ARC Review: Suddenly One Summer by Julie James

I love all things Julie James. I’ve read all her books and thoroughly enjoyed them all. I’m definitely a fan and have come to expect certain things form her. One an excellent storyline. Two an equally excellent heroine. Three a hero to match and four a book I can’t put down. “Suddenly One Summer” met all the above and more.

So not to sound like a total fangirl I will say that many of her heroines are very similar. They are all very successful, gorgeous and strong. Which I love! I often find myself admiring her heroines and hoping to be like them one day when I grow up. Victoria Slade is all this and more. So Julie James did something a little different this time with Victoria. Her past heroines have had some type of commitment issue but with Victoria, I think, James made her more complex and fragile. When the story begins there were many serious and anxious moments. This was new for me. Both the hero and heroine have just gone through very serious and shocking events.

Our hero, Ford Dixon, is from a previous book, Love Irresistibly. He is Brooke’s childhood best friend. I was excited to see what James would do with him. I really liked Ford and I liked how James developed him. Ford and Victoria lock eyes across a crowded room. In typical James fashion, what seems to be a smooth and normal interaction quickly becomes something else.

Victoria doesn’t know that her neighbor is THAT guy from the bar. She only knows that her neighbor has women coming in and out of his place at all hours of the night. Before meeting him, she quickly develops an opinion about him. Ford is such a sweetheart. He is a smart, sophisticated sweet guy. He can’t understand why Victoria has developed a bad opinion when they haven’t really gotten to know each other. But Ford is no pushover so he gives what he gets.

Although Ford and Victoria each carry their own baggage, they quickly form a team when Victoria, a divorce attorney, offers to help Ford’s sister find her daughters father. As they begin to work together as undercover reporters they get to really know each other plus share some adventures together.

There are many reasons that James is one of my favorite contemporary authors. One of the many reasons is that her characters always have either the funniest scenes or the funniest lines. She is so great with getting her characters to trade barbs. Not to sound like a total fangirl, I would like to see James do something different. I thought there were some similarities from her most recent book, “It Happened One Wedding” ( the café scene is still one of my favorites). Having said that I can never put her books down. I loved learning about Ford’s job as an investigative reporter. I loved his sister and hope that she finds her happily ever after. If anyone has not read Julie James I strongly recommend her. Her romances are always filled with chemistry and very steamy scenes. The characters never disappoint. After each Julie James novel I always ask the same question: when is the next book? Can’t wait.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

First of all, I love all things Julie James. She is one of my absolutely favorite authors! I’ve read and re-read all her previous books and have loved them. She always delivers! Her characters are always strong, funny, quirky, vulnerable and just absolutely lovable. I find myself laughing-out-loud with her characters and their witty comments. I love her new characters, her old characters and even her secondary characters. “It Happened One Wedding (FBI/US Attorney #5” is no exception.

First, Sydney Sinclair is fantastic. She is a strong career woman. She is running an investment company, she is smart and funny. Sydney is also very heartbroken. Six months ago she found out her fiancé was cheating on her. She knows that she does not want to repeat the same mistakes and therefore she is very, very guarded. Although she is dating and wants to meet someone and eventually have the marriage and the kid’s package, she has very specific criteria.
Special Agent Vaughn Roberts loves his job and his life as a whole. He is young, handsome and living his life out to the fullest. He has plenty of admirers and he is not afraid to take what is offered to him. When he meets Sydney, he is in for a rude awakening. She has him figured out by the time the first word leaves his mouth. I loved Vaughn in all the previous books. I thought he was so confident and charismatic, I was so happy when I found out that he was going to be the hero in this book.

Sydney and Vaughn are so great together! Ms. James has them meeting in a coffee shop and the scene is just perfection. I loved everything about it and I was instantly hooked on them as a couple. Because Vaughn is everything that Sydney doesn’t want and is trying to avoid she gives him very big and loud “keep away signals” but as fate would have it they are constantly thrown together. Everything about this story was so beautiful and touching. I loved how Sydney came to terms for her feelings for Vaughn and how he became just the man she was always waiting for. Their respective families are also so great. Even the supporting characters were enjoyable. As is often the case with many of James’ books I go back and re-read because there are scenes that just stay with me! Sydney and Vaughn had such fantastic chemistry together! They were perfectly matched and knew just how to provide the perfect element of challenge for one another. There are so many delicious bits to this book, but I’m not going to give them away- they are all worth the time to read and re-read and ponder. My one complaint… when is her next book???!!!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N |