On April 2, 2013, Contemporary Romance author Julie James will release the fourth book in her FBI/US Attorney series, LOVE IRRESISTIBLY. I LOVE this book and I’m sure readers will too! I’m excited to have Julie return for another interview so please give her a warm welcome!

Welcome back to UTC, Julie. We’re always happy to have you visit. Since you’re last visit, you’ve written a new book, LOVE IRRESISTIBLY. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Thanks for having me again-I’m thrilled to be here!

LOVE IRRESISTIBLY is about Cade Morgan, a successful Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, and Brooke Parker, who is general counsel for a rapidly growing restaurant company. They meet when Cade needs Brooke’s help in obtaining evidence against a corrupt state senator–the FBI wants to plant a bug at a table in one of Brooke’s restaurants. There’s a strong attraction between Cade and Brooke as they work together—but they fight it because they’ve both had bad luck with relationships and thus are guarded about getting involved in something serious. Cade and Brooke are two people who very deliberately present themselves around others as confident, nothing-fazes-me types—so a lot of the story is about them allowing themselves to be more vulnerable and open as their feelings for each other grow.


You’ve confessed that the sexy Matt Bomer is the man you’ve envisioned as Cade Morgan, the hero of LOVE IRRESISTIBLY (Great pick!). Did the story come first in your head, or did the Bomer’s dazzling smile inspire the character?

The story came first—Cade’s backstory was pretty clear in my head when I started writing. I knew he was a former college football star who’d gone on to become a successful Assistant U.S. Attorney, and that he had issues about being abandoned by his father that made him more guarded in relationships. And then I was surfing the Internet one day and stumbled across a photo—I’m not sure if I even knew who Matt Bomer was at the time—and this photo was exactly how I’d pictured Cade.  (Except that Cade is 6’4”). Want to see?

MattBomer

I’ve noticed that you’ve been turning up the heat in your books! Do you ever find yourself looking over your shoulder as you write one out because you know it’s “too sexy”? Have you ever had had to cut down or remove certain parts of a love scene? If so, can I read the original? ;P

LOL, I have not yet had to cut a scene because it’s too steamy. But for the last two books, one of my first questions to my editor and my two beta readers is: “Do you think the sex scenes too hot?” Every time I’ve asked that, I get a resounding “No” in response, so I figure I’m okay. J

You’ve got an incredible talent for creating chemistry between characters. What would you say is the key to achieving that in every book?

I think a lot of it comes down to having characters who respect each other, even if, as tends to be the case in my books (at least at the beginning of the story), they “think” they don’t like each other. We see the hero and heroine verbally sparring with each other, and trying to one up each other with quips and sarcasm.  To me, that shows so much: that they view each other as equals, and that, secretly, they’re trying to impress each other. Because if you really don’t like a person, you don’t try to dazzle them with your wit and sarcasm, you just walk away. So the hero and heroine’s dialogue is all part of the dance, an implicit expression of interest.

Fun times are guaranteed whenever you read a Julie James book. Is there a scene that makes you laugh when you read it?

Well, going all the way back to my second book, Practice Makes Perfect, there’s a scene where the heroine breaks the heel of her shoe (which was sabotaged by the hero) and has a particularly embarrassing fall in a courtroom that cracked me up the whole time I was writing it. Similarly, there are several scenes in Love Irresistibly that made me smile—what comes immediately to mind is a scene where the heroine, Brooke, is at a Cubs game with three guy friends who are interrogating her about the hero, who she’s invited to join them. Here’s a snippet of that conversation:

“Hey now, we can’t be wasting our time talking about dessert,” Charlie said.  “We need to start planning all the questions we want to ask the Mystery Man.  Gotta grill the guy to make sure he’s good enough for Brooke.”

Brooke realized she needed to cut them off at the pass. Ford, Charlie and Tucker tended to get a little weirdly protective of her whenever she brought a new guy around—which was bad enough when she was actually dating the man in question.  But Cade was just a friend. Of sorts. Friend-ish. “I appreciate it, guys.  But I think you can skip the interrogation this time. I haven’t even had dinner with him yet.”

“I want to play the part of the hard-ass friend today,” Tucker said. “You know, just sit in the corner and glare at him the whole time.  See if he crumbles.”

“I’ve seen your hard-ass face, Tuck,” Charlie said.  “Mostly, you just look constipated. Ford, you better do the glaring.”

“No glaring, and no hard-ass routines.” Brooke said definitively. “No offense, but I doubt it would work, anyway. He’s a prosecutor. He works with the FBI, DEA, and Secret Service all the time.”

“Great,” Ford said, rolling his eyes. “Now he’s some hot-shot lawyer-type,”

“Hey. I am a hot-shot lawyer-type,” Brooke said.

“Yeah, but it’s different since you’re a girl.  It’s cute.”

She threw him a look.  “You did not just say that.”

“I don’t think I like the sound of this guy,” Tucker declared, out of the blue.

Brooke threw up her hands in exasperation.  “You haven’t even met him.  Besides you three don’t like any of the men I introduce you to.  You didn’t even like the Hot OB.”

“The Hot OB was a douche,” Charlie said.

“This mystery man better not be another douche, Brooke,” Ford warned. “I can’t spend six innings trapped in a skybox with a douche.”

Truly, she was losing brain cells just listening to this crap.


How much research is required to write a book in the FBI/US Attorney series?

Being a lawyer gives me a good general foundation to write characters in the legal profession, but the devil is in the details, so to speak. I’m fortunate to have contacts in both the U.S. Attorney and FBI offices—and also fortunate that those contacts continue to answer my many, many emails that begin with the subject, “Quick question for the book.”

