Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. That doesn't mean she's opposed to casual dating—just not with her cocky new neighbor, who is as gorgeous and tempting as he is off-limits.
But once she agrees to take on his sister's case, she's as determined to win as ever—even if that means teaming up with Ford…
Investigative journalist Ford Dixon is bent on finding the man who got his sister pregnant and left her high and dry. He's willing to partner with Victoria, despite the fact that the beautiful brunette gets under his skin like no other woman. He might not be looking to settle down, but there's no denying the scorching attraction between them. Still, the more time he spends with Victoria, the more he realizes that the one woman as skeptical about love as he is might be the only woman he could really fall for…
3.5 Ford – He-Can-Find-Me-Any-Time Stars
Suddenly One Summer is a standalone novel and isn’t part of any series. However, Ford is Brook’s best friend in Love Irresistibly, which is part of the FBI/ US Attorney series. I would label Suddenly One Summer a spin-off book.
Suddenly One Summer starts out with a bam and I got really into it. Victoria is a successful divorce lawyer and she gets robbed. This freaks her out so much that she moves, but her condo won’t be ready until the end of the summer. So for the summer she leases a place.
Ford happens to live next door to her. Ford also likes to have guests over late at night and they make lots of noise. Victoria can hear everything.
The first 30% of the book is really cute and funny. Ford is a horrible person to live next door to. He’s loud, he doesn’t care about Victoria and all Victoria wants is a good night’s sleep. I couldn’t stop smiling. I really liked the banter between Ford and Victoria in the beginning. I found Ford kind of a jerk, but we love that right? I also felt for Victoria, because of her robbery she is very anxious and it’s hard for her to sleep through the night.
Ford’s sister, Nicole has a baby and Nicole doesn’t know who the father is. Nicole indirectly gets Victoria to help Nicole find the baby daddy. I liked that Nicole kind of help Ford and Victoria build this odd friendship.
Ford and Victoria work together in finding the baby daddy and this is where most of the “bonding” happens in the read. Suddenly One Summer reads more like a chick-lit or woman’s fiction romance novel, than a NA read. There are steamy scenes, but it’s not really the focal point of the story.
The heavy interaction between Ford and Victoria starts around mid-mark of the book and the pace picks up a bit. I really enjoyed the side characters too. I would love to read Nicole’s book. I’m a sucker for single moms, so that’s my thing.
Victoria also gets panic attacks in the subway or in confined spaces where she can’t escape. So she works with a therapist to overcome these issues. This is another reason why she is so guarded. She doesn’t want anyone to know this. She also gets these “attacks” during stressful situations. She’s a mess, but she works really hard to cover-up that she isn’t.
Once Ford notices the sweeter side of Victoria, he works hard to break down Victoria’s walls. You start to fall for Ford just a little more.
Overall, if you are a fan of Julie James, I think you won’t be disappointed. Just know this one is a bit different from the FBI/ US Attorney series.
AMAZON - http://amzn.to/1cWAJS1
This looks like a fun book! I like next door neighbor-type stories. :)
ReplyDelete