Saturday October 13

Jessica Scott’s Until There Was You: A Story of Love and War

By Pat Fordyce

Jessica Scott has written a powerful novel about love and war in Until There Was You. Hero Evan Loehr is a West Point graduate and a by-the-book type of leader, which has earned him a comic-book hero's nickname, "Captain America," a name he seriously dislikes. As are all romantic heroes, Evan is scarred -- not only physically from his deployments in the Iraq war, but also in his heart from a teenage mistake that has changed his life.

The story begins in 2004, at a bar chosen for a military gathering where our hero and heroine meet for the first time. Claire Montoya is a striking redhead who immediately catches Evan's eye. Both are Army captains and every bit each other's equal. They are introduced to one another by Claire's friend, Sergeant First Class, Reza Iaconelli. As the evening progresses, Evan and Claire have a great time getting to know one another, and just as their fun dialogue begins the evening ends -- but not without Evan having the opportunity to steal a very hot kiss. The kiss affects them both, making Claire and Evan realize the chemistry they share. But with military careers on the line they both agree this is the furthest their relationship can go.

Four years later, on a frigid mountainside in Colorado, Evan and Claire meet again as they are both assigned to a very important training mission to prepare new troops for deployment. During the last four years they had seen each other in passing on various deployments and had just enough interaction for Evan to consider Claire "wildfire out of control." Claire is a disciplined soldier, but she also does what she thinks is right, which may not always follow the book and which is probably why she still refers to Evan as “Captain America.”

Until There Was You gives us insight into the lives of our men and women in the military. They are heroes but also real people with conflicts and secrets of their own. They must follow rules they sometimes disagree with but they are disciplined professionals knowing that it is all part of the job. Scott gives us the ability to see through the characters' eyes, to see the difficulty our military faces, first to adjust to being deployed, and then to adjust to being home again. Readers will meet a widowed soldier who lost her husband in the Iraq war, who must now leave her child to honor her military obligations, and she does it without question and with great pride.

Until There Was You is about "Duty, Honor, Country," but especially about Evan and Claire learning from their mistakes, putting their mistakes behind them, and moving forward -- together. Oh, there are some HOT sex scenes too!