Summer's life has been though. As a teenage addict she made a mistake with tragic consequences - she trusted a man who was playing her all along. 16 years later she is a successful psychologist who wants to open a treatment home for teenagers struggling with substance abuse. She found a perfect place for Phoenix House thanks to her friend Dottie. If only Brody, Dottie's nephew, wasn't around...
Brody has a reason for hating junkies - his wife and unborn son were murdered by one. After that he took his daughter and moved back home. Now he's a chief of police in the town. He's a shy man, mostly because of his stutter. From the moment he sees Summer he is attracted to her - if only she didn't represent something he hated.
Brody's prejudice against junkies has deep roots - so his reaction when he found out about Summer's past is understandable, but his later attempts to drive her away simply because of his pride were bad. He said some unforgettable things. Don't get me wrong, he's a good man, a loving father, but some things are just too much.
Summer is still struggling with past betrayals so her fears are understandable, but again near the end of the book I just wanted to slap her - she was totally unreasonable and encased in pure ice.
As for the story - everything was great until the last 50 pages or so. Suddenly characters started acting weird, everything was getting hard to follow. And I just don't like the ending. At all.
But luckily the beginning was okay, so the book has a higher rating than it would've had got for the ending.
Rating:
3.5 stars.