RITA Reader Challenge Review

APB: Baby by Julie Miller

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by Jenica H. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Short Contemporary Romance category.

The summary:

USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Miller’s new series launches with a lawman and social worker who team up to safeguard a baby

After a near-fatal shootout at his sister’s wedding, third-generation lawman Niall Watson comes home to a baby in distress. The abandoned newborn in his neighbor’s apartment sends the Kansas City PD criminologist into rescue mode once again.

Social worker Lucy McKane will do whatever it takes to protect the infant boy entrusted to her care. The tall, sexy ME next door may be clueless about her feelings for him, but Niall’s the only one who can keep them safe. As a vengeful killer targets them, desire draws Lucy and Niall dangerously closer. Together, can they find justice and safeguard their newly created family?

Here is Jenica H.'s review:

APB: Baby, the first of Julie Miller’s new The Precinct: Bachelors in Blue series, is a romantic suspense novel that sets up not one, but two mysteries. The book opens at Olivia Watson’s wedding. Olivia is the youngest of the four Watson siblings and Dr. Niall Watson has been put in charge of keeping his other brothers Duff and Keir in line during the wedding. Once the vows are made, there’s a shooting that weirdly only results in Samuel (the grandfather) being shot. Niall’s had a long and stressful day and when he gets home from the hospital, he’s annoyed to find that there’s now a baby somewhere on his floor who won’t stop crying. Eventually, he sets off to investigate (he’s a medical examiner for Kansas City P.D.) and discovers that someone broke into his pretty neighbor Lucy’s apartment. Once inside, he finds a baby.

When Lucy returns, she is startled, scared, and extremely worried about her former foster daughter, Diana. The appearance of the baby, whom Niall and his dad have nicknamed Tommy, is unexpected and she knows something is wrong with Diana. The rest of the novel deals with Lucy and Niall trying to find Diana, and also trying to prevent Lucy from being killed by the people with whom Diana is entangled. And, obviously, Lucy and Niall have to deal with their feelings and come together for the sake of Tommy and themselves.

Personally, I really enjoyed this book. It is a fun and quick read (nominated in the Short Contemporary category!) that is well-written and engaging. Niall and Lucy are a fun couple to watch evolve because Niall is much more logical and scientific, while Lucy (a social worker) is more intuitive and attuned to emotional reactions. The characters definitely adhered to some serious gender norms, but I appreciated that it felt authentic. Niall isn’t a hyper-masculine male, but he definitely has that overprotective alpha thing going, though thankfully he doesn’t snap at Lucy for breathing in the face of danger. Also, his worry felt merited by the events of the book, so that helped it stay within the bounds of respectability. Lucy, meanwhile, is a social worker who loves children, but can’t have her own because of Tragic Backstory.™ She’s extremely empathetic and very worried about Diana, but Miller does a great job of always keeping her reactions grounded in the events that are happening around her, which prevents Lucy from becoming a caricature.

I had a few pet peeves about this book though, which I’m a little worried about because Lord of Scoundrels (which I just finished last night) maxed out my emotional patience and toleration for characters who refuse to acknowledge what is in front of them and insist on assigning bad motivation to their romantic interest’s advances. I know, I know, this is a realistic and reasonable response to having a pretty messed up back story (and Lucy does have a pretty messed up history), but for heaven’s sake. I just felt like they could have been happier for a longer period of time (and maybe had sex more than once) if they would have gotten it together sooner. Also, despite saying this, the emotional barriers never get particularly angsty, which was an interesting juxtaposition. (Which also made me realize that maybe I like my angst more than I thought I did. Who knew?)

I also just alluded to my other pet peeve, which is that they only had sex once in the whole novel. Now listen, I get it. You’re working a case and people are trying to kill you and also a baby, but for heaven’s sake. Like four kisses and one sex scene are wildly insufficient for me. If, on the other hand, you like your books to be on the less sexy side, this one might be perfect for you because even the one sex scene was pretty tame.

Oh boy, I guess it’s grade time. I would give APB: Baby a solid B. It was an enjoyable read, but I don’t foresee it being one that sticks with me for significant period of time. That said, if you like romantic suspense, with an emphasis on the mystery over the romance, I think this book combines the genres quite well.

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APB: Baby by Julie Miller

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  1. DonnaMarie says:

    Thank you for this: Tragic Backstory.™ . Wonderful! Nice review and you learned something about yourself, so wins all over the place.

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