I enjoyed this novel. The characters felt fleshed out and real and the novel was fun. I enjoyed the back and forth.

I have always been a fan of Julie James but this might be my favorite of her books. The chemistry between the two main characters was spot on, and the end of the book had me racing to finish, though I could easily read more about this pair. The flashbacks to when they first met were fun and the undercover scenes were always entertaining. I will definitely be reading this again.

Second chances are always fun. Throw in two stubborn people. Amazing.

I think that FBI/US Attorney fans are going to be very happy with this book. Not only do we get to revisit the Chicago office, we get a whole new couple to root for.
Six years ago, Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd were in the same training class and battled each other every step of the way. They parted thinking "good riddance." And never gave the other a thought as Jess moved to L.A. and assumed John was recruited into an elite team in D.C. But, after his mother's illness, John ended up home in Chicago. Too bad he just found out that his girlfriend of two years is cheating on him with one of his best friends. And found out in the worst way possible.
Jessi just went through a divorce and has moved back to Chicago to be closer to her family and to her best friend. She's a great undercover agent and isn't surprised to be picked for an elite op taking down a corrupt Floridian mayor. However, she is surprised to find out that her partner in the op is none other than her old buddy John.
We get to see both John and Jessica's versions of what happened six years ago which is pretty nice, to see where misunderstandings took place. And I liked that the two actually talked about their differences. There was a lot of angst and some Medium Misunderstandings at the end that were a little overdrawn but it was an overall nice story and regular James readers will be pleased. The tie-ins to previous books are incredibly light and this would work as a good stand alone for new readers as well.

Four stars
This book comes out April 18

John and Jessica first met at Quantico during their training at the FBI academy. Despite their mutual attraction, they were constantly competing and trying to outwit each other. Neither is sad to see the other go.

Six years later they are assigned as partners on an undercover sting. The old hostilities immediately resurface. Gradually as they work together each shares their perception from their time at Quantico. It becomes the ultimate he said, she said of their time together. But in hearing each other side of the story they gain a greater understanding of each other’s motivations. Soon these two strong, intelligent individuals are working together in a smooth professional partnership that turns into a hot, steamy, no strings relationship. It takes another separation to make them realize what they mean to each other.

This is another strong addition to Julie James’ FBI/US Attorney series. It has all the banter and wit that make these books fun. If you like the other books in the series, this one won’t disappoint.

*ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Along the lines of some of Contemporary Romance authors Lauren Layne and Emma Chase, Julie James writes about kick ass women and the men along side them. With truly smart dialog and witty, wry banter between John and Jessica, the reader is taken on an enjoyable journey through the mine field of these two FBI agents. Running in the background is the intrigue of corruption and an undercover operation...add in elite advancement and you've got a story with multiple layers of

The way John and Jessica's backstory was laid out, first from her POV, and then his, was insightful and telling just how differently they each saw, and interpreted the same experience. I felt this was an excellent method for giving the reader a glimpse of how their interpretations shaped their behavior towards each other...even six years after the fact. I applaud the author's use of this creative method as a tool in laying out the foundation for the couples relationship, both professional and personal.

The author demonstrated her writing creativity through smart and truly laugh out loud dialog, not to mention internal monologues. Jessica was the wizard of sassy and hilarious quips...Jessica to John:

“What about you? Girlfriend? Wife? Kids? Perhaps a gaggle of towheaded, extra-large boys who already excel at sports and know how to make fire with the ass end of a lightning bug?”

This is the first book by this author I've read, I'm sure to read more of her stories in the future.

This book was provided by the Publisher and Netgalley, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

A fun quick read about two FBI agents who don't seem to click on the onset..but have a ton of chemistry. No surprises here, but well done for the genre.

Loved this! Fun, sexy, and sweet--everything you'd expect from a Julie James book. The chemistry between the characters sizzled! James adeptly developed the story by adding in details of their shared history. Presenting both perspectives added an authenticity that enhanced the connection between the characters. Such a great read!

Sometimes, you need a book that makes you laugh - a joyful one that keeps you turning the pages. The one you finish in one sitting. The Thing About Love by Julie James is a wonderfully crafted masterpiece of a romance and has me wanting more!

Jessica Harlow transfers back to her hometown of Chicago after her marriage goes sour. She has her first assignment in public corruption - a mayor taking bribes. All she needs is to meet her partner.

John Shepard comes home from a-months long, deep undercover assignment to find his girlfriend doing the dirty with his best friend. In his own darn bed. It has him signing up for admittance in the Hostage Rescue Team. In the meantime, he’s assigned to a white-collar investigation. What he doesn’t expect is for his partner to be none other than his FBI Academy training rival, Jessica.

