Guest Author & Giveaway: Jessica Scott featuring Until There Was You

I have the utmost respect and admiration for the men and women who serve our Country.  They sacrifice so much, and endure more than most of us can even imagine.  And while I love romances that feature military heroes you don't find many stories where the hero is still in active duty...to get a glimpse of their life and the struggles they go through, let alone find a romance where the heroine is also in the military!  That is practically unheard of.

Which is why I was so intrigued by Jessica Scott's newest book in her Coming Home series, Until There Was You.  Jessica is my guest today to share a bit on how being in the Army has shaped her as a person, as a romance author, and her own heroes and heroines in the love stories she writes.  Enjoy!

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Photo by Buzz Covington

Thanks so much for having me today at Seductive Musings!  When casting about for a topic, it was suggested I write about how my life as a military woman has impacted my writing, my heroines and my heroes, which I think is a fantastic topic.

I’ve been in the Army since I was 18 years old. I joined right out of high school so it has very much shaped my world view and in many many ways, shaped me as a person. I think that has absolutely impacted my writing because the military influences every decision I make, simply by virtue of me being a service member. In those same ways, I think my characters are impacted by the military in their decisions.

In UNTIL THERE WAS YOU, we have two captains, Evan Loehr and Claire Montoya who are both career officers but both have been shaped differently by their experiences. Evan has always been an officer, whereas Claire - like me - was enlisted first. The army is a very different place for enlisted folks compared to life as an officer and when you read UNTIL THERE WAS YOU, hopefully, the differences show in the way that Evan & Claire tackle their problems. It’s not meant as a romanticizing of being former enlisted but I do find that I look at problems a little differently than some of my peers who have always been officers. 

Below is an excerpt where Evan & Claire argue about how to best solve a problem involving training soldiers for their upcoming mission:

or read it in a Google document here.

I loved writing Evan & Claire’s story. It kicked my tail in an epic an unforgettable way but in the end, I’m really happy with how the book turned out. I hope readers will want to know more about Evan & Claire and the way that the military impacts them as characters!

He plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them.

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Now these two strong-willed army captains will prove that opposites attract . . .

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. He’s more than the rank on his chest; he’s a man with dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other.

Thanks Jessica for being my guest today and congrats on the release of Until There Was You!  That excerpt certainly has me wondering what Claire lied about, and how Evan is going to get her to realize that she can trust and rely on him :)

If you'd like to learn more about Jessica Scott and the books she writes you can find her at her website www.jessicascott.net, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

To celebrate the release of Until There Was You, the second book in her Coming Home series, Jessica would like to giveaway a print copy of the book to one very lucky Musings follower.  Enter to win in the Rafflecopter form below. (US only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Seductive Musings is an Amazon affiliate and receives a very small referral fee for purchases made via the links on the blog and through the Seductive Musings Amazon Store. Read the full disclosure here.