The Thing About Love (FBI/US Attorney, #7)

by Julie James

The New York Times bestselling author of Suddenly One Summer blows the covers of two FBI agents who can’t hide who they are from each other...
 
FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have a past. The former lawyer and cocky Army Ranger clashed during their training at Quantico and gladly went their separate ways after graduating from the Academy. Six years later, the last thing either of them expects is to be assigned to work as partners in a high-profile undercover sting.
 
For both of them, being paired with an old rival couldn’t come at a worse time. Recently divorced from a Hollywood producer and looking for a fresh start, Jessica is eager to prove herself at her new field office. And John is just one case away from his dream assignment to the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. In order to nail a corrupt Florida politician, they’ll have to find a way to work together—a task that becomes even trickier when they’re forced to hole up at a romantic beachfront resort as part of the investigation. Suddenly, the heat behind their nonstop sparring threatens to make the job a lot more complicated...

READERS GUIDE INSIDE

• ISBN10: 0425273776
• ISBN13: 9780425273777
• Publish Date: 18 April 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425273777

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

The Thing about Love is the enemies to lovers story of Jessica and John. I love the way James writes her characters-they are smart, determined, driven, and witty. I will say though, I am not a fan of Jessica. She comes off as immature and bitchy, especially during the flashbacks to how her and John met.

John has been in the FBI for 6 years and before that he was an Army Ranger. He and Jessica met at the academy and it was hate at first sight! Now they have been teamed up for an undercover op and have to get over their past. John recently discovered his girlfriend was having an affair with his best friend and Jessica recently went through a divorce. Both are looking to make life changes: John tries out for the HRT division of the FBI and Jessica moves back to Chicago after years in LA.

The Thing about Love has the classic witty banter James is known for. Jessica and John are entertaining for sure! Jessica is so hell bent on proving herself that I found it difficult to really like her. I wanted her to stop assuming the worst about everyone (especially John!). But, then I have no idea what its like to be in a male dominated profession and perhaps she did have to be defensive all the time. So, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. John is a great character though! I loved him and really wanted him to get his HEA! Both of them have struggled with love; neither of their significant others accepted the pressures of being with an undercover agent in the long term. Jessica and John have a unique job that has ruined their previous relationships; sadly, they are so caught up in hating each other and competing, they can't see how similar they are!

The subplot of their undercover assignment adds some drama to the story, but the main focus is on the relationship between these 2 and the sexual tension that has always been present. Their undercover job adds some interesting events that help keep the story moving, but overall, I thought the book felt a bit long.

If you like enemies to lovers tropes, whip smart characters with razor tongues, and steamy sexual tension, The Thing about Love is a great pick! If you have enjoyed James' other FBI/US Attorney books, The Thing about Love is a great addition to the series that you won't want to miss!

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: no


• Trope: enemies to lovers


• Triggers: none


• Series/Standalone: stand alone


• Cliffhanger: (show spoiler)[no] (hide spoiler)


• HEA: (show spoiler)[yes] (hide spoiler)

Sweet Rivalry by K. Bromberg, Pull Me Close by Sidney Halston, Final Exit by Lena Diaz...then you will probably like The Thing About Love!

The Thing About Love

 

See full review on The Book Disciple

[kimbacaffeinate]

Coffee dates with The Thing About Love

• First Date: We first meet smexy, undercover agent John Harlow on his flight back to Chicago. He has just finished an undercover stint in Detroit and is looking to mend things with his girlfriend of two years. Only he comes home to find she's been getting along just fine without him. Agent Jessica Harlow is just returning to the windy city after transferring from the LA office. After her divorce, it seemed like the perfect time to head home. John and Jessica have a competitive, somewhat snarky history together. They trained together at Quantico so imagine their surprise when they are paired up to work an undercover stint in Florida. I am all in. I like both characters, from the competitiveness to the underlying sexual tension.



• Second Date: James gave us chapter flashbacks from each character's time at Quantico giving us a sense of their shared history and thoughts. It was nice getting an insider look at their initial interactions, and it helped add depth, humor, and understanding as these two engaged. I loved the competitiveness, the tension, admiration, and banter.  It gave the romance a light, fun, feel. Because John is waiting to hear if he is accepted by the elite Hostage Resue Team, their building partnership, friendship, and tantalizing chemistry didn't have the pressures of what comes next. Of course, their romance was predictable, but James kept me reading into the wee hours. Secondary characters from Jessica's siblings and bestie to John's brother and friends added humor as they gently nudge each to question their actions and feelings.



