SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER is a standalone novel and isn't part of any series. However, Ford Dixon is Brook's best friend in Love Irresistibly, which is part of the FBI/ US Attorney series. I would call SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER a spin-off book. I haven't read the FBI series and I wasn't lost reading this story.

Victoria Slade isn't having a good time in her new home. After her home is broken into with Victoria there and hiding in the closet, she doesn't feel safe and buys a home at another location. Her new home won't be ready for a few months so she moves into a condo temporarily and right next door to reporter Ford Dixon. He is a man who unknowingly makes a really bad first impression. She sees a parade of, women going into Ford's condo and pegs him as a player. Victoria doesn't want anything to do with Ford, but that doesn't remain the case for long. Victoria agrees to help Ford's sister, Nicole track down her baby's father for child support. Now, not only is she seeing Ford more often than she'd like but she's working with him on tracking down the unknown father and getting up close and personal with the sexy reporter, much to Ford's delight.

I love the character that Julie James created in Victoria. She is smart, funny, and a woman in control of her own life. She isn't dependent on anyone and has had to endure way too much in her life from the time her mom did something very selfish when Victoria was only ten years old. That one act has a big effect on her and after the break in Victoria seeks the help of a professional to overcome her panic attacks. SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER is a look into Victoria's life and how one event changes everything that one summer.

I have never read Julie James before but I'm adding her to my favorite author list and going to hunt down her previous books. She had me laughing out loud many times while reading SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER and I felt as if I were in the room with Victoria and Ford and joking right along with them. Their story was just what I was looking for. Funny and sexy all in one. But the babysitting scene with the volcanic vomiting was just hysterical, well, maybe not for Ford but for me. Julie James is now on my author radar.