Back to You (Coming Home #3) by Jessica Scott

He’s in for the fight of his life . . .

Army captain Trent Davila loved his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children. But when he almost lost his life in combat, something inside him died. He couldn’t explain the emptiness he felt or bridge the growing distance between him and his family—so he deployed again. And again. And again . . . until his marriage reached its breaking point. Now, with everything on the line, Trent has one last chance to prove to his wife that he can be the man she needs . . . if she’ll have him

. . . to win back his only love.

Laura is blindsided when Trent returns home. Time and again, he chose his men over his family, and she’s just beginning to put the pieces of her shattered heart back together. But when Trent faces a court martial on false charges, only Laura can save him. What begins as an act of kindness to protect his career inflames a desire she thought long buried—and a love that won’t be denied. But can she trust that this time he’s back to stay?

You know the saying ‘be careful what you ask for?’ Well, that’s exactly how I felt the whole time I was reading this book. I’m not complaining though. I’ve wanted Laura and Trent’s story since the end of Because of You, the first book in Jessica Scott’s Coming Home Series. The wait was necessary and it made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier.

I spent the first 2 books in this series being mad a Trent. Nothing he did made sense. His actions were the total opposite of what you would expect from a loving, supportive husband. He hid it all, even from his friends. I knew that there was more to his story, but I had no idea how getting inside Trent’s head would affect me. All this time I’ve been totally sympathizing with Laura. Not that Back to You made me stop sympathizing with her, or made me sympathize with her any less. It just gave me a whole new perspective.

The wait for this book also did something else. It didn’t give readers a quick fix to the problems that Laura and Trent faced. It wasn’t an easy reunion and given the circumstances, it shouldn’t have been. Back to You didn’t even solve all their problems, and that’s not a bad thing either. What these characters went through shouldn’t have been able to be ‘fixed’ in one book. They still have a long way to go and Back to You was a new beginning for them. Their story was handled perfectly. It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t easy and they both had to come to terms with their previous actions. The wait made the inevitable ‘Coming Home‘ appreciated even more.

As if Laura and Trent weren’t going through enough to keep readers on an emotional roller coaster, Jessica Scott just couldn’t resist throwing a few more emotional twists into the mix. I totally didn’t see this one coming, so I’m not going to spoil it for anyone else. Just consider yourself warned.

As you’ve probably guessed, the supporting characters were a great addition to Back to You. They weren’t just filler. They not only add substance to the story, they are an integral part of it. They’re family and it shows. The relationships are real. It’s apparent that Jessica is familiar with military life and the challenges that both the enlisted and their families face. That ‘realness’ is what drew me in and what keeps me coming back.

The tears shed while reading Back to You weren’t all sad. Yes some were tears of frustration, but there were happy tears and even some ‘laugh out loud’ tears. By the end of this one I can honestly say that both the tears and the wait were totally worth it. 😉