First of all, let’s take a moment to appreciate that cover. Gorgeous, isn’t it? It makes me want to stop everything I’m doing and go to the beach, I love it. Do you know another thing I love? This book. I’m not gonna say it is her best book – I liked It Happened One Wedding better, for example – but it is still so good, smooth and romantic, you can’t help but like it.
Victoria and Ford are such a cute couple. She is a successful divorce lawyer and he is an investigative journalist and also they are neighbors. Their first encounter doesn’t go very well but soon their conception of each other starts to change.
Ford’s sister, Nicole, is in trouble. She had a one night stand that leaded to an unplanned pregnancy, and now she needs to discover the identity of her daughter’s father to get some help with the baby expenses. Being a good brother, Ford makes his mission to find the guy and he gets a special helper, his charming new neighbor, of course. As you can imagine, as they help each other in Nicole’s case, they become friends and then more than friends. It takes awhile for them to get there, as the first part of the book is not focused on Ford and Victoria as a couple, but as individuals.
The reason Victoria moved to Ford’s building is because her townhouse was broke into and she doesn’t feel safe there anymore. The incident also made her develop panic attacks and although she’s seeing a therapist, it is not easy for her talk about her feelings and bring back old fears from the past. She is comfortable in this skin of a powerful and intrepid woman and she doesn’t want to change that. Ford has his own issues too. He’s just lost his father and he is struggling to deal with his grief and guilt for failing to mend his relationship with his dad before he died.
Because of their problems, they are wary of long-term relationships and spend the first part of the book fighting this crazy attraction they feel for each other. Their interaction is a joy to read. Their banter is fantastic and all those stares and quick touches make it all better!
In the second part, we still have lots of baby’s father investigation, but the romance takes form and it is swoony! Don’t worry, even though the romance is not up-front in this book, it is always there, you feel it, and the story is so well written and flows so effortlessly, you will be caught in no time.
In the end, I loved how they could get past all their fears in the name of their love for each other, especially Victoria.
“And now I’m stuck. I can’t get back to my old life and, even crazier, I don’t want my old life anymore.” She held his gaze. “Because that life doesn’t have you in it.”
It is beautiful, isn’t it?! Julie also gives us an epilogue that is just too cute to handle. I recommended it!
Grade: B+
Suddenly One Summer by Julie James
Contemporary Romance
Release date: June 2nd, 2015
Gisele Reads 