This one is going to be difficult for me. I loved it and I hated it, for various reasons. And I did both at the same time, so that was interesting. I'll do my best to explain.

Mara is completely insane. She lives in her own little world, which she herself has named "Mara World" and logic isn't something that exists there. Just negative self-conditioning, doubt, and misery. She likes it there. She actively returns there instead of enjoying her life. So, like I said... she's crazy. And completely deluded. Of course she can take guardianship of two children with no warning, no planning, and no help. She can do anything. But she can't. She can't even make breakfast for herself. Mitch literally comes in and takes over her life. Because she is so busy freaking out about not knowing what to do that she can't accept that somebody else might be able to help. I expect if Mitch hadn't been there, she'd have been catatonic by the time CPS showed up and they'd have taken the kids away immediately. She is a complete mess. I hated her.

But I loved Mitch. Holy shit, he just barreled right in and took charge. He only let Mara's insanity trip him up once, but he quickly learned how fucked up she was and decided to just hold on tight and go for the ride. I liked that a lot. He was totally alpha and domineering and while that isn't always appealing, Mara definitely needed that. And it's part of the reason that I continued to read. Mara's character so desperately needed that balance that Mitch provided, it made her more bearable and him more appealing. So often the climactic moment at the end is created by a Big Misunderstanding or somebody leaving the other person for their own good bullshit. Halfway through this book, I realized Mitch wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let Mara misunderstand something and run away back to Mara World. And that let me relax and enjoy the story a bit, instead of worrying about how Mara was gonna fuck all this up. And aside from his being awesomely alpha, he was just... damn sexy. He never misses a workout.

But Mara wasn't the only problem I had with this book. The writing was juvenile at best. And I never bitch about writing - so you know it has to be a problem if I'm picking up on it. Everything was "very cool" and "beautiful"... She sat on his "very cool" sofa and noticed he was "very cool" sort of guy. She explained that Mitch was "cool" and they were sitting around such a "cool" table. Uuugh, there has to be another word to use. I can come up with a few: trendy, posh, unique, interesting... even wood. You could say "we sat around the wooden table" and it would be better than everything being cool! And beautiful. He was beautiful. It was beautiful to see them like that. The moment was beautiful. The light hitting his hair was beautiful. The way she held onto him so trustingly was beautiful. It was beautiful. That was beautiful. Incidentally, that also was beautiful. Good lord!

And if that weren't enough, the repetition is annoying. Then he did this. Then we did that. Then we went there. And then we went home. It felt so good. It felt right. It felt better when he did this. And then I felt him do that. My lips were moving. Then his lips were moving. And then our arms were moving. And then we moved together. And then. And then. And then. And then. And then.

Somebody make this woman stop "and then-ing"... PLEASE.

As annoying as that was, I kept reading. I wanted to know how it was all going to work out. And part of me wanted to know just how long Mara was going to be able to stay out of her own fucked up twisted head. It was a satisfying read. I'd recommend it, but I'd suggest skimming a bit over Mara being hard on herself. It's tedious to read that much self-loathing.