Jessica Scott
After the War
Homefront Series – Book 2
5/5/2015
Blurb:
The second book in the emotional new Homefront series from USA Today Bestselling author Jessica Scott
A terrible loss…
Captain Sarah Anders lost her husband to the Iraq war and has nearly lost the career she loves. Sent to Fort Hood, she only wants to do her job and take care of the daughter she’s raising on her own. She never counted on running straight into a memory she’d tried to forget.
A love he never forgot…
Captain Sean Nichols never got over Sarah. He simply tried to forget her amidst the war and the chaos of combat. But when she’s assigned to investigate his unit, he comes face to face with the woman no war or any amount of time could make him forget.
A dark secret…
As Sarah gets closer to the truth, Sean must accept that actions he took during the war may end the tentative love building between them. And even if Sarah can forgive him, Sean may never be able to forgive himself.
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Excerpt:
“I’m sorry you have to go through this alone.”
“Thank you for saying that.” She blinked quickly, and she heard a rustle of blankets. Her mind detoured into a very unprofessional space. “Did you just get into bed?”
He laughed quietly. “Yeah. Are you?”
“Yeah.” There was something illicit in that simple agreement. Illicit and enticing all at once.
“So we’re in bed together?”
“Ha ha ha.” She cleared her throat, though, as a fresh heat traced over her skin, warm and needy. “Tell me more about Kearney.”
“Damn, and here I thought you were going to ask me what I was wearing to bed.”
She hesitated. Only for a moment, not giving herself time to talk herself out of her next words. “What are you wearing to bed?”
A silence that let her mind wander. “Sweats.” He paused. When he spoke, his voice was husky and thick. “Tell me what you’re wearing.”
“Yoga pants and a T-shirt,” she said softly, her cheeks turning hot. Was she really having this conversation?
“Sarah?”
“Yeah?”
“This doesn’t feel wrong to me. I just wanted you to know that.”
Michel’s Review
After The War by Jessica Scott is the second book in her new Homefront Series.
After The War is Jessica Scott’s best book to date. It was a powerful and emotional book that was obviously a very personal look into the person Jessica Scott is. Jessica poured a lot of herself into this novel and gave the readers a real look at the hardships of being a female officer, a mother, and a woman. The difficulties of combining a military career and family life are hard enough but add being a single parent to a pre schooler adds more to an already full plate. She also showed that even though one can be a soldier prepared for war that you are never prepared for the loss personally. The fears are very real. The devastation is even harder because no matter how the pieces fall you still have to soldier on. You still have to be a parent to your child.
Captain Sarah Anders has struggled and had adversity since she began her military career. She lost one man she loved because of her career. He could not accept her choice of being a soldier. He wanted a wife and children at home while he was pursuing his own career as a soldier. She lost her husband, the only man that accepted her choices and career, to the casualties of war. She gave birth to her daughter alone. She has spent the last five years trying to combine her career and be the best parent to her ability.
When she is fired from one position and sent to Fort Hood it is like a slap in the face for her endeavors in the Army. She is assigned to a senior officer that believes no single parent , especially a woman, should be in the Army. Her superior officer (although being a woman herself) is much harder on her female officers than she is on her male officers. Sarah is assigned to investigate a case of the arrests of two soldiers fighting in a local bar. It should be a cut and dry case but as the investigation begins to unfold there is much more buried below the surface. One the main problems is dealing with the soldiers commanding officer. That officer is the same man that could not accept her career choices and walked away. Now nine years later they are forced to work together.
A lot of changes can take place over nine years. Sarah is living proof of that. She is a mother and widow. She is an officer walking a fine line in her career because of Army politics and her home life.
Captain Sean Nichols has also changed. He was once an idealistic naive young soldier that thought he could change the world. He thought going to war would make a difference. War has a way of changing a man’s perspective on life and his view of the world. He may be a career warrior but he is also a compassionate man. He understands the nightmares and devastation that stays within a man’s soul after the war. He is trying to keep his men sane, focused, and prepared. Two of his soldiers are falling off course. It is more than homefront problems affecting these men. Something happened while they were on the front that is causing these men conflicts.
Sean never dreamed he would see Sarah again. He is shocked to find out she married soon after they broke it off. He was even more shocked that she was a mother. Then when he found out who her husband was, he was devastated. He witnessed her husband’s death. Now he wants a second chance to get to know Sarah once more. He has changed and respects her career. He also admires her sense of dedication to her young daughter. He wants another chance with Sarah.
Can Sarah put aside her fears, mistrusts, and resentments and give Sean another chance? Will she be able to hold onto her career and have a personal life? Can she still be a good parent and a good soldier at the same time? She thought she knew how to do it. Coming to Fort Hood has changed everything. It could be for the worse or it could be for the better. Sarah has tough choices to make. The one thing that seems most important is taking a second chance at love.
After The War was a powerful story of a strong woman surviving her losses, her career choices, and being the best person she can be.
I admire Jessica Scott for writing this story.
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About Jessica Scott:
USA Today Bestselling author Jessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she’s a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.
She’s also written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and has had the honor of serving as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice.
She’s pursuing a graduate degree in Sociology in her spare time and most recently, she’s been featured as one of Esquire Magazine’s Americans of the Year for 2012.
Find Jessica Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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