Jessica Scott

Jessica Scott stands among my favorite authors of military romance. She has an authentic voice and on-the-ground experience that infuses honesty and realism in every word. Break My Fall did not disappoint. It is Book 2 in Ms. Scott’s ‘Falling’ series.

This book explores the difficulties facing soldiers returning from war as they try to reintegrate themselves into ‘normal’ society. Break My Fall is told in first-person, narrated alternately by Josh, and Abby, his love interest. Both show more are students at an unnamed southern college. Josh is ex-army, having served two tours in the Middle East. He suffers from PTSD, has an alcohol problem, and gets way too much satisfaction from violence. He has zero tolerance for the fresh-out-of-high-school kids around him, and very little more for his university professors. There are days when his PTSD-caused rages and panic attacks cripple him to the point that he can’t walk across campus, and so he finds himself bellied up to the bar his ex-army buddy owns, instead. There he drinks his troubles away, and breaks furniture, noses, and knuckles. His friend, Eli, has little tolerance for Josh’s outbursts, but is there for him, regardless, and is the true conscience of this piece.

Abby, like Josh, has trouble fitting in at college. Bi-racial and working her way through school, she’s invisible to the privileged, mostly white rich kids she is surrounded by. But Josh sees her. Really sees her. To him, she is beautiful. Perfection.

Abby has her own issues with PTSD, caused by severe physical abuse in her past. Nevertheless, Abby and Josh are smart, incisive, and worldly. They’re a perfect match; they just have to quit getting in their own way.

Because of its theme and subject matter, this book resonated deeply with me. It is already in the ‘favorites’ file in my Kindle. I’ve read it twice, and will surely read it again. Once nore, Ms. Scott has nailed it. Those of us suffering from PTSD, for whatever reason, owe the author a debt of gratitude for illuminating a condition most people have little understanding of. Considering that Americans have been at war since 2000, a large segment of our population has been and will continue to be affected by PTSD for many years to come. This book not only examines the condition, but brings it into the light of day, wrapped within a stunning love story that shows love and people for what they are: imperfect, impassioned, and in this case, unforgettable.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Some Army families who recently lost members to suicide criticize the branch for failing to aggressively shake a culture in which soldiers believe they'll be deemed weak and denied promotion if they seek mental health aid. They also blame Army leaders for focusing more heavily on weeding out emotionally troubled soldiers to artificially suppress the branch's suicide stats versus embracing and helping members who are exhibiting clear signs of trouble. - The Enemy Within: Soldier suicides show more outpaced combat deaths in 2012 Thursday Jan 3, 2013 5:23 PM Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor


A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. - Martin Luther King, Jr.


Write what you know. It is a simple rule, a pillar of “How To Write A Good Book” and probably one of the most misunderstood. As Nathan Englander, the critically acclaimed author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank once said, “Write what you know” isn’t about events. It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss?

In her new book, All For You, A Coming Home Novel Jessica Scott takes that advice and builds upon it, writing a heart wrenching story which left me sobbing on the floor, my heart broken for all those soldiers who return from war broken and lost, and just how badly they need our help – help that the unremitting machine of the military and government would rather deny them. As K. Lang from Las Vegas put it in her Amazon review, no matter the branch, there are raging morons who don't care and people with flaws trying to fix things in spite of those same raging morons. And the raging morons are thick on the ground at Fort Hood, Texas. (Having done a job there many years ago, I can tell you – I met my own fair share. And that was in peacetime.)

For all of you romance readers out there, this is indeed a romance, never fear. And an extremely well written one. If you don't like romance? Just skip through those parts, but you HAVE to read this book. What is says is too important not to.

Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli is a broken and deeply damaged man, a leader of men with a long-time alcohol problem and a broken soul. He has had to live within a shell of alcohol and brutality for so long, he truly doesn’t know any other way to be. Captain Emily Lindberg is the psychologist who has left behind a life of privilege and familial control, striking out on her own in order to do good for the soldiers who truly need her services, leaving behind the spoiled, rich kids of privilege looking for excuses for their own bad behavior.

