Partner-Protector

The Precinct #1

by Julie Miller

Detective T. Merle Banning vowed to conduct the Holiday Hookers homicide investigation based on cold, hard evidence, not psychobabble from the department's "crackpot" consultant. So, despite their smoldering attraction, he scoffed at Kelsey Ryan's unsettling visions of one of the murders. But even he couldn't discount the truth when Kelsey provided a break in the case that had stymied the Fourth Precinct for years.

As their pursuit of the twisted killer led them down the seedy back alleyways of Kansas City, the flamboyant beauty bewitched T's battle-scarred heart...and propelled him to breach her isolated world. Could these partners in passion unravel the killer's web of darkness before it ensnared them both?

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, Suspense, Mystery, Crime, Paranormal

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 11, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

USA TODAY Bestselling author Julie Miller writes breathtaking romantic suspense. She's won a National Readers Choice Award and two Daphne du Maurier Awards among other prizes. She was also honored to receive a Career Achievement Award from RT BookReviews and has been a finalist for many national and international awards. Her books have appeared on the USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, Amazon and BookScan Top 100 Romances bestseller lists.

Writing about Kansas City cops, Julie has crafted bestselling, award-winning books for Harlequin Intrigue. In addition, Ms. Miller publishes romantic suspense books with a military twist. Millions of copies of her books have been sold in print and digital formats around the world.

Reviews

[Luli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido romance entre un policía serio e incrédulo y una espiritista que ayuda a la policía de vez en cuando con sus casos más complicados.

La parte más ficticia de la historia no ocupa mucho lugar. La autora no le da más importancia que la de explicarnos que la protagonista puede percibir imágenes y sonidos cuando entra en contacto con algún objeto.
El eje de la historia son los asesinatos de las prostitutas que ocurren en Navidad. Todos los años. Desde hace 10 años, si mal no recuerdo. Y de fondo el romance entre T y Kelsey.

El suspense ha estado muy bien. La autora nos da un puñado de posibles candidatos pero hasta el final todos son probables, realmente es imposible adivinar quién puede ser porque todos tienen motivos y ocasión.
La pega? La de siempre: a la pobre heroína le toca sufrir al menos 2 super-estúpidos momentos para mover el suspense… prefiero mis heroínas más inteligentes.
A T no le puedo poner ni una sola pega. Es atento, considerado y sobre todo respetuoso. A pesar de tener que luchar contra sus principios más básicos, al fin y al cabo es un científico-empollón, siempre respeta la habilidad de Kelsey incluso cuando no la entiende. Y cuando se enamora de ella lo hace al 100%. Me ha gustado también como ha llevado al autora el tema de su encaprichamiento con su compañera…

Así que si eres capaz de pasar por alto esos momentos TSTL, la historia merece la pena.
Entre 3.5 y 4 stars.

***

Entertaining romance between a serious and down-to-earth detective and a psychic who occasionally helps the police with their more complicated cases.

The psychic side of the storyline does not take up much room. The author does not give it more importance than explaining that the heroine can perceive images and sounds when in contact with one object.
The story´s axis is the suspense: the murders of prostitutes that occur at Christmas. Every single year. For 10 years, if I remember correctly. And at the background is the romance between T and Kelsey.

The suspense has been really good. The author gives us a handful of possible candidates but until the end all of them are equally possible, it´s really impossible to guess who might be because all of them have a motive and an occasion to be the murderer.

So what was the problem? The usual: the poor heroine has to go through at least 2 TSTL moments for the suspense´s sake ... I prefer my heroines smarter.
I can´t find a fault to T. He is attentive, considerate and above all, respectful. Despite having to fight its most basic principles, after all he is a geek, he always respects Kelsey´s ability even when he does not understand it. And when he falls for her, he falls hard. I also liked how the author had managed T´s infatuation with his partner, so sweet ...

So if you are able to overlook those TSTL moments, the story is worth your time.

Between 3.5 and 4 stars.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

PARTNER-PROTECTOR is a contemporary romance with some paranormal elements. It is the first book in THE PRECINCT series by Julie Miller. If you love stories about police and intrigue with a psychic edge you should enjoy this book. Before reading this series I would suggest reading about THE TAYLORS because moments of their stories affect this one.

Kelsey Ryan has psychic visions when she touches things. Because of skepticism she keeps to herself most of the time until she 'sees' a murder take place. She takes her vision to the Kansas City police department where she is met with doubt in the form of T. Merle Banning. Geeky in some respect, Merle has just lost his partner to maternity leave. His commander pairs him with Kelsey.

