The Thing About Love by Julie James

Penguin Publishing Group | April 2017 | 384 pgs

Source: Purchased

What I love about Julie James' books is her characters, their sharp and witty dialogues and how they always make me smile at the end of the story. 

Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd are both FBI agents. Once a lawyer and an Army Ranger respectively, they are both good in their works and their outstanding performance continues to shine when they are trainees at the FBI training squad at Quantico. Jessica and John have their own strength and weaknesses during those tough training sessions and whether if it is a personality clash or a streak of rivalry between them, most of the times they don't see eye to eye and their dislikes for each other finally ended after they go their separate ways after their graduation, thinking that there is little chance they would see each other again considering the different location they are working.  

As fate would have it, they meet again six years later. As if that is not enough, they are to be partners for a high-profile undercover sting. It is a challenging assignment and that involves a charismatic and a well-liked Florida politician who takes bribes to solve entrepreneurs' "problems" through his connections in various aspects. It is both bad news and bad timing for Jessica and John. For Jessica, she has just divorced with her Hollywood producer husband and for John, this would be his last undercover job if he is selected for FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team. He has recently split from his cheating girlfriend and that feeling was made worse especially since the other guy is one of his good friends. With so much at stake and with Jessica's and John's complicated relationship, it is easy to think that their camaraderie would be nil but the plus side of this assignment is they get to stay at a romantic beachfront resort as part of the investigation for their role as a pair of interesting business partners who want to invest an eatery place but are met with several difficulties which obstruct their plans. And this is where they would approach the corrupt politician for his help. 

While it was fun reading this enemies-turn-couple kind of story, it wasn't really the "how?" but more of the "why?" that made this story such an interesting read. I loved reading the dynamic between Jessica and John; from the beginning of their (heated/competitive) exchanges to the camaraderie they shared working with each other until something has changed alongside their assignment. And, there was another obstacle towards the end which I felt would delight all romantics after reading those last moments. 

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