REVIEW: SOMETHING ABOUT YOU BY JULIE JAMES

(FBI/US Attorney, #1)

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Cover Blurb:

Fate has thrown two sworn enemies…

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

Into each other’s arms…

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

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Thank goodness for my TBR Pile Challenge. Otherwise, a gem of a book like SOMETHING ABOUT YOU might have remained forever unread!

All the things I loved about this book:

Hot, sexy, alpha hero…

If you like your heroes in the form of a tall, dark, handsome, tough, protective FBI Special Agent, who can kill a man with a paperclip, then Jack Pallas is definitely your man. Oh, and in addition to being prone to scowling, he also rides a silver and black motorcycle…’definitely a bad-boy bike.’

Gorgeous, sassy, likeable heroine…

Cameron Lynde is everything I look for in a heroine…confident, intelligent and bold. This Assistant U.S. District Attorney is known to be fearless and tenacious in the courtroom. Oh, and she wears ‘killer’ high heels.

Super sizzling chemistry…

This pair are definitely HOT! There is so much sexual tension that you could cut it with a knife. I love the scene where Jack is taking Cameron home on his motorbike and she starts thinking sex…

As they drove, nice and slow along the side streets, Cameron tried to pull her mind out of the gutter. But then they stopped at an intersection and she noticed how Jack’s hands worked the handlebar/ clutch thingy as he revved the engine—almost like a caress— and she began imagining other things his hands could caress, strong hands that could lift her up, hold her down, flip her over, pin her against a wall . . .

I smiled when Jack is constantly being turned on by the sight of Cameron’s camisole strap:

He stole another look, for security purposes , and watched as the sweater once again slid away from her collarbone, inching down, taunting him, teasing him, dipping lower and lower , revealing creamy ivory skin and that delicate gray silk strap he could rip away with his teeth.

When they finally get between the sheets, the temperature soars to boiling!

An array of engaging secondary characters…

I like Jack’s partner, Wilkins and Cameron’s friend Amy but I absolutely adore Collin, Cameron’s gay best friend.

Sparkling, snappy dialogue…

I love Ms James’s dialogue whether it is the initial biting exchanges between Jack and Cameron:

“I want to talk to a lawyer,” Cameron said.
“You are a lawyer,” he said. “And you’re not considered a suspect, so you’re not entitled to one, anyway.”
“What am I considered, then?” “
A person of interest.”
This was bullshit. “Here’s the deal: I’m tired and not in the mood to play games. So if you don’t start telling me what’s going on, I’m walking,” Cameron said.
Jack eyed her yoga sweats and Michigan T-shirt, looking unconcerned with her threats. Thank God she wasn’t still hanging out in her underpants.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He pulled the chair out and gestured. “Take a seat.”
“Thanks, but no. I think I’ll just stick with the plan where I walk out.” Before he could call her bluff, Cameron grabbed her purse and headed for the door. The hell with her stuff, she’d get it later. “It was nice catching up with you, Agent Pallas. I’m glad to see those three years in Nebraska didn’t make you any less of an asshole.”

or the banter between Collin and Cameron:

“You’re losing clothing every time you see him. At this rate, you’ll be naked in front of him before you know it.” Then the strangest thing happened.
Cameron blushed.
“I’m perfectly capable of keeping my clothes on around him, thank you,” she said, her cheeks tinged rosy pink.
Collin was intrigued. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen Cameron blush because of a guy.
The plot thickened.

The action and suspense…

I think Ms James creates the perfect balance between the romance and the action/suspense. The identity of the killer is revealed early in the story but I enjoyed the ensuing game of cat and mouse as they try to put the pieces together and uncover the killer before he can get to Cameron.

The movie mentions…

I love this homage to one of my favourite movies, Casablanca…

Of all the murder and she-had-no-friggin’-clue-what-else-but-something-that-apparently-involved-the-FBI crime scenes in all the hotels in all of Chicago , Jack Pallas had to walk into this one.

and the reference to the Walls of Jericho scene from It Happened One Night.

Overall, I loved the sizzling, sexy romance, the razor-sharp humour and the exciting suspense elements and I will definitely be reading more books in this series.

 

REVIEW RATING: 5/5 STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: HOT

Read March 2014

 

The FBI/US Attorney series (click on the covers for more details):

    

 

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MY TBR PILE CHALLENGE

I have over 250 books on my TBR pile and I’m determined to make inroads into reducing that number by the end of the year. So I’m challenging myself to read each month…

~ A book that has been languishing at the bottom of my pile
~ A book by a new-to-me author
~ A book in a continuing series or a completely new series
~ A book by one of my favourite authors
~ A book selected completely at random

This is my list of books for March…

A book that has been languishing at the bottom of my pile:

HE WOVE A SPELL AROUND HER HEART

Handsome and powerful, with enough Comanche blood coursing through his veins to make him a little bit dangerous, Chase Wolf was used to getting what he wanted. So when Chase saw Franny–a golden-haired angel with deep green eyes, delicate features, and the sweetest smile–he set out to make her his.

As tempted as Franny was, she had too many secrets to let someone enter her world–secrets that would send any reasonable man packing. But Chase was far from reasonable, and despite her desperate attempts to push him away, he would not let her past destroy their future. For his Comanche heart knew that no price was too great to pay for love, happiness, and most of all, magic.

A book by a new-to-me author:

How to Stop a Wedding

Young, widowed, and penniless, Lily Andrews, the Countess of Merrill,has strong opinions on marriage. When she spots a certain engagement announcement in The Times, she decides to take action. She will not allow another hapless girl to fall prey to a man—particularly the scoundrel who broke her heart five years ago. Anonymously she writes and distributes a pamphlet entitled “Secrets of a Wedding Night,” knowing it will find its way into his intended’s innocent hands…

How to Seduce a Widow

Devon Morgan, the Marquis of Colton, desires a good wife and mother to his son—someone completely unlike Lily Andrews, the heartless beauty who led him on a merry chase five years ago only to reject him. When Devon’s new fiancée cries off after reading a certain scandalous pamphlet, he vows to track down the author and make her pay. But when he learns it’s his former fiancée Lily, he issues a challenge: write a retraction or prepare to be seduced—to find out how wonderful a wedding night can be…

A book in a continuing series or a completely new series:

Like all the Jaded Gentlemen, Dr. Rowan West may have his secrets, but he’s done his best to forgive the ghosts of his past and move on with his life. Until the beautiful Miss Gayle Renshaw appears on his doorstep, jeopardizing his medical practice, his reputation, and, worst of all, his heart.

In her desperation to become a doctor, Gayle uses what she knows of Rowan’s fiancée’s mysterious death to blackmail him into taking her on as an apprentice. With his back against the wall, Rowan agrees, but quickly discovers that Gayle isn’t as heartless as she seems. Captivated by his tenacious and brilliant new student, Rowan finds himself surrendering to temptation, just as the enemies of the Jaded start to encroach. Now, with both their lives threatened, Rowan may be forced to give up the woman he loves to save her life…

A book by one of my favourite authors:

An arranged marriage is daunting, but not as daunting as seducing a spouse whose passions you do not understand…
​
Derek Charles Holbrook, Viscount Banfield, knew his fate since he was seventeen when his father announced his union to the beautiful but mysterious American girl by the name of Miss Grey.
To protect the troubled estate, Derek submits to his father’s wishes, not realizing he’s about to entangle himself in a hell of a lot more than marriage.
​
Miss Clementine Henrietta Grey may be worth millions, but not a single coin has ever bought her a smidge of happiness. When she marries the charasmatic and dashing Viscount Banfield, whose only strife in life appears to be the uneven seams in his coat, she finds that siring the heir he wants requires far more than her heart is prepared to give.

Unable to seduce his overly-serious and reluctant wife, Derek realizes his dreams of creating a loving family has turned into a nightmare. But with the unexpected assistance of a retired courtesan and her outrageous school, Derek and Clementine discover that passion is a language spoken not just from the body, but from the mind, heart and soul.

A book selected completely at random:

Fate has thrown two sworn enemies…

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

Into each other’s arms…

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

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