Customer Reviews

Something About You (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Contemporary romance fans will rejoice in SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, the third delightful contemporary by Julie James. In Chicago, Illinois, hard-working Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde has decided to treat herself to a weekend at the luxurious Peninsula hotel while her newly refinished hardwood floors dry at her Victorian home. However, instead of getting the R & R she planned for, she finds herself the sole witness to a high-profile murder in the hotel room next door. After the authorities find a videotape with a U.S. Senator involved with a dead call girl, FBI Special Agent Jack Pallas is put in charge of the case. Of all the agents who could be assigned the investigation, Jack is the last one Cameron wants to see. Three years ago, when she was a new Assistant U.S. Attorney, she had to shut down an organized crime case in which Jack had worked undercover for several years. Likewise, Jack isn't thrilled to see Cameron since he believes she's directly responsible for a demotion he received from the Department of Justice. Will the feisty Cameron and the brooding Jack be able to set aside their past differences to solve this high profile case? And what about their former chemistry that seems to be as strong as ever? In a market where too few really good contemporary romances are being published, Julie James is breathing life back into this subgenre with her witty and wonderful love stories full of great chemistry and sparkling verbal repartee. There's something about Julie James's unique writing that will make readers definitely notice SOMETHING ABOUT YOU!

I absolutely adore Julie James, though she writes in a genre I normally avoid like the plague. I never read contemporary romances. I tend to avoid titles that look like they might veer off into chick-lit territory (Julie James' don't). I don't mind a good solid mystery, but a romance about a detective and the poor little lady who gets caught in a mafia crime? Not my thing.

Well, not my thing unless Julie James is writing it, because anything she sets her pen to turns out fantastic. James' books are smart, witty, funny, sweet, intense, exciting, well-paced, surprisingly believable, exciting, heartwarming...they just are. She can write about a movie star or a law firm or a murder investigation, and she picks up each new plot and uses it to give her readers exactly what they want.

If you've read any of her prior books, you know that she's an absolute master of romances where the hero and heroine start the book hating one another. Now, that's pretty common. What separates James from the pack is that her heros and heroines are mature, rational people whose behavior makes sense. In Something About You, she tackles the Big Misunderstanding. Usually, Big Misunderstanding plots are the worst. You're reading along thinking, one adult conversation would save these people hundreds of pages of heartbreak! And then the whole book seems like a waste. Or else, in order to prolong the misunderstanding, either the hero or the heroine throws a fit, makes a scene, starts behaving like a child. Well, sit back and see how it ought to be done.

Cameron and Jack have a professional history. Cameron - a lawyer - was getting ready to prosecute a mafia boss that Jack - a detective - spent a couple years undercover investigating. When his cover was blown by another agent, he was tortured for days before he managed to escape. They get along really well, until Cameron is ordered to drop the case. She's new on the job and she can't protest, but she does get to deliver the news to Jack. And she does it right: she takes one for the team and accepts full responsibility for the decision not to prosecute. Naturally, Jack hates her after that - she just tossed two years of his life down the drain - and he makes a really nasty comment about her in front of a bunch of reporters. The comment makes it into the news, and that puts a hold on Jack's career - more years down the drain, thanks to Cameron.

So when Jack and Cameron meet again in Something About You, there's a lot of bad blood in between them. But it's a case, and Jack needs to be professional - not time to open a can of worms, right? Professional success has made Cameron a lot less vulnerable, but she's still working in the same office, and she has the same jerk of a boss who sold her out before. There are things she'd love to tell Jack, but she just can't. As a reader, I understood both sides of the story, and admired them for making decisions that kept them apart, even though I wanted them to be together.

The mystery here is quite good, pretty intricate. The reader finds out what happened relatively quickly, so the suspense comes from watching Jack and Cameron try to figure out what we already know. But really, the plot is just a vehicle to get Jack and Cameron in the same room together. Whenever they meet, sparks fly. The dialogue is great, the chemistry immediate, the respect hard-won.

Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Admittedly, most of my disappointment in this book is probably due to the fact that it wasn't what I expected from the author. And while I enjoyed the book, I just didn't love it.

Julie James' first two books, Sexiest Man Alive and Practice Makes Perfect, were contemporary chick lit at its finest. Light, breezy, engaging...outrageous characters that you related too and of course, romance. What made these books stand above others, to me, was that the sexual tension was built more on the sparring and verbal foreplay...without relying on explicit details. Even when rolling your eyes (hey its chick-lit), you found yourself falling for the characters and laughing out loud.

With this novel, it seems as if Julie James is trying to bring her work to another level...adding a suspense story line and more detailed writing. While its not bad, its doesn't rank up there with the best. The suspense never really builds and the relationship just seems to move along with the rest of the plot. This book is missing the thrills on all counts - romantic and action.

