It Happened One Wedding by Julie James (FBI/US Attorney #5)
Releases: May 6, 2014
Contemporary Romance
Berkley

Reviewed by Mandi

The year long wait between Julie James books is a hard one, but it’s always worth it too. Just knowing you are going to get that smart banter and sexy romance makes me smile.

Sidney is recovering from a broken engagement with a brand new job. Moving from New York to Chicago, she has accepted the position to manage a four billion dollar fund. Sidney is excited for this new job and to be back in her hometown. She is also excited when her sister announces she is getting married and that Sidney is the maid of honor.

In a coffee shop one day, Sidney gets hit on by an admittedly sexy guy. But Sidney thinks she has him all figured out – the slick, serial-dater who is afraid of commitment. Sidney does not have time for that in her life, and brushes him off.

“I just don’t think you’re my type,” she said, for simplicity’s sake.

“Interesting. You were able to determine ‘my type’ in the all of five minutes we’ve been talking?”

Now he was pushing her buttons a bit. “Yes.”

“That’s impressive. See, it’s my job to size people up. So I’m intrigued to hear if you’re as good as you obviously think you are.”

Sidney threw him a look. “Honey, you know exactly what your type is. And so does every sing woman in her thirties.”

But this guy is not gone for long – because he is our hero, and they are to meet again soon.

Special Agent Vaughn Roberts works for the white collar crime division of the FBI and does a lot of undercover work. He couldn’t help himself in the coffee shop being so attracted to the woman eating lunch, and yet when she basically disses him and tells him to get lost, he finds himself a bit grumpy. But surprise, surprise – when he meets his brother out for dinner to meet his new fiance, it’s a shock when Sidney shows up too! Brother of the groom and sister of the bride are going to be spending a lot of time together planning and coordinating this wedding.

There is something about a Julie James FBI agent that just gets me every time. I about swoon off my chair every time they open their mouths. I guess it’s a combination of how smart and clever they are and the fact that they are always wearing a gun. It’s a lethal combination for me. Vaughn has quite a mouth on him. He is so quick and funny with his banter which shines because Sidney and him start off on the wrong foot. They both get a bad impression of the other and then are forced to be together so much because of the wedding – it’s really cute to watch them go from disliking the other to wanting in the the other’s pants. The actual wedding couple, Isabelle and Simon are good supporting characters too and play off Vaughn and Sidney well.

When we get around to them actually liking each other, I find that Vaughn is one of James’s more verbally sexy heroes:

Vaughn couldn’t help it. Alone with her like this he could practically feel the nip of her teeth on his lip the erotic sensation of her fingers digging into his back. It was that damn minidress. He envisioned himself kneeling in front of her, pushing that dress the rest of the way up her thighs and making her scream with his mouth.

Her chest moved up and down, her breath a little quicker. “You shouldn’t look at me that way.”

His voice was a low growl. “Believe me, baby, I’m trying not to.”

Sidney is fun too. She is also super smart and dresses great and has a fun sense of humor. She is very close with her sister and I liked their relationship. She is mature, and thoughtful and doesn’t let Vaughn sweet talk her into things.

I really enjoyed the wedding aspect of this book. The planning, the parties, the atmosphere it contributes made this fun and a little different than the office settings we’ve seen in the past. Vaughn has an undercover case we peek into and we also get a look at Sidney’s financial job and new team.

Just kick back and enjoy this one – don’t read it too fast! Next spring is far away.

Rating: B+

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