To Robin Bartlett, men were nothing more than violent users. After a hair-raising childhood, Robin and her two younger half sisters battled simply to survive. Determined to give her sisters a very different life from that of their mother; to never have to rely on a man for anything, she worked two jobs and put them both through college, while accepting help from no one. Her heart had turned to ice and she had no use for men or God.

Antonio “Tony” Viscolli had grown up on the streets, homeless. At seventeen, he entered a downtown church with the intent of casing it, but found himself on his knees at the alter. After being fostered by the youth minister, Tony followed God’s leading and eventually became a very successful and powerful businessman. In a fallen world, he was a gem.

When Tony bought the restaurant where Robin bartended, she immediately resented his intrusion into her well ordered, but exhausting, life. She suspected his offering her special attention and constant kindness was merely his way of expecting something from her in return, something she wasn’t willing to give.

Tony knew God had led him to Robin. Would she ever allow herself to trust him? Could she ever allow herself to trust God? Or would the winter of their tragic youth rise from the shadows of the past and freeze any chance at happiness?

Oh my gosh, it was so easy to hate Robin at the beginning of this book, but as I kept reading I realized it was part of her character (and really important to her story line). That didn’t mean I didn’t want to occasionally throw her own book at her, but I also feel like her actions were necessary for what she’d been through.

I agree with what a lot of reviewers said about the rich-guy-falls-for-poor-girl plot: he was a little too perfect and too rich, but this is a ROMANCE NOVEL! Isn’t that why we love them?? Because we can escape reality and wonder what it would be like to not worry about work and to not have to yell at our husbands to PLEASE put their dirty socks in the hamper (because I’m pretty sure Tony would never leave his dirty socks on the floor). It is a bit like a fairy tail? Yep. And that’s one of the things I liked about it.

Do realize, however, that this is VERY much a Christian story that deals with real issues. There’s a lot of talk about sex, but there’s also a lot of talk about salvation through Jesus Christ. If you don’t like either of those topics, you won’t like this book. I think the author handled both topics well. Even as a Christian, I was a bit surprised at the amount of Christian content in this book — it didn’t take away from the story, though. In fact, it was necessary. I just hadn’t been expecting that much of it.

I really wanted to love this book, and I think I would have if it been a little cleaner (editing wise). I’m not a grammar Nazi AT ALL, but there were enough mistakes in this story that they really jumped out at me. If you can’t handle any mistakes, don’t pick up this book (it’ll make you crazy). But if you appreciate a fun story above perfectly placed commas, I would recommend this book.