Some may think that adding depth makes this book a step up for the author. But if I wanted romantic suspense, there are other authors who do it better.

The secondary characters are well written and what saved the book for me. But the few great lines (like the one where she talks about kissing her gay best friend) made me only wish the author stuck with the writing she does best. Sometimes less is more.

I just finished this book today and was sad to see it come to an end. Here you have a Asst. US Attorney Cameron Lynde trying to make a name for herself in a primarily male dominated world. To only find herself pulled into a scandalous murder involving a US Senator, when all she wanted was a good night sleep. Then to top it off to come face to face Special FBI Agent Jack Pallas, the only man who could rock her world but also despised her for ruining his career, or so he thought. I loved Cameron's spunky attitude. It was nice to see a high ranking professonal women with her wit and love of life still intact. She rarely spared anyone from her infectious sense of humor.I found myself cracking up at the dialog between her and everyone she pretty much came in to contact with. The sexual tension between Jack and Cameron was burning up the pages at times and just plain fun to experience. I thought that even with all the hilarious dialog between them the story itself was touching and full of suspense. Jack was the ulimate sexy male that had no problem speaking his mind, but still had the ability to appreciate her. The murder plot had a great spin to it and kept me at the edge of my seat. I gotta say I will be able to think of stallions and cowgirls quite the same way again.

Something About You is my second Julie James book and I think I've found a new favorite author! Once again Julie's heroine, Cameron is very confident and good at what she does, she's not sitting around waiting for a man to fill her life. Through a series of (murderous) events she finds herself thrown together with Jack Pallas the glowering Special Agent who she was mutually attracted to before she pissed him off and he embarrassed her three years ago.

I love seeing what hoops characters in romance novels have to jump through to end up in a situation where the guy and the girl are stuck together, usually against their will... at first. I just love it!

The mystery in this book was great, it's not so much who, because you find out early on, but how, how it is going to end, all the while Cameron and Jack's relationship is growing. I also love how the secondary characters are important in Something About You, it's not strictly about Cameron and Jack. They both have friends and things they do outside of being together which makes the story very well rounded.

I mentioned in my review of Just the Sexiest Man Alive that it borders on Chick Lit and I think Something About You veers more so into the Romance genre, especially with the naughty bits! Can't wait to read more from Julie James!

Enemies or lovers? Cameron Lynde and Jack Pallas have a history that isn't very pleasant. Three years ago the attraction between the two was just starting to slowly simmer when Cameron betrayed Jack - or so he thinks. Now Cameron is mixed up in a murder investigation and Jack is the investigator in charge. That slow simmer? It is beginning to smolder.

Cameron Lynde, an Assistant U.S. Attorney has gotten a hotel room because her hardwood floors are being refinished. Her relaxed night is not to be as she is woken up around three in the morning by the people in the room next door to hers having sex. Quite loudly. Finally, however, the noise stops and Cameron is able to return to dreamland - until they start up again. Enough is enough, and Cameron calls the front desk asking for security to help. Spying through the peephole, Cameron sees a hooded man leave the room and quickly go down the stairs. Not thinking anything else about it, she tries to return to bed only to once again hear noises in the hall - this time it is hotel security and they are calling for 911!

Jack Pallas has been given the task of investigating the murder of a prostitute. The deceased woman isn't any prostitute - she is the regular call girl of a famous and rich U.S. Senator. The only witness in the case is the woman staying in the room next door - and it is with great trepidation but somewhat amusing karma that the woman in question is Cameron Lynde. Jack hasn't forgotten what she did to his career three years ago, and he knows she hasn't either. What Jack doesn't realize is that looks can be deceiving, and the person he trusts least in the world is actually someone who he just might have to work with in order to solve this case - if they both can stand to be around the other without giving in to temptation.

Jack Pallas and Cameron Lynde - what can I say about these two lead characters that will tell readers just how much I adored the both of them? Jack was smoking hot - and not just for Cameron. He has bad manners some of the time and doesn't think before he speaks most of the time. I found him to be a combination of bad boy versus lothario versus sweet lover. With his job on the line, Jack doesn't want to trust Cameron, but his feelings for her soon overpower his reluctance. The sexual tension between these two is enough to ignite a fire - you can see their feelings on their faces. Add in a surprising and fun cast of characters, not least of all the policemen assigned to `protect' Cameron, and SOMETHING ABOUT YOU is a suspenseful, humorous, and truly sexy read.

Put another check mark in the winner box! SOMETHING ABOUT YOU showcases Julie James' remarkable writing ability by establishing her as one of the newest and most talented comedic contemporary authors today!

Natalie S.

Julie James pens another deliciously sexy story in Something About You.

