5 Star Book Review: Nine-Month Protector by Julie Miller

Nine-Month Protector by Julie Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Back Cover: The Baby was a Blessing... but Cooper Bellamy was a Miracle.

Morning sickness used to be Sarah Cartwright's biggest problem--until she became the only witness to a murder. Now, newly pregnant, she had a killer on her trail--and Cooper Bellamy, KCPD's finest, by her side. Her brother's best friend and her sworn protector, it was impossible to keep Coop at arm's length. Yet the mother-to-be discovered the safest place to hide was in his strong arms. They found out soon enough they each needed the other--but would it be too late before a cold-blooded hit man made them take vows of permanent silence?

The second in Julie Miller’s The Precinct: Vice Squad mini-series closes a few loopholes left open in the first book of the series Up Against The Wall but you have to expect that when the male lead from book one is the twin brother to the female lead in book two. Both stories involving the main couple spill over into the other’s story but nothing is too major that it will lose you if you only read one of the stories.

However, I do recommend picking up both just for Cooper Bellamy. In the first, he plays the sidekick/best friend of our hero Seth Cartwright but finally gets his girl in Nine-Month Protector. And for those of you not playing the home game, that girl is his best-friend’s sister, Sarah. Yep, talk about a sticky situation if it doesn’t work out. Through in the fact that Sarah is pregnant and you have a whole barrel of potential conflict right from the get-go.

But Ms. Miller doesn’t leave us with just that. The baby Sarah is carrying could be Cooper’s or it could be a mobster’s child. A mobster involved in a number of deaths relating to the casino he runs. It was there at that casino Sarah witnessed a murder and now the killer is on her trail.

Cooper vows to protect her but will the cancer survivor jeopardize his heart to keep Sarah and her unborn child safe, regardless of who the father is?

An awesome romantic suspense novel Nine-Month Protector keeps you turning pages until the end. Just when you think you have it all figured out, Ms. Miller throws something into the mix you haven't thought it. FABULOUS!!!!

Edited to Add: Edited to Add: I normally read these stories for the romance and suspence elements as it relates to the hero/heroine, but I've got to mention about the villian in this one. While he appeared as one of the bad guys in the previous book, it wasn't until this story that is pure evilness really showed itself.  While the man who hired him to kill Sarah gave a (temporary) reprieve on the hit when he found out she was pregnant, this devil incarnate had no compassion. He wanted to kill the woman anyway just because she saw him murder another woman and he didn't leave loose ends, child or not. The pure coldheartedness of the man totally creeped me out.


I'm really glad I purposely didnt' pay much attention to the description of the villian. Otherwise, I might have been suffering from a few of my own nightmares.


These kinds of villians are normally seen in books by the big name Thriller/Suspense writers like James Patterson, etc. Not at all what I expected for a Harlequin novel given their length restrictions and such but Ms. Miller outdid herself with this one..

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Dancing with the Stars - Season 14 Finale (Monday Night)

After a phenomenal premiere, this season of Dancing with the Stars really fell flat for me. With so many great dancers out the gate there really wasn’t a learning curve for anyone. Fortunately though, the viewer votes kept the top three (IMO) into the finals.

William & Cheryl – ChaCha

William wasn’t really one of my favorites from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, he was good, but I worried that his sexiness would overshadow some of his dance moves and he would get into the finals on that instead of true ability. However, this redo of the ChaCha put those worries to rest. Despite some funky arms at times, he added flair and technical attitude that I normally expect from the pros. I really liked it and was totally impressed with the improvements. The perfect 30 was well deserved.  Can’t wait for their freestyle.

Katherine & Mark – Paso Doble

Katherine has impressed me all season. I wasn’t sure if her musicality as an opera singer could transfer to the dance floor (though I did feel she’d probably do better than most during opera week because of her experience).  For her redo of the Paso, it wasn’t bad. Her movements were sharp and placed well but the choreography didn’t showcase her the way I though it should. Can’t blame that on Katherine though. Mark tends to overshadow his partner at times and I don’t think the finals is a good time to do that. However, I can’t find fault with the score based on what Katherine did. Her freestyle should be interesting.

Donald & Peta – Argentine Tango    

Donald is awesome. Peta is relative new for me but she’s a perfect match for his athleticism.  Strong movements in the dance and powerful lifts. Very well choreographed. The flicks were a little weak on Donald’s part so I got to agree with Len that it seemed kind of “careful”.  I really loved the costumes and color. They looked really good but I’m just not sure they were up to par with the other two. I’ve got to agree with the score of 29.  Hopefully their freestyle will make up for it or they could be the first eliminated tomorrow.

