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The Thing About Love Reader’s Guide

By Julie James

The Thing About Love by Julie James

The Thing About Love Reader’s Guide

By Julie James

Category: Women’s Fiction | Contemporary Romance

READERS GUIDE

Questions for Discussion



1. There’s a he said/she said dynamic in the story. Did you agree with both John’s and Jessica’s points of view about what happened at the FBI Academy, or did you side more with one character?


2. Both John and Jessica envy the strengths that the other has at the Academy. Why is it so important that they each be the best? Is that simply part of their personalities, or do they each feel that they have something to prove?


3. Jessica works in a very male-dominated field. Do you think her gender is an advantage or a disadvantage in her job as a special agent?

 

4. John and Jessica start out hating each other. In which scene do you think this begins to change?

 

5. What do you think John finds most attractive about Jessica? And vice versa?

 

6. John refuses to forgive his two friends Lucas and Matt, who knew that Rob was sleeping with John’s then girlfriend, Alicia. If you were John, could you ever forgive them? Do you think Lucas and Matt should’ve told John what was going on, or were they caught in the middle? Have you ever been in a similar situation?

 

7. If you were in Jessica’s shoes when she finds out that her ex-husband is getting remarried, would you want to know whether he cheated, or would you prefer to never know?


8. Why do you think Jessica is so reluctant to admit her feelings for John? Is it because of her recent divorce and a fear of opening up again, or is it that she’s afraid to fall in love with someone who’s moving halfway across the country?


9. A recurring theme is the strain that undercover work can put on the agents’ personal lives. Often people’s jobs strain their romantic relationships. How is undercover work both similar to and different from a nine-to-five job? Has work ever stressed your relationship?

 

10. For the sake of her job, Jessica has to put up with Mayor Blair’s flirting. Do you think this is something a lot of women encounter and have to deal with in work situations? What do you think about the way Jessica handled it? Have you ever been faced with a similar situation? How did you navigate it?


11. If this were a movie, who would you cast as Jessica and John? How about Mayor Blair? What about Nate and Tara?

 
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