Homefront by Jessica Scott
Publisher: Jessica Scott (4/7/2015)
Series: Homefront, book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: RockStar PR
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Rating:★★★★★He's always loved her...
First Sergeant Gale Sorren waited a war and half a lifetime for a chance to get stationed near the ex-wife who left him years ago. When he finally musters the courage to see her, the life he imagined she was living was nothing close to the reality.
She's never stopped loving him...
Melanie never stopped worrying about Gale each time he headed off to war. But he's never been there when she needed him and she's had fifteen years to steel her heart against him. But when Gale moves to Fort Hood, he finally has a chance to make things right with Melanie and the daughter she raised without him.
Can Mel trust her heart to a man who has always let her down?
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. She's currently pursuing a PhD 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.
She's written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View: Regarding War Blog, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas.
{ excerpt } .
“What if he comes here?”“He won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re right,” he admitted finally. He sighed heavily. “I’ve known him a long time and this doesn’t gel with what I know of him. He's not going to hurt you.”
“You sound so certain.” Her fingers danced over his ribs, as though she wasn’t sure where to place her hands. “Why?”
“Because you’re mine,” he said, giving voice to the powerful feelings he could finally identify for what they were. “And if he puts his hands on you or our daughter, I’ll kill him.”
And then he kissed her.
It was a powerful kiss, filled with a riot of emotions that had started building in him years ago when she’d first left him. It was a kiss filled with fear. With uncertainty.
With desire.
He gave in to the maelstrom inside him, holding back only enough to be certain that he wasn't crossing the line.
Mel opened to his kiss, wanting badly to push away the sadness and the fear and the worry that had been squeezing the air from her lungs since she’d found Gale outside her office.
There was fear in her response, a tacit admission that this was something fleeting and yet, it was the only tangible thing between them.
He shifted then until their bodies pressed together, until she breathed with him and felt part of her soul take flight from the bonds of worry and sadness and daily life.
Her fingers flexed against his ribs. Gale felt the moment she gave in to the kiss, savored the moment of her surrender. Her body relaxed against his, fitting perfectly against his chest.
This was something good. Something pure. Untainted by the darkness that had caused him to seek her out today, needing her when he needed to lean. This. This was what he craved. His wife’s touch. His wife’s taste.
She was not his wife. That ugly piece of reality crashed into him and he stiffened.
Mel felt it instantly, her body tensing. “What?”
The words lodged in his throat. There was no way he could admit the feelings that churned inside him. That he still thought of her as his wife after all these years.
He nipped at her bottom lip, hoping to distract her. “We should do this more often.”
He felt her smile beneath his lips. “You think so?” There was something light and breathless in her words.
“Very much so.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. The edge of her jaw.
He traced the outside edge of her ear with the tip of his tongue. Felt the pleasure of her gasp against his cheek. His teeth scraped over her earlobe. “That’s nice,” she breathed.
“You like that?”
“Yeah.”
He closed his eyes, pulling her tight, needing the comfort of her touch, the pleasure to drive away the darkness. He breathed in her scent, holding her close. Her pulse scattered against his cheek and for a moment, he simply held her.
“You make me crazy, Melanie,” he whispered.
{ review } .
Oh my goodness, gracious, I didnt realize this was a spin-off! Oh, and there's another spinoff (that I spent money I don't have, on... Noah and Beth, you're now on my pleasure-read list).
I mean, I should have realized this was a spin-off. I did just read Teague's story last week, but "Sorren" didn't ring bells right away. Ah, but then again, I've known the names Teague, Cox, and Iaconelli for a while, and I wasn't super interested in Sorren's opinions while Teague was trying to save his men.
But oh, it all makes sense now.
The big man with the bear claws that works directly with Teague, who got this assignment in relatively quick fashion? Yep, this is the Gale we get to learn and read about in this tale of coming home.
Gale and Melanie were teenage sweethearts; they shared dreams and teenage aspirations for the future. They got married, got pregnant... and then everything sort of fell apart. Gale joined the Army pre-marriage, but with everything happening, the Army took a major step forward and his home life a major jump back.
When it became obvious to her that Gale was no longer stepping up, Mel left with their colicky baby in tow.
Gale managed to pop up every now and again, but their relationship was in crumbles. Gale could no longer do right, and it was made painfully obvious when he couldn't even keep his toddler daughter safe from ants. The gap between Gale and what was once his family widened.
