Julie James -- About That Night

JudyZ6666 · Joined: 07 Jul 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Connecticut, USA

Has anyone else read About That Night by Julie James? Not sure why this caught my eye when browsing new releases on Amazon. I had not read this author before, and, at $7.99, abandoned my eternal need to read a series in order and simply took the plunge.

I have to say that this is one of the best books I've read in a while (and I've read quite a few recently <g>). The hero, Kyle, is self-deprecatingly funny (he is the Twitter Terrorist billionaire-heir computer geek ex-con from James' previous book) and the heroine, while not quite at the same level, is likeable and smart-mouthed. As someone on Amazon said in a review, there's no Big Misunderstanding (which you might expect, as the back-cover blurb says he stood her up on their first date--but she finds out within 12 hours that he had good reason), no bad guys and gunfights, just two people trying to get their lives back on track after getting the Big Dumpo by previous significant others. It's sentimental, sad, and downright funny in all the right places. And the secondary characters are hilarious. Smile

Judy

LikesBadBoys · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 126

Julie James is basically an auto-buy author for me now and I really enjoyed this book. I was wondering how she was going to turn Kyle into a hero you take seriously. She did a really good job bridging the gap between the previous book and this one. It looks like she's even planting the seeds for at least one of the main characters in the next book.

JudyZ6666 · Joined: 07 Jul 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Connecticut, USA

LikesBadBoys · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 126

graceC · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 441

This book gets an A from me. I love everything about it: the pacing, the dialogues, the fact that the H/H actually talk to each other and no prolonged made up tension just to string the story along, the way the characters interact with each other just seems so natural, and of course, the story itself.

I wish she could write faster!

Mark · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 1246

I enjoyed ATN, but saw less humor in it than in any previous book by JJ, which is a bit ironic since this is the first book in this series without heavy suspense elements. Somehow, in a book where less suspense should leave more room for humor, there was less humor, too.

Leigh · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 2688

I didn't like it all that well. I can’t say that there was one particular thing that caused my disappointment with the book, it is more little things that added up. The fact that Kyle’s father and then Kyle are wealthy permeates the whole book from Rylann wondering where an affluent Kyle will take her on a date to descriptions of his possessions. I know that there is no age limit for doing stupid things but over thirty seems so old to pull off an alcohol induced revenge stunt, leaving me ambivalent about Kyle.

Rylann has a special nick name from the FBI because in doing her job she walked down fifteen feet of rickety stairs into a meth lab built in the ground– something that would just be considered normal if a man did it thus irritating my feminist’s mindset.
_________________
Gone to Rainbow Bridge - Lily 2000-2011

bethaboo · Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 40

I really enjoyed it, but not as much as Someone Like You and A Lot Like Love.

The Dear Author review summed it up pretty well--it felt like there was a lot of real life as well as a super accurate portrayal of life as a AUSA but very little real conflict between Kyle and Rylann. However, as a couple they were AMAZING. So I would give it a B. And I'm sure I'll read it again.

Julie James is for sure an autobuy for me. Love, love, LOVE her books.

Wendy AAR · Joined: 22 May 2010 Posts: 325

I liked it, but it wasn't what I expected. My daughter read it first, and I kept asking "so, does this happen? does that happen?" because it never had the big events that occurred in the previous books.

I thought it was sure that
.
.
.
.
.
.
. Spoiler
The guard was going to let that prisoner go so he could threaten either the hero as witness or heroine as prosecutor. Or maybe the guard was going to come after them himself.

Since nothing like that happened, this book seemed flat compared to earlier ones by James. But I thought it was a sweet story and enjoyed the book overall. James continues to be an auto-buy for me.

Leigh · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 2688

Blanka · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 11 Location: Sweden

I agree completely with graceC here. The first "A" read for me in a long time.

/ Blanka

oklanannie · Joined: 27 Dec 2009 Posts: 94 Location: Oklahoma

I'm in the ballpark with Grace C and Blanka. I gave it an "A"! Loved Kyle's personality. It was a fun and witty contemporary that kept me smiling from beginning to ending. I liked very much that Julie James gave us something a little different this time around.

Tee · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 4062 Location: Detroit Metro

I'm with the few of you who found the book to be flat and not very humorous. Part of the appeal of James' books to this point has been the humor she uses. It just wasn't that evident here. Actually, the story was not that interesting, either; but I'm hoping the next one will be back on track. Not her best one, but she's had three in a row that I really enjoyed. Definitely not giving up on her at all.

dick · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 2263

.I didn't read the book expecting it to be humorous, so I enjoyed reading it. The dialogue was witty, which is, in may respects, better than outright humor, in my opinion.

Tee · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 4062 Location: Detroit Metro