Assistant US Attorney Cameron Lynde just wants to get some much needed sleep. Her home is having the floors refinished so she is spending the night in a hotel. Her neighbors have been having some wall banging lovemaking. It's making it impossible to sleep. Next thing she knows there was a murder next store and she is in protective custody. Special Agent Jack Pallas has been assigned to the case. This is the some agent that blames Cameron for ruining his FBI career.

Jack Pallas can't believe his luck of all the people to be assigned to protect it has to be Cameron Lynde. A major case three years ago all but stopped his rise in the ranks at the FBI. Now he is back on track and he won't let Cameron ruin it again. Jack and Cameron need to put their past behind them and focus on who now wants to harm Cameron.

Cameron and Jack both discover misconceptions about each other that lead to a sizzling attraction. Once they give into their passions nothing will stop them from being together.

Something About You is wickedly funny and smoking hot. The Dialogue is fast paced and witty. This book is a great book that will stay in your thoughts long after you have turned the last page. I am looking forward to more from this author.

If you want sexy, chemistry, danger, suspense and interesting characters all rolled into one, then Julie James Something About You is the perfect romance for you. I had the privilege of winning this book from Jane at Dear Author and I'm so glad I entered the contest because I never would have found the author on my own.

Years earlier Cameron Lynde was told by her superior in the US Attorney's office that she couldn't try a case against a Chicago man and his organization who were suspected of all sorts of illegal activities. It cost an FBI undercover agent Jack Pallas not only the memories of being tortured by these men and the two years he was undercover, it cost him his position at his Chicago post with the FBI. Cameron took the fall for the decision not to prosecute and also went out on a limb to save Jack's position with the FBI and he was transferred to their Nebraska office. He was totally unaware that Cameron came to his assistance and persuaded his boss not to fire him.

Now years later, she meets that same FBI agent in a Chicago hotel because a Senator's call girl has been murdered and Cameron saw the murderer leave the woman's room from the door peephole in her own room which was right next door. As fate would have it, Jack and his partner are assigned to the case and are assigned to protect her when there's a leak about her being an eye witness. Then she's attacked and Jack is forced to move in with Cameron and believe me, things really heat up.

Julie James writing style, sense of humor, and passion made this romance-suspense one I will long remember. Her characters from Cameron's college friends, her best friend's bachelorette party and wedding, to the undercover Chicago cops and Jack's FBI partner watching over her made Something Like You a most entertaining love story. It's simply a fun, sexy read, with a lot of spice, danger, tenderness, and was a sincere pleasure to read.

Julie James will be added to my auto-buy list. Her style of writing, her sense of humor and her romantic side just perfect ingredients for a contemporary romance!

Book Description:

FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago--and nearly ruining his career...

. . .INTO EACH OTHER'S ARMS

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it's no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes--and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension...

Praise for Something About You

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Reviewed for [...] (9 out of 10 on the blog)


Julie James writes smart, witty contemporary romance with heroines who are lawyers, and her real life experience of the profession makes the stories more believable. The heroine of this one, Cameron, hates the hero, Jack. The feeling's mutual. However neither does the typical `romance novel' thing of allowing their personal feelings to intrude on the case or to jeopardise their safety. I love it so much when characters are smart!

While marketed as contemporary romance, this book has many elements of romantic suspense. Cameron is in serious danger because of the murder she's an `ear witness' to, and Jack is there to keep her safe. It was nice how they admitted feelings for each other even before the truth came out about what happened three years ago. They're willing to be with each other despite the ugly history between them.

I have to repeat: how wonderful to have the characters act sensibly! Jack doesn't jump straight into bed with Cameron because he knows his first priority is to keep her safe. Cameron does her best to help out with the investigation, and she tries to make the lives of the men guarding her easy. No `Too Stupid to Live' taking off on her own to show how `feisty' she is or anything annoying like that!

There are some really funny moments, and James always gives her main characters entertaining friends who are well-rounded characters. Cameron's best friend was wonderful, and though there was such a risk of having the `gay best friend' a walking, talking stereotype, he absolutely wasn't. Hero and heroine have full lives and commitments beyond each other. Also, Cameron's workload was appropriate for her position, and she - gasp! - actually did her job. It wasn't just a label to flesh out her character.

My gripe with the book is that James' writing style generally takes me a couple of chapters to get used to. Once I'm in, I'm in, but I've always struggled to be immediately engaged at the beginning of her books. It's a small gripe though, as there's so much to like in Something About You.

VERDICT:
Julie James writes excellent contemporary romance. It's a genre where all too often women are ditzy in order to be funny and the men are ogres just for the sake of their character transformation. This is an author who makes the people real, the situations real, and the way the relationship develops a lot of fun. I'd definitely recommend her books.

Have just finished this book - actually found Julie's first book last week and had to download the other two straight away as soon as I finished it - had a great weekend reading all her books - no housework done .... would give all of them 5 stars and can't wait for her next book.