Review: A Moving Military Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 16, 2011
In many ways reading is like voyeurism - we get to see and virtually experience a world unfamiliar to us with the hope that the author has done his or her job to create it true to life. Because of You revolves around a world I have a hard time even imagining - the war in Iraq and the pain of soldiers coming home with traumatic injuries. As a veteran herself, Jessica Scott paints a real and heart-wrenching picture of loss and recovery through the eyes of soldiers on the front lines and the medical teams they come home to. This story is a romance with the hopeful ending those entail, but it's more than that. The frustrations of a writer who's also a soldier with first hand experience of the failings of the system and the absurd injustices of war add a richness and depth to the characters that I've rarely found in a military romance.The characters, from the leads to the supporting cast, are fascinating and well drawn. The story has enough laugh-out-loud moments (particularly from the irrepressible Carponti) to keep it from weighing too heavy. It's a quick read (only took me a couple days... although that included a night I should've stopped reading and gone to sleep an hour or so before I did!) but has an emotional impact beyond the pages. I highly recommend Because of You.