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**

It's been a while since I have read anything by Julie James, and now that I am back on the wagon, I need to catch up on her books for the last several years. As an attorney and fed myself, I am hesitant these days to pick up some legal-themed romances because I tend to pick them apart. But Julie James' stories are well-researched and don't make me twitchy like some other legal/LEO plots.  This last book of hers I read was in the FBI/USAO series, and I'm not sure if this book is included in that series or not. It's not listed as being included on Goodreads, Amazon or iBooks... but there is some character crossover with that series and the main characters here are FBI agents. You can read it as a standalone, but it would also be enjoyable to know some of the stories of the secondary characters that pop in from the FBI angle.

John Shepherd is a former Army Ranger who was recruited into the FBI after his military service. He is an all around bad ass, and a candidate for the Hostage Rescue Team - the FBI's elite counter-terrorism team. I immediately had a connection with John, particularly after the ugly end to his relationship at the start of the book. He is what I would consider a stereotypical military guy - an ambitious and hard-working go-getter. He was good-natured and funny, and just an all-around good dude. James did a good job establishing John's turmoil both over his relationship, and his feelings of confusion (at times) and inferiority during flashbacks to his time at the FBI Academy. 

Jessica Harlow, a graduate of Stanford Law, joined the ranks of the FBI at the same time as John Shepherd, and they were contentious rivals in the Academy. I had a harder time with Jessica's character. She definitely had a chip on her shoulder, and she knew it. She knew she had something to prove as one of two females in her entry class at Quantico, but I wasn't crazy how she went about it. When John approaches her with friendly banter and helpful tips, Jessica throws up a wall between them or acts like she is too good for him. And six years later when they meet again, she reverts to that same personality. But once she lost that chip on her shoulder, I actually liked her and started to connect to her character. 

The relationship between John and Jessica unfolded at a nice pace... not instalove but not stretched out to the end of the book either. It was almost an enemies-to-lovers situation, but they weren't quite enemies... maybe frenemies would be a better (non)word. Once they got past their dislike of one another, the attraction and chemistry came through strong and hot. 

As I said above, James researches her stories well. The details about the FBI and the investigations were realistic and didn't require that I suspend my belief. I wasn't quite happy with how things played out with the HRT, but that is more of a professional hazard based on my personal experience. The investigation at issue here is of the white collar variety, so there wasn't any suspense or danger, but it was interesting nonetheless. 

Secondary characters from past stories had small cameos, with larger roles played by John and Jessica's family. I loved John's dad and Jessica's twin siblings. The families added a feel-good aspect to the story and made the characters seem more real and relatable. 

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Berkley.

4.5 stars

I love Julie James’ writing, and with her latest book The Thing About Love, it’s no different. A story of two Chicago FBI agents who hate each other, though now having to work together discover there is a fine line between hate, and love.

Jessica and John were in the same class in the academy. Him with a military background, and she a former lawyer. From day one it is on between them. A classic case of miscommunication between them, leads to a bitter rivalry. After graduation they never saw each other again, until now.

It’s John’s last case as an undercover agent, and Jessica’s first as a new transfer. I do have to applaud them on their professionalism, they really manage to set their differences aside for the job. Though the longer the banter goes on between them, the more they venture into flirting territory.

I always feel there is a certain level of intelligence when it comes to Julie James’ stories. I’m certainly no professional when it comes to FBI cases, and federal procedure, but she makes it feel authentic, and thus making the story more believable. Add the witty ribbing, smart heroines, and qualified heroes, and The Thing About Love becomes one wonderful romantic story.

*I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Undercover heat! 
The Thing About Love - Julie James 
 


THE THING ABOUT LOVE is such a great enemies-to-lovers story. Julie James sure knows how to write Contemporary Romance.

John and Jessica have history together. They were in the FBI academy together and became enemy number one to each other. Fast forward several years and as luck would have it, they are being put together in an undercover operation in Florida that has them in some close quarters. They may not like each other but it doesn't mean that they can't appreciate how hot the other is.

Spending a lot of time together turns up the heat and also clears up so long ago misconceptions. But, when the case is over, so is their relationship. Or so they think.

