[BOOK REVIEW] Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Title:  Practice Makes Perfect

Author:  Julie James

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

Year Published: 2009

Number of Pages: 291 pages

Date Read: 4/24/2011

Publisher:  Berkley Sensation

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+  (Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading Julie James’ “Something About You,” I was definitely looking forward to reading another one of Julie James’ fantastic novels!  That is when I stumbled upon this charming little book called “Practice Makes Perfect” and I definitely fell in love with this book!! “Practice Makes Perfect” is one novel that makes lawyers look good and sexy to all romance fans!

The two best lawyers in their firm, Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson have been at each other’s throats for the past eight years.  But one day, Payton and J.D. soon discovered that they are chosen to participate on a huge case with a well-known company together and whoever makes a good impression on the company will be made partner of the firm!  But there are a few problems with this opportunity: one, only one of them can be made partner of the firm and two, Payton and J.D. are slowly starting to develop feelings for each other.  Can Payton and J.D. still be together even after one of them is made partner of the firm?

You know, I never would have thought that I would have read such an amazing contemporary romance novel since Julie James’ “Something About You.”  Well, Julie James has certainly written a romance novel that truly defined what a contemporary romance is all about!  Alright, so let me talk about the characters Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson!  Payton Kendall was an awesome heroine as she is shown as one of the top lawyers at her firm which truly represents her intelligent and independent nature!  I also loved the way that Payton was able to stand up for what she believes in, which is trying to be the best lawyer in a firm that mainly caters to male lawyers and it truly made her into a truly independent character that I have enjoyed reading about her doing her job so well!  Out of all the contemporary heroes I have read so far, J.D. Jameson is one of the best heroes I have ever read about!  J.D. Jameson is the perfect hero of the story as he is sassy yet incredibly sexy in his moves towards Payton and when I realized that he is actually a really nice guy, I just instantly fell in love with this hero!  What was the best part of this novel was the love/hate relationship between Payton and J.D. throughout the book as it was really interesting seeing how Payton and J.D. hated each other at first, but the moment that they started having feelings for each other, whew, things started to get really hot between them and I was enjoying every minute of seeing them give each other sweet kisses!  One of the things about their relationship that slightly bothered me a bit was when J.D. gave the reason why he and Payton were fighting in the first place (I will not tell you because I do not want to spoil this book for you!) and I was wondering to myself about why Payton and J.D. would actually fight over something so insignificant.  Also, let us not forget the sex and kissing scenes between Payton and J.D.! Even though there were not a lot of sex scenes in this book, the sexy relationship between Payton and J.D. was enough to make up for the lack of sex scenes in this book, but trust me, the sex scenes were definitely hot and steamy that they make up for most of the romantic scenes between J.D. and Payton.

For those of you who are not fond of strong language, there is a large amount of strong language in this novel and probably the best solution to avoiding the strong language in this book might involve just skimming over the strong words used in this book.

All in all, “Practice Makes Perfect” is truly one of the most interesting contemporary romance books ever written that every romance fan will love for many years to come!

 

[BOOK REVIEW] Something About You by Julie James

Title:  Something About You


Author:  Julie James

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Suspense

Year Published: 2010

Number of Pages: 307 pages

Date Read: 4/6/2011
 

Series: FBI / US Attorney #1

Publisher:  Berkley Sensation


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language and Sex Scenes)

Alright, this book has a number of firsts for me.  For instance, this was the first romantic suspense novel I have read and this is the first novel I have read from romance novel author, Julie James and it was definitely worth experiencing with!  “Something About You” is a romantic suspense novel by Julie James and this book is definitely on the top of my favorite romance novels list as it is full of drama, action and hot, smoking romance that will send any romance fans' hearts aflutter!

U.S. Attorney, Cameron Lynde, was spending the night at a luxurious hotel to relax when she notices that a crime scene had happened in room 1308, the room that Cameron was right next to and Cameron realizes that a prostitute named Mandy Lobard was murdered in room 1308 after she was making love to Senator Hodges!  Since Cameron was the only person who saw the mysterious person running away from the scene of the crime, she is a witness to this crime and to add on to her troubles, she finds out that Special Agent Jack Pallas has come back to Chicago to get to the bottom of this high-profiled homicide.  The problem with this arrangement is that Jack and Cameron have been enemies ever since three years ago when Jack made an unflattering statement about Cameron's involvement with the case of Roberto Martino being mysteriously dismissed all over national television!  Now, Jack and Cameron are finally reunited with each other, but can they rekindled the flame between them that was distinguished three years ago?

Recently, I have been reading many historical and paranormal romance novels and I have enjoyed reading each one!  Now, I have stumbled upon a romantic suspense novel that I have literally stayed up most of the night trying to finish because this was such a fantastic and exciting book!  There were many things about this novel that really interested me, but what really interested me the most was the history about the author, Julie James and how she was able to incorporate the inner workings of law firms into this novel.  Julie James had once clerked for the United States Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Florida and has practiced law for many years before she become a writer.  I thought it was awesome seeing how Julie James was able to add in her experiences in the law firm through this book because not only did it made this novel up for some good reading, but it also made this novel so authentic that I was immensely into learning about the system of the law firm.  Julie James did an awesome job at balancing the romance and the mystery plots of this novel without making it favor towards one of the plots and it just created an exciting drama that I really cannot get over! 

