Review – Until There Was You by Jessica Scott

Publisher: Loveswept
Publish Date:
How I got this book: eARC from author

He plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them. Now these two strong-willed army captains will prove that opposites attract . . .

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain 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. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye.

He’s more than the rank on his chest; he’s a man with dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other.
*Blurb from Goodreads*

After reading and falling in love with Scott’s debut novel, Because of You, I was anxious to get my hands on the next book in her series. While I’m still in awe of Scott’s ability to keep the military world so realistic, I found that this book didn’t touch me as much as the last.

Claire is an enlisted-turned-officer who has the ability to see the Army she loves from both ends of the spectrum. She has always been a bit of a rule breaker, and that reputation has followed her from day one. When she first meets Evan, the stuck up fellow office she calls “Captain America”, she is both annoyed and intrigued by the man who refuses to break any rule.

Evan might be controlled and a by-the-book kind of guy now, but the secrets of his past made him that way. And while Claire only seems to see him as a stick in the mud, Evan knows that when push comes to shove, he is willing to make some hard choices. When they get stuck working together day in and day out, Evan is drawn to Claire in ways he never imagined, and the two form an unlikely bond. But will it be enough to keep them together through the rough times ahead?

I don’t really know much about the Army and how the daily operations work, but I have to admit that Scott did an amazing job showcasing the trials and tribulations of training. She has such an incredible way of drawing the reader into the military way of life. I’m always amazed when authors can paint a picture that shows both the positive and negative aspects of something – in this case the military’s plans for preparing our troops. I was disappointed and worried and excited throughout the book, just waiting to see what would happen next.

In regards to the romance, I had a little harder time getting into this one. I’m not sure why, but I had a hard time relating to both Claire and Evan for the first few chapters of the book. I’m not sure if it was because the story seemed to be really choppy and broken up in the first few chapters or what…. But I just really struggled with finding reasons to like them both as characters, and even more so when it came to them as a couple. However, as more of their histories and backstories came out, I was able to get more invested in them as both individuals and as a couple.

I did have a harder time relating to Claire. Evan had a very clear and defining moment in his past that really solidified who he would become as an adult. As we discovered more and more about him, he became so much more realistic to me. I felt for him, I hurt for him, and I wanted him to be happy. However, Claire was a lot more aloof with her character. When I closed the book, I still didn’t feel as if I really knew her. She held herself back from everyone, and although she did eventually open up to Evan in the end, it didn’t feel all that genuine to me.

All in all I wasn’t nearly as excited about the second book in the Coming Home series. while I enjoy Scott’s writing ability and will continue to read her books in the future, there was something about Claire and Evan as hero and heroine that just didn’t work for me. Their romance was slow to build and then seemed to become very serious out of nowhere, and as individuals they didn’t grow on me as much as I had expected them to.
I give Until There Was You a C

Kindle