Ames has lived a charmed life in the affluent Boulder, Colorado. She has the perfect home, decorated to perfection by her mother. She attends the perfect private school, has perfect clothes, a perfectly sweet little sister, and a perfectly wonderful father who surprises the family with a trip to Alaska where they swim in a hot spring while witnessing the Aurora Borealis. It’s all just so…perfect…that is, until Ames finds out it is all a lie. After losing his job and their savings, her father uproots the family and moves them to a rental property in Texas, where he’s from. Looking for love in all the wrong places, things go from bad to worse as Ames gets involved with Marc, a guy who’s really good at lying, owns a lot of guns, and will do anything to keep him and Ames together. How far will Ames go to let Marc “protect” her? Giles keeps us on the edge until the last page wondering just that.

While I enjoyed this quick read, and I did wonder until the end how it would all pan out, I felt like much of the plot was rushed. There was a lot of development of the family as the truth about Ames's dad unfolded, and I actually wanted more of that. What made him that way? What made Ames's mom trust him? Why is she staying with him? How can they possibly show such little love for their children in the wake of such a crisis? How does someone such as Ames fall for such an obvious creep like Marc? I guess what I'm saying is that I enjoyed the book, but I would have also enjoyed further development.