Love Irresistibly by Julie James (FBI/US Attorney #4)
April 2, 2013
Contemporary Romance
Berkley

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote:  “Thank God I’m not wearing the red high heels today,” she said.

“In two minutes you’ll be wearing nothing,” he said in a low voice.

Well, then.

Julie James puts out one book a year and the wait is torturous but I’d wait even longer if it means she will continue to put consistent high quality romance books. She writes smart, mature characters, with humor and a little mystery. While her love scenes may not be the most graphic, her characters still come across as very sexy, which satisfies me just fine.

Love Irresistibly features two people who are both in high-powered careers. Brooke Parker is the general counsel for Sterling Restaurants. This business not only envelopes fancy restaurants but they have vendor services in major athletic stadiums as well.  Brooke is working hard to finalize a deal with the Staples Center, which would bring the number one most profitable sports arena to Sterling. Suffice to say, she works hard, and doesn’t have a lot of time to play, hence regularly having her romances fizzle out.

In the other corner we have Cade Morgan, a successful assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago (he prosecuted Kyle, aka The Twitter Terrorist in the last book! Also Julie James says she pictures him looking like Matt Bomer. I can be on board with that!) Before his lawyer days, Cade was an all-star football player until a devastating shoulder injury ended his college football career. He is still well known for some of his famous plays and gets asked about it a lot.

Cade’s current case is trying to nail a dirty State Senator. Cade knows he will be dining at a Sterling restaurant, so he asks Brooke for her assistance in bugging a table, so they can listen in on the Senator’s conversation, hopefully catching him saying something guilty. Brooke is a little leery at first, but finally agrees to go along with the plan. These two hit it off, and despite the fact they both work crazy hours, they find time to start seeing each other.

Julie James makes this book so darn sexy without really giving us a ton of graphic sex. Which I love. It’s the little things in this book – the way Cade reacts to something Brooke wears or says. The little things they do for each other. It’s hard to put in words, but the way she writes these two – I guess it’s the details she puts into every situation they are in, which makes the two of work so well together. She takes great care in their witty banter. Even with Cade’s more broken past (he doesn’t have a relationship with his father and he has a new relationship with a brother) her characters handle themselves with maturity and grace. Sometimes a little desperation and vulnerability too.

She also weaves in their strong professional lives as well as great supporting characters to really make it a well rounded story.

You really can’t go wrong with a Julie James book. Read this one or any of her previous (actually read this one and ALL of her previous). Recently someone asked on Twitter which romance author I recommend to those who don’t read romance. I immediately said Julie James. But the fun part? If someone were to ask me what romance author I recommend to those who do read romance, I would say the same thing.

Rating: B+

Recent Reviews:
The Book Pushers – B+
Happily Ever After-Reads – A
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