BECAUSE OF YOU by Jessica Scott-a review

BECAUSE OF YOU by Jessica Scott

BECAUSE OF YOU (A Coming Home Novel, November 2011) one of Loveswept’s first original e-book publication in over a decade and is a debut novel for Contemporary Military Romance writer Jessica Scott. She introduces Shane Garrison and Jen St. James as they learn to accept and deal with life’s hardships and a choice to take a chance at love again.

A nurse and a breast cancer survivor, Jen St. James, perceive herself as broken, flawed and damaged. Surviving breast cancer should be something to celebrate about, but the scars it left behind only made her emotionally depressed and physically insecure. Thanks to a bastard of an ex-boyfriend who embarrassed her in a bar crowd two years before, she has avoided social outings; until the night her best friend, Laura Davila, succeeded in having her to go out again and simply have fun. It was the night she met Shane Garrison. A night he made her feel beautiful and, for the first time since she recovered from her surgery, like a whole woman again.

Infantry Platoon Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison is very passionate about his job and takes great responsibility for his soldiers. It matters a lot that he keeps his soldiers from harm and safely delivers them back to the loving arms of their family. Only a few months into his latest deployment running combat patrols, however, a bombing incident caused him severe injuries that he was mandated he’d be returned back to the United States for an intensive treatment and to recover. Surprisingly, the woman he met at the bar the night before his last deployment, a night he made a connection with, that night had given him a reason for coming home, Jen St. James, was assigned to be his nurse.

Shane had a difficult time accepting the extent of his war injuries. Being rendered immobile only made him furiously angry for he can’t be in Iraq alongside his men. Angry too, because he could not even help those of his wounded soldiers who were affected physically and emotionally from further harming themselves. Most of all, he resents that he finds himself weak, useless and helpless.
Jen fully understood Shane’s depression. She also remembers who stood by her and held her hand at her weakest moments. Now she is determined to do the same for Shane. He maybe a stubborn patient, but Jen is compassionate, tolerant, and persistent enough to get him to understand that in time, he will heal and he could still be able to make a difference to the lives of the people he cares about.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading BECAUSE OF YOU. The gradual build of the romance between Shane and Jen I thought was sweet and tender. I am also glad that Ms. Scott did not leave out the importance of friendship for the support in the process of overcoming a life changing illness. For one, Jen had Laura, a significant character throughout Jen’s recovery with breast cancer. For another, Shane had Captain Trent Davila and Sergeant Vic Carponti, a well-liked guy but a major thorn to Shane’s side. It was quite funny actuallyJ. Vic lost his arm the same day Shane was wounded, but even a lost limb did not change his annoying, sarcastic and cheerful personality. Vic’s an optimistic, he perceives his injury as a second chance in life and that was an important example for Shane…Though he must be willing to accept that fact.
Furthermore, the latest deployment is already affecting Trent and Laura’s marriage. Now that Trent is back home for a short time, I wonder what he’ll do to save it.

Loveswept’s debut author, Jessica Scott, is an active duty Army officer. She is a Company Commander in charge of over a hundred soldiers with a loving husband and two well-adjusted daughters. Her second novel in the Coming Home series, UNTIL THERE WAS YOU (Evan & Claire’s story) is scheduled to be released October 2012. And a short novella of Trent and Laura’s story, BACK TO YOU, will be released sometime in the spring of 2013.

I do believe that if the Company Commander is not aiming her deadly weapons at a target, she is definitely firing away on her other creative weapon giving her readers a pleasurable and delightful read.

LINKS TO ORDER
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B & N Nook
KOBO

Copy supplied by author

Reviewed by Neni