What I really loved about this novel were the main characters, Jack Pallas and Cameron Lynde.  I thought that the relationship between Jack and Cameron was extremely interesting since this was the first romance novel I have read where the plot involves a couple trying to rekindle a flame that was distinguished between them years ago and I loved the pace of how these two try to get back together as a couple without going through it too fast.  What was so awesome about Cameron and Jack's relationship was that Jack was willing to put his life on the line to protect Cameron and that is one aspect of a romance hero that really tops my heroes list and a guy I would not mind protecting me! Also, to top that, who would have thought that Jack would look so sexy in his casual jeans and t-shirt wearing outfit that exposes the ripples of his muscles? That is pure romantic hero heaven right there!  I also loved the heroine Cameron as she is intelligent and is extremely loyal to Jack, as she truly trusts him with her life.  If there is anything in this novel that made this novel a hot and sizzling read, it was the sex scenes between Jack and Cameron and man were they sizzling!

For anyone who does not approve of sex scenes, this book is littered with it and also there is some pretty strong language in this novel. So anyone who do not approve of sex scenes and languages could skip over these.

Overall, “Something About You” is a truly brilliant crime romance novel that anyone who is looking for action as well as hot romance can easily enjoy!

* 2011 DABWAHA Romance Tournament for Best Romance of the Year & Best Contemporary


 

[BOOK REVIEW] A Lot Like Love by Julie James

Title:  A Lot Like Love

Author:  Julie James

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Year Published: 2011

Number of Pages: 274 pages

Date Read: 12/1/2012

Series: FBI / US Attorney #2  

Publisher: Penguin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes and Strong Language)

To be honest, I was actually surprised that Julie James would make a sequel to her first book “Something about you” (a book I read years ago) and ever since I read that book and “Practice Makes Perfect,” I just had to try out more books by her!  “A Lot like Love” is the perfect romance novel to read for anyone who is a fan of romance novels that has a bit of crime and mystery thrown in!

The book starts off with the FBI trying to arrest Xander Eckhart, who has secret dealings with mob leader Roberto Martino, but the only way to do that is to find someone who has close connections with him.  Enter Jordan Rhodes, daughter of billionaire, Grey Rhodes and who also happens to be the owner of Chicago’s top wine store!  To get Jordan Rhodes to participate in the capture of Xander Eckhart, the FBI promised that they will release her brother, Kyle Rhodes, who had been put in prison for shutting down Twitter.  Jordan agrees to this and decides to sneak into Xander’s exclusive party, but she must be accompanied by a date that the FBI assigned her and that date happened to be Nick McCall!  Nick McCall is the FBI’s number one undercover agent and in order to fool Xander, Nick and Jordan would have to act like an actual couple.  However, both Jordan and Nick will soon discover that the undercover work will become more complicated as they start to develop feelings for each other!

Wow! What can I say?  This book was just so fantastic that I found myself fanning myself at every turn!  Julie James has done a brilliant job at not only providing us with hot and sizzling romance, but also enough crime drama that really carried the story!  I loved the fact that since Julie James had attended law school, the experiences that the characters go through when dealing with the FBI business and the judicial system sounded so authentic that it makes me want to deal with the law system myself!  What I loved so much about this book were the characters themselves as they were funny, sarcastic, sweet and awesome at the same time and I really felt so much excitement for these characters!  I also loved the way that Julie James brought back Jack Pallas and Cameron Lynde from the first book “Something About You” as we can see how they are doing in their relationship in this book and they provided a great supporting cast for the main characters.  Now onto the best characters in this entire book and that are Jordan Rhodes and Nick McCall themselves!  I just loved the fact that Jordan Rhodes is such a strong female character as she is sarcastic and smart at the same time!  I loved how independent Jordan really is as she never tried to rely on her father’s money to get her through her life; instead she owns her own wine business and she is shown being so knowledgeable about the wine that she sells.  I also loved the way that Jordan is quick to stand up for herself, especially against anyone who gets in the way of what she wants.  Now, let us talk about the hero of this story and that is Nick McCall!  I just loved Nick McCall as he is just as sarcastic as Jordan is and they really complement each other perfectly!  I also love how sexy Nick McCall is, whether he is in his fancy work suit or he takes off his shirt to show off his muscles!

For anyone who does not like sex or strong language in a novel, this novel has plenty of strong language, including the use of the “f” word and the “s” word.  Also, the sex scenes in this novel are explicit, so it would be best to skim over these scenes if they are uncomfortable to read through.

Overall, “A Lot Like Love” is a fantastic read for anyone who is a fan of Julie James’ works and loves reading crime and mystery novels with a dash of hot romance thrown in!  Now, I am off to read Kyle’s side of the story next!