Amanda
Written on Apr 24, 2017
From the New York Times bestselling Julie James--a smart, sexy novel that brings together a former football star turned prosecutor and a beautiful restaurant executive who's been burned one too many times by romance. For fans of Susan Mallery and Rachel Gibson.
HE’S USED TO GETTING WHAT HE WANTS...
A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table at one of her five-star restaurants so the FBI can eavesdrop on him. All Cade has to do is convince Brooke to cooperate—and he’s not afraid to use a little charm, or the power of his office, to do just that.
AND WHAT HE WANTS IS HER
A savvy businesswoman, Brooke knows she needs to play ball with the U.S. Attorney’s office—even if it means working with Cade. No doubt there’s a sizzling attraction beneath all their sarcastic quips, but Brooke is determined to keep things casual. Cade agrees—until a surprising turn of events throws his life into turmoil, and he realizes that he wants more than just a good time from the one woman with whom he could fall terrifyingly, irresistibly in love. . .
- ISBN10 0425251195
- ISBN13 9780425251195
- Publish Date 2 April 2013
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
- Imprint Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
- Format Paperback (US Mass Market)
- Pages 304
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425251195
Reviews
Sam@WLABB
Written on Aug 18, 2016
thebookdisciple
Written on Dec 17, 2014
Rowena
Written on Oct 21, 2013
This story takes place after Kyle and Rylann find their happily ever afters. If you’ve read Julie James previous books in this series then you’ll remember Cade. He was the prosecutor that aggresively went after Kyle Rhodes after Kyle shut down Twitter and he’s the reason why Kyle was in prison so yeah, Kyle’s not a fan of Cade’s.
But I am.
Each and every single year I wait for a new Julie James book to come out and each and every year since she started writing, she finds new ways to suck me into her books. In this book, Cade sucked me in. The confidence that he had while pursuing Brooke, the way he always got the last word in with Brooke, the way that his last words never failed to turn me into a giggling little school girl…I loved it all.
Cade’s building a case against some a shady senator and he needs to gather evidence to convict him. With the help of his FBI buddies and the general counsel of a restaurant business, he gets what he wants. After the cute general counsel helps them out, Cade can’t help but wanta to get to know her better…so he does.
And given the way that sparks fly when they bicker back and forth, it was inevitable that they’d hook up. There’s a whole lot of other stuff that goes down over the course of this book like Cade’s family expanding, Brooke’s career taking off and the two of them trying to find middle ground. All of it made for a really fun and entertaining few hours.
I really enjoyed the romance between Cade and Brooke. I loved the way that Cade went after her, the way that Brooke held her own against Cade (which is normal for a Julie James heroine, which I totally approve of) and the way that the two of them came together. Each interaction was filled with chemistry and sexual tension and the chemistry carries throughout the entire book and I really liked that.
I liked getting to know both Cade and Brooke. Cade’s got daddy issues that shaped him into the man that he is today and even though he doesn’t like his father, he deals with the arrival of Zach the way that I thought was the right way to handle things. I liked seeing him growing closer and closer to Zach as the story progressed and the way that things ended with that whole deal was good.
Brooke was smart, she was strong and she was caring. I really enjoyed seeing the more personal part of her when she was with Cade and also when she was with Ford. I liked the friendship between Ford and Brooke, it was refreshing to see that childhood best friends of the opposite sex can maintain a strictly platonic relationship and still love the hell out of each other. I’m kind of hoping that the next book will be Ford’s book…he definitely deserves a book of his own.
Overall, this book was a fast read. One that kept me anxious for more and the more I read, the more Julie James delivered. I also really like that the city of Chicago is kind of a character all its own in each of Julie James books. I’ve never really thought much about the windy city, never felt compelled to visit there or anything but I really want to now. This book has it all, characters that you’ll come to love, a story that moves those characters down the road to happy ending and a couple that will have you rooting for from the very beginning.
I definitely recommend this book. I loved the hell out of it.
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Jun 16, 2013
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Let's start by saying this: Julie James is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She is a master at sophisticated yet funny conversations, of strong characters and great romances. She makes the ideal reality, and she makes you believe it's possible to have it all.
While Love Irresistibly is no exception to the rule, it is also my least favorite James novel to date.
The characters were as strong as ever - Cade is a cocky guy. Like, really. He has every confidence in his ability to get whatever he wants, and the idea someone will say 'no' to him never crosses his mind. And despite this, he wasn't obnoxious. In fact... I loved him!
I will say that a big part of my loving him was due to the fact we lived inside his head for half the novel. If all we saw of him was what he says outwardly, I might have been singing a different tune.
Brooke is trademark Julie James - she is strong, she is smart, and she inspires awe wherever she goes. Companies will literally fight to have her, as she is such a dedicated, serious and hard to beat businesswoman.
And while I adored the hate-to-love relationship between these two, the romance was definitely lacking to me.When these two confessed their feelings, all I could think about was how they weren't in love yet. I felt like yes, they were heading there, but they still had a way to go.
