Celebrate

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY !

Happy Birthday, USA!  Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays because it usually means a gathering a friends and family to eat great food, share great company, see a terrific fireworks show and celebrate the blessings and freedoms that come with being an American.  Thank you to our forefathers who made today possible.

~Julie Miller

It took courage and a lot of guts that day. Not only to create a document that's withstood the test of time, but to sign. Creating a new country. Leaving the familiar. Knowing they'd be killed for treason if they lost...  Heroes.  Thanks to our forefathers for giving us the opportunity to make our dreams --and theirs-- a reality !

~Angi Morgan

Happy Independence Day!  This is my favorite holiday of the year-I love summer and BBQ’s and neighborhood block parties and patriotic songs and fireworks.  

To celebrate this glorious day, I have a trivia question for you.  What English philosopher and writer influenced the Founding Fathers and wrote that man had a natural right to life, liberty, and property?

~Carol Ericson

HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY, EVERYONE.

Old vs. New

I'll keep things short & sweet today, as I'm finishing up a deadline (the last Precinct: Task Force book is almost done!)  But rest assured, I'll stop by to answer questions/comments and chat.  And, I'll have a book to give away... because it's just fun to do nice things for readers who read my books!  Or, to introduce someone new to my books.

Okay, here goes...
Starting in August, Intrigue will be featuring newly redesigned covers.  (In fact, Harlequin is redesigning all their covers this year--adding a few new lines to the new look each month)  Here are my current release, ASSUMED IDENTITY, with the current look, and my September book, TASK FORCE BRIDE, with the new design.  What do you think?  Like one better than the other?  Like elements of one that you'd combine with elements of the other one?  Would you'd like to see something completely different?  Which style better says romantic suspense or says Harlequin to you?  What are some of your favorite covers?  Or does the cover design make any difference to you?

June 2013

September 2013

So let's talk cover art.  I'll give away a book to one lucky poster.  I'll post the winner tomorrow, so please check back then, too.  (The prize can be winner's choice--a backlist title or a copy of ASSUMED IDENTITY--ebook, if available, or print)

Happy Reading,
Julie Miller
www.juliemiller.org

Happier Endings

Available Now

Did you ever wish you could have more of a certain story?  Well, here's one chance to read more of a book.  In honor of Intrigue month, I'm sharing a free bonus epilogue scene with readers from my March Intrigue, TACTICAL ADVANTAGE.  When I first wrote this story (maybe I was subconsciously writing a new single title novel?), it ran a bit long for Intrigue and my editor asked me to cut about 20 pages.  In other words, there was more to the story than what made it into the final published book.  I tightened some of the book, but a few of the snippets and scenes I dearly loved just had to be cut.  They didn't affect the main mystery or relationship, so for the many of you who have already read TACTICAL ADVANTAGE, don't worry that you may have missed something important.  I didn't cut anything pertinent to solving the mystery of the Rose Red Rapist and the Cleaner.  But, like most of you, I love a good happily ever after.  And, while those intense 48+ hours between Detective Nick Fensom and CSI Annie Hermann ended on an appropriately exciting moment, I thought some of you might appreciate a lengthier version of Nick & Annie's happily-ever-after.

So here it is... the original epilogue I wrote for TACTICAL ADVANTAGE.  It starts here and finishes on my website at www.juliemiller.org.  Enjoy the enriched ending... and explore my website to find an excerpt from my June Intrigue, ASSUMED IDENTITY, a Book GiveAway contest to enter, my monthly newsletter and much more. 

TACTICAL ADVANTAGE

(Excerpt)

By

Julie Miller

©2013

Epilogue

1 1/2 months later

            “Reitzie.”  Annie lifted the lazy Siamese from the domino tumble of picture frames on the mantel where he was lounging while Nick carried up their overnight bags from their weekend getaway to St. Louis.  She set the cat on the floor and shooed him off to find where his counterpart, G.B., was hiding.

            In between unbuttoning her coat and untying the pink scarf that Grandma Connie had knit for her, she straightened one beloved picture after another.  When she reached the mutilated photo from the Baseball Hall of Fame, she smiled.  Without feeling one pang of regret, she opened up her paisley messenger bag and pulled out one of the souvenir post cards she’d bought on their trip and quickly swapped out the old picture for the new one.  She crumpled the memory of her ex-fiancé in her fist and tossed it into the trash.

            “There.”  Annie was admiring the new picture of Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the new memory it represented, when Nick came in.  He locked the door behind him and hung up their coats.  She pulled the new picture on the mantel to a more prominent position.  “That’s better.”

            Nick came up behind her to wind an arm around her waist and doff a salute to the statue of Stan ‘the Man’ Musial.  “Much better.  Maybe Stan and your dad are up in heaven playing some catch right now.”

            Feeling a pang of melancholy, Annie leaned back against his solid warmth, and found even more comfort when he slipped the other arm around her as well, and pressed a kiss against her cheek.  The sadness quickly passed and she folded her hands over his, soaking in all the miraculous changes in her life since that fateful New Year’s Eve.

            She had a reason to celebrate the holidays now…

Read the rest of the story at <http://www.juliemiller.org/contests_&_fun.htm#BonusExcerpt> 

Available May 21, 2013

Oh, and because I'm so excited to share my latest Beauty & the Beast romantic suspense, ASSUMED IDENTITY, I'll give away a copy here to one lucky poster.  Beauty & the Beast is my all-time favorite romantic storyline--what's yours?  (cowboys, men in uniform, amnesia, secret baby, friends becoming lovers, enemies becoming lovers, whatever)  I'll stop by through the day to chat, and ask my dog Maggie to pick a winner from all the comments and post it tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Julie Miller