If we were unforgivably rude and pulled five random things from your hand bag, what would we find?

(1) Three half-used ChapSticks, (2) about ten nearly empty pens, (3) Tic Tacs, (4) some random GapKids receipt from a year ago, (5) the necklace my son made me when I went to the hospital to give birth to my daughter.

What can readers expect next from Julie James? 

I’m so excited that Love Irresistibly hits bookstores and online sellers one week from today on April 2nd! It’s the fourth book in my FBI/US Attorney series, but readers should know that I write each book in the series as a standalone–so people can jump in wherever they want. And currently I’m writing my seventh book, which will be out next year.

Thank you sooo much for returning to UTC!

Happy to! I’m so glad I got the chance to hang out here today!

comps_LoveIrr.indd

HE’S USED TO GETTING WHAT HE WANTS…

A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table at one of her five-star restaurants so the FBI can eavesdrop on him. All Cade has to do is convince Brooke to cooperate—and he’s not afraid to use a little charm, or the power of his office, to do just that.

AND WHAT HE WANTS IS HER.

A savvy businesswoman, Brooke knows she needs to play ball with the U.S. Attorney’s office—even if it means working with Cade. No doubt there’s a sizzling attraction beneath all their sarcastic quips, but Brooke is determined to keep things casual. Cade agrees—until a surprising turn of events throws his life into turmoil, and he realizes that he wants more than just a good time from the one woman with whom he could fall terrifyingly, irresistibly in love . . .

Purchase Links: Amazon

Julie James

 

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie James practiced law with one of the nation’s largest firms for several years until she began writing screenplays. After Hollywood producers optioned two of her scripts, she decided to leave the practice of law to write full-time. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages and Julie’s upcoming novel, LOVE IRRESISTIBLY, will be available on April 2nd.

Julie James lives with her husband and two children in Chicago, where she is working on her next novel.

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Julie James is graciously giving away TWO maidens a pick from any of her backlist titles! Winners can either choose a signed paperback or a Kindle/Nook/Kobo eBook! Open to everyone!

 

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Books have the power to unite people and that is exactly what happened with us! Our love for books have brought us together and we’ve become good friends in a short amount of time. We “met” online through Goodreads and decided to share our passion of books with fellow book lovers. And that is how Under the Covers came to be.

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72 Comments

  6. I have read ALL your books and am anxiously awaiting your newest! The only book I don’t have a copy of is Practice Makes Perfect. I couldn’t find it in bookstores at the time, so I borrowed it from the library, read it, then somehow lost it! Then I bought the book and donated it to the library to replace the copy I lost. A few weeks later I found it under the bed where it must have fallen off my nightstand. So now the library should have at least TWO copies of Practice Makes Perfect!

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  14. LOVE Julie James. That scene she mentioned from Practice makes Perfect is my favorite as well. I can’t wait for Love Irresistibly!

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  17. Thanks for the interview. I’m looking forward to reading this. I’ve enjoyed all of Julie’s books, so I’m sure Love Irresistibly will be just as good.

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  25. Love the interview, =) can´t wait for my chance to read this!
    Thanks for the giveaway & Happy Tuesday!
    //Linda

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  26. What a great interview! I have always thought that this series looked and sounded awesome! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

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  30. I absolutely love Julie James! Her books have some of the most witty and clever dialogue I have every read! Can’t wait for Love Irresistibly.

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  32. Great interview! I can’t wait to start this series, I just need to get books 2 and 3 before I can begin…thanks for the chance to win one of the books I’m missing!

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  34. thank you a lot for this lovely interview and the int giveaway ^^

    i do love what yuou have in your bag^^;; quite similar to mine ( safe for the necklace)

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  42. This is a new author for me. I don’t normally read books without a paranormal theme, but this sounds great. Will have to check it out.

    Thanks for the giveaway,

    Elizabeth Gray
    [email protected]

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  44. Congrats to Julie on her upcoming release – I already have her other books so not entering the contest…just counting down the days for the release of Love Irresistibly.

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  45. Great interview! I’m on book 2 of this series right now and absolutely loving the series, can’t wait to read this one too 🙂

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  51. I enjoyed the interview and I put the book on my TBR list.
    I agree, Matt TBR Bomer is a total hottie. Too bad he’s gay! 🙁

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  53. I am amazed by how many people start their lives as lawyers and end up authors! It makes the legal parts of the books so much more realistic.

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  54. I thought is was wonderful that you would have a necklace in your purse that your son made you when you had your daughter.
    Have a great evening!
    Z

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  56. Awesome interview 🙂
    I ordered my pre order copy about a month ago but I definitely wouldn’t miss the chance to have a signed copy from Julie LOL

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  58. Julie I started reading your books just this past year and I LOVE LOVE this series and can’t wait to read Brook and Cade’s story…

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  64. Can’t wait to read this book, and envision Matt Bomer as Cade! Julie picked one heck of a good looking man!

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  67. I think it’s awesome that your a lawyer. I bet it gives you insight into your books that other authors wouldn’t have. I will definitely be checking this book out. I want to see how they try to deny their chemistry to each other! Thanks for sharing!

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  70. I’ve been dying for Cade’s book! The dialogue and witty banter in her books is simply amazing. Thank you for an awesome giveaway! Fingers crossed!

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  71. I love your interview with Julie! Practice Makes Perfect was the first book I read of Julie’s and I’ve been hooked since. Her mentioning the funny scene from the courtroom just makes me crack up since I totally thought that was hilarious! And you can’t go wrong with Matt Bomer! 🙂 Thanks for the contest!

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  72. Matt Bomer is a great choice for Cade. I love watching him on White Collar, it’s one of my fave shows. I can’t wait to read this book!

    Reply