Delicious Tease Contest Day #19: Julie James

I am thrilled to have Julie James here today. My favorite new author of 2009, I discovered Julie's first novel, Just the Sexiest Man Alive, when I was searching my local B and N for a new contemporary writer-- and from the first chapter I fell totally and completely in love with her writing. I devoured her second book, Practice Makes Perfect, and have waited very impatiently for this past Tuesday, March 2, when her third book, Something About You came out.

I rushed to the bookstore Tuesday evening, came home with a pile of books from friends and favorite authors (many of whom are appearing here in the next couple of weeks), put them aside and read Something About You until four o'clock in the morning. It, like Julie and the two books that came before it, was fabulous. The fact that she is such a wonderful person as well as a wonderful writer is just icing on the cake! So if you haven't read her yet, now is definitely your chance. Leave a comment below for a chance to win Something About You.

Blurb:

FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago—and nearly ruining his career…

. . .INTO EACH OTHER’S ARMS

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes—and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension…

Excerpt:

“And then I heard the door open, so I ran and looked out the peephole,” Cameron said.
“Just being nosy?”
The sarcasm seemed to reinvigorate her. “And thank goodness for that,” she said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have whatever information I know that I don’t yet realize I know.” She smiled ever so sweetly. “Besides, if I hadn’t been so nosy, Agent Pallas, you and I never would’ve had this lovely chance to reconnect.”
Wilkins coughed while taking a sip of his coffee. It sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
Jack found her sarcasm laughable. Back when he was in Special Forces, before he’d joined the FBI, he’d interrogated foreign operatives, suspected terrorists, and members of various guerilla militias. He could certainly handle one cheeky assistant U.S. attorney. “I’m glad to see the coffee’s put a little fire back in you,” he said dryly. “Now why don’t you tell me what you saw when you were doing your civic duty and spying though the peephole?”
Wilkins held up his hand. “Um, I’m thinking maybe I should pick back up with this.”
Cameron and Jack answered simultaneously. “We’re fine.”
“I saw a man leave the room, which I’m sure you know,” she told Jack.
“Describe him.”
“I already described him to Slonsky.”
“Do it again.”
Jack saw her eyes flash. She didn’t like being told what to do. Too bad.
“Five foot eleven, maybe six feet tall,” she said. “Medium build. He wore jeans, a black blazer, and a gray hooded T-shirt pulled over his head. He had his back to me the entire time, so I never saw his face.”
“Didn’t you think the hooded T-shirt was a little odd?” Jack asked.
“I heard butt cheeks being slapped and walls that were banged so hard my teeth nearly rattled. Frankly, I’ve found this whole evening to be a little odd, Agent Pallas.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Wilkins glance up at the ceiling while fighting off another smile.
“Are you certain about the man’s height?” Jack continued.
Cameron paused, thinking. “Yes.”
“How about his weight?”
She sighed. “I’m really bad at guessing that kind of thing.”
“Make an effort. Pretend this is something important.”
Another glare.
Cameron glanced over at Wilkins. “How much do you weigh?”
“Wait—how come Jack doesn’t have to answer that?”
“The man I saw seems closer to your build.”
“Oh, so he’s a smaller guy, then?” Jack suggested helpfully.
Wilkins turned around. “A smaller guy? I’m an inch above the national average. Besides, I’m spry.”
“Let’s try to narrow this down,” Jack regrouped. “I weigh one-eighty-five, Agent Wilkins is about one-sixty. Given that, where would you say this guy falls?”
She looked between the two men, considering this. “About one-seventy.”
Jack and Wilkins exchanged looks.
“What?” Cameron asked. “What does that tell you?”
* * *

For more information about Julie James’s books, visit www.juliejames.com.

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