Publisher: Forever
Publishing Date: November 5th
How I got this book: Netgalley
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
There’s nothing in the world Army Sergeant Vic Carponti loves more than his wife and his country. Smart-mouthed and easy tempered, he takes everything as a joke . . . except his promise to come home to his wife, Nicole, for Christmas. As he prepares to leave for his latest deployment into Iraq, Vic will do everything he can to shield his beautiful, supportive wife from the realities of war . . . and from his own darkest fears.
As a career army wife, Nicole Carponti knows just what to expect from her husband’s tour of duty: loneliness, relentless worry, and a seemingly endless countdown until the moment Vic walks through the door again. But when the unthinkable happens, Nicole and Vic’s bond is tested like never before and changes everything they believe to be true about the power of love and the simple beauty of being home for the holidays.
*blurb taken from Netgalley*
When I received this request, I was excited because I loved the first book in the series, Because of You. I’ll Be Home For Christmas is a novella about a secondary character from the first book. Vic Carponti is a jokester. He’s forever making jokes and playing pranks. It gets him in trouble with his superiors but his platoon loves him, and he has a great friendship with his Sergeant First Class, Shane Garrison, and his commanding officer, Army Captain Trent Davila. The three of them are all deployed, and despite Vic’s antics, they both cover for him and get him out of trouble. But Garrison is severely injured in an attack, and Vic is left on his own to help carry the morale of his platoon. Amongst all of this, Vic is missing his wife, Nicole.
Nicole and Vic have been married for six years, and she’s used to her husband deploying overseas. Whilst she has become used to him being gone for long stretches of time, this time it feels different. Despite her husband’s wicked sense of humour, they both are struggling to hide their emotions for this deployment.
I enjoyed this Christmas novella and have I mentioned before I love the marriage trope? Vic and Nicole are great, fun characters. The author, who serves in the military, brings an authentication of military life into her writing that many authors simply don’t have or can re-create. Most of the novella is concentrated in Vic’s life in Iraq, and how Nic copes on her own back in the USA. They both chat via Skype, and Vic is not beyond bribing the younger soldiers for some one-on-one time with Nicole. Despite Nic and Vic being apart for most of the novella, there was always a closeness and connection between them. They were always thinking of each other, and while at times I wanted more instant romance, I appreciated the fact that the author kept it real and authentic. We see glimpses of Nic trying to cope without her husband and working as a military police officer.
We see the lead-up to Vic’s injury that occurred in Because of You. My only negative of this novella is that I felt the story stopped at the wrong place. Something else occurs with Vic in Because of You and I would have liked the story to have continued because of what Vic attempted. But I loved the ending with the undying love these two share with one another.
We see glimpses again of Trent and Laura, and I’m really looking forward to their book and finding out why Trent has pushed his wife away for so many years.
This was an engaging read, and I look forward to reading future novels of Jessica Scott about these brave men and women.
I give I’ll Be Home for Christmas a B.
So this occurs before Because of You? Interesting. I really enjoyed BoY, especially Vic. Surprised this is a prequel. When I saw this was Vic’s book, I was hoping it would take place after BoY and we would see how he was doing.
@pwminmi:
Yup! It’s the build-up to what happens in BOY. I just wish the novella covered the big event but then that my have gone past the novella word count.
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