Stone Hamilton had never known fear...until the accident. Since then, his life has spiraled out of control. He's been kicked out of private school, deemed a disappointment by his father, and forced to endure his own guilt, anger, and grief. The last thing he wants is a relationship with someone who will have expectations of him. But once he's enticed by the shimmering-pink lips of the oh-so-popular, academically-excelling, straitlaced hottie from his new school, he knows he's in trouble.
Seventeen-year-old Dara Golding has one goal for the summer: make enough money to buy a car, so that she can drive to school her senior year. After starting a new job, she realizes that she'll be working with the brooding, motorcycle-riding, bad boy who started attending Quail Mountain High last year. With his less than stellar reputation, he's everything she's afraid of...and that makes him dangerous.
Their undeniable attraction has Stone struggling with his inner demons. As Dara slowly allows Stone to claim her heart, a little white lie to cover an ugly truth could determine whether she's his savior or the final straw that will break his sanity.
Now, I'll admit, this story did have its moments. There are very few books that have ever caused me to shed a tear or two, and this book did that to me twice. One was with Dara and her mother, and the second was with Stone and his dad when they had a heart-to-heart. Just out of nowhere, a couple of tears dropped unexpectedly, and I found myself wondering why. I have reasoned that it's because at these points in the story I was very emotionally invested in what was going on.
Another thing I honestly truly loved about this book were the descriptions. They weren't too over the top, nor were they bland. Usually