We start this story with Gale learning his daughter is in the hospital. When Mel reaches out to him and needs to utilize Red Cross to get the message to him, and he fails to come home for their mentally, emotionally hurting daughter, Mel loses all respect for the man -- at least what little she had left.
Gale never knew the fear he felt that day -- and that fear led to some decent black out rages. He still has anger problems, but after mandatory anger management, he's learning better scoping skills. But with a little bit of help, he manages to get the placement he's been asking for for years -- Fort Hood, so he can finally be near his not-so-little-anymore daughter.
Watching Gale and Mel come back together was heartbreaking, but lovely all at the same time. Theirs is a tale of young love fizzling -- as it so often does. When you're young and stupid and in love, you make poor choices. They needed these years to grow.
Watching Gale step into the father role after so long away was humorous -- although at the same time, it was sad because you could see the jealousy in Mel's actions that their semi-delinquent daughter was opening up to her absent father (which, no worries, Mel, she'll go back to her surly ways soon enough -- all it really takes is finding a boy in her closet).
Gale and Melanie were teenage sweethearts; they shared dreams and teenage aspirations for the future. They got married, got pregnant... and then everything sort of fell apart. Gale joined the Army pre-marriage, but with everything happening, the Army took a major step forward and his home life a major jump back.
When it became obvious to her that Gale was no longer stepping up, Mel left with their colicky baby in tow.
Gale managed to pop up every now and again, but their relationship was in crumbles. Gale could no longer do right, and it was made painfully obvious when he couldn't even keep his toddler daughter safe from ants. The gap between Gale and what was once his family widened.
We start this story with Gale learning his daughter is in the hospital. When Mel reaches out to him and needs to utilize Red Cross to get the message to him, and he fails to come home for their mentally, emotionally hurting daughter, Mel loses all respect for the man -- at least what little she had left.
Gale never knew the fear he felt that day -- and that fear led to some decent black out rages. He still has anger problems, but after mandatory anger management, he's learning better scoping skills. But with a little bit of help, he manages to get the placement he's been asking for for years -- Fort Hood, so he can finally be near his not-so-little-anymore daughter.
Watching Gale and Mel come back together was heartbreaking, but lovely all at the same time. Theirs is a tale of young love fizzling -- as it so often does. When you're young and stupid and in love, you make poor choices. They needed these years to grow.
Watching Gale step into the father role after so long away was humorous -- although at the same time, it was sad because you could see the jealousy in Mel's actions that their semi-delinquent daughter was opening up to her absent father (which, no worries, Mel, she'll go back to her surly ways soon enough -- all it really takes is finding a boy in her closet).
While they work through it all, Mel has her fears -- she has every right to them. The thing is, the man in front of her can still read her, still knows her.
“While I’m all for avoiding the psychic harm of our daughter finding us naked”he nuzzled her neck “I want to know why you do that.”
“Do what?”She was tense now, unable to enjoy the sensation of his big body surrounding hers.
He shifted suddenly and was there, pressed against her, his arms alongside her body, his hands framing her face. “Pull away.”
I loved every part of these two rekindling their romance. It wasn't intentional, at least not at first, but you can just feel how right these two are for one another.
Also? While I very much loved this new little series (dare I say I like it most?), I was reminded that yes, Teague and Olivia are my favorite COMING HOME couple. Teague and his bantering with Gale just will never get old.
“That’s a hell of a sentence,”Teague said. “Can you even spell ‘existential’?”
Gale briefly considered flipping his commander off. “I finished my degree three years ago.”
“Impressive. It wasn’t in Underwater Basket Weaving, was it?”
Gale raised both eyebrows. “Ah, no, and fuck you for thinking us dumbass enlisted guys can only pass underwater basket weaving.”
“I implied no such thing,”Teague said. “I was merely inquiring into your college aspirations.”
“If you must know, I got my BA in Criminal Justice.”
“You want to be a cop?”
Gale shrugged. “I figure I’ll have as good a shot as any at a job there when I retire.”
“Or you can be a mall cop.”
Gale ground his teeth. “You know how to kick a man in the soft and squishy parts, don’t you, sir? What if being a mall cop was my dying wish?”
“You’re not allowed to die or retire. It would leave me unsupervised and I am clearly not meant to be left alone in charge of troops.” Teague held out the sleeve of cookies.
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