I really thought this was adorable. John and Jessica were total frenemies. It was funny to see how the other viewed how things went down between them when they were in the academy. It's a shame that they lost that time thinking poorly of each other when if they had just talked, they would have saved themselves a lot of misery. But where would the fun in that have been?

I wanted to bop both of them on the head because they just couldn't see the forest through the trees when it came to their relationship, but I'm so glad that they figured it all out in the end. 

THE THING ABOUT LOVE is loosely related to the FBI/US Attorney series but can easily be read as a standalone. Some previous characters make small appearances in the book, but you don't need all the history to enjoy this story. 

I hope we continue to get more books out of this FBI/US Attorney world because I just love the stories and characters that come out of it.

*Advanced Reader's Copy provided by NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra 

The Thing About Love is a steamy contemporary romance novel which left me engaged throughout the entire read and very happy that I had chosen this book.  Character development was superb; not just the main characters but also the supporting characters as well.

The story begins with FBI Special Agent John Shepherd flying home from his latest undercover investigation (which lasted eight long months) and NOT in the mood to speak with his neighbors on the plane. And that is when I got hooked:

“Next to John, the guy in the middle sear was in his early forties and dressed in a suit and lime-green shirt…. Yep. Steve in the lime-green shirt was going to be a Talker……Not that sitting next to a chatty passenger was uncommon for John. He accepted the fact that in his line of work, it was an occupational hazard…But tonight, he was hoping to have a few quiet minutes to unwind before the plane landed in Chicago.  And also to start thinking about how he was going to get things back on track with his girlfriend, Alicia.”

Now from there I anticipated a challenge, after all, why would he need to get things back on track with his girlfriend.  What he walks in on when he gets home is not what he expected. Unfortunately for John he finds his girlfriend and best mate going at it in their bed.  Needless to say, John walks out…and he is now single.
Now back in the office in Chicago, John learns that a former colleague (whom he did NOT get along with)
from his time at the FBI Academy in Quantico is joining the team at the Chicago office. In walks sexy Jessica Harlow.  They had a long standing rivalry at the academy – trying to out perform each other. Now John and Jessica get assigned to a high profile undercover sting operation; they must work together regardless of their feelings for each other.  During this undercover operation they each share their own perceptions of the time they both spent in Quantico. Through the process of hearing each other’s side of the story, we see that they begin to understand and appreciate each other more and even seeing how misinterpretations occurred all those years ago.

The sting operation was definitely intriguing. Made me wonder if this is how it is truly really done.
Wow…the steamy parts were HOT.  Yikes.  Who would have thought of FBI agents as super sexy as well as super awesome?  I loved one reflective moment after a very hot and steamy kiss – had me giggling, that’s for sure:
    She looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “I can’t believe I kissed you.”
    “Please. I can’t believe I kissed you.”
    .
    .
    .
  Her inner pragmatic voice did a face-palm.

  And this is why we don’t hook up with other agents. Never dip your pen in the company inkwell. Don’t get      your nookie where you get your cookies. Don’t fish off the company pier. Don’t…Thanks, yes, she got the point.”

John is also following up on his dream of becoming a member of the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) by participating in the two-week selection program at Quantico.  Once that was completed, he was in a holding pattern so he returned to the sting operation.  Just as the operation is coming to a conclusion, John hears that he made HRT.  Of course by this time, John and Jessica have become quite close.  It broke my heart a bit when they split so that John could follow his dream, and that he is leaving his family.

Will love prevail in the end?  Read The Thing About Love for yourself .  You will definitely enjoy the journey…laughing and tearing up…rooting for John…then Jessica…worth the time and effort to read!!!

I have only read book #6 and now #7 in the FBI/US Attorney Series by Julie James.  From this latest read, I am definitely going back and reading the first 5 books of the series.
 
*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

The Thing About Love was my first Julie James novel. This was such a fun and flirty read with a dash of suspense and danger! It had passion, mystery love, attraction, snappy banter and was full of adventure. I couldn't stop reading after I picked it up and was immediately swept away. John and Jessica were swoony, sexy and heartfelt. I felt their connection right away and could not stop reading! 

John Shepherd and Jessica Harlow have a history together. Six years earlier they were both in the FBI Academy and while initially an attraction formed at first glance, competitive juices flowed and tensions rose. Fast forward six years later. what happens they are forced to work undercover six years later on a case and old tensions rise in the form of white hot lust? Can they both make it work or will past resentments surface and become too much of an obstacle for this pair?