• Third Date: I enjoyed John and Jessica's romance, their time partnered undercover and interactions with their friends and family. Both find themselves feeling more and having doubts as John prepares to depart for Virginia. I kept waiting for one to declare their feelings. James provided some twists, and unexpected happens involving the case. I loved that the tale was drama free even if I wanted them both just to stop, analyze and admit this was more than a fling. You think two FBI agents would realize they were smitten? It was lovely seeing them fall and James gave me lots of swoony and awe moments. I loved the ending and even had a good laugh with the epilogue the author provided.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Sam@WLABB]

I am a fan of the FBI/US Attorney series, and was therefore, quite excited to read this book. Although this is not part of the FBI/USA series, it takes place in that world, and we had a few cameos from some of its inhabitants, which is always a thrill for me.

After losing his girlfriend, his apartment, and three of his friends in the span of three days, he probably would never be less attached to Chicago than he was right then.

Jessica returns to her hometown following her divorce, and on her first assignment, is reunited with her nemesis from Quantico, John. Both of them have their own version of their time at the Academy, but as their working relationship flourishes, so does their personal relationship.

suddenly her inner pragmatic voice - the one that had previously been telling her not to notice these things was holding up its hands in surrender.

These two were fantastic! Both were wounded from the betrayal of their former significant others, and were looking for a way to heal. Jessica's plan was to leave LA and start over in Chicago. John's plan was to leave Chicago and start over with the Hostage Rescue Team. They never anticipated they would be each others salve. This enemies to lovers story had me laughing and crying (happy tears, I swear). They had great banter, great chemistry, and John, John was everything. He was so much mushier than Jessica and I just could not get enough of him.

"..every operator has to be one hundred percent committed." He looked at her without hesitation. "I'm not there. Not when I think about everything you and I could have together."

I loved so many of the supporting characters too. Both Jessica and John have a world filled with fun and wonderful friends and family. I hope there will be more of these books, and perhaps, instead of the officemates, it may focus on their social circle, because there are stories there. I do suspect Jessica's best friend may get a storyline with one of John's co-workers, but I could be wrong.

Another thing I loved about this book, was how it brought me back to one of my favorite home towns: Jacksonville! I lived there for 6.5 years and loved every minute of it. I appreciated how James brought me to Jax Beach, PVB, San Marco, Riverside. What a lovely trip I had.

Overall: Fun enemies to lovers romance filled with great characters, great banter, and even suspense.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy**

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[Rowena]

Julie James has been a favorite of mine since she was a newbie romance novelist with the release of her very first book, Just the Sexiest Man Alive. Every year she has written a book that I absolutely loved and all these years later, she’s still writing books that I enjoy. As a reader, that makes me a happy camper because who doesn’t love enjoying book after book from their favorite authors?

Anyway, The Thing about Love is another fabulous addition to James’ backlist and it follows a couple of new to us FBI special agents who work for, wait for it….Nick McCall who is not a new to us character. 🙂 So while this book doesn’t follow our normal FBI Squad, we do see a bunch of them around and my inner FBI/US Attorney’s fangirl squeed with joy.

So the story starts out with John Shepherd walking in on some bad news at home so he throws himself into work. The best way to get over betrayal is is to drown yourself in work, right? Well, that’s what John does and he also decides that maybe a change would be good for him. He accepts the offer to join a huge task force in Virginia but he’s got one last undercover job that he has to do before he leaves and that job’s got him partnered up with a woman he went to FBI school with at Quantico. The girl that he had a huge crush on but didn’t return so instead of spending some happy time with each other, they spent the entire time trying to one up each other and that relationship follows them to their new undercover gig all these years later.

Jessica Harlow isn’t a fan of being partnered up with John Shepherd on this job but she’s a professional and she can handle him. She remembers John as being the douche canoe from class that was heaps better than everyone at everything and lorded his superior skills around, especially toward her. Especially when she was shooting guns and lagging behind everyone else in all of the physical aspects of the FBI. All these years later, she’s great at every part of being an FBI special agent and he can choke on all of his “encouragement”.

The chemistry between these two from the very beginning was sizzling. I ate every scene up and even when I wanted to pull Jess’ hair (because let’s face it, she’d beat my ass so that’s the extent of what I thought about doing to Jessica Harlow), I loved reading this book. It was fun and the romance was hot so I was entertained which makes the book a winner for me. It took me no time at all to dig into this book and I was invested in both John and Jess from the very beginning. There were times when a lot of the FBI jargon went over my head but mostly, it was just entertaining. I liked it a lot.

I definitely recommend this book if you enjoyed the other books by Julie James. It’s fun, it’s fresh and there’s lots of eye candy (old and new) so what’s not to love?

Grade: 4.25 out of 5