The Thing About Love   

FBI/US Attorney Series, Book #7

By Julie James

ISBN:  9780425273777

Author’s Website: http://www.juliejames.com

 

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra  

Summary:

FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have a past. The former lawyer and cocky Army ranger clashed during their training at Quantico, gladly going their separate ways after graduating from the Academy. Six years later, the last thing either of them expects is to run into each other again–assigned to work as partners in a high-profile undercover sting.

For both of them, being paired with a former rival couldn’t come at a worse time. Recently divorced from a Hollywood producer and looking for a fresh start, Jessica is eager to prove herself at her new field office. And John is just one case away from his dream assignment to the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. In order to nail a corrupt Florida politician, they’ll have to find a way to work as a team–a task that becomes even trickier when they’re forced to hole up at a romantic, beachfront resort as part of the investigation. Suddenly, the heat behind their nonstop sparring threatens to make the job a whole lot more complicated.

Review:

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*