Joint Review: About That Night by Julie James

Publisher: Berkley
Where did you get the book: e-ARC from publisher
Release date: April 3rd

HE’S PLAYING GAMES
Though Rylann Pierce tried to fight the sparks she felt for billionaire heir Kyle Rhodes the night they met, their sizzling chemistry was undeniable. But after being stood up on their first date, Rylann never expected to see him again. So when she finds herself face to face with Kyle in a courthouse nine years later, she’s stunned. More troubling to the beautiful Assistant U.S. Attorney is that she’s still wildly attracted to him.

BUT SHE’S MAKING THE RULES
Just released from prison, Kyle Rhodes isn’t thrilled to be the star witness in a high-profile criminal case — but when Rylann comes knocking at his door, he finds she may be the one lawyer he can’t say no to. Still as gorgeous and sharp-tongued as ever, she lays down the law: she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. But Kyle won’t give up on something he wants — and what he wants is the one woman he’s never forgotten…
*blurb taken from Goodreads*

Lou: I’m a BIG fan of Julie James’ books, and she’s fast become an autobuy author. For great romances with great attention to character development and internal and external plots, I would very much recommend any and all of Julie James’ books. So when Minn and I got the chance to review About That Night, we probably both did a happy dance.

About That Night is Kyle’s book, the twin brother of the heroine from the last release, A Lot Like Love. Kyle is a naughty hero, and not in the kinky sense. He really was bad, and ended up in prison for hacking (a hot computer nerd hero, for the way!) into twitter whilst drunk over an ex-girlfriend. After Jordan (his sister) made a deal in the last book to bring down a criminal, Kyle’s time in prison would be reduced and he would walk free. In About That Night, he’s walked free but he’s now known forever as the Twitter terrorist, and this puts a spanner in the works when he meets up again with a girl from his past, Rylann, who is now a Assistant U.S. Attorney. I really enjoyed About That Night, and even though I felt that it lacked a little tension with the external plot, the romance between Rylann and Kyle was super sweet. There was extra depth and dimension to their interactions on that one fateful night when they were young.

MinnChica: I’ve loved Julie James since I bought my first book by her, and she continues to be an auto-buy author for me! After hearing the setup for the “Twitter Terrorist” I was so excited to see where this book would go, and although Kyle isn’t the typical romance hero, he was great fun to read! I loved that the book started out giving us a glimpse into Rylann and Kyle’s past, and then having us jump forward to see what they’ve made of themselves since.

Lou: Kyle is definitely not the typical romance hero. He accepts what he did was wrong, and accepts his time in prison as just deserved which was very refreshing. He was so fun to read about, and I think there definitely needs to be more heroes who don’t take themselves so seriously in romance. I loved that we got to see Rylann and Kyle when they were young, and I could understand why that connection was still there years later when they met up again. I could definitely understand why Rylann wanted to keep everything quiet between them, because it would not look good amongst her peers that she was hooking up with the twitter terrorist. Rylann, though, wasn’t as dynamic per say as Kyle, but she definitely kept him on his toes.

MinnChica: I did enjoy the conflict of their relationship, especially with Rylann having to deal with people finding out she was dating the “twitter terrorist.” I thought that James handled it all perfectly though. While they had to keep their relationship on the down-low, they also got the chance to really build up a good foundation for their relationship without any huge external influences. They didn’t have their family or friends weighing in on their relationship, instead they got the chance to get to really know one another, establish a friendship and go from there. It was sweet and very well done!

Lou: Yes, and knowing that the romance was just focused on them without too much angst and fighting between themselves was great. The tension between Kyle and Rylann kept up throughout the book, and even though the love scenes were not very explicit, there was still tons of depth. What I wasn’t so keen on was the plot of Kyle being part of the witness for a murder. I felt that it lacked something and it was more of a side piece rather than being important to the story because it didn’t really add anything. I did like the subtle secondary storyline with Rylann’s best friend, and I would like to see her in a story of her own.

MinnChica: I was not a big fan of Kyle being kept on as part of the ongoing trial. I agree that it lacked that something special, and instead it felt like a way to continue to provide a roadblock in their relationship. I also enjoyed Rylann’s friend, and hope that we can continue to see more of her in the future books, especially if she gets paired up with a sexy FBI agent. All in all I was a little bummed that this book didn’t grip me and pull me into the story as much as the previous ones in the series. I hoped that Kyle and Rylann would up the sexual tension, keep me flipping the pages until I couldn’t put the book down, but for me it just didn’t end up that way.
I give About That Night a B-

Lou: I wasn’t sure what the importance of the trial meant to the story because it didn’t impact either Kyle or Rylann in anyway. I wonder if it was added because there had been suspense featured in the other previous two books. I adored Kyle, but I wished that Rylann had more personality to her because she did seem to pale a little in comparison to Kyle who was quite the character. I enjoyed About That Night, and I would definitely rec it but the other two previous books I enjoyed a lot more. I give it a B.

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