There is a serial killer somewhere and Merle has just been given some cold cases to look into. Kelsey believes she can help. Merle believes in facts and concrete evidence so Kelsey and he clash immediately.

Surprising for a Harlequin, this story packs a punch. The main characters are fleshed out well. Kelsey is timid at times and, because of her past, doubts Merle when he finally starts to believe in her abilities. There is enough about the secondary characters to remind you to read about 'THE TAYLORS' first. I didn't know this and I am sure it would have helped to understand some of what happened previously. Also, we get bits and pieces of other individuals to know that Ms. Miller will write their stories. All in all, a satisfying read.

THE TAYLORS:
1 One Good Man
2 Sudden Engagement
3 In the Blink of an Eye
4 The Rookie
5 Kansas City's Bravest
6 Unsanctioned Memories
7 Last Man Standing

THE PRECINCT:
1 Partner Protector
2 Police Business
3 Search and Seizure
4 Baby Jane Doe / The Unknown Baby
5 Up Against The Wall
6 Nine-Month Protector
7 Protective Instinct
8 Armed And Devastating
9 Private S.W.A.T. Takeover
10 Kansas City Christmas
11 Beauty and the Badge
12 Takedown
13 Protecting Plain Jane
14 Protecting the Pregnant Witness

[Dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

was ok
a bit too predictable for me, I wanted something more

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough romance.

[Mary Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I could have done with a little more romance but the mystery/thriller elements were good.

[Kristal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Description from Ms. Miller's Website: A Cop's Crusade . . .

Detective T. Merle Banning vowed to conduct the Holiday Hookers homicide investigation based on cold, hard evidence, not psychobabble from the department's "crackpot" consultant. So, despite their smoldering attraction, he scoffed at Kelsey Ryan's unsettling visions of one of the murders. But even he couldn't discount the truth when Kelsey provided a break in the case that had stymied the Fourth Precinct for years. As their pursuit of the twisted killer led them down the seedy back alleyways of Kansas City, the flamboyant beauty bewitched T's battle-scarred heart . . . and propelled him to breach her isolated world. Could these partners in passion unravel the killer's web of darkness before it ensnared them both?


Thanks to a very generous Christmas gift from my brother (and Kindle), I was able to finally read the original Precinct Series. I’ve read Vice-Squad, SWAT, Brotherhood of the Badge, and currently on Task Force but somehow I missed the series that connected the Taylors to the many Precinct series that followed.

First off, if you read the Taylor Clan series, you’ll recognize Merle as Ginny Rafferty (now Taylor)’s partner from the 2nd book in that series, Sudden Engagement. Mitch Taylor from the 1st book in that series, One Good Man, also plays supporting role in this book. If you didn’t get to read those books, don’t worry because this book can stand on its own, but if you want to check them out, they are well worth the read and you can pick them up on KINDLE by clicking on the links above.

For those who did read Sudden Engagement, Ms. Miller does a fabulous job of continuity from that book on several fronts. First, Merle is still nursing his ‘crush’ on his partner Ginny which becomes an obstacle for his relationship with Kelsey. Second, he was injured at the end of Sudden Engagement, and the after effects of being shot are continued through this book with various mentions of the stiffness, etc. And lastly, Ginny and her husband Brett Taylor are now expecting a child which has put Ginny on bed rest leaving him open to be paired with Kelsey on the Holiday Hookers case in the first place. None of these things are intrusive on the current book, but as a reader, I find it nice to be able to catch up with some ‘old friends’.

Now that I’ve spent half the review talking about a previous book, let’s get into this one…

Merle is a cop. Kelsey is a psychic. If you’ve seen any TV police dramas, you know these are not a good combination and the cops I know would laugh in your face if you told them a psychic had information on a cold case murder they were working on. Either that or they’d place the psychic at the top of their suspect list. And that’s exactly what happens between Merle and Kelsey.

At first, all Kelsey can tell him was something happened somewhere and she felt it had to do with the Holiday Hooker murders. But with little more than that, Merle sends her packing with a pat on the head and a smile (not really but from the way he brushed aside her concerns, I’m sure it felt that way to Kelsey…lol). Of course, her bright red hair and eclectic clothes gave me an image of a female Ronald McDonald, which couldn’t have helped.

