Willow’s life changed completely when her mother died. Her stepfather revealed his true colors, and from there forward she found herself alone and being verbally abused by him and her horrible half-sister, Ivy. This caused depression and terrible self-image problems for her, made worse by her verbally and emotionally abusive husband, that she can’t seem to overcome.
On her way to her divorce settlement, from her cheating husband Brad (with her sister) she meets Kane Masters, famous actor, and her life has set a new course.

Kane is looking for a true connection someone to make him feel everything he has been searching. When he meets Willow, even in her worst possible situation, he immediately realizes she is all he ever wanted.

I want companionship. I want a partner I can build a life with outside the insanity of my celebrity status. I want more for my future than bright lights around me.”

“I want someone real. I need a challenge. I want to feel that connection to someone I’ve never been able to find. That one you read about. The one that makes you feel alive. Awakens you with just a glance. I know it’s out there because I felt it once before; a fleeting feeling gone just as quickly as it hit, but it’s out there … otherwise, the movies they pay me millions to create wouldn’t be instant blockbusters. Everyone dreams of finding that feeling. And until I find it, I’m afraid I’ll spend the rest of my days wandering around like a lost puppy.”

“I’m not a person driven by lust anymore; I’m a man who knows a real solid connection when it smacks you in the face. “I felt it, Mia.” I sigh. “I felt that zap. That feeling of being kicked right in the chest. All it took was for her eyes to meet mine.”

OMG, I really can’t put in to words I wonderful and amazing Kane truly was. He was loyal, devoted and caring, and so supportive of Willow through her self-discovery journey. Actually he was the key to her del-image issues, showing her herself through is eyes.

“There isn’t beauty in perfection. It’s as fake as the image the word projects. Beauty is found in imperfection, Willow, because to admit you’re not perfect means you’re admitting you’re not whole and absolute. When I think of myself, I see someone willing to admit he’s as far from complete as it gets because, in order to get to that perfection, I need to find the other part of me who will make my life better. To take all the faults I have and fill them, and only then will I be there. You see, the way I see it, the only way to become perfect is to find that perfectly imperfect person who brings it out of you.”

“I can see the same intensity I’m feeling reflected in her stare, and I know that what we’re both feeling goes beyond the love we’ve developed. This is more than just coming together physically. This was our souls devouring any space left between them to become one. To fuse together in a bond that will never be broken.
At this moment, our love turned into something so much bigger than words can describe. It’s only when I roll my back to the mattress, pull her body to mine, and feel her head rest gently against my chest that I realize tears of my own have fallen from my eyes.”

The secondary characters, especially Eddie and Kirby, were amazing and their help was crucial. And their bluntness and shameless comments also allow a few funny moments through the book.

“Everyone does it, Willow. You act like I’m the only person who uses a little ass cream on my face.” He stops what he’s doing when he realized what he said, a slight frown between his brows. “Don’t—”
“Don’t what? Point out the fact you’re probably used to butt cream in other places?”(Eddie and Willow)

Willow had through the book a true journey of self discovery, with the help of her friends and especially Kane’s love, we see her evolution, and blossoming of her true beauty. She let go of her awful past and open her arms to the future.

“I welcome the light just as much as I welcome the body I used to hate, because not only does the man I love adore every inch, but through his eyes, I do too.”

“I’m ready to move on from my past, and I know you’re worried about me because of everything you had to watch me suffer through, but you have to stop. It’s taken me a while, but I’m free of that pain. I can see that I was trying to search for the feelings I felt lacking, but I didn’t realize I was the one who held the key to them. I’m strong. I stepped out of that comfort zone I was stuck in, and just like you said it would, my life began.”

“When I look in the mirror, I won’t see the things they will most likely say about me. I’ll see me, Willow Tate, the woman who isn’t perfect, but she is perfect in her imperfections. They are not allowed to have that from me. I’m not weak. I no longer fear words meant to tear me down because I’m better than that. I love me for me. I love me for you. And I love you because you were the one who gave me this beautiful love, taught me how to see myself, and there is no one who could ever come between that.”

This didn’t get the five stars rating for two reason, first the way the whole Mia situation was treated and resolved. (SPOILER ALERT) I get that the whole is Kane the father of her baby was to add some angst to the story, but really there was no need for him to allow the press to fully assume it was his child. It would be all very simple done, just making a press explaining the was JUST Mia’s friend and the baby was not his. Of course the press would speculate who is the father, but it is very far fetched think they would find out that Kyle was the father. If the author still wanted to keep the angst, at very least this should have been done after the reveal to Willow. It’s very poor taste and unfair to her (even if she suggests it) and to their future children, because the press will never give it a rest, and assume the child is truly his. The other point is that I really wished that the epilogue would show us a look in to their distance future, not only their closer future, of only one year later. (SPOILER END) Nonetheless it was truly a beautiful and revealing story, something we should all want to achieve, acknowledging our self worth.