Review: Carponti and Nicole- I Laughed, Nearly Cried and Definitely Loved it.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 5, 2013
Like many others in the Coming Home series fan club, I have wanted Carponti's book from almost the first moment I met him in Shane's book and Jessica Scott delivered. Thank you kindly, ma'am!She delivered in more ways than one. Not only did I get to sit inside Vic and Nicole's minds to get to know them better, I got to see a bit more into the beginnings for Shane and Jen, the unraveling of Trent and Laura and further details of that big missing equipment issue that will come with Trent's story.The story is told as a parallel to the first book just all from Vic and Nicole's viewpoint. It's the night before deployment and Vic senses that there is something really off about this one. He's gone before as have his fellow soldiers, but everyone's feeling the tension in this one. The wives are even sensing there will be trouble. Vic doesn't like to see his wife or his friends looking upset. He might not be able to take away the situation, but he does have a gift for lightening the load with his mouthy, fun-loving prankster personality. Oh yeah, he gets his job done and he can be depended on, but that doesn't stop him from working to make them all laugh as he laughs though on the inside he's barely holding it together. His wife needs him back for Christmas and he'll do what he can even if he's stuck between a rock and a hard place.Nicole senses something off about everything and everybody having to do with this deployment. She's a military cop and her intuition tells her there's trouble. She watches the start of a relationship bloom for one of her friends and she sees another relationship falling apart even as she tries to hold together her own beautiful thing with her soldier husband. He makes her laugh and she loves him beyond anything, but she needs him home so she doesn't have to face her dad's death and the holidays alone. The distance between them isn't just in the miles, but can she hold it together long enough to bridge that distance when the time comes?Because this one came in the series after Shane's book and what it told of Carponti and Nicole and all the rest, there is a sort of ominous tone to it because you know what is to come. This one shows that bright moment of sunshine as you watch the clouds gathering off to the west. I loved the realism of what the holidays can mean for service personnel and their dependents back home. Vic and Nicole are a hot couple with a healthy private life. They managed a bit of bedroom fun even across that many miles. I laughed so many times with Vic Carponti as he took on the role of a one man pick me up and he had his work cut out for him. The 'man dress' stuff was just beyond all. Iaconelli from book two makes an appearance in this one and I really enjoyed what happened when gasoline and matches came together in the form of Ike and Carponti.There was nothing about this story I didn't love to death. However, it really must be read in order even though time wise it's parallel to the first book. The book assumes the reader has read books one and two. The smaller novella about Shane and Jen can wait, but the others are a must.This was a truly satisfying Christmas Military Contemporary Romance that left me absolutely salivating for Trent and Laura's book. I recommend this series to those fans of Military Romance who like a tight plot, spicy romance and authenticism in the military backdrop.My thanks to Penguin Group and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.