Review: A wonderful novella that will warm your heart anytime of year!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 9, 2014
Readers of Jessica Scott's Coming Home series first met Army Sergeant Vic Carponti in Because of You (Coming Home, #1). As soon as he entered the story you could tell that he was a loyal friend and brother, always ready with a joke to lighten any mood and having a deep love for his wife, Nicole. I'll Be Home For Christmas follows the first half of Because of You's timeline.Vic is on deployment in Iraq, far from his home and wife. But despite their distance, Vic and Nicole's bond is strong and they never go long without contact. Whether it be by letter, email, phones calls, Skype....or risque video. That doesn't mean it's easy though. Nicole constantly worries over Vic's safety but extracts a promise from him that he'll be home for Christmas. She should be use to his absence by now, but that promise is all that gets her by during this deployment. Vic worries that his beautiful and smart wife will finally get tired of waiting for him to come home. He knows that this Christmas will be the hardest one for her yet, but despite his promise, he feels guilt over leaving his boys to spend the holiday with her. Vic knows that Nicole is struggling, but as long as he can keep her laughing, he knows he still has her heart.I absolutely love Vic and Nicole. Their love just shines from the pages. Their interactions throughout the story are so heartwarming and believable. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to watch your spouse leave to defend your country, never knowing if that is going to be the last time you'll see them. Their ability to communicate as well as they do though is what I think cements their relationship. There are a lot of couples that are in each others lives, day to day, hour to hour, that can't hold a candle to Vic and Nicole's communication skills thousands of miles apart. You can tell that Jessica Scott puts her military experience and heart into every sentence of this story. This is definitely one that will tug on your heart strings. Big time. Both Nicole and Vic are strong, loyal, and loving characters that you won't soon forget. And when tragedy strikes, it solidifies those qualities even more. This is a couple that was meant to be.I definitely recommend you picking up I'll Be Home For Christmas, and the entire Coming Home series if you haven't already. This is not an easy series. War isn't easy. And neither is love. But Jessica Scott has a talent for dropping readers right into the chaos of war, the struggles of deployment, the challenges of being a military spouse, and all of the crazy, scary emotions that go along with it. A wonderful novella that will warm your heart anytime of year!**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.