About That Night by Julie James (FBI #3)
Contemporary Romance
April 3, 2012
Berkley

Reviewed by Mandi

I’m a huge Julie James fan and her previous book, A Lot Like Love was a favorite of mine last year. In that book we meet Kyle, the son of a billionaire, a brilliant computer scientist, and also a prison inmate. Yes the hero of this book is an ex-con. A very sexy, adorable one at that.

Although Kyle is extremely wealthy, he works hard as the vice president of network security for his father’s company. He also plays hard too, and when his supermodel girlfriend dumps him via twitter, and then posts a video of her making out with a random dude in a hot tub, Kyle get a little upset. He decides to throw a virus at Twitter, which shuts it down for 48 hours. Although he is a computer genius, the government also has computer geniuses at their disposal, and soon the FBI tracks him down on his way home from Tijuana

Sitting eight rows back, Kyle watched as two men wearing standard issue government suits – clearly FBI agents – boarded the plane and handed over a document to the pilot.

“Yep, that would be me,” Kyle said, grabbing his backpack from underneath the seat in front of him.

The elderly Hispanic man sitting next to him lowered his voice to a whisper. “Drugs?”

“Twitter,” Kyle whispered back.

The US Attorney’s office go after him hard, and label him the “Twitter Terrorist” and he gets sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison. If you’ve read the previous book, A Lot Like Love, you know that his sister helps the FBI with a different case and in return, he only has to serve four months. Kyle openly admits to making a mistake and takes full responsibility for his actions. Being wealthy and sexy, his story makes national news and people either think his stunt is hilarious or they throw rude gestures at him every where he goes.

Nine years before all of this happens, he briefly meets Rylann Pierce at a bar. Totally smitten with her they both share a kiss and plan to go out on a date but that date never happens. Kyle goes on with his life and work and Rylann finishes law school and moves to San Francisco to start her career. But in present day when her boyfriend decides to move to Rome, something Rylann is totally not interested in, she decides to pack it up and move back home to Chicago. It’s hard for her, she likes to have a plan in her life and moving back to Chicago is a big step. She lands a job as an Assistant US Attorney and guess what her first court appointment has to deal with? Yes, the Twitter Terrorist. Kyle has to go to court for the judge to approve his early release, and Rylann fills in for the original lawyer. They both remember each other and that steamy kiss they shared nine years prior.

Expecting to never see Kyle again after this, when the FBI comes to her with a murder at the prison Kyle was in, she knows she will be seeing more of him. Kyle may have overheard an important conversation relating to this murder, and now she must convince him to testify, although he is definitely not on good terms with her department.

Julie James writes such smart books. She seamlessly combines courtroom drama and legal issues  into a very sexy romance, with witty dialogue and hot bedroom scenes. The first half of this book is background into Kyle and Rylann’s lives and the two of them working together on this FBI case. Because he is a witness in her investigation, ethically she really can’t pursue a relationship with him. Although Kyle has sworn off serious dating since his last break-up, Rylann in her business suits and serious demeanor just turns him on. And Rylann knows dating an ex-con might not be the best career move she ever made, but she just can’t get him out of her mind. She likes to plan out her life, and she isn’t sure how Kyle fits into that plan.The build-up to their relationship is done quite well.

Once we get into the bedroom, I think this is the sexiest book of Julie James’s yet. We get several love scenes, and the wait for them made them that much better. I love that these are are mature – they don’t fight about petty things. They tease each other and flirt so cute. Kyle is just down right charming and I adore that he never comes across as a rich, spoiled son. He takes responsibility for his actions and works hard to make his life better.

The supporting characters including Rae, Rylann’s best friend and Jordan, Kyle’s sister are fun additions to this book too. I also like how supportive Kyle’s family is to him. Although his father isn’t pleased when his son lands in prison, there isn’t big family drama surrounding him. Rylann is close with her parents as well, which is refreshing.

About That Night is a smart, fun and sexy book. Although it can be a stand alone, I highly recommend the previous book in the series, A Lot Like Love.

Rating: B+

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