The Thing About Love was a fantastic frenemies to lovers romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and loved their back and forth banter. While I hoped for more of a romance between John and Jessica, I was quite charmed and absolutely loved that ending!! All in all, this was a great read! 4 stars!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this novel

Two sexy FBI agents with history, undercover work and pent up sexual frustrations.  Should make for a great story right?  Jessica & John’s characters are both strong willed and stubborn.  They both give and take jabs, personally and emotionally.  We learn, in great detail, about their past…how they met, encounters that they had…and we hear it from both sides.  Jessica’s side was always slightly different from John’s and vice versa, their perception of the past has now skewed the reality that they are in now.

While it was nice getting a background it went on a little too long for me.  I couldn’t wait for them to get together in the present because you could just tell how great they would be together.  They have so much in common and are clearly attracted to each other.  Both of them have obstacles in their way at this time so I was waiting for the big twist, the conflict, the angst.  I never quite got it.  At some points I wanted more from a current situation, then the story would just drop and pick up somewhere else before anything juicy happened.

Once John and Jessica come together it was worth the wait, the build up was great and the last part of the book was what made me keep reading.  It was like they grew up and realized how petty they had been in the past and now it was time to fast forward on to the here and now.  The change of pace was quick and the end of the book didn’t last long enough for me, I would love some more of Agents Harlow and Shephard!

2.5 stars

I’m going to preface this review by saying that as this is a Julie James book, I had every intention of loving every bit of it. That’s what has always happened with me in the past, and I expected nothing less from The Thing About Love. The thing is, I didn’t love this one, and that makes me sad. Julie James has been my go to author when I want a sophisticated heroine who has her life together with just a few kinks to work out, and I love that that was something I could count on. But there was something about this heroine that I couldn’t quite connect with, and as far as the story goes, I don’t feel like there was much meat to it. I liked Jessica and John separately much better than I liked them together. And while I can see how years long competition could lead to some hot sex, I wasn’t sold that this particular relationship would lead to more than that.

I thought the beginning of this book was brilliant, as it’s usually the opposite - a woman walking in on her significant other with another lover, so I was sold right off the bat when John walked in on his girlfriend going at it with another man. I even liked the way he handled the situation, with the maturity of a typical Julie James character. It was when Jessica entered the picture that things went downhill for me. The details of her first marriage seemed kind of shallow, and I thought it odd that Jessica and John remembered their conversations from years ago verbatim. I also wasn’t a fan of the way Jessica ‘asserted’ herself at their shared time at the academy. It came off as desperate to me.

Now the good - the ribbing of John by his co-workers. Oh, man. What a hoot. The way they made fun of him for a previously worn man bun was awesome, as was his rapport with his brother. The banter between the men was really well done. And the families - Julie James knows how to bring a family to life, giving them strong personalities, thereby giving you a strong feel for them without overwhelming the rest of the story, and John and Jessica’s families were wonderfully fleshed out.

Unfortunately the bad outweighed the good for me with this one, and I just didn’t enjoy it. Now this is the part where I forget everything I just wrote, pick myself up, dust myself off, and eagerly await her next offering!

First I have to say, what is up with this cover? At first glance, or from far away, it looks bloody! But it’s a broken lollipop?  Not my favorite cover, and not my favorite book by Julie James. She writes meticulously detailed FBI agents – you can tell she puts hours, and hours of research into her stories. Some books, an author just slaps on the title of FBI to their characters and keeps writing, but James makes them genuine and as a reader I appreciate that so much.

However, I had a hard time getting pulled into this one and I think it’s partly because of the tremendous amount of details. Yes, I am fickle! It’s so meticulous, at moments I just didn’t want to read every little detail about their life or job. Which sounds horrible to say but it’s just what I honestly felt while reading. It dragged the book down for me.

Jessica and John are both FBI agents who trained together at Quantico. Jessica is a former lawyer, and John is a former Ranger. They are both very competitive and had more of stubborn, comptetive relationship at Quantico, rather than friendly. After their training is complete, Jessica heads to the L.A FBI office where she meets someone in the film industry and gets married. But her marriage will eventually fizzle out and she will find herself wanting a fresh start. When an opening in the Chicago office becomes available, she takes it.

