It's Always Been You. Jessica Scott.

It's Always Been You
Jessica Scott
Published: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Date: 4th March
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 304
Genre: Military romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

She plays by the rules . . .

Captain Ben Teague is many things: a tough soldier, a loyal friend, and a bona fide smart-ass. He doesn't have much tolerance for BS, which is why he's mad as hell when a trusted colleague and mentor is brought up on charges that can't possibly be true. He's even more frustrated with by-the-book lawyer Major Olivia Hale. But there's something simmering beneath her icy reserve--and Ben just can't resist turning up the heat . . .

and he's determined to break them.

The only thing riskier than mixing business with pleasure is enjoying it . .  and Olivia can't resist locking horns--and lips--with Ben. He's got more compassion in his little finger than any commander she's ever met, a fact that makes him a better leader than he realizes. But when the case that brought them together awakens demons from Olivia's past, she will have to choose between following orders--or her heart . . .

It's Always Been You is #5 in the Coming Home series by Jessica Scott.  I have read these in rather quick succession, and as I picked up this one, I wondered had I read myself out of these books. However I was rapidly engaged by the story involving Ben Teague and Olivia Hale.

Ben is asked to take command of a company, up until now he has avoided taking responsibility. He doesn't care for 'playing the game' to climb the ladder.  Nor does he care for much of the leadership that he has witnessed, where power and the rule of the army is paramount.  Yet can Ben model a different type of leadership - one where care for his men takes priority, where doing the right thing for them rather than the law of the army thing can work?  If he takes on the role of leadership can he make a difference  for the men who have fought and returned wounded in mind and heart and are about to be discarded from the army?  Through some serious challenges, and shouldering the responsibility and weight of leadership Ben is able to answer his questions.  He has an interesting sergeant, Soren, who turns out to be someone that Ben is able to go toe to toe with and shoulder to shoulder with.

Olivia is the lawyer for the company Ben is in, and so needs to work closely with him.  She has her own secrets, scars and fears from her past that haunt her to this present day and the work she is involved in.  When one of Ben's company are in trouble is it her intuition that is right or is it Ben's loyalty and trust that is right?  It was a mystery that I was not sure how it was going to turn out. Who would be right? Was one of them making a mistake that would impact on a whole family? This part of the story kept me reading, the final answer made sense, yet was heartbreaking.  

There is plenty of sizzle and passion between Olivia and Ben - great love story, and I enjoyed that very much.  Another excellent story in the Coming Home series.  

All For You. Jessica Scott

All For You
Jessica Scott
Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Date: February 14th 2014
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 307
Genre: Contemporary Military
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Stay sober. Get deployed. Lead his platoon. Those are the only things that matter to Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli. What he wants is for everyone to stay out of his way; what he gets is Captain Emily Lindberg telling him how to deal with his men. Fort Hood's newest shrink is smart as a whip and sexy as hell. She's also full of questions—about the army, its soldiers, and the agony etched on Reza's body and soul.

Emily has devoted her life to giving soldiers the care they need—and deserve. Little does she know that means facing down the fierce wall of muscle that is Sergeant Iaconelli like it's just another day at the office. When Reza agrees to help her understand what makes a soldier tick, she's thrilled. Too bad it doesn't help her unravel the sexy warrior in front of her who stokes her desire and touches a part of her she thought long dead. He's the man who thinks combat is the only escape from the demons that haunt him. The man who needs her most of all . . .

This is #4 in the Coming Home series of military romances by Jessica Scott.  It is an excellent series giving insight into military life for those involved in modern warfare.  All For You carries on in the vein of the previous three and to my mind even goes a step further.  Jessica Scott is a career army officer, she writes about what she knows.

In some ways I don't believe the cover really portrays the kind of book this is.  There is a bloody, dusty, sweaty reality to this book that the cover does not in any way indicate.  The models are too clean - they need to look like the amazing characters that Jessica Scott writes into her Coming Home books.

Reza is a complicated man, a man full of character - although he doesn't see it himself.  He shows integrity, raw loyalty and care in the dealings with his soldiers.  He has made some errors in judgement and he beats himself up about this.  Plus he battles an addiction that points to an underlying vulnerability in this tough soldier.

Emily is reasonably new to the army and doesn't have much background experience in terms of life in the face of enemy attack.  However as she deals with the soldiers and Reza inducts her into some aspects of army life she gains in knowledge and some real life experience.  She also knows when to break rules and stand by Reza.

The book itself explores a really difficult issue of suicide.  Men who have come back from the war, have served a number of deployments, and then they crack from the pressure of indelible memories and lost comrades.  How long does it take them to receive the help they need?  Do they even receive it?  What about those who haven't even been on deployment but show signs of pressure that are heading towards breaking point? How are they viewed?  

The army is an organisation and as such has its inspired leaders and great soldiers.  Unfortunately like all organisations it has its bullies, ineffectual leaders and struggling members.  I can only thank Jessica Scott for the realism that she brings to this book, the compassion it awakens in my heart for soldiers - and the way it calls me to look at those around me and as she says at the end of her book...

If you know anyone who is hurting, if you suspect someone is having a hard time, ask them.  Don't be afraid. Speak up.  Ask the question.  Because you never know what someone else is going through.

Coming Home series

1.    Because of You

1.5. Anything for You 

2     Until There Was You

2.5  I'll Be Home for Christmas

3     Back to You

4     All For You 

5.    Its Always Been You

Back to You by Jessica Scott. Review

Back to You  (Coming Home #3)
Jessica Scott
Published:
Date: January 2014
Format:
Pages:
Genre: Military Romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Army captain Trent Davila loved his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children. But when he almost lost his life in combat, something inside him died. He couldn't explain the emptiness he felt or bridge the growing distance between him and his family—so he deployed again. And again. And again . . . until his marriage reached its breaking point. Now, with everything on the line, Trent has one last chance to prove to his wife that he can be the man she needs . . . if she'll have him.

Laura is blindsided when Trent returns home. Time and again, he chose his men over his family, and she's just beginning to put the pieces of her shattered heart back together. But when Trent faces a court martial on false charges, only Laura can save him. What begins as an act of kindness to protect his career inflames a desire she thought long buried—and a love that won't be denied. But can she trust that this time he's back to stay?

My thoughts
In this book we are given the story of Trent and Laura.  The reader has heard snippets about them from other characters points of view.  Now we receive a deeper look into what is going on in their lives and marriage.  As well we catch up with earlier characters and have a peek into what is happening for them.

Trent has gone through a number of deployments, many of them chosen, to avoid the life at home. The war zones he has been in have a huge impact on him.  He has almost died, seen others die, missed important events in his family's life.  He has become a master at stuffing down all his emotions.  He is under threat of a court martial - and he is sharing nothing with his wife Laura.  He has given his all to defending his country and the institutional army has let him down.

Laura has worked on base as a liaison between the army and relatives of army personnel.  She has raised two children, managed on a pittance of a salary, loved her husband but found she has been left more and more in the dark.  She has been hurt by her husband as with his remoteness he has left her isolated and worried.  She believes it is time to end their marriage.  Both Trent and Laura are drained.

I have never been to war or had relatives go to war.  My grandfather fought in World War 1, and he was a taciturn man who was most definitely impacted by Gallipoli and other places.  This book gives insight into what men and women fighting in our wars today must experience.  Physical, mental and emotional  challenges that those who haven't been involved in war will never know. This book in some small way helps to bridge that gap as it shows the strain on the soldier and  their family.

I liked the way the author showed the good, the bad and the ugly side of the army as an institution. I liked the way modern medicine and the role of mental health workers was portrayed.  Most of all I liked the way Jessica Scott showed me the deep well of courage that returning soldiers must dig into to gather up the pieces of their lives. I appreciated the way she portrayed their wives and families.

1.    Because of You

1.5. Anything for You 

2     Until There Was You

2.5  I'll Be Home for Christmas

3     Back to You 

Review. Because of You by Jessica Scott

Because of You
Jessica Scott
Published: Loveswept. November 2011
Format: eBook - Kindle
Pages: 262
Genre: Contemporary military romance
Source: own book

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again—until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.

Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels—for the first time in a long time—like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty—it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected—her deepest desire.

My thoughts.
I have seen this author mentioned around the blogosphere, and wondered what it might be like to read her.  I picked out a book on NetGalley of hers, then went into panic when I realised it was part of a series, thanks to a reader on Goodreads.  So I quickly began to read this one - found I had already bought it anyway.  ( I really have no idea what I have on my Kindle until I go to buy and Amazon tells me I bought it on such a date!)

Well I wasn't very long into this book when I fell in love with the characters and the whole plot line.  Jessica Scott has had a lot of military experience and so her writing reflects that.  I loved Shane and Jen and their friends.

Its not a long read - I was disappointed when I came to the end, one of those Kindle ebooks that fool you, you think you have 40% to go, but its a trailer for some other book

Anything for You is a short follow up to Because of You, just 46 pages and it takes up the story of Jen and Shane one year later.  This book could really be a final chapter in Because of You, but it shows Jen and Shane having a difficult relationship hiccup that of course Shane botches!

It is a short novella and I enjoyed it.  I am on to the next novella in this series.
And then I will be caught up enough to read the one from NetGalley.

I was rather interested to find out a little more about Jessica Scott and I enjoyed this short video interview.