Publisher: Forever
Where did you get the book: Review copy from publisher
Release date: Out now
He’s in for the fight of his life . . .
Army captain Trent Davila loved his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children. But when he almost lost his life in combat, something inside him died. He couldn’t explain the emptiness he felt or bridge the growing distance between him and his family—so he deployed again. And again. And again . . . until his marriage reached its breaking point. Now, with everything on the line, Trent has one last chance to prove to his wife that he can be the man she needs . . . if she’ll have him
. . . to win back his only love.
Laura is blindsided when Trent returns home. Time and again, he chose his men over his family, and she’s just beginning to put the pieces of her shattered heart back together. But when Trent faces a court martial on false charges, only Laura can save him. What begins as an act of kindness to protect his career inflames a desire she thought long buried—and a love that won’t be denied. But can she trust that this time he’s back to stay?
*blurb taken from Goodreads*
I’ve been waiting for Laura and Trent’s story for soooo long. Throughout the books in the series so far, Laura and Trent’s troubles have been lightly touched upon and this book broke my heart in places because once again, the author makes what Trent suffers seem so real. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve not seen an author that brings such an authenticity, to me at least, to military life than Jessica Scott.
The beginning of Back to You started off slow and I found at times that there was too much inner narration that lasted for long periods and became repetitive at times. Sometimes it felt there was a lot of telling and not enough showing of what Trent wanted to achieve and how much pain Laura felt. But after a while, the story really got going and I was hooked.
Laura and Trent made me sad at times because the two of them loved each other so much but each had personal hurdles to overcome so they could be together again. I could understand why Laura didn’t want to give into Trent despite knowing the hardship he was going through. To find out your husband kept deploying by his own choice was heartbreaking, and Laura had two children to think about and not just herself. But at the same time, I also sympathised with Trent because of his issues he had with the war, the death of his comrades, not being able to deal with his own guilt, and struggling to adapt to home life which had become the alien environment.
Trent trying to readapt to home life was heartbreaking and uplifting because he loved his kids but he didn’t know how to be around small children. I thought Jessica Scott did a marvelous job in showing Trent’s issues and showing how medication and therapy could help him. I loved the scenes with the escapee hamster which added some light humour to a very emotional book. It seemed as if Trent had everything to lose; his family and his honour and his career through the accusations levelled at him. Jessica Scott also touched upon military politics which were really insightful.
Importantly, throughout all this, Trent and Laura’s romance was quite intense and the tension was kept throughout the book. Laura soon realised that Trent had trouble confiding in her what had gone on with his life, and it went a lot deeper than she originally thought. Jessica Scott did a wonderful job in making both Trent and Laura relatable in terms of understanding where both of them were coming from with their issues.
All in all, I really enjoyed Back to You despite some of the issues I had with the start of the book. I loved that each character in the series has been so individual and we see glimpses of past characters. I’m really looking forward to the next book in the Coming Home series which will feature an active alcoholic hero.
I give Back to You a B.