Since John was a Ranger, he is primed to be in the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team (or HRT). But instead of trying out, he goes deep undercover in Detroit on a big case for a couple of years, during which his long-term girlfriend starts having an affair with his friend. He too moves to Chicago for a new start.

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’d though HRT tryouts had been hell.

Since Jessica and John both have undercover training, they are put on the same case…which means these frenimes are reunited and forced to work together. They are sent to Jacksonville, Florida undercover as “shady Chicago business entrepreneurs” to try to catch the mayor taking a bribe from them. As they work together, their enemy status turns more romantic.

When John talks about joining the HRT again, and we learn about the admission process and what goes into it, I was very engaged. And when Jessica goes on a different undercover mission, I was very engaged. I was not so engaged in the mayor who is taking bribes from city officials. It just wasn’t that exciting or interesting to me – although it doesn’t weight the story down too much.

Jessica and John reunite, and there are definitely some cute moments because they are both so smart, and stubborn – and so competitive, they try to out-do each other at first. They have cute banter, as only Julie James can write and it definitely made me smile at times. But they fall into bed and a relationship pretty easy in this one. There isn’t a lot of sexual tension or a lot of passion. It’s a sweet romance but there wasn’t a lot of fire or fuel behind their relationship. They sleep with each other while in Jacksonville and by the end of the book they are in love. I feel like I needed something more.

I really liked John’s character – he is super sexy. A little more gruff because he has that Ranger background, compared to Jessica’s sleek lawyer vibe – that worked well for me.

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

Overall I liked this book, but it didn’t stand out as others have in this series.

Grade: C+

3.5 stars - After the pushed-back release date (it was supposed to be released in 2016), along with the cover AND title change (the original title was Flirty Little Secrets) – I’m so happy that I got the chance to read this as an advanced copy! Julie James is one of my favorite romance authors. I LOVE her FBI/US Attorney series! The pushed-back release date for this means it has been almost two years without a new story from her.

Was it worth the wait?

Well, at times, I think it is. BUT I hate to say it, The Thing About Love is definitely the least favorite of mine from her FBI series.

My biggest problem is that I didn’t particularly care about the technical part of the undercover case set-up that John and Jessica were part in. Unfortunately THAT took quite a lot of page time, in my humble opinion, which made the story very dragging. The case did become action-interesting near the end, but it didn’t make up for the boring beginning.

In addition, for a story that has a root of “¬enemies-to-lovers” to it – with John and Jessica having clashed during their FBI training at Quantico six years ago – I didn’t feel enough juicy banter and sparkling tension between the two of them like I expect coming from Julie James. I think the attraction part simply wasn’t as sizzling as the heroes and heroines of the previous books.

I did like the whole “she said” vs “he said” portion of their past. It is evidence that a situation can be seen from different angles, depending on how you see it. The secondary characters were also delightful and I had fun whenever they were on page – most especially John’s younger brother, Nate and Jessica’s best friend, Tara.

And when John and Jessica really connected — like when they were commiserating over their failed previous relationship, they were pretty good.

With their relationship being temporary – John is on the brink of joining FBI Elite Hostage Rescue Team, which requires him to move to Virginia for training and later to move around the country a lot – I also thought both John and Jessica were acting pretty mature in handling the situation. That is what I always love about James’ characters, really … they always approach their problems without drama. There is a levelheadedness to it and that’s I appreciate.

I did enjoy this, but it wasn’t as stellar as I hoped, sadly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and flirty story.  What makes it so captivating are the well developed characters and the the witty, snappy dialogue.  I enjoyed the main characters and all the entertaining secondary characters. This is a fast paced story with a hunky, alpha male hero and a sassy heroine.

Special agent John Shepperd and special agent Jessica Harlow first meet when they go through the FBI academy in Quantico together. They spend twenty one weeks trying to outwit each other and compete over everything.  By the end of their training, they loathe each other and hope they never meet again.  Before joining the FBI, John was an Army Ranger and is the biggest, most athletic in their training group.  While Jessica, an attorney, is one of two women in their class and feels she has to constantly prove herself.

