A Lot Like Love

Julie James is the perfect definition of quality over quantity; I admit that I would love it if she could write one book a month because I really enjoy them, but since that is impossible one book a year would have to do.

In A Lot Like Love we meet Jordan Rhodes, she is the daughter of one of Chicago’s richest men. She is independently wealthy thanks to her business and to a down to earth father who wants his children to earn what they have. Some months ago her twin brother Kyle went to prison, and since then she has been sick with worry about him. So when the FBI offers to release him in exchange of her help to catch a crime lord and one of his associates (who happens to be a client of hers) she accepts. All she has to do is go to a show more party with an FBI agent posing as her date and distract the bad guy while the agent plants some bugs in the place. But all goes wrong when the nice and easygoing agent gets sick and is replaced by hot-alpha male-obnoxious Nick McCall, and they are forced to keep faking that they are dating when it turns out that the bad guy has feelings for Jordan.

I admit that it took some time for me to get into the book; the first part was a bit slow for me, but oh boy does it gets better. I have to say that is no coincidence this book is titled A Lot Like Love, because that is exactly how I felt about it. The main characters are incredible, Jordan is a great protagonist; she is funny, down to earth, hardworking, loving, and sarcastic. I haven’t enjoyed a heroine that much in a long time. I loved a lot of things about Nick, but the best part was that he had a distinct voice, yes he was a typical alpha male but you could really get him, he wasn’t just another stereotypical hero, he felt like a real person (or as real as someone that hot can be). I think this is one of Julie’s better qualities as a writer -and she has lots of them- every character is perfectly defined. Most of the time when reading a book narrated in third person all the character’s points of view sound a bit alike, more like you are reading the author’s voice than the character’s; this is not Julie’s case, in every POV I felt like I really was inside their heads especially with Nick and Jordan, but also with Xander Eckhart the villain, I was even able to connect with him and actually felt sorry for the guy, not to mention that he also was a fun character.

The other great character was Kyle, Julie’s comedic abilities shined through him, he went to prison after shutting down Twitter, come on! How cool is that? Also, he looks like Josh Holloway and everybody on prison calls him Sawyer. The inmates and prison guards were also endearing.

Jack Pallas and Cameron Lynde, the protagonist of Something About You, play smaller roles on this one, but you don’t need to read that book to understand A Lot Like Love, and if you read this one first there are only a couple of spoilers but they won’t ruin the other book for you.

Now, this book has a bit of suspense, but it really is a love story with a touch of comedy. You always know who the bad guy is, there is no gruesome murder and you are not worrying about the heroine’s life all the time, there is none of that here. So if that is what you think you are getting into you will probably be disappointed. If you have read Julie’s books before (and if you haven’t what are you waiting for?!) then you know exactly the type of story you are getting into, and you also know that you are going to have a lot of fun reading it.

The only reason I don’t give this one a 5 is because the beginning dragged a bit for me, and this was not my favorite Julie James book, that honor goes to Practice Makes Perfect, I read that book a year ago and I still grin every time I think about it, in fact, I think I’m going to read it again right now because I’m not ready to let go of the fun yet.

Oh! And I love that the guy in the book cover is getting a little frisky there with the woman, look where his hand is! show less

This was really good! I loved the humor and the banter between Nick and Jordon. I thought the plot was solid and the writing was very well done. The FBI approaches Jordon, businesswoman and daughter of a wealthy computer geek, needing her to escort an agent into an annual wine tasting event. The man throwing the event is laundering money for the mob and they need to plant bugs in his office. In return for her assistance, Nick assures her that Kyle, her twin brother, will be released from prison on parole. The reason for Kyle's imprisonment is a story in itself! "It was Twitter, people! Twitter!"

I wasn't sold on this series after the first book, but this one more than made up for it. It was exciting and fun, with a little suspense woven show more in to the mix. The relationship between Nick and Jordon grew with intensity until I was cheering them on. I can't wait to read Kyle's book next! show less

Agent Nick McCall of the F.B.I. spends most of his days working undercover, which he loves even though the uncertain demands of his job leave little room for personal relationships. His supervisor has just assigned him to another job: he must find evidence linking restaurateur Xander Eckhart to a notorious mob boss. Nick will need to gain entry into Eckhart’s elite world of wealth and privilege, which means he needs the perfect cover story. Heiress Jordan Rhodes, noted wine dealer and connoisseur, provides the cover: Nick will pose as her boyfriend to infiltrate Eckhart’s world. However, what should be a simple undercover op becomes much more complicated when sparks between Nick and Jordan start to fly. But how can a temporary job show more turn into a permanent relationship?

