Here's to Hoping There's Something More

So, here is another friend suggestion. My best friend, Sarah, suggested a romance that she liked so much she read it three times before giving it to me. Since she is the person who made me realize that romance novels are not all "the Sheik and the Virgin Stable Girl" kind of thing, I usually take her suggestions very seriously. I mean, who would have thought that I would have gone from reading Kozinski's The Painted Bird to Nora Robert's Born in Shame and liked every minute of it? That is not an easy transition, let me tell you.

I credit Sarah with giving me books that were a surprising (at least to me) marriage of great character development, good romance (not too cheesy, not too outlandish), and great stories. I mean, I actually cared about the main characters in the books she suggested. So much so that I was sad when the book ended. So, when she said she loved Julie James' newest book Something About You, I was excited.

Unfortunately, this book really didn't live up to the hype. It seemed rushed and underdeveloped. Which is too bad, since the premise of the book was so promising, and the characters were so likable. But, where James had issues is in her conflict resolution. And isn't that what romance is all about? You cannot have a great romance without a little conflict, whether outside or within the relationship. There is quite a bit of that in James' novel, but the resolution to that conflict is limp at best.

The plot premise is actually a take on a traditional "accidental witness to murder" scenario. This can be a lot of fun. I often like books that have an element of "what if the noises you heard/ something you saw were actually something much more sinister?" It reminds me of a really good ghost story. Or a Hitchcock movie. Either way I know I am in for a treat. But... when the story lacks real depth, it comes off like something I have seen a hundred times before. I mean, the cliches of the smoldering (James actually uses that word) FBI agent who ends up head of the investigation into a senator's call girl getting strangled, and the only witness is a gorgeous attorney the agent happens to have a past with... haven't we seen this on L&O? It's fine for serial TV, bad for stand alone novel.

Something only great writers can pull off is spending time with the bad guys, their motives and their incentives. Sometimes that is a really good plot device. Sometimes, it is necessary to understand the intricacies of the plot (see Death Echo review). Sometimes, it just seems like filler. That is the case with this attempt. I mean really, do we care about the nuances of why he killed the "escort?" Nope. Can't say I do. Seeing the plot from the killer's eyes can be disturbing (JD Robb), insightful (Elizabeth Lowell) or just plain fun (Amanda Quick). But, not so much in this case. The plot device seemed corny and cliched without giving the plot any real help. Not sure what the point was, but it was lost on me in any case.

The characters seemed really interesting in the first few chapters when they were sniping and berating each other. Unfortunately, the female lead is way more interesting than the male. This happens with a lot of female authors. It is hard to find a female author who can do justice to a male point of view. Sad, but true. The main character is tough and smart. Unfortunately, she is a little too good to be true. Not the kind of character where I go "hey, I really wish I knew her," but the kind where if I did I would have a major case of "no way anyone is that gorgeous, smart, and tough, without being a total bitch." I mean, where is her vulnerability? Where are the personal quirks that make people worth knowing? And being sexually attracted to someone you really don't like is not being vulnerable, just horny. I think Julie James didn't get that memo.

The FBI agent would have been more interesting if his character didn't seem to be the culmination of every (I'm going to use it again, since the book did) "smoldering police officer/ FBI agent with a heart of gold underneath the rough exterior." I could have figured out the angle without being told explicitly every few pages that was the character James was going for. Again, where is the vulnerability? And those damn quirks are missing again.

But, the main gripe I have with this book is that the main character's initial conflict found a very lame resolution about halfway through the book. That left me wondering if James decided halfway through that she just didn't know how to get the characters from hating each other's guts to falling in love. It wasn't gradual, but more like a band aid being ripped off a wound. It gets the job done, but it isn't pleasant. The way the conflict between the leads was resolved can be summed up in two sentences (and may as well have been).
1. Guy asks girl why she did ...
2. Girl tells him.

Really.

That's it. And then, everyone is understood, forgiven and all happy. Huh? One of my favorite romance plots is the reunion. It can be heartwarming, gut clenching, or just plain explosive in the hands of the right writer. This was not one of those times. AAGGGHHH! That is the sound of my frustration.

So, all in all my issues with Julie James' novel Something About You are plentiful. Yet, none of them make me think James is an awful writer. More like, she had a good idea, writes well enough, but has no depth. Frothy is a word that comes to mind. Not the worst thing a book can be, but I think I will wait for another few years to see if Julie James has matured in her writing before I pick up another. Maybe she WAS rushed, maybe she just needs a few more books under her belt, who knows? I hope she will be around long enough to grow, because I think I would like the results.