Now, six years later, Jessica moves back to her hometown of Chicago and finds herself partnered with her former nemesis, John.  Neither of them is happy to be working undercover together and find themselves falling right back into their old habit of competing over everything. I was laughing out loud, enjoying their snarky remarks and how they continually try to one up each other.  All the while, pretending to everyone else, they get along.  As they work on the case, they grudgingly start to admire each other and find themselves having to fight their mutual attraction. 

I loved the chemistry between John and Jessica. They have a dry wit and there is a lot of verbal bantering and funny lines. Julie James has an easy, breezy, carefree style of writing that is so hard for most writers to achieve but she seems to do it effortlessly.  I was immediately transported into John and Jessica's world and I never wanted to leave.

Well, Julie James just gained a new fan.  A new-to-me author that had me enthralled from the beginning of the story to the end, I will definitely be reading her again and again!  She is a fascinating author that wrote two characters that had me smiling throughout the story.

I absolutely loved the love/hate relationship that John and Jessica had.  It was fun!  Their banter brought this story to another level and I would go a lot higher than 5 stars if that was possible.  Now, pair the back-and-forth of these two with descriptions of the FBI Academy and I was hooked.  I’ve always wanted to visit Quantico and Julie James brought it to life for me.  

Now, it didn’t hurt that John was an ex-Army Ranger and a hot one at that.  It also didn’t hurt that he really didn’t have an ego but was competitive.  Then, add to that that he had his heart broken in a way that you wouldn’t wish on anyone and you, too, will fall in love with this big teddy bear.

Jessica was just what I would picture a female FBI Special Agent to be.  She was smart, sassy and just as competitive as her male counterparts.  John just rubbed her the wrong way and she let him know it at every turn.  She did what she had to do to get through Quantico and she would be damned if John Shepherd would get the best of her.

Fast forward 6 years later, the Special Agent in Charge’s office, Chicago, IL.  Enter Jessica.  Enter John.  Enter the world of She Said/He Said and an undercover operation that pairs them together.  Now, this is where it really got interesting and amusing and I couldn’t wait for it to play out on the pages.

I cannot say enough good about this book or this author.  You could tell her research was intense (unless she’s a former FBI Special Agent) with her accounts of training, undercover operations and just what needs to be done to catch the bad guy.  Her timelines and the fluidity of the story was perfect.  All of the characters in the book were witty, enticing and just added more to the story.  I loved Nate … he needs his own book. Tara was a hoot and definitely needs to find the one (just not on Tinder).  Jessica’s siblings and the texts just brightened up the whole story.  But, the one thing that I really admired about Julie James’ writing was how she brought levity into some serious situations and made sure that John and Jessica “connected”.  It was a natural progression from hate to admiration to love.  She didn’t force her characters into bed, it was just “right”.  Julie James showed us that there really is a fine line between love and hate.  There is so much more that I could say about this story and her style of writing but I really want you to read this and see for yourself.

The Thing About Love is my first Julie James book, and all I have to say to that is- where have I been and what have I been missing? I have this strong desire to go back and read the rest of this series, and I probably will once I get a little more time! This is book #7 in FBI/US Attorney series but can definitely be read as a stand alone. 

Jessica Harlow’s job is everything to her. Now that her marriage is over, she’s essentially given up on men and is married to her job. When she gets paired with John Shepherd for an undercover assignment, the banter is strong between these two, and so is the chemistry! These two are rivals of sorts, but now that they’re working together they have to find a way to do just that- work together! It’s not as easy as it seems… 

My favorite thing about this book- it made me LAUGH. Not just smile or chuckle a bit, full on laugh. I love funny books, and when you add in a sexy story with witty back and forth banter and fantastic characters, you have a huge win in my book! Jessica is a strong and fabulous heroine and I loved John as well! If you’re looking for a book that has great sexual tension, a fun enemies to lovers story line and one that will make you laugh out loud, this is one I highly recommend you picking up!

