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Friday, February 19, 2016

Break My Fall by Jessica Scott

Author: Jessica Scott
Series: Falling #2
Release Date: February 15, 2016

For Josh Douglas, broken by the impotent rage of combat and loss, pain is the only thing that feels real until he meets Abby Hillard.  In Josh, Abby sees a puzzle for someone else to solve even though she deeply feels the pull to free the darkness that cloaks him.  BREAK MY FALL by USA Today Bestselling author, Jessica Scott, is the second book in an emotional new adult series about a group of young veterans adjusting to life away from the military. They've got a lot to learn about life away from war - and college may or may not be the place for them to learn it.

Violence. I’m addicted to it. It’s how I feel alive. It’s the only thing that’s real any more.
And now I have to sit around and discuss it like it’s physics or calculus.
I can’t do it. I can’t pretend that it’s some sterile academic topic.
Violence isn’t sterile. It isn’t calm. It’s pulsing. It’s alive.
It’s my drug.
Until I met Abby, I never wanted anything beyond the next fight.
Never considered that I might finally find a way back to the land of the living.
Now? Now I find myself dreaming of a woman with golden eyes.
But I can never be with her. Because I am not whole. And I never will be again.

But I cannot stay away. And loving her might finally be what breaks me.

I was so happy when I got my hands on a copy of Break My Fall.  I loved the first book in this series, Before I Fall.  I can say the same thing about this second New Adult book. One of the hardest things that I find when an author keeps writing great books is that I run out of creative ways to say I loved it.  I guess there could be worse problems, right?  It definitely can be read as a stand alone, so if you missed the first book, you will be not be lost. 

Break my Fall is Josh and Abby's story.  Josh is in his second semester of college and trying to deal with the violence and rage that war left him with.  Abby has her own scars from a violent past.  I loved them together because they brought an inner peace to each other.  I also liked that they kept fighting for each other because they knew something special was brewing.

One of the things that I love about Ms. Scott is that she isn't afraid to confront the hard issues about the after effects of war.  She tackles addiction, depression and a broken VA system  with a refreshing honesty.  In this book, she tackles another issue that I haven't seen brought up before, especially in the New Adult genre..impotence.  I thought she handled the subject with great respect and care.

I highly recommend this book and any of her other books.  I'm looking forward to the third book, hopefully it is Eli's story!

Excerpt:

The moment I see Josh, though, everything else falls away. Their noise, their needs. Everything I am is focused on Josh.
He is darkness and shadows near the edge of the dim light. He doesn't even pretend he's not watching me. It does something to my insides as I meet his eyes and refuse to look away.
In the shadows, his eyes look almost black. His face is sharper, more angled, the stubble on his jaw darker.
He stands out. I think he always will, no matter where he is. He’s wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up, exposing his thick forearms. There is writing on his forearms. Big, black letters that blend into the shadows so I cannot read them.
The men who frequent this place do not get tattoos. At least not visible ones. No, these men have polished hands and pressed shirts and impeccable manners.
They don’t stand in the doorway, staring.
No, Josh is none of those things. He's not polished and he's not pressed.
Graham slides up beside me and of course, he has noticed exactly who I’m watching. "Oh, look who’s back," Graham murmurs. “Do you have any condoms?”
I lift one brow and try to pretend that I don't actually know who we're talking about. "Are you serious?"
"Don't even try it," Graham says, patting my cheek. "What did you call him the other morning? Mr. Tall, Dark & Depressed?"



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About the author:

Jessica Scott is an Iraq war veteran, an active duty army officer and the USA Today bestselling author of novels set in the heart of America’s Army. She is the mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, and wife to a retired NCO. She and her family are currently wherever the army has sent her.

She's also written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/New Dawn and has had the honor of serving as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice.

She's pursuing a graduate degree in Sociology in her spare time and she's been featured as one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012.

Jessica is also an active member of the Military Writers Guild.


Connect with Jessica at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Amazon | Instagram


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