What Emily walks into is far from what she expects. Fort Hood is a place of systems and procedures that don’t work, that are devastating to the very people they are supposed to protect. Those soldiers, both men and women, who have come back from war, from death and dirt, blood and insanity - actions that are beyond the normal person’s comprehension. Scott lays it out in all its brutal simplicity – get EM’ in, get EM’ back out into the field. No matter what. And if they are damaged? Get EM’ all the way out, back into society, no matter what the war has done to them, no matter how the blood and gore has broken them. No matter how much they have given and suffered for their country. They are coldly thrown away, like so many broken, irreparable tools.

Jessica Scott knows of which she speaks. A career Army officer and wife of a career Army NCO, Scott has written for the New York Times’s At War blog, PBS’s Point of View Regarding War, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice. So, yes, she does know that of which she speaks. And what she knows is horrifying.

Scott is careful to point out in her Note From The Author, “This book is not meant as an indictment of our men and women in uniform or the military that we serve or the thousands of leaders who do the right thing every day and try to take care of their soldiers.” And there are those who do try every single day to do the right thing. Who try their best, despite a broken and uncaring system that rolls right over the top of them in a heartless march to simply fill out the paperwork, follow the rules, and move on to the next thing – which, in too many instances, is gaining their next bar or pip or stripe no matter the cost to their own soldiers, those very soldiers whom their very purpose should be to protect and honor.

Yes, Jessica Scott has written a brilliant story of romance between two people who, no matter how different they may be, not only learn to love one another, but also need one another in order to do what they need to do, who need one another to do good and to provide the strength that not only they need, but also those around them need in order to stay sane, focused, and safe. But she has also written a story which points out just how badly our soldiers need our help. How the pain, death, and the horrors they face every day can often be more than even the strongest among them can bear, and how more often than we would like to admit, the uncaring military machine simply throws them under the bus, leaving them to lives of drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, and ultimately suicide.

Buy the book. Read it. And then take a look around you. In Jennifer Scott’s words, if you know someone who is hurting, if you suspect someone is having a hard time, ask them. Don’t be afraid. Speak up. Ask the question. Because you never know what someone else is going through. And you might just make a difference.

I would go beyond that. Take the time to check out the heart of her story yourself. Talk to veterans and their families. If you are a family member or friend, be there for them, ask the right questions of your Congressmen and Senators. Write letters and give your support. These men and women give their lives and their souls in order to ascertain that you can stop at Starbucks for your latte. The least we can do is help to make sure that they get the help and support that they richly deserve.

VERY Highly Recommended.

This book was provided to me by Netgalley for a realistic review. All opinions are my own. show less

“… war fucks everybody without discretion …” I just happened to see this quote from another book right after finishing After the War and it hit me that it describes this book perfectly.

I’m going to apologize for the language now in this review – going to have to do some major editing to post on Amazon. Fucked describes many of the people’s lives that this book is about. Jessica’s books don’t just deal with the main H/h they also deal with those that are under their command show more or that they serve with, and their spouses and kids. The same bullshit that goes on outside of the Army – adultery, alcoholism, stealing, sabotaging and a host of other things also happen within. Even though these men and women are to an extent held up to higher standards no matter what they are human and are going to make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes can cost lives or alter their course in the Army (or whatever branch of service they happend to be in).

As with all of this authors book’s she writes such realistic stories about war and relationships of people who’ve seen things that totally alter their perception of the world they knew before serving. She doesnt try and shove down our throats it all hearts and roses she shows the ugly side of war which for me personally I dont know any other way war could be but ugly. show less

Wow--this book was gritty and real. You could definitely feel the characters' fears and frustrations, and boy, is it clear that Jessica Scott really knows her stuff--both writing and the military. A few times, however, the military aspect slowed me down--even though Scott does take the time to explain what is going on, I was occasionally pulled out of the story a bit while trying to wrap my mind around some of its technical aspects. I loved, loved, loved the ending, though, and had already show more purchased her first book before I was quite halfway done with this one. I will definitely be looking for more from this author! show less