They were at each other’s throats from the beginning, and both of these characters are strong and upfront and in your face. I appreciate this so much. Jessica is in top form with negotiation and keeping her cool, while John is the physical guru. Opposites, but they were hellbent on showing each other up. Let’s just say things didn’t go so well for either one.

“Hey, look at me, watch me fly through his obstacle course with one hand and two feet tied behind my back. This is child’s play to what we did in the Rangers, bitches!”

This he said/she said story structure just works. For me, backstory usually holds the plot from moving forward, but in this case and with this story, it is needed, giving us a glimpse of each character. My notes were filled with laughing emoji’s and “just hilarious!” comments.

The FBI aspects were well-researched too. James herself has a law degree, so I have come to expect smart and savvy characters and scenes. The juggling of personal and professional lives propels the story forward. But, of course, traveling alone leads to alone time and the first intimate scene is super spicy and unexpected.

“And then there was the thing with the pen.

He couldn’t even with the pen.”

I am so happy John – despite being the alpha male and trying out for the Hostage Rescue Team – has so many layers. He’s caring to his brother and so loyal. Same with Jessica. There are some great secondary characters I also hope get a book themselves.

The Thing About Love is pure fun! I giggled and sighed and laughed. I plan to reread this over and over again.

Ms. James does not disappoint. This books has it all; a strong & smart heroine, witty banter, and a sweet love story.

All right, Julie James is one of my favorite discoveries of 2016. I read all but her first novel in the second half of 2016, and they are appealing for their witty banter and their matter-of-factly competent female leads, most of whom are lawyers or FBI agents. The Thing About Love is about two FBI agents who meet years after a contentious training at the FBI Academy, and it's an entertaining and dramatic story about an undercover job in the public corruption unit and their road to romance.

The main characters' friends and colleagues are mostly background, but given how much the main characters work, their friendships would have to come second.

Julie James knows emotional beats, and that along with the dialogue makes this a really entertaining read.

The Thing About Love b

Pretty cute although not as much romantic tension as her other books.

Oh man, I don’t even know how to say this because I never thought I would ever be saying this about a Julie James book but this one really disappointed me. I’ve been a big fan of Julie James from the very start of her career and have read every one of the books she has released, but I’ve noticed that she is veering further and further away from what I liked about her books. While she still has the very strong, very career-oriented heroines, I just don’t think the more recent books have the same fun banter and sexy romance that her first books have.

First of all, I thought the hero of this book, John, to be pretty bland. James did a lot of research for this book, and it’s very evident in the pages. I know she had an FBI agent take a close look at this book so that all the details are correct. The problem is, we don’t need all those details to make a great book. The beginning of this book is very slow. Instead of presenting readers with a hero who has been cheated on, there’s pages and pages of work-related FBI terminology that I personally think could’ve been cut out. Yes, you’re an agent. I get it already. But because there’s so much focus on that, I never got the chance to connect to John at all. There are scenes that are meant to be emotional and make you sympathize with his character, but instead of feeling sorry for him, I felt nothing at all.

The same thing goes for the heroine, Jessica. I like that James has very strong heroines, but behind that there is nothing there to make me actually care about Jessica. I felt like we never really got to the core of her character and instead it’s all about the job.

The romance fell flat and I never smiled once throughout reading this book, which is what used to happen when I read a Julie James book. The only thing that saved me from not finishing this book is the writing. James still writes well, but there’s just too much extra stuff that’s being pumped into the books that the romance and characterization almost seems like a second thought next to getting all the terminology right. I wish she went back and focused on the banter and building that romance from the ground up. Everything else should come after. After reading this, I have no idea if I’ll continue reading this author. I just think she’s fallen so far away from what I used to love, that I wonder if she’ll ever be able to go back.

Julie James is one of my favorite writers; I love the Lawyer/FBI romance and the perfect and extremely funny dialogs and the women are always strong characters and the stories are never boring. I didn’t love this book; I thought the plot was a little cheesy for my taste. The perfect and extremely beutiful people that fall in love is just very predictable and after reading a lot of books, I want a book with a little bit of romance , scary and unpredictable plots and different endings. Ok I wanted a totally different book. Sorry, John was supposed to be like “Thor” but he was very immature. Jessica‘s character was a little off and unrealistic. I can’t understand how a small woman could take John that easy. I was waiting for this book for a long time and I appreciate the ARC , but this is supposed to be an honest review. 3/5 stars

Not my favourite of Julie James' books but still a fun read. I really enjoyed the undercover aspect of the plot which put the main characters in some unusual situations.

