercover operation… together.

Julie James did her thing with this book – infused the right amount of levity, tension, witty banter, fierceness, and tenderness. In The Thing About Love, James gives us cool bromances, family get togethers, a trendy bar scene, and a trashy egomaniac of a mayor that you’ll love to hate. By the middle of the book, I KNEW Jessica and John, I rooted for them as they figured out how much of themselves to share, my jaw dropped when they moved their relationship in various directions, and I cried when Jessica finally saw her own truth.

I couldn’t put down this book for the life of me. I read it while I brushed my teeth and then stayed up really late and by that time I was at 84% so I just stayed up even later to finish it.

I finally saw the last page at 2:30am, got 4 hours of sleep, and I’m not even sorry. It’s a really good story with badass FBI agents. If that’s not enough for you, there’s a Gucci happily ever after, too.

https://randombookmuses.com/2017/05/06/review-the-thing-about-love-by-julie-james/

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1992658368

God but I love this author. She writes stories that are funny, swoony, full of witty banter and humor, and they just keeps getting better and better! First of all, if you haven’t read anything by her yet, you need to rectify it immediately by reading her FBI/US Attorney series. One, because it’s AMAZING. And two, because you’ll definitely appreciate a few of the cameos in this book. But let’s get back to the matter at hand; all of the awesome that was this book.
So let’s see? We already know that enemies to lovers is my catnip, and no one seems to write it better than Julie James.
In response to his dry tone, she threw him a glare so cold it could’ve frozen all nine circles of Dante’s Hell. Fittingly, just nine of the many places he would rather be than stuck working with her on this investigation.

What makes it good is not just the humor interlaced flawlessly throughout the story, but the wit and sarcasm. Her characters are perfectly balanced and equals of each other. I love how James has a knack for writing incredibly endearing and strong female leads. They’re just the right amount of witty sarcasm and strength and Jessica Harlow was no exception. After her dedication to her job cost her her marriage, she’s looking to dive in further into her work and forget men. She doesn’t need them. She certainly doesn’t need an incredibly cocky, smart mouthed, Thor lookalike that made her months at Quantico training a living hell. Too bad it appears that he’s her new partner for an undercover sting and she’s stuck with him. He may know how to start a fire with two sticks and the ass end of a lightning bug, but he’s a royal pain in her butt and she won’t let him forget it. Digs and sarcasm galore, you guys!
John Shepher is on the track to make the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. He has one final assignment before he finds out, and it may be the longest assignment of his life because his new partner is as equally infuriating as she is sexy. The sparks flew between them when they first met but a simply misunderstanding of intentions turned them into rivals. Now they’re older, at a different point in their lives, but the spark hasn’t diminished even a little.
Feeling her body tremble, he leaned down and reached between her legs, the words pouring out of him in a low, possessive growl. “I love when you’re on the edge like this. You’re so goddamn sweet. So mine.”
The chemistry between theses two was through the roof hot. What I especially loved was how balanced to each other they both were. John didn’t come charging in and unermine Jessica’s ability as an agent. She was fully capable and he knew it. They were perfect equals and that’s so rare to find in today’s romance.
As per usual James fashion there was plenty of sexual tension and humor to keep you glued to the pages. The Thing About Love was a laugh out loud, swoon till you melt, keep you turning the pages well into the night sort of read. I adored it. I simply adored it. I will never get enough of this author and I can’t recommend her enough if you love smart contemporary romance with swoony heroes and capable, strong heroines. It was perfection!
Okay,” he repeated. She knew that look. “You’re going to kiss me, aren’t you?” He pretended to consider this. “Well, with all the emotions flying around, it just feels … expected.”

This is another completely fantastic one by Julie James! She is the master of contemporary romance, and it sure shows here! She again features two wonderful main characters, Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd. These two FBI agents have a history together that isn't good. They clashed during their training days at Quantico, and now six years later they've been paired on an investigation.

Their story was a complete delight to read! As usual, Ms. James penned a charming story with characters who shared a tender romance and steaming chemistry. The adversarial relationship these two had for part of the story just ramped up both the fun and tension. Julie James is my go-to for great contemporary romance, and this book showcases the reasons for that.

