Protecting the Pregnant Witness (The Precinct: SWAT #3; The Precinct #15) By Julie Miller

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PROTECTING THE PREGNANT WITNESS was a quick read for me. The story was pretty good, with not many complaints.

10 years ago, the young rookie cop, Rafe Delgado watched his father figure mentor, Aaron Nichols, get killed in the line of duty. Right before his death, Rafe promised to watch out for his daughter, Josie.

For 10 years he’s been doing just that. Despite her crush on him, Josie hasn’t been able to get him to look at her other than as the daughter of the man he looked up to. He’s there to walk her to her car after her late shift tending bar, there to take care of her old car and there during her hectic nursing program hours to help her through.

But on the night an innocent young boy is caught up in a shootout and dies in his arms, Josie is the one there for him. In a haze of guilt and holding years of sorrow back, Rafe finds comfort in Josie in a way she’s always wished for them to do. Even knowing Rafe just needed an outlet, she’s not ready for when he calls their front seat rumple a mistake.

Now six months later, she’s managed to keep her growing belly from him. During the months, Rafe has grown even more distant with her, while maintaining his protectiveness. However, when he confronts her about her run in with a killer and the inmate she tried to save at the detention center her brother’s being held at, she lets slip that ‘we’ don’t need him.

With a past of an abusive father and never having a steady support system other than his work, Rafe has never imagined being a father. Adding to the surprise is Josie’s growing danger from the killer the police have been tracking for two years that she can now identify.

When threats and attempts are made on her life, Rafe makes it his job to see to her and her baby’s safety. His guilt over disrupting her life with a pregnancy is heavy in his heart. He feels he let down the man who was like a father to him and thinks staying detached will make up for it. His asking how pregnancy felt and almost touching the baby is the first sign of change in him.

When he wakes her from a nightmare, she clings to him for all she’s worth and while holding her on the couch, he finally lowers his walls low enough to take a minute to take in her growing belly. Helping him, she takes his hand and he feels his child move and perhaps then makes a connection with both baby and mother as he carries her to the bedroom.

It’s during a charity carnival that the killer distracts the team with a fake bomb as he corners Josie. During the fight of a lifetime, Rafe takes the killing shot, saving Josie’s life and finally has him admitting his love for them both.

3months later, baby Aaron is born, Josie graduated nursing school, and he’s made temporary captain. But most of all, he’s finally let love into his life.
Mass Market Paperback My first real Harlequin Romance ever...after I swore I would never read One of those! Well, this is from the intrigue series and caught my attention. I'm a sucker for men in uniform (cops, firemen, military) and came across this when I was looking through the Borders store that's closing near me. I enjoyed this book. Rafe had that tough guy, untouchable on the outside yet sooo vulnerable on the inside and Josie was independent enough to not to that pining away annoying heroine. I also liked the other characters and the mystery was good enough to hold my attention. I'm actually going back to try and find the previous book. Mass Market Paperback Wonderful Suspense Romance,loved Rafe-Josie,Rafe he has suffered emotionally so much that now he does'nt wants to take yet another chance and take the risk of pain and hurt,he keeps pushing Josie away,Josie she is determined to make Rafe see she is not a child anymore and she wants to heal him,both were always there for each other,their friendship slowly blossomed into love,inspite of Rafe not letting himself close to Josie and their child but he falls deeply in love with them but fears to lose them,after many hurdles finally Rafe takes the leap and they have their HEA

Overall this was a wonderful book,enjoyed both the romance as well as the suspense parts,liked all secondary characters,eager to read other SWAT team members books

Recommend it

Mass Market Paperback The loneliness of Josie’s solitary life—no mother, no father, a poor excuse for a brother, too much work and too much stress—evaporated beneath the greedy assault of Rafe’s hands and mouth on her skin. He needed her. He needed her. The connection between them was irrefutable and intense.

Of all the men in the world to see as her soul mate, she had to fall for one who was hard to love—a man whose wounds ran so deep that there might never be enough patience and time to heal them.

“My emotions were out of control. That was a mistake.”
She sat up ramrod straight, her Irish temper coloring her cheeks. “Making love was a mistake? Or feeling something was a mistake?”
Making love? She thought that wham-bam, thank-you, ma’am, was how it was supposed to be between a man and a woman? Just what kind of jerks had she been dating, who hadn’t shown her how good it could be if a man took his time and… Ah, hell. Put on the brakes. Don’t go there.
“I’m a jerk, okay?”
“Please stop. It hurts me to hear you talk like this.”
“I never wanted to hurt you. I don’t want things to change between us. I want you to be able to trust me. I need you to trust me. Nothing like that will ever happen again. I promise....Go on, I’ll wait to make sure your car starts. I’ll see you next time you work at the Shamrock.”
She turned the key. Once the engine growled to life, he started to leave. But Josie put out her arm to keep him from shutting the door. “Just for the record? You weren’t a jerk for making love to me. Now you’re being a jerk.”
Of that he had no doubt.

“This is the only kind of healing I need.” Muffling her startled yelp, he captured her lips in a kiss. His hands settled at either side of her waist, then slid upward to tangle in her hair and tilt her mouth to a more intimate angle so he could plunge his tongue inside and brand her with his textures and taste. The kiss was hard and deep and full of a possessive claim that turned Josie molten inside. “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered against her mouth.

Mass Market Paperback I think this book has to be my favorite of the series, mostly because I adore Josie's work ethic, independence, and strong mind.

