Megan Squires Knihy

Guys like Torin Westbrook aren't supposed to exist in real life. When Darby meets Torin as a fellow counselor at the survival camp she impulsively applies to, she's certain his main goal is to turn her world upside down, with his disheveled curly hair, irresistible dimples, and endearingly quirky habit of reciting quotes from classic movies and ancient thinkers. Darby's not sure she can adapt to Torin's way of viewing his past and the tragedies he's faced. Because she's had her own share of heartache too, and as much as she wants to believe that it's all been for a purpose, she hasn't been able to move on. Yet the more time Darby spends with Torin, the more she longs to break free of her carefully constructed routine and fall into something new. She's just not sure that she should be falling for Torin along the way.

Sometimes life takes things away from you. In nineteen-year-old Maggie Carson's case, it's taken more than its fair share.Determined to move forward, Maggie embarks on her first year of college, hoping to finally put her past behind her, exactly where it belongs.But that's hard to do when the present is just as difficult. And even harder when someone like Ran, the gorgeous paramedic that keeps crossing Maggie's path, challenges her to face things head on, rather than bury them like she always does.Ran hasn't had a perfect life either. But there's something different about him, and something different about the way he makes Maggie feel. Maybe meeting Ran is life's little gift for Maggie-a sort of consolation prize for enduring everything she's had to go through.But things don't come easy for Maggie. Why should love be the exception? And just when everything starts to settle, it's all turned on its head once again.If there is one thing Ran has taught Maggie, it's that you can't sit on the sidelines of your own existence. When life takes something that's yours, you have every right to demand it back.Only for Maggie, that is easier said than done.