Julie James is one of my auto-buy authors, and I was not disappointed in this latest book; the combination of romance with humor and quick-witted banter makes for a fun read. I really liked Nick’s character, with his up-front machismo and low tolerance for pretentiousness. His Italian mother and brothers were also a joy to read; they really reminded me of some of my family members! Jordan is a little less interesting, being basically indistinguishable from James’ other heroines (beautiful, independent, great at her job, etc.). The story is a tad formulaic, but for me, it’s a formula that works! I look forward to James’ next book, which apparently will feature a supporting character from this book as its hero. show less

Lord, I love Julie James. She writes such wonderful romantic suspense with her own brand of humor, wit, and sarcasm that makes her books so unique. This book was absolutely no exception. Before this book I only had about 5 quotes selected on my kindle, after this book there were many more! I adored Jordan and Nick, and Nick's don't-fuck-with-me face, was just one example of James' sense of humor.

Another fun, well-written and engaging romance from Julie James. I really liked the first in this series, and I liked this one as much. The plot is straightforward: Wine merchant and heiress Jordan is tapped by the FBI to assist them in getting access to a criminal she knows socially in return for helping her brother who is in jail for a little hacking incident. Her assigned agent is hot as fire commitment-phobe Nick, a seasoned undercover guy who recently relocated to Chicago from Brooklyn. Nick's whole Brooklyn Italian thing is pretty cliche, but also I know lots of Italians in Brooklyn whose families run pretty much the same way.

Things go as you expect and the whole thing is satisfying. Solid escapist fun. I see book 3 in my near future.

Wine connoisseur Jordan is incredibly worried about her twin brother who was recently incarcerated for shutting down twitter after his girlfriend broke up with him via tweet. She's been given an opportunity to get him released if she allows sexy FBI agent Nick to go undercover as her boyfriend at an exclusive party hosted by a suspected money launderer. I don't think there's any part of A Lot Like Love's premise that didn't have me totally hooked.

A Lot Like Love was such a fun read. It had everything I desire in a romance novel; an interesting story, witty banter, great chemistry etc. I was especially appreciative of the fantastic characters. Our hero and heroine, Jordan and Nick, were both so easy to love. I loved each of them as an show more individual but together they were on fire. I even found myself falling for one of the minor characters, Kyle the very naughty, dramatic brother. I'm so excited that he will be getting his own book. He and Jordan were hilarious together, loved all of the jail jokes/humor.

Often times I honestly don't care about the storyline when it comes to romances. I have to say that I really enjoyed this one though. The special agent/undercover tension was very well done and added a lot to the the romance. I had expected to be turned off by the undercover scenes since I'm not one for the misunderstandings and confusion that it usually brings out. James didn't do that to us though. She used it as a tool to feed their banter and passion, and I loved every second of it.

I only have one itsy bitsy complaint about the book. I'm not a wine girl. I enjoyed the wine talk thrown in the beginning of the book because it made the characters' lives more real. I also adored when the wine talk turned sensual. However, it became a little tedious for me nearing the end of the book when it was just page after page of wineries and wine making.

That said, I enjoyed the book too much to let that bother me. A Lot Like Love was fun, witty and didn't have much of any angst, thank you Julie James! We got to see both Jordan and Nick's POV which is another aspect that I always enjoy. Both characters had great voices. Basically I can sum up this review by saying that this book was a quick read simply because I couldn't put it down once I got started. I look forward to reading more by this author.

See my blog for quotes and my thoughts as I read: http://bitten-books.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-lot-like-love-by-julie-james.htm... show less

Featured at An Abundance of Books

This book was so much fun that I was chuckling and grinning my way through the entire thing.

Like the first book in the series, there really aren't any surprises and you pretty much know everything that is going to happen. But it's a nice type of predictability, you just settle in and enjoy the ride. James also does a great job of explaining Jordan's wine business and wine tasting. It never got tedious, these were actually some pretty funny parts.

In this installment of her FBI series, James seemed to know what she wanted from her characters right away. Jordan and Nick had great personalities and seemed very natural from the beginning. You knew they would be perfect together, they knew that they'd be show more perfect together, but they had some understandable roadblocks to an HEA of their own. Just like with Something About You, the obstacles never seemed overly contrived but made sense and made the story more enjoyable for me. Nick and Jordan had great chemistry and I loved their banter. We also had a fun circle of friends, just like in book #1, but they had a much smaller role in this book. (If we are introduced to yet another new fun circle of friends in book #3 I might have some issues with repetitive story elements.) There were other enjoyable supporting characters that I hope to see more of in future books. Jordan's brother was especially delightful. He looks like Sawyer from Lost, he's brilliant, and he's in prison for "terrorism". I will not spoil it for you, but when you see what he was supposedly terrorizing you will laugh out loud. At least I did, I thought it was great. I also loved how James integrated Lost jokes into the book, especially the ones about the less then stellar series finale - awesome.

Verdict:
I loved A Lot Like Love and think this is a book with a high repeat read factor, this is one you could buy and enjoy multiple times. The series does seem a bit… repetitive, but I'm willing to overlook it with this one. James was pitch perfect with A Lot Like Love - it's a fun, light contemporary romance that doesn't take itself too seriously and is full of great characters. I definitely think you should read this one if your into the genre.

Read full review HERE show less