Also because this was the book where everything in the previous two came together.

Anyone who was around me while I read this knew that there were times when I'd gently lay down my Kindle, take a calming breath, and then scream my lungs out.

***SPOILER PARAGRAPH. DON'T READ UNLESS YOU'VE READ THIS BOOK. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK: WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? READ IT!***

Like when it comes out Donny asked out Charlotte Mayweather to the prom for his uncles, who planned to kidnap her. Things like this made the book all come together, and I seriously enjoyed reading it.

***SPOILER OVER***

This book keeps you guessing as to who the actual killer is up until the very end, and like Josie, you find yourself second-guessing the intentions of literally every single person she speaks to: like Bud Preston, or Jeffrey Beecher, or even Detective Montgomery. In this book, no man is safe from falling under suspicion.

I think there are two things in this book I didn't like, and here they are:

1) There were a few far-fetched logical leaps taken in this book, and also a few plotholes. Like, for instance, Detective Montgomery and our resident SWAT protagonist, Rafe Delgado, are doing everything they can to keep Josie's name out of the limelight, for fear the Rich Girl Killer will discover she is the witness. My questions are:

a) When the RGK killed Kyle Austin, he knew that she saw. I mean, she was trying to save his life from the poison spreading through his veins. So, if he saw her helping, why are they bothering to keep her secret private? It doesn't take much to discover Josie's identity. I mean, all he had to do was look at the prisoner log in the jail (as he did) or there are other means to tracking her down.

And:
b) When it becomes obvious that despite their best efforts, Josie's identity had been discovered by the RGK (since he was, you know, calling her and sending her notes and bomb threats), then why did they still destroy Lassen's photographs he took, afraid that her identity as the witness who spotted the Rich Girl Killer would come out to the public. Now that they know for certain RGK knows who she is and is on her trail, why are they still bothering to hide her from the press? It's not like they have to protect her identity from killers or anything. The real threat is already hot on her heels.



However, I looked past this, because, despite that, this book was still awesome. However, has I mentioned earlier, I still had one more problem with this book:

2. The shotgun weddings. In this book, it comes out that Charlotte and Trip from the previous book just got married. I didn't like this because they'd only been together a few months, and Charlotte's barely seen the world. And then, to top it off, even though they only got together three months before baby Junior was born, Rafe and Jose also got married before the birth. I just think this took away some of the effect this book had. I'm not one for shotgun marriages, which I think these were. That's why I respect Alex and Audrey - because, hey, at least they waited for five months!


Despite that, I did love this book, and I do recommend it to everyone to give Julie Miller's works a read.

Adios, bookworms. Mass Market Paperback

A ruthless killer...an expectant mother...one determined cop.

Rafe Delgado had been there for Josie Nichols her entire life. So when he turned to her one night, emotionally drained thanks to a heartbreaking case, her longtime crush on the brooding cop reached a whole new level. But afterward, Rafe went back to being untouchable and Josie didn't know how to break through his shell...even to tell him she was pregnant.

Everything Rafe did was by the book and so his moment of weakness could never be repeated. He didn't deserve someone like Josie.even if it was a daily struggle to keep his hands off her. But learning she could ID a cold-blooded killer changed everything. Now she was in his protective custody and caring about her only made his job harder. And learning about his unborn child made it nearly impossible. Protecting the Pregnant Witness (The Precinct: SWAT #3; The Precinct #15)

What can I say? I didn't see that coming! Great job Julie Miller on the suspense and the unexpected villain. Mass Market Paperback Not the best of her series, I was ready to be done with the RGK. I liked the story but it felt ... off. The whole time I was reading I was trying to figure out what was missing. I’m not sure, even now. Still a worthy read if you’re reading this series. Mass Market Paperback This is the second time I've read this book, and enjoyed it just as much as the first time I read it.
Rafe is not good with words. He is part of a swat team, his actions speaks for him. Years ago his partner asked him to keep his daughter Jose safe, and watch over her, right before he died. He vowed he would. Jose has always had a crush on Rafe, and wants him to see her as a women, and not the little girl she once was. One night after seeing a boy die, Rafe needed more than friendship from Jose. The two steamed up the windows of his truck as the passion burned hot between them.

Jose went to see her brother in jail, and when she was leaving she bumped into a man that leaving. She said she was sorry, and stared into his cold eyes. Afterwards she realized a prisoner was dying. Her nursing skills kicked in, and she fought to save his life. She knew that the man she bumped into had killed this young man. When she gives her statement to police, they link this case to a serial murder case. Jose needs protection, and Rafe is there to make sure she is protected. The bad guy is slick, he can get past anyone, to get to Jose, and torment her. The suspense of the story is good, and so is the action, and small taste of romance.

Sample from chapter 9 - Rafe hugged his body around Josie's and lifted her off her feet, spinning to take the brunt of the blast as the car exploded and knocked them to the ground. Fire burned through the sleeve of his jacket and seared his right side before they slid to a stop. Josie held on tight and screamed against his neck as bits of hot metal and molten plastic rained down from the smoke blackened sky above them.
Mass Market Paperback I loved this book at first I thought it would be stupid but once I got into it was amazing!! Mass Market Paperback I wanted to like it more than I did, but this is a book where I had to skip the villain viewpoints and had trouble connecting to the characters and their story. I love the Taylor series and this is the first by Julie that I had trouble with. Mass Market Paperback