Then there was the... emphasis on the physical. I loved their dates, but there weren't many of those. instead, there was a lot of sex due to the 'no strings attached' deal they tried. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I felt like it wasn't balanced. I felt like they didn't get to know each other.
The second issue I had with this book was the lack of solid frame plot. Up to this point, every book in the series had some form of overall plot-line moving along with the love story. That kept things interesting and added some action and tension. Note the "up to this point" part. In Love Irresistibly there was no such thing, and you feel it.
Not to close this review on a bad tone, I'll mention a favorite character - Zach, Cade's brother, is such an adorably awesome and awesomely adorable kid. His story arc was the best of all the book, to me. Not to mention seeing old characters! It was so much fun to catch up and learn who's engaged, who's married and who's having pretty little children. Kyaaa!
While Love Irresistibly is no exception to the rule, it is also my least favorite James novel to date.
The characters were as strong as ever - Cade is a cocky guy. Like, really. He has every confidence in his ability to get whatever he wants, and the idea someone will say 'no' to him never crosses his mind. And despite this, he wasn't obnoxious. In fact... I loved him!
I will say that a big part of my loving him was due to the fact we lived inside his head for half the novel. If all we saw of him was what he says outwardly, I might have been singing a different tune.
Brooke is trademark Julie James - she is strong, she is smart, and she inspires awe wherever she goes. Companies will literally fight to have her, as she is such a dedicated, serious and hard to beat businesswoman.
And while I adored the hate-to-love relationship between these two, the romance was definitely lacking to me.When these two confessed their feelings, all I could think about was how they weren't in love yet. I felt like yes, they were heading there, but they still had a way to go.
Then there was the... emphasis on the physical. I loved their dates, but there weren't many of those. instead, there was a lot of sex due to the 'no strings attached' deal they tried. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I felt like it wasn't balanced. I felt like they didn't get to know each other.
The second issue I had with this book was the lack of solid frame plot. Up to this point, every book in the series had some form of overall plot-line moving along with the love story. That kept things interesting and added some action and tension. Note the "up to this point" part. In Love Irresistibly there was no such thing, and you feel it.
Not to close this review on a bad tone, I'll mention a favorite character - Zach, Cade's brother, is such an adorably awesome and awesomely adorable kid. His story arc was the best of all the book, to me. Not to mention seeing old characters! It was so much fun to catch up and learn who's engaged, who's married and who's having pretty little children. Kyaaa!
Cocktails and Books
Written on Apr 22, 2013
Every once in a while I read a book that makes me wonder why I let other books jump ahead of it on my TBR pile. Love Irresistibly reminded me of two things: I love Julie James books and I will always makes sure she is always be at the top of my TBR when a new book is out.
Cade Morgan, ex-college football hero and superstar assistant US Attorney, finally gets his happily ever after in this latest installment in the FBI / US Attorney series. He often times appears hard-assed and by the book, but we get to see a very different side to Cade. He's driven, but not by what we might have thought before. He's driven to stave off the anger he still feels at the abandonment of his father. But that anger not only drives him in his career, it also forces him to keep people at arms length and not allowing himself to form any type of emotional entanglements. But that all changes when the half brother he didn't know existed finds him and on the same day he meets the sassy Brooke Parker.
Brooke is the general counsel for a fast rising food and entertainment company who Cade approaches to help him in an on-going corruption investigation. Cade may have threatened Brooke in their first meeting, but the sparks were flying. Brooke was Cade's equal: she was career driven and often times kept herself emotionally closed off. But what drove Brooke was a much different reason. She may have grown up in a very upper-class suburb of Chicago, but she knew what her parents sacrificed to give her that life. She's determined to prove (to herself) that their sacrifices were worth it. So she lives for Sterling Entertainment. But when Cade blows into her life, demanding her assistance and then working his way under her skin she had to take a good hard look at what she was doing and decide if it was all worth it.
Cade and Brooke were a couple that had me from the very beginning. To me, I loved their sarcasm and the way they were able to turn what others thought was a turn off into fun banter between the two of them. But it was also how they intrinsically knew when to not let the other person revert old behaviors that had pushed others away. They were honest with each other, at the very beginning, about why they were both single and I think that open, honest communication became the door for them to both move into a territory neither of them thought to go (or wanted to). Most of all, I loved how Cade and Brooke became one of those people she envied as she looked out on Michigan Avenue.
Love Irresistibly is one of my favorite books for 2013. Julie James has always hooked me with her witty characters and the edge of your seat legal/suspense storylines, but with this book it was the focus on relationships (and there were quite a few), along with those witty characters that I so enjoy, that engaged me. I was sad to see the story end, but I'm left with a nagging desire to find out who the next character will be to get a book. I really hope it's Ford...because there is definitely a story there!
If you haven't picked up a Jullie James book before, this is one a highly recommend (although her books are absolutely fabulous). She manages to make legalize and police procedure sexy as hell with characters you can't help but fall in love with.