Review: Until There Was You by Jessica Scott - 3.5 Wine Glasses!

Until There Was You
Coming Home Series #2
by Jessica Scott
Kindle Edition, 230 pages
Published October 8th 2012 by A Loveswept Contemporary Military Romance
Courtesy of Author

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.

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Crystal L's Thoughts:

Favorite Line: "I like coming home to you. I like knowing you're there, even if you're better at blowing shit up than you are at cooking chicken." "That's not fair. I followed the instructions," she said, her voice breaking.


Evan Loehr is a by-the-book Captain. A West Point graduate. The Army is his life and he's not interested in bending or breaking rules to jeopardize the one good thing he's got going for himself. In comes Claire Montoya. She's a loud, ballsy Captain who grates on Evan's last nerves. Over the years, as they occasionally come in contact to work together on missions, he watches Montoya and can't help but think that it's a waste that the feisty redheaded woman won't settle down and start to mature as on Officer. 

When they meet up again for a training mission in Colorado, Evan sees things about Claire that he's not seen before. Her caring and compassion for the soldiers she cares for. There's just one huge problem she's yet to learn, and that's following orders and not breaking the rules. This glaring problem doesn't keep Evan from starting to fall for Claire though, even as he discovers that she's got deep seated emotional pain to rival his own. Will Evan be able to get through to the stubborn Claire? Or will Claire keep him at arms length in fear of being hurt once again?

This is the first Jessica Scott book I've read. I was surprised at the vast amount of military terminology. After I looked her up and read that she's currently serving as an Army Career Officer, it made a bit more sense to me as to why there was so much military terminology. Not that I'm complaining about it. I was just surprised, and wondered if readers who were not familiar with the military would understand some of the things being said. I'm an Army brat, and have lived around bases or military individuals for a good deal of my life, so I was somewhat in the know. Terminology aside, Scott wrote two very strong, stubborn characters. The story was well written, and the plot line moved smoothly.  There was a lack of connection for me with the characters, and that is the sole reason of why this book did not get a higher rating.  So, it's a three and a half wine glass toast to Ms. Scott's Until There Was You, and I will be following any subsequent books she writes after this to see what happens with the secondary character Reza.

Rating: 3.5 Wine Glasses