Julie James Talks Heroes and About That Night Giveaway

What a TREAT I have for you today!!  The Amazingly Talented Julie James has popped over to answer a few of my most serious questions about her books!!  Make sure you keep reading past the interview for a Review of her NEW RELEASE, About That Night and ONE LUCKY commenter will win a COPY of About That Night from A Tasty Read!! 

A Tasty Read: Thank you SO much for taking the time out of your BUSY Release day to stop over for a few minutes and chat.

Julie James: Thanks for having me here!

A Tasty Read: Let’s start with the important stuff: Jack Pallas.  Let's just say he is one of my TOP FIVE Romance Heroes...YUMMY!!  For you, does one of your men stand out among the rest?

Julie: Wow, I’m flattered that Jack made your top five! For me, this is such a tough question, because there are different qualities that I like about each of the heroes I’ve written. Jason from Just the Sexiest Man Alive cracks me up, plain and simple.  He’s so ridiculously, charmingly confident and so confused when the heroine doesn’t immediately fall head over heels for him.  I had a smile on my face writing virtually every scene he’s in. 

J.D. from Practice Makes Perfect has some of the best one-liners I’ve written. And what I love about him is that—even though the heroine is his supposed nemesis and they argue all the time—he’s secretly been in love with her from the moment they first met.  Very romantic.

And then there’s Jack from Something About You, who a lot of readers really seem to like.  Jack was also a lot of fun to write, because he’s this tough-guy FBI agent who knows how to kill people with, like, thumb tacks or whatever, yet everyone else in the book is cracking jokes and quips.  So he starts out all dark and brooding and scowling, but slowly—mostly because of the heroine—he warms up and becomes this great, dry-witted, protective, heroic guy.

Nick from A Lot Like Love was another great character to write, because he’s a rough-around-the-edges FBI agent from Brooklyn who just loves to push the heroine’s buttons (she’s a wealthy wine store owner and heiress).  He has all these rules about what men from Brooklyn don’t do (e.g., they don’t wear sweater vests or drink anything pink), but he finds himself completely head over heels for a woman he’d never imagined was his type.

Finally, there’s Kyle from my upcoming release, About That Night.  Ah . . .what can I say about Kyle?  He’s a bad-boy (literally—he’s an ex-con!), and also a billionaire heir.  He’s confident, charming, and very persistent when he wants something (like the heroine).  But what we learn as the story progresses is that there’s a lot more to Kyle than meets the eye—that underneath the billionaire bad-boy exterior is a guy with a heart of gold. 

A Tasty Read:  Julie, I have to agree with you.  Maybe because I'm from N.Y. but Nick, with his "RULES", hysterical. 


What’s more fun to write, a book like Practice Makes Perfect, where the info is first hand, or a book like Something About You, where you have to do lots of research?

Julie: Well, I can definitely tell you which one is easier—writing a book like Practice Makes Perfect, where both the hero and heroine are lawyers at a large firm (since I, myself, practiced law at a large firm in Chicago.)  Makes it easy to get into those characters’ heads!  But as for which is more fun to write . . . I’ve really enjoyed writing the FBI/U.S. Attorney books.  I find that world fascinating.  The cases are often really high-stakes, and the prosecutors (the assistant U.S. attorneys) are so skilled at what they do.  After law school, I spent a year clerking on the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the assistant U.S. attorneys were always the most polished and confident in the courtroom.

A Tasty Read:  I love how you bring all your experience into the novels.  That is why they feels so realistic to the readers.

About That Night is your third FBI/U.S. Attorney book.  Can you tell us a little about that?

Julie: About That Night is a contemporary romance that hits bookstores on April 3rd.  It's about an ex-con, Kyle Rhodes, (who also happens to be a billionaire heir) who was convicted for hacking into Twitter and has just been released from prison.  After being dubbed the "Twitter Terrorist,'" he wants to put the past—and his mistakes—behind him.  He's therefore quite irked when the U.S. Attorney's office, the very prosecutors who threw him in prison, want his help in a high-profile homicide investigation involving a corrupt prison guard.  But the Assistant U.S. Attorney assigned to the case just so happens to be a woman from Kyle's past, and may be the one person Kyle can't say no to…  

More information about the book, and an excerpt, can be found at http://juliejames.com/books/about-that-night/

A Tasty Read: Thank you again for stopping by and PLEASE keep on writing these AMAZING Heroes for is to fall in love with!

Julie: My pleasure!  Glad I could drop by!

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:  Which of Julie's Heroes is your FAVORITE??  If you haven't read one of her books, and I will be shocked if you tell me this, just share with me which hero you think sounds the sexiest.

**Giveaway will run until tomorrow morning (eastern time), and PLEASE LEAVE A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOU COMMENT to be entered.
(US Residents Only)

 CONGRATULATIONS Amy2Read....You are the winner of the About That Night Giveaway!!  I will be in contact with you this morning for your information.  Thank you to ALL of you who entered and I hope you will continue to come back for future Giveaways.

(Winner picked at Random.org)

About That Night

FBI/US ATTORNEY #3

Julie James

Released April 3rd, 2012

304 Pages

Berkley Sensation

Source: Publisher

About That Night is like a Great Mix between the Something About You and Practice Makes Perfect.





I honestly want to ramble ON AND ON about my favorite parts, like "Didn't you love when.....?" and "When he said..... I just melted."  BUT I CANT!!! 

What I can say is that I absolutely ADORED this book.  If you loved the sarcastic Kyle "Sawyer" Rhodes from A Lot Like Love, you will Fall in love ALL OVER AGAIN with him in About That Night.

Kyle Rhodes, newly released from prison, yes he was the Twitter Terrorist, and he is trying to start his life over with no complications this time around.  But unfortunately for him, the woman he met nine years ago comes walking into his life, or courtroom, and it's complications all over the place. 

Rylann never got that first date with Kyle all those years ago, but she also never forgot him, or that kiss they shared.  Now they are forced to see each other again, and battling the fire that burns hot between these two is going to be hard to handle, especially when Kyle isn't helping on his end of the line, with his Freakishly, Shampoo Commercial Hair and kisses that melt Rylann on the spot.  But for a US Attorney, especially the new kid on the block, to be seen with an ex-con, well that can't be good. 

You will have to read the book to see if Rylann sticks with her 20-year plan or if she "Flys by the seat of her pants for a change".

Kyle and Rylann Pierce have this magic that happens between them whenever they are around each other.  They have the best sarcastic and flirty banter that happens between them, it's pure magic. 

 I really never though about the fact that Julie James' novels are very much Romantic Comedies.  You can just see every scene being played out in your head while reading, line by line, she is that descriptive and knowledgeable, and man...does she know how to write a LOVE SCENE or what??

My recommendations is OF COURSE TO READ THIS BOOK....You will love it, and you will LOVE THE END....I teared up a bit it was that good!!  Can't wait for the next book, and I think I have an idea who the hero will be, and I hope we get a bit more of a certain best friend  and a certain charming FBI agent....hum...maybe!!!