Competition was never so exciting or sweet…

My heart was in the mood for sweet, swoony and sarcastic and Jessica and John provided every bit of it!

This is brain meets brawn (though the brawn is pretty brainy too), second opportunity love story where competition turns to sexy seemingly overnight. Of course, that overnight happened with six years in between their first encounter and the next. They are both FBI agents, excelling in their chosen paths, who are unexpectedly thrown together again. They are now partners, where they rely on each other to succeed in their current assignment. A little hard to do when they are still dealing with their previous rivalry and imagining how it would be finally, finally best the other…

"Why weren't we doing this six years ago?" she breathed.
"Because you didn't like me six years ago."

This author’s writing style is slow and easy with saucy humour and subtle jabs and jibes accompanying Jessica and John’s path from combativeness to protectiveness. These characters are fun together as their rivalry knows no bounds in a gentle but hilarious push for one-upmanship (or woman-ship as it were). They take their jobs, themselves, seriously, but that doesn’t mean they can’t see, and laugh, at each other’s foibles and hang ups. They want to win but not at the expense of their honor or their mission, allowing for meaningful glances to become sexy promises of more as their bond deepens out in the field…

Sparks flew and temperatures raised in an unexpected competition turned romance that had me cheering for them both! Bring wine and popcorn for this salty, sweet treat! -Diane, 4.5 stars

My favorite romance genre is contemporary and I have a LOT of favorite authors in this genre, but if I am forced to pick just one I would pick Julie James. She's my OG in contemporary romance--she made me fall in love with the genre after reading Practice Makes Perfect back in '09.

Her books are the only ones I reread from beginning to end these days when I do not have the luxury of time to be rereading books, yet I still somehow find the time to reread Practice Makes Perfect and Something About You (my two ultimate faves) at least once every year.

Okay, now that we've established how much I love Julie James's books I am happy to say that of course I loved The Thing About Love. I've been patiently waiting for this book for two years, and it's most definitely worth the wait.


In The Thing About Love, Julie pairs two FBI special agents John Shepard (an ex-Ranger currently working in the organized crime squad) and Jessica Harlow (a former attorney currently working in the public corruption squad) who first met as trainees in Quantico. They clashed and got in each other's nerves and gladly went their separate ways only to meet again six years later when they are assigned as partners to do undercover work in a high-profile case about a shady mayor.

On the romance front, these two were both burned by their previous relationships. The Thing About Love began with John returning home from a lengthy undercover sting and discovering his girlfriend in bed with one of his friends. So, even though he was partnered with Jessica, he welcomed the distraction a new case gave him. Jessica, recently divorced from her husband of three years, left LA and moved back home to Chicago hoping for a fresh start. Her first case had her partnered up with a man she's never seen eye-to-eye with. However, both pride themselves in being professionals and as they work together they grow to respect each other. As they get to know each other more, the attraction between them also intensifies.

I absolutely love the chemistry and sexual tension between John and Jessica, which was evident even in the flashbacks when they first met and we learn why they hate each other. But, what's really awesome about these two (as with Julie's other romantic pairs in her previous books) is that they are true equals and balance each other out--John recognizes that Jessica's ingenuity and brainpower is just as significant his physical prowess and vice versa. The sexytimes in this book aren't very explicit but still sexy and the swoon factor is definitely turned up. I just love this couple--I find I missed the unique dynamic Julie James brings to each couple she writes about in her books and I was just so happy to be reading a new book by her.

I devoured The Thing About Love! Nobody can do witty dialogue like Julie James. No one. And we get a lot of her signature smart, witty banter in this novel. John and Jessica often verbally clashed which made for great dialogue that I ate right up. I love Jessica's sass! I also love their competitive antics--these two really know how to push each other's buttons, which made for an entertaining enemies-to-lovers story that I stayed up way too late reading.

I do have to mention that I learned a lot more about the inner workings of the FBI in this book than I did in Julie's previous FBI/US Attorney books, which was cool with me. I found everything very interesting and I wish I am bad-ass enough to apply and survive training. Also, characters from Julie's previous FBI/US Attorney series books make an appearance in this one and was wonderful revisiting them and getting some hints of what they've been up to.