Undeterred, and knowing the ‘spirits’ won’t leave her alone until she solves what happened to them, Kelsey begins searching on her own. After letting a little bit of what Kelsey said sink in and realizing her clues where better than nothing, Merle follows. Unfortunately, he can’t do anything to stop her car from being stolen, although it does lead to a moment when I couldn’t help but think ‘if she’s really psychic, why didn’t she see her car being stolen?’ LOL. Ms. Miller doesn’t bring that up since she’d already expressed Kelsey’s ‘powers’ are not that kind but more of a feeling/impression she gets from touching things. Still someone had to say it. :)

Maybe if they’d found the car, she could have touched it and ‘seen’ the person stole it. Hehe. Though I must admit it was more fun having Kelsey reliant on Merle to get home and Merle having to ‘deal’ with her as instead of bemoaning the loss of her car, she goes to work volunteering at the homeless shelter across the street.

If this had been a Christian fiction story, I would have thought that the inclusion of the homeless shelter was a plot device to add some kind of Christian message to the story. But knowing Ms. Miller’s writing, I knew she’d be sharing some pretty important things connecting the shelter to the Holiday Hooker killings. Ms. Miller did not disappoint.

In addition to each of the murder victims having spent time at the shelter, Ms. Miller gives us not one but two potential suspects: the shelter director, who seems devoted to the homeless and the shelter but leaves the impression he’s hiding something, and the drunk doctor at the shelter who is more than a little peculiar. A third suspect turns out to be a cop whose beat includes the area around the shelter but seems a little too friendly with the low-lifes in the area. Or could the killer be the local pimp, Zero, upset that the murdered hookers were honing in on his girls’ territory?

Ms. Miller does an excellent job at leaving red herrings and keeps you guessing until the end. The suspense stays high throughout with Kelsey ending up in danger from practically every direction. The relationship between Kelsey and Merle develops so well from an adversarial friction to a passionate partnership that is just so beautiful, especially for two people seemingly so different from each other.

Partner-Protector is definitely another keeper from Ms. Miller and I can’t wait to be able to read the rest of this series. If you want to pick up a copy for yourself, check out AMAZON or visit Ms. Miller’s website at www.juliemiller.org for more information on newer releases what she’s working on, contests, and more.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more like a crime novel with a romance subplot than a romance novel with a crime plot, which I enjoy. I also really liked the paranormal aspect with a psychic who can see what murder victims saw. There were a lot of suspects in this one and it was interesting to see the way it all came together, how there were fragments of crime scene details with no solid evidence that morphed into a full picture. As far as the romance aspect goes, this is probably the least explicit steamy scene that I've ever seen in a romance novel.

I recommend this if you like a romance novel with an actual plot, and especially if you want to ease into romance novels.

[Bob Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderul

Good people and a good book, my wife Figure.
D it out way before I did period I sure hope there are more books in this series period Fun people and I sure enjoyed watching their relationship develop

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really great book.

This is a great suspends thriller book. You should check out this series of books. I think you would really appreciate it.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

I just finished reading this book and it was awesome from beginning to end! The characters are amazing and their chemistry is riveting!

[Alyssa Acula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable enough of a read but the quality of this work in terms of plot, romance, and suspense would have benefited more if this was a longer book. Especially liked the dynamic of skeptical cop paired with a psychic with strange quirks. Has a cozy mystery feel to it.

[Lhenry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this better than my 3 star rating suggests. I just got so annoyed right at the end when Kelsey has her vision, and then sneaks out of the precint alone to confront the bad buy. Of couse she had to because thats what the psychic heroine always does in this cliche but in this particular story it made even less sense than usual. Nevertheless it did set up the appropriate hero rescues heroine, which I always enjoy. Also enjoyed both characters and a few mild surprises in the plot.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75

This was a good start to a series. It was different than I thought it would be. Even though I had a pretty good idea of who the person to blame was from the beginning, it gave a great introduction to many people that could be blamed. Most importantly I enjoyed seeing the romance grow between T and Kelsey. Seeing how love conquers all of our preconceived thoughts or feelings about a person when we take the time to get to know them.

[hollyybel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this on either the 8th or the 10th of January (note to self, Laney: check the date), but had to start it again due to the fact I read something like 13% and then realized I'd taken none of it in. So I started again, and I'm really enjoying it at something like forty percent of the way through.

More to come...

[Kathy B. (NE) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a HUGE Julie Miller fan. I got a new Kindle this past week and downloaded this book. Couldn't put it down as is the norm with any Julie Miller book.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of its predictability, I enjoyed this book. I especially like how a lot of the characters from other books weave in and out of the story. It's nice to hear how they're doing.

[Suzy Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Taylor family series by this author. Glad to see some of the Taylors passing thru this series.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read July 2014.
Reread.

[Felix Rohrbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book, quickly read but still interesting enough...

[Midniteillusion · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/16/23 I really should reread this.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,75 stars

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really predictable villain.