Review: A rating....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 8, 2012
My Review:Normally, I'm an action girl. I cannot stand to read books that move slow...they drive me bonkers because I want them to get to the good stuff already. When reading those types of books, I have been known to do lots of skimming. *ahem* I did NOT have that issue with this book, although I will admit that this book moves rather slow. But rather than skim it, I found myself savoring it. (BTW, I NEVER do that....I read and I read fast.) Something about this love story and the way that it was written simply touched me with its beauty.The history between the main characters in this book cover several years and you get glimpses of that history at the beginning, but the bulk of it takes place in a snowy lodge in Colorado. Yes, you read that right....this is a military book that takes place in the most picturesque (and probably my most favorite) settings ever. I probably don't even need to say it, but I LOVED that fact. I am a girl who can totally be won over by good ambience and this book has it!Claire and Evan are tough. They're career Army officers and have several war-time deployments each under their belts. They are in Colorado to help with the training of a company that's just about to deploy, but are completely not ready to go. Claire is mortified and thinks they need to do anything and everything to get these soldiers ready. Evan is ready to tow the Colonel's party line and follow his very ineffective plan for training. To say that Claire and Evan approach their jobs in different ways is putting it mildly. Evan does everything by the book. Claire does not.(An aside here... this book was so amazing at pointing out the issues that lie within the military when decisions are being based upon the politics, not the mission. In the story, the Colonel is trying to get his first star. At that level, sadly everything is about politics...NOT what's best for the soldiers on the ground. Jessica Scott does an AMAZING job at writing about that issue and as an active duty Army officer, she knows it better than most. I know how bad it got in the Air Force (my husband is a retired Lt. Col.). I can't imagine what it's like in the Army.)But back to the love story. I'll admit, I got completely swept away by the romance between these two. It grows incredibly slowly, but that makes it so much more when they get there. Just their first kisses in this book were so HOT and passionate. Wow...and it was just a kiss here or there for so long for them. I'm amazed at how well Jessica built up the passion...it truly was breathtaking. I fell in love with this book. I absolutely savored it.Not only is the story and the romance amazing, but everything about this book spoke to me. Both Claire and Evan have great back-stories which have really affected who they are and how they move in a relationship. It was also really interesting to see the inner-workings of the Army and the way that they train. I thought the side stories were effective and profound from Lt. Engle to Reza and found myself caring about them just as much as I did the romance story line.This was just a GOOD BOOK...flat-out. I highly recommend it.I received a complementary copy of this book in return for an honest review.