Julie James is one of my top go-to contemporary romance authors, but she completely went above and beyond in this book! She writes believable, likable characters so well, and John and Jessica are some of her best. I really enjoyed how kick-butt they both are at their jobs, but also how she showed a realistic picture of how hard they had to work and how much time they gave to those jobs--often, characters are supposedly amazing at their jobs but never seem to spend any time working. The love-hate relationship between John and Jessica was also really believable and entertaining; I enjoyed the way they transitioned into the relationship in a way that felt like real adults rather than emotionally-unstable teenagers (which can tend to happen in love-hate romances). The banter was as witty, funny, and sharp-witted as ever. The romantic tension was pitch perfect, and she definitely delivered on the romance. She also managed to create some twists that felt unique and fresh. I enjoyed all of the side characters who also all felt like real people (Todd and Leavitt, Jessica's family, John's dad and brother, Wes, the other agents at the office, etc.). Julie James is just all around stellar at creating authenticity--little details like while they both are in really great shape, she also shows that they have to work-out to look like that (another thing that can get missed in romances!). Romance readers should not miss this novel with excellent characters, top notch romance, a fully-fleshed out plot beyond the romance, and stand-out dialogue. Recommended!

**Also reviewed on Litsy.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned my love of rereading books at least a dozen times in reviews. It’s how I weed out good and great books from DIK, I-must-own-it-NOW books. Desert Isle Keeper status is reserved for novels which I’m eager to reread immediately. By the time I finished The Thing About Love I was itching to experience it all over again—and then I reread Ms. James’ entire backlist. So yes, it’s a DIK.

Both Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd begin the book at a low point in their lives. They’re two FBI agents who met at training camp, developed a little friendly rivalry (emphasis on the rivalry), and then happily went their separate ways—Jessica to L.A. and John to Chicago. Six years later Jessica is recently divorced and looking for a fresh start at the Chicago office, just as John is looking to leave it. John recently had the pleasure of coming back early from an undercover assignment to find his girlfriend cheating on him, and has since applied to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) in search of his own fresh start. When Jessica arrives in Chicago, John is just a couple of weeks away from hearing if he’s made the team and moving to Quantico. This unique set of circumstances - one agent on the way out, the other on the way in - make Jessica and John the perfect team for a quick undercover assignment. Lucky them.

Their first few encounters in Chicago are brimming with the tension that comes of quietly resenting someone for six years. They haven’t thought of each other much per se, but the six months of training seem to have stuck with them in vivid detail. Although they were initially attracted to each other, John’s brash demeanor (a product of his Army days) and Jessica’s defensiveness (a product of being a petite, easily underestimated woman at FBI training) got in the way. Those weeks turned into a 24/7 competition, and even so many years later it’s not easy to get past the remembered slights.

Fortunately, between forced proximity, commiseration over failed relationships, and a couple of apologies, John and Jessica move on. They’ve been sent to Jacksonville, FL to act as a couple of crooked businessmen in hopes of catching the mayor taking bribes. Working together - instead of against each other - reignites the chemistry they’ve always had, and they very quietly begin to see each other outside of work. However, with the results of John’s HRT application looming on the horizon, they both fight the idea of this being anything more than a casual affair.

There are so many things I loved about the setup of this book, which surprised me, because I’m not usually one for books about divorcées or people who’ve been soured on love. Ms. James writes this wonderfully, though - the mix of Jessica and John’s history together and their prior relationships shed some light on who they are when they reconnect. John is feeling betrayed, not only by his girlfriend, but also by the close friend, with whom she was having an affair. When he finds out some other friends knew about the affair and didn’t tell him, he cuts them off. Jessica, meanwhile, ended things six months ago with her movie maker husband who was becoming increasingly frustrated with the undercover and on-call aspects of her job. Both are eager to move forward, but doubt themselves after all that’s happened. Realizing the similarity of their situations makes it easy for John and Jessica to talk about those doubts with each other, and they grow closer as a result.

That growing attachment gets put to the test as John prepares to hear back from HRT. I won’t give everything away, but I will confess one of my favorite pieces of this book was the last third, where Jessica and John have to struggle with what to do about their budding relationship, which feels like it could be the start of something great. As John’s brother reminds him,

"If Jessica had been looking for something more serious, you would’ve had to leave for Quantico knowing that you might’ve actually had a chance with her.”

This sums up their essential struggle. Unlike in some over-the-top romance novels, Jessica and John are aware that a few weeks is a very short time to fall so deeply in love that you’d move across the country for someone. Yet the feeling is there...

I hope I’ve explained everything I loved about The Thing About Love, but it’s a difficult task. As with any DIK, there’s a certain sort of je ne sais quoi about this book that hooks you from the start. The snappy dialogue, tangible chemistry, and character depth Jessica and John exhibit certainly play a part in that. I’d recommend it to anyone, anytime - but be prepared to forget about real life for a while as you read it!