By Julie James. Grade A
I once read somewhere that a lot more guys would read romance novels that they do now if they didn’t have half-naked people on the cover. For example, look at the cover.
While my first thought at seeing it, “Woah, what a dress,” when I showed it to one of my guy friends, his first line was, “Its porn, isn’t it?” :roll eyes:
Ms. James’ Something About You fits the bill.
From Amazon, book summary:
When a high-priced prostitute is murdered in the neighboring hotel room, sole witness Cameron Lynde’s safety is in the very capable but unforgiving hands of FBI special agent Jack Pallas, who thinks she sold him out three years ago on a case involving the Chicago Mob. As an assistant U.S. attorney, she’s fully cognizant of the risks, especially since the client caught on videotape engaging in kinky sex is the well-known, married U.S. senator from Illinois, recently appointed chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. But as the murderer closes in, Jack and Cameron must put aside their differences to stay alive and solve the case. James has crafted another sizzling, vibrant contemporary legal romance set in her hometown, with edgy banter and edge-of-your-seat encounters between the forces of law and those corrupted by access to power. The sequel, A Lot Like Love (2011), continues the Martino investigation subplot with another FBI agent, Jack’s friendly rival, Nick McCall in A Lot Like Love.
Image may be NSFW.
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There were a lot of things I liked about this book.
Firstly, unlike most romantic suspense, it doesn’t let the mystery overtake the main plot. Some of Julie Garwood‘s books do that a lot which annoys me to no end. However, in SAY, the focus stays on Jack and Cameron, and the heroine isn’t your typical I-am-a-female-and-I-need-a-big-FBI-agent-to-protect-me. Cameron is as professionally accomplished as Jack; she doesn’t treat being put in protective custody lightly and doesn’t put herself in danger deliberately so that the male protagonist gets to play hero as he saves her.
Ms. James has a plot which is intriguing and keeps the reader interested. I wouldn’t say its good enough to keep me at the edge of “my seat” as I try to guess the killer. However, there are a lot of times when you have to hold your breath because the killer is just around the corner.
The best thing about the suspense was that there were no scenes about the killer in which he has been portrayed as a depraved, mad man who is off his hinges. He is just an ordinary man who committed a mistake, and now he is getting his hands dirty and dirtier to keep it covered up.
Another part which I really in her books is her meticulous research. Whether the protagonists are lawyers, FBI agents, wine connoisseurs – they know what they are doing and saying. And their careers are not just something thrown in to highlight their personalities. There are a lot of scenes which contain detailed descriptions of what they do and show their competence. Everybody says that Cameron Lynde is an incredible attorney. Hell, she is the heroine. She has to be good. But Julie James shows how good she is as she fights a court battle.
This book was heavier due to the seriousness of Cameron’s situation, the long shadow of the past, and Jack’s personality, which is much more typical alpha than James’s first two heroes. James has a little bit of meta fun with this, having Cameron use the romance buzz word “glowering” to describe the dark looks Jack throws around.
However, it still had her elemental dose of humor:
Purple Hair stopped dusting blush over Cameron’s cheeks. ‘Hold up. Are you talking about the dark-haired guy who came in with you? The one who searched me before I could do your makeup?’
Cameron grimaced. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘Don’t be – it was the highlight of my month.’
Julie James is an auto-buy author for me now. I advise this book to all contemporary romance fans, and even to those, who are not.
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