I loved The Thing About Love! The only reason I gave it 4.5 stars is because it didn't make it in the top two of my personal ranking of Julie's books which goes like this: Practice Makes Perfect, Something About You, and Love Irresistibly, It Happened One Wedding, About That Night, A Lot Like Love, and now The Thing About Love are all tied at number three. If you're wondering about Suddenly One Summer, that one is number four in my ranking. But, yeah, Practice Makes Perfect and Something About You are the ultimate. And, basically, all this just goes to show that if you're not reading Julie James, you are completely missing out. She's the queen of sexy, witty, and smart contemporary romance novels. The QUEEN. Pick her books up--you won't regret it. Plus, all of her books can be read as standalones so you can start with The Thing About Love if you so choose, but all of her books are excellent and I can't recommend them enough.

I loved this book, like a guilty pleasure. I immediately looked to see which other of her books I could find!

A new Julie James book is always a reason for celebration. She is one of my favorite writers and since she takes her time with her books (with good reason!), I have to savor the new books when they come out. AND… when the book features two characters who have an antagonistic past together, well, it’s just more reason for me to dive in headfirst into this book as soon as it is available.

FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd don’t like each other. At all. When they are assigned to work together on a short case out of the Florida branch of the FBI, they aren’t pleased but they are both professionals, so they swear anyway. Heading into Florida, they keep trying to one-up each other, making sniping comments about their work and their past with each other. Yes, it was a little reminiscent of a badly concealed college crush, but it worked for me. I love a drawn out antagonism in my relationships sometimes so this worked for me quite nicely.

Once on the case though, Jessica and John are committed to catching this politically corrupt politician. They will stay in character and end this case with another criminal caught.

I liked quite a lot about this book. I really enjoyed seeing how committed both John and Jessica were to their careers. Julie James continues to do her research and the FBI setting in Chicago comes alive. These two characters know their stuff and aren’t afraid to show off to each other just a bit. But they are both some of the best agents in the field because they do the work needed (the research, the questions) to make their cases air tight. Julie James shows that as these two get to know each other again, they clearly admire the other’s work ethic.

One of my favorite parts of the book were the “he said” and “she said” chapters where John and Jessica thought about their past training together to join the FBI. They both have skewed versions of each other because of this.

They are also both facing recent heartbreak. Jessica is newly divorced. John recently caught his girlfriend sleeping with a good friend. Neither is ready to put their heart on the line again needless to say. But sometimes, you can only fight chemistry for so long. Even when that chemistry has a time limit, since John is heading down to Virginia to join an elite Hostage Rescue Team. Even as Jessica and John get closer, they know their days together are numbered.

There is a lot of emotion packed into this book but Julie James handles the story like a typical pro. I fell really hard for both of these characters and came to like and respect them so much. Jessica in particular is a new favorite Julie James heroine for me. I love seeing a woman succeed in a male dominated field and the FBI is definitely that. All of Julie James’ female characters are intelligent and determined. These are no shrinking wallflower women.

The Thing About Love is fun and sexy. There are few authors who can pull me away from my cellphone sometimes but Julie James remains one of those rare finds. She is an author who compels the reader to keep reading. Fully fleshed out characters, exciting character arcs, and sizzling love scenes combine to make for a fantastic reading experience.

Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd are classmates from the FBI Academy. Their competitive natures made them enemies at that time, and they have not seen each other since. Fast forward a few years and both are working in the Chicago office. Both are reeling from failed relationships and both are at the top of their games in the undercover world. This enemies to lovers story could easily be a cliche, but Julie James gives the characters heart. There is a tenderness to the is story that easily melts my heart. John Shepherd is has an appealing personality that is down to earth with just a touch of flintiness. Being undercover gives these two agents not only an opportunity to spend time together, but to do so under the guise of being someone else. It is like giving each other permission to be something a little more than they normally are. I say that this book is infinitely readable and is to be enjoyed with your favorite libation.