William & Cheryl – Freestyle

That first leap off the stage was AWESOME!! The rest of the dance though didn’t impress me. It was like things they’d did before. I was expecting more outside of the standard ballroom tango and salsa. I guess it was supposed to play on his sexy Latin roots but we already know he has Latin abilities. I wanted to see something else. From me it’s an 8 maybe a 9 but definitely not a ten. Apparently, Len also agreed and they head into tomorrow night with 59 out of 60.

Katherine & Mark – Freestyle

I really liked this dance, especially Katherine singing at the beginning. For the first time in a long time, Mark didn’t overshadow her. She kept up with him step for step. There were some points that her legs seemed a little weird but I think they were okay for those dances. She seemed very willing to do whatever she needed to in order to make it to the final dance. And I really think she will with a perfect 60 out of 60 for the night. Making them the only ones with a perfect score going into tomorrow.

Donald & Peta – Freestyle

Totally cool!  Cowboy Troy!!!!!  WOW!!! What a Dance!!! This boy brought it! Way to go!!! That’s how you do a FREESTYLE! I loved it! The spin was fantastic. Very risky since he could have really messed up there. Donald really made up for his 29 last dance. Well deserved scores!  Finally got his 10 from Len!  WTG!!

So with William and Donald only one point behind Katherine, it really depends on viewer votes to take their favorites into tomorrow. Who’s got your vote?

Book Review: Up Against the Wall by Julie Miller

Up Against the Wall (Precinct: Vice Squad, Book 1) (Precinct, Book 5) by Julie Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’d hoped by the time Julie Miller’s new release from the Precinct series “Marine Next Door” came out on May 1^st that I’d have caught up on the entire series from the beginning of the Taylor Clan through all the different connected mini-series. Unfortunately, a thing called life got in the way and, even with the 4 I have to skip until my Kindle funds replenish, I’m still twelve books away. L

So yesterday I went to Wal-mart and picked up my copy of “Marine Next Door” to on my nightstand as incentive to finish the others. And here we go….

Back Cover: “STUCK BETWEEN ROCK HARD AND A HARD PLACE

He was built like a tank, and he was undercover in Kansas City's seediest district. Waist-deep in the trouble that came along with the Vice Squad, Seth Cartwright had unwanted company.

After several years, investigative reporter Rebecca Page was finally getting her chance to uncover the truth behind her father's death -- if she could swing Seth to her side.

There was no debating that Seth ignited her temper, along with something else at her core. He said he was no longer a cop, though Rebecca suspected there was more to Seth than met the eye. And awaiting them was a deadly secret that KC's most ruthless criminal minds will do anything to keep buried deep forever.”

Rebecca’s reporter father was murdered three years ago to cover up a story he’d been working on and no one did anything about. Now, she finally has the ability to continue his investigation and possibly bring his killer to justice. The only thing that stands in her way is an ex-cop turned head of security at the riverboat casino where clues from her father’s notebook led her.

The couple apparently had a few run-ins with each other in the previous story “Baby Jane Doe” featuring Seth’s mother Commissioner Shauna Cartwright and Eli Masterson, and their animosity spills over into this story. But if you’re like me and haven’t read “Baby Jane Doe”, don’t worry. Other than mentioning they’d met before, Ms. Miller does well in keeping this a story that you can read alone or with the others.

The sparks that fly between these two could set the state on fire. I really liked that Rebecca wasn’t the kind of person to just stand by and let Seth come to her rescue. She also didn’t expect someone else to take care of things that didn’t seem quite right, even when they didn’t have anything to do with her father’s murder.

Co-worker Melissa Teague, who gets her own story later in the series, is one of those situations. Even though it could cause problems with investigating the casino and what her father was after, Rebecca can’t look the other way when it appears that someone is physically abusing Melissa. At first, the situation ends up a win-win when it provides her with a way to infiltrate the behind the scenes activities of the casino. But in the end, it almost costs Rebecca her life when Melissa’s abuser attacks both women and Rebecca’s real identity as a reporter is exposed to the killer.

A cast of characters, including Seth’s gambler father, gives plenty of suspects for Melissa’s abuser and her father’s killer. Though with each clue that helped narrow down the list came another clue that would shoot that idea out of the water. In the end, it wasn’t until the true villain was actually named did it all come together.

If you want to get technical, there were some loose ends that remained unanswered at the conclusion of this story. The couples for the next two books of the series, “Nine-Month Protector” and “Protective Instincts”, were introduced in this story and provided some background. However, the ending provided satisfactory closure to Rebecca and Seth’s relationship without making you feel like you missed the second half of a two-parter.

I loved it!

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