Break My Fall: A Falling Novel (The Falling Series Book 2)

The second book in Jessica Scott's new Falling series, Break My Fall is another story about a young soldier trying to return home. Not the career fighters, the hardened warriors, these soldiers are the boys of yesterday. Only five or so years older than their college classmates, they camouflage themselves in jeans and polo shirts, back packs slung over their shoulders as they stride across campus, avoiding contact with the innocents around them.After two tours of Afghanistan, Josh is trying to map out a future, but the war won't leave him alone. Sitting in a required class listening to rich naïve kids dissect what they believe about violence he clenches his teeth and fists his hands in a futile effort to contain the anger that boils inside him. Fights to suppress the horrific memories of what violence truly encompasses. Nearby, quiet, studious Amy is reading his body language like pro. She has her own memories to bury and her own fears to overcome, but she's intrigued.Break My Fall explores the shadows of a psyche scoured raw by the fire and the sand of a desert war. It explores the tender scars of innocent victims of unfettered rage; the tentative friendships and fledgling love forged by people who truly want out of the whirling cyclone of pain.This series is edgy. It's raw. The language is course. But you won't say once you're done that it wasn't worth it. Jessica Scott delivers again!

ScottThis novel was a very emotional read for me. Two young people, one an Army vet, the other a young woman who has escaped a terrifying childhood, both trying to find some light in their darkness. It breaks your heart, a little crack at a time. But at it's conclusion your spirits are lifted.Josh Douglas is going to a prestigious university thanks to his G.I. Bill. He hasn't been back in the states for very long, but has decided booze and bruising physical activity is better than the mind numbing drugs the Dr.'s offered. According to the V.A. he has used up his allotted visits, but he is a long way from overcoming his PTSD. He hasn't made many friends, but has a kind of relationship with the owner of the local bar, The Pint. Eli is a fellow vet who opened his bar so there would be a place for vets, damaged and otherwise, to meet. Unfortunately Josh has a history of blowing off steam with a fight or two way too often for Eli's comfort. Going home after one of these very satisfying poundings he comes across a beautiful young woman being hassled by two men. Even though she looks like she is holding her own, he steps into her space. She is grateful, and he is immediately afraid of the sudden feelings of protection and attraction crashing over him. He is damaged, he should warn her, he should never see her again, she could never understand. No one does.Abby Hilliard is going to school supporting herself by waitressing. Her best friend, Graham is a bartender and they lean on each other for support. She has scars both on her skin and in her heart, the most recent from her ex-boyfriend, who insisted he loved her, but spent most of his time trying to change her. She realizes the very sexy, gorgeous student sitting next to her in class, is her rescuer from the other night. She feels an immediate pull to his brooding eyes, his quiet danger and the sadness she feels surrounding him. But relationships are too hard, too much work. What starts as a casual friendship grows into something they both desperately need, but are terrified of.Ms. Scott again brings us a story of the trauma these young men and women in today's military face during their deployments and then at home. The need to drink, do drugs or end it all is so often the heartbreaking decision their faced with. This is a dark, beautiful and very sensual romance. All the more believable because the writer is an Army officer herself and spent time in war zones with her husband having to leave her children behind. Thank you Jessica Scott, for your service, and your novels that dig into our hearts and souls.I received this ARC from the publisher and author for an honest review.Pat Fordyce.

The second book in Jessica Scott's "Falling" series is just as thought provoking, heart wrenching and hopeful as the first book in this series. Josh & Abby come into their relationship with their own issues. Watching how they support one another and bring each other out of a dark place makes a truly wonderful love story. The author's ability to make you feel what this young war vet is dealing with once he is home, trying to attend college courses and develop a life after war really touches me. Wonderful story!

Wow, what a book. Very intense and mind blowing what our men and women go through and after war. I can t even imagine personally but know the government owes these soldiers way more than they get.Josh and Abby met through school but both had issues that they were trying to not let define who they were. Both had a connection to each other they could not seem to break. They want to live for today and try and let the demons that cling to each of them go. But as we know demons never leave us easily it is a work in progress and hopefully we can make it to the other side. Josh and Abby know if they trust each other and move toward the light they just might find their happily ever after.This story will stay with you for awhile and maybe make you want to do more for the men and women who serve our country and the people who have been mistreated a long the way.For Josh and Abby HOPE is definitely there. Please read you may cry a few tears and rejoice in the good times but there is lots of work to be done.

I thought Before I Fall was a wonderful book. but Ms Scott has done it again with Break My Fall. One of the painful and far too often ignored issues of our times is the difficulty a soldier has trying to fit him or herself back into civilian life - for so many reasons. In this book, Ms Scott has introduced us to Josh, another soldier struggling to make sense of his experiences and deal with the psychological aftermath. A man who feels he is no good to anyone, least of all Abby, the woman he is falling for in spite of his efforts to remain aloof. And Abby has her own history of violence and abuse and a fragile sense of self worth. I loved how these two troubled people find a way to reach out to each other in ways no one else ever has and find enough love to heal the broken places. BRAVO

Love it I can't wait to read the next one

Same as #1 review