I have been a fan of Julie James, since I read her very first book and especially love her FBI/US Attorney series. The Thing About Love is a stand-alone story and not in the FBI/US Attorney series, and I loved getting to see so many characters from the series.

I really loved both Jessica Harlow and John Shepard as individuals and loved we had FBI partners for this book. The animosity that was there from their academy days only made me laugh harder as they were paired together. I especially loved the she said/he said chapters of the book seeing how each of them viewed their interactions. I thought Jessica and John made great FBI partners and though it took me a bit longer to buy them as a couple, their banter was always so much fun, I was able to see them making it as a couple.

It was fun to see how each approached the case they were assigned. I loved watching them initially try to one-up the other before settling down to actually being partners. I liked seeing them grow closer the more time they spent together and also loved they finally discussed the past and talked about how each of them perceived the situation. I think had they not done so, they could never have made it for more than a hook-up. With their initial animosity, even with the pretty intense chemistry, I was slow to accept they could make it work before they started actually listening to one another. I liked the slow build to them becoming a couple, and can't wait to see them interact in future FBI/US Attorney books.

The Thing About Love was a wonderful stand-alone story from Julie James. I've missed her voice with no new book last year and am happy to say she has come back just as strong as ever. I highly suggest The Thing About Love as well as all of the backlist from Julie James.


Rating: 4 Stars (B)

As a fan of Juile James, I was pretty excited for a new story after the almost two year wait. We head back to Chicago and the FBI world to see two undercover agents figure out what this thing about love is.

As a lover of the enemies-to-lovers trope, the romance was pretty fun. Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have been clashing since their days in the Academy due to some misconceptions (from both parties). I loved seeing these two arch-nemesis duke it out.

<blockquote>In response to his dry tone, she threw him a glare so cold it could’ve frozen all nine circles of Dante’s Hell. Fittingly, just nine of the many places he would rather be than stuck working with her on this investigation.</blockquote>

After six years apart, John and Jessica are thrown back to together and the underlying attraction is stronger than ever. I enjoyed seeing the he said/she said perspective. There's banter and sarcasm and so much delicious sexual tension. It was cute seeing them realize that maybe they've been wrong about each other and that they had more in common than they thought. The growing mutual respect really helped repair their relationship, too.

<blockquote>"So you're saying the ball's in my court."

He bent his head, stopping just before his mouth touched hers. "The ball has always been in your court, Jessica," he said huskily.</blockquote>

Jessica really cracked me up a lot of the time with her sass and hilarious inner pragmatic voice and trying so hard to deny the spark between her and John. John is basically your sexy gruff badass agent with a heart of gold. Need I say more?

<blockquote>She who nearly climbeth the man like a tree must owneth it.
Or something like that, whatever.
She met his gaze. "I'm not freaking out."</blockquote>

We get see both Jessica and John's relationship with their family a lot in this and I really loved all the family time. Jessica's older siblings are hilarious as was John's adorable younger brother. The FBI/undercover case part was good, and I wanted to know how it all went down, but I found it lacked the suspense/high stakes that James' eariler books had.

Overall, <em>The Thing About Love</em> was an light and flirty read. It's nothing too out of the realm of cute contemporaries but it can still easily put a smile on your face. With minimal angst or drama, and loads of banter and swoony moments, this is a great read when you're in need of some comfort romance.

PS. While this book is part of a series, all the books can be read as a standalone. It's more like a collection of companion books.

{*Thanks to Berkley and Edelweiss for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 43%

I was pretty excited about this book. I liked the premise and I love love love hate to love stories...sadly this didn't work for me.

I struggled with Jessica and John. They were both sort of dull. Their personality traits felt clichéd and maybe a bit lackluster. They did have some small bits of banter, but I wanted more out of both of them.

Plot wise, there were a lot of characters due to the profession and several sections of info dumpy material. I didn't care about the case, so I ended up searching for the scenes of the just two of them. After a certain point, I just skipped to the end and read the last couple of chapters. I did like how it ended, but I didn't care enough to find out the details of how they got there.

Overall, I could see the potential in the story and while I know this genre has a certain format, I just couldn't settle into the narrative.

**Huge thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing the arc free of charge**