I have always loved James books, her antagonistic slow burn romances have always been favourites of mine, as she just makes them work really well! It had been sometime since I last read a book by James and when I heard about The Thing About Love honestly I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. Second chance romances are another favourite trope of mine and James once again does another great job of it in The Thing About Love. It was clear to me that there was something between Jessica and John underneath all the snarky and trying to wind each other up comments, although it seemed like they didn’t like one another, I just wanted them to drop all the pretences that they had been building these last six years and just see what could happen. Who knows maybe it could be something more wonderful than either could have imagined. I loved the situation that John and Jessica found themselves in, this situation really forced them to work in close contact and try and forget any issues that they might have had over the last six years. I knew this could be tough for them, as they were used to continually throwing jibes back and forth, but this undercover situation also required them to be as professional as possible. I loved watching the development of their relationship over the course of the investigation, the slow burn and intensity was a delight to see unravel. After the first explosive scene between Jessica and John I wanted more right away! And James truly kept me on my toes in the best possible way. The Thing About Love was a nice mix of suspense and romance, as you never knew which way the investigation would go and whether John and Jessica could finally find a way to be together. The Thing About Love was an absolute delight to read, I loved following John and Jessica on their investigation and the build up of their slow burn romance. This book has definitely put me in the mood to read more of James books right away!

Jessica and John from The Thing About Love by Julie James have a hero-once-pulled-on-the-heroine’s-pigtails-because-he-liked-her type of romance. The two met and became rivals while training at Quantico to become FBI agents. There was an underlying attraction between them, but also a massive rivalry. Years later, neither can forget how much of a pain in the ass the other was while they were in training. This sets the scene for their romance when the two are forced to work together undercover.
 
Jessica Harlow is new to the Chicago field office, having transferred after a painful divorce. Her job as an undercover FBI was not something her Hollywood producer husband could deal with. She is looking for a new start and planning to get right back into undercover work. She doesn’t plan on her nemesis, John Shepherd, being part of her new life.
 
John, much like Jessica, is newly single. His girlfriend wasn’t so thrilled with his work either. He certainly is surprised when Jessica shows up in his office - and even more surprised when they end up as partners on an undercover mission that takes them to Florida. John is also consumed with his desire to make it onto the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, something he has been working towards since he first joined the FBI.
 
However, the spark that has sizzled between these two since their training days flares when they are back together. There is some serious friction combined with some serious heat in this romance. This leads to contentious yet heated banter as the two get reacclimated to each other and learn how to work together. They work well together while undercover, often having to improvise to keep the op going and to get evidence on the corrupt Florida politician they are pursuing.
 
I loved John and Jessica together. Their shared history is important to their relationship and we get many flashbacks to their days at Quantico. Little did either one know how much the other impacted their training - or how much the other pushed them to succeed. Of course, just when the two start to realize that they have strong feelings for the other, John finally makes it onto the Hostage Rescue Team.
 
One of my favorite things about The Thing About Love is the banter between John and Jessica; it is both sexy and witty. The two butt heads repeatedly, almost as often as they get intimate (okay, maybe more). The sex is hot and is made that much hotter by the fact that these two do not get together easily. They enjoy battling. But this makes their romance a hard fought one that kept me glued to the page.
 
I adore Julie James’ writing and the stories she tells (I’m not sure any book will ever beat the Twitter Terrorist one, but anything is possible). The Thing About Love is a wonderful, sexy romance that pits two one-time enemies against each other and lets the sparks fly. Don’t miss this one.

The Thing About Love is set in the here and now, but Julie James takes us a step back six years in the timeline to John and Jessica’s FBI training at Quantico. One-upmanship and antagonism prevailed, but just beneath the surface there was simmering sexual tension that added fuel to their heated and intense interactions. The upside of their competitive relationship was that they both went above and beyond to be the best in the required intellectual and physical tests while needling and driving each other nuts along the way. However, thanks to well-written introspection, we know that well-meaning intentions were often misconstrued, resulting in significant conflict for our hero and heroine to work through, along with eventual crow-eating and more than a few laughs.

Julie James is so good at writing competitive, classy and wicked-smart heroines, and Jessica epitomizes these qualities. She graduated from an Ivy League law school, and her abilities are adeptly revealed during undercover assignments as a special agent on the Public Corruption squad. John is handsome and athletic with a commanding, masculine aura. His presence causes more than a few red-blooded women to take a second … or third look. He is tough, professional and polished, and considered an asset to the Organized Crime squad. That said, he was always felt to be a prime candidate for the elite Hostage Rescue Team.

Here’s a little snippet from when Jessica sees John for the first time after six years:

John Shepherd.

Admittedly, Jessica was caught off guard at the sight of him in her new boss’s office. For one thing, he was supposed to be in Quantico, already part of the Hostage Rescue Team and at this very moment engaged in a live-fire close-quarter battle exercise, or scaling a burning ten-story building. Probably while inverted and holding on to the bricks by his pinky toes, just for extra kicks.

And for another thing, wow, he looked different from the last time she’d seen him.

I love Julie James’ FBI books, and it’s apparent she put significant time and effort into research and gives depth to the narrative by sharing details about the various agency professionals and departments. I found the intricacies of orchestrating an undercover sting operation fascinating. I’d never heard of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team and was astounded to learn about their responsibilities and what is required of the men invited to the HRT selection trials … yikes! Don’t get me wrong, you can expect the signature banter, awesome guy talk and laughs that we’ve come to expect from a Julie James contemporary romance.

The Thing About Love offers plenty of heat, and readers can also look forward to suspense and surprising twists. Jessica and John have learned that being an FBI special agent is hell on relationships, and there are emotional moments, as they have both suffered through recent breakups. I really liked how their complex relationship evolves from antagonistic to friendship to intimacy, while working an undercover sting assignment — there is nothing like intrigue to bring pent-up sexual tension to the boiling point. 😉

Julie James fans have waited a long time for this novel, but rest assured, she doesn’t let us down. The Thing About Love is a delight, and readers will surely root for Jessica and John to get their second-chance at love.

It’s Julie James release time again. Huzzah! There’s one release each year by James and it always brings excitement for me. The Thing About Love was pretty addictive because Jessica and John have a I-dislike-you-but-I-totally-wanna-fuck-you attraction going on that made this such a fun book. Their initial dislike isn’t really dislike, but wrong timing and crossed wires.

FBI agent Jessica Harlow is newly divorced from her hollywood producer ex-husband. Jessica has been transferred back to Chicago from LA and she’s happy to be home with her family. Despite the hurt over how her marriage ended, she’s excited to go back undercover and catch some bad guys. Her new assignment is nabbing a popular city mayor who is taking bribes. Jessica will pose as a potential business investor into the city, and she cannot believe it when she’s introduced to her new partner, John Shepard; her fierce rival back from the Academy. The former Ranger is still arrogant, cocky, and ever so damn sexy.

John Shepherd loves his work as an undercover agent in the FBI. He loves the gritty work of going undercover and catching some serious bad guys. But there are negatives that come with the job and that’s being away for long periods. It put strains on relationships. John arrives home and finds his girlfriend fucking one of his closest friends, Rob. John swiftly cuts all ties and is at a crossroads in his life. But soon after he is contacted about an opening in the most elite unit in the FBI–the Hostage Rescue Team.

This is John’s dream job and he goes for it. He has one last undercover assignment and he cannot believe his luck when he sees Jessica Harlow. The very same Jessica Harlow who knocked him on his ass back in the Academy. She was always one step ahead of him in the brains department, and he’s still smarting over her rebuffing his attempts at his friendly encouragement during their training at the Academy.

What I love most about this book is John and Jessica’s banter. Jessica is so full of confidence and wit. She makes me smile and laugh and she has no hesitations in showing John just how on-point she is in the investigation. And of course John has to one-up her and show Jessica just how on-point he can also be, and that he isn’t just all muscle and sexy rawrness. There’s some good old fashioned rivalry between them that never once crosses the line into any asshole behaviour. There’s an awesome time lapse in the book that covers their time at the Academy from both POVs, and James manages to provide both sides of the story with humour. I found myself understanding why Jessica had to rebuff John in the Academy. She was only one of two female agents and becoming friendly with the hottest guy in their class could produce some unfair whisperings. John being a Chicago native like Jessica wanted to be friendly, and only wanted to encourage and give support when she struggled in certain situations. But his encouragements came off as cocky and arrogant. They left on very unfriendly terms and both held grudges towards one another.

Back in the present John and Jessica have to deal with their antagonism from the Academy, though they never once allow it to affect them professionally. They clear the air like adults, though a friendly rivalry remains. It’s not long before into the job, with the adrenaline flowing, that these two act on their attraction. I started crushing on John myself. Rawr. James has such talent for character details and dialogue. The dialogue is just amazing in this book and watching Jessica and John verbally spar back and forth was like foreplay.

The first half of the book is slow-paced because it’s jam-packed full of descriptions and details, so while the research seems A+ on the workings of the FBI, I found myself quickly reading those passages. When Jessica and John finally come together, their smexy encounters felt a teeny abrupt and quick and I would have liked to have seen longer scenes building up the tension. But the second half more than made up for it. Their respect and admiration for each other grows not only in the professional sense, but personally too as they share their heartaches with one another.

All in all this is a fun and enjoyable romance, though a little predictable. But it’s a great kind of predictable because you know you’re gonna get a deliciously romantic and sexy read.

I give The Thing About Love a B

Jessica Harlow was one of two women in a class of forty-one FBI agent trainees, exceptional in the academics portion, but just okay in the physical part, making her insecure over those abilities.  John had the opposite problem, being a former Army Ranger he excelled at the physical exams and skills on the firing range, but felt intimated by all the postgraduate degrees.  At first they both really admire each other, but their respective insecurities played a factor in putting them at odds by the end of the class, and they left on bad terms.

Six years later, they’re both back at the Chicago office, and assigned to work with each other; neither very excited at the prospect. I enjoyed being in on the procedures preparing for their case, and the actual undercover work. I was a little on edge over the inherent danger with their assignments, especially with one of Jessica’s cases.

I liked how the past misconceptions that led to their mutual dislike were clarified quickly, and handled early on. After that, John and Jessica’s mutual respect grew, both admired how adept and good each were at undercover work, and the initial attraction they felt six years back starts to ignite all over again. Very hot! But with John leaving for a new assignment in only a few weeks they agree to keep things simple with no strings attached.  After having problems with past relationships over the job, they’re happily surprised at the understanding and support each one provides when difficulties come up, and they just clicked on so many levels!  Loved these two together!  I was thrilled there was no unnecessary angst or drama with this realistic romance. What originally starts out as a temporary affair turns into yearning for more, and I was crossing my fingers they’d be able to make things work long term. 

Julie James rarely disappoints! The Thing About Love grabbed and held my attention, from FBI procedure and casework, to John and Jessica’s past relationships and their current romance I wanted to last forever, I was captivated.

My Review:
Flat out...I really enjoy Julie James' stories. Her heroines are tough and sassy. Her heroes are badass and alpha and her story lines are usually fun and witty. But this one didn't quite have the umph that I expect from a Julie James novel. And honestly I was trying to analyze exactly why this morning. The dialogue wasn't quite so snappy, despite the hero's constant need to quip about Jessica's saucy attitude. (Honestly by the end, it kind of felt like the author was adding that in to make it feel more snappy than it truly was...and that was kind of a bummer...and distracting.)

But despite all that...this book was good. Just not quite as my very high expectations for a Julie James book. 

But there is a lot of good to be found in this story. The hero and the heroine have a history, but it's a history fraught with contention. They were the two highest performers while qualifying for the FBI at Quantico. As a result, they were constantly trying to one-up one another. For Jessica, this was especially difficult. As one of only two females, she had to perform up to standard even more so than her male counterparts. And at 5'3" she didn't hold much competition physically against John who was 6'4". As a result, they left the academy both pretty much hating the other. 

So, when they become partners in an undercover operation, things aren't quite smooth sailing. Also, they're both coming off hard break-ups and they are both really attractive people attracted to one another. But they're undercover in Florida as high-powered, corporate investors. As such, the ambience was fun. I liked Jessica's tradition of a glass of wine and piece of cake after a long day undercover (she's my kind of girl). Their banter about the core of their jobs was fun. Jessica works white collar; John works in the more violent crimes area (and I can't remember exactly what that was off the top of my head right now). 

I liked the conflict about how there is no easy resolution. Even if the two can resolve their feelings for one another, they are going different places. It kept me reading and wondering how in the world this could ever all get sorted. I love it when I get close to the end of a book and I'm still wondering. That's a great twist that the author pulled off. 

So a bit of a mixed review, but I'll be honest...that's mainly because Julie James has set such a high bar for her writing, not anything truly against this book. It was a fun read. Lots of fun, sexy times, with a bit of FBI intrigue and danger added in just to keep it exciting. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.