Review: Until There Was You by Jessica Scott

Book Description

From the author of Because of You comes an all-new contemporary eBook romance. Though he plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them. Now these two strong-willed military leaders will prove that opposites attract . . . even under fire.

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. Since that brief lapse in judgment, Evan has been at odds with her. But when he is asked to train a combat team alongside Claire, battle-hardened Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to achieve her high military rank. In Evan Loehr, Claire sees a spoiled commander who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. Army orders force them together and Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. He too has dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other.
(Description from Goodreads)

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Military Romance

Series: Coming Home #2
Does the series need to be read in order? No

Quick Synopsis

Evan follows the rules; Claire doesn't. They argue a lot and lust after each other a lot, all while trying to ready other soldiers for deployment. They also deal with their friend and fellow soldier, Reza, being a raging alcoholic.

Review

Liked
• I enjoyed the glimpse of military life from a woman's perspective. I wanted to see more of it.
• Claire's friendship with Reza was solid and interesting. I also liked her changing interactions with Engle. At first Claire wants nothing to do with Engle but their relationship evolves as Engle tries to step up to the plate and get her unit ready in time for deployment.

Liked Less
• So much lusting. It all started with insta-lust and would not die. I'm ok with lusting, really. I do expect it in my romance novels, but there was way too much in this book. It actually interrupted good conversations and plot developments and made me roll my eyes.
• The hero and heroine were very one-dimensional. We get told that Claire is some kind of maverick who breaks the rules all the time and Evan is the rule follower. We get told that they discovered this about each other when they were deployed. Then the lusting and arguing start. It feels like I got dropped right into the middle of something with no preparation. I wanted more backstory about their interactions when they were deployed. I wanted more actual interaction instead of lust, lust, lust. I also wanted to know more about Claire's damage than just "oh, everybody leaves me so I can't connect." I was the one who couldn't connect.
• The sexy scenes were ok but there were too many in a row with too little plot development between them toward the end of the book. I found myself skimming.

Rating

Page of Swords
Has some good points that are unfortunately overwhelmed by bad points/flaws.

Disclosure: I won an ARC of this book in a contest. My opinions are, as always, 100% my own.

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