By Julie James. Grade: B+
Julie James never manages to diappoint her readers and this time with her fourth book A Lot Like Love she has won over many more hearts.
Although people think that this time Ms. James has tried something new but I think the difference was just that the female protagonist wasn’t a lawyer. Most of her books – most of the romance novels, for that matter – follow the same tune, but how their authors deliver make all the difference.
THE FBI WANTS HER COOPERATION.
As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city’s top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there’s only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fundraiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother’s release from prison, Jordan is going to be there””with a date supplied by the Bureau.AGENT MCCALL JUST WANTS HER.
As the top undercover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get personal. This “date” with Jordan Rhodes is merely an assignment””one they’re both determined to pull off even if they can’t be together for five minutes before the sarcasm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick’s investigation is compromised, he and Jordan have no choice but to pretend they’re a couple, and what starts out as a simple assignment begins to feel a lot like something more. . .
The first thing I like about her books are the characters. In A Lot Like Love, the hero, Nick McCall is a hot, sexy and a reserved FBI agent who doesn’t do love, wants to attend his mother’s sixtieth birthday when he gets caught in another assissgnment with his partner Huxley. For Huxley, it is his first undercover project and he is supposed to be Jordon’s date to that exclusive party. But Nick’s plans get screwed when flu gets involved in this situation.
That’s when Jordon gets a tall, dark and smoldering date. And to top it all, if a pretend date wasn’t enough, Nick now has to pretend to be her lover when he realizes that the criminal he has been after has hots for Jordon.
Jordan, too, is a pretty believable character. She is the daughter of a billionaire dad and drives a Maserati, but instead of living off his money, she decides to strike out on her own, and voila, is a pretty successful businesswoman.
As the story proceeds and Nick and Jordan come closer, Nick discovers that Jordon is not the rich-spoiled heiress as Nick’d first assumed but a smart, beautiful and lovable person. Although Nich refuses to accept it, he develops a soft corner for Jordon in his heart.
I loved the relationship between Jordon and Nick. It wasn’t the love-at- first-sight thing or the heroine falls head-over heels in love with the hero just because he is a piece of eye-candy. Ms. James creates very smart, sensible and appealing heroines which I admire.
Not only the main characters but the secondary characters are also lovable. I loved Kyle (Jordon’s brother) because he was so adorable and a computer genius who is down-to-earth and funny. He has his own career and I’ve heard Ms. James is writing Kyle’s story next and I am very much looking forward to it.
Since I hardly ever consort with billionaire heirs and heiresses (haha), I don’t know how real their simplicity is, but while reading, it seems pretty nice.
And oh, I love the book covers. They might be a bit uncomfortable to carry around, but no matter what, they are gorgeous. I think this cover page was better than Something About You.
But I think in more than one way Something About You was better than A Lot Like Love.
For instance, lets take the characters. I think Jack is hotter, sexier and more intellectual than Nick. I find Nick a bit cynical. Although I like both Jordon and Cameron, but I didn’t like the way Ms. James has shown Cameron’s character in ALLL. Not only characters but even the plot was much better actually for SAY. There is suspense that a reader finds interesting and the way Ms. James has created the love story between Jack and Cameron was better than Nick and Jordon.
And there was a part when I was a bit disappointed; I was wishing that Nick won’t miss his mother’s birthday party and would take Jordon with her. That would have been such a nice scene.
But I still liked the relationship between Nick and his family. Also I love that “don’t-fuck-with-me” face which was quite similar to Jack’s “glowering” thing. I find it quite funny.
So, all in all, it was a good book, somewhere funny, somewhere sweet and somewhere exciting. I suggest if you are one of Ms. James fans just go for it.
The post Review: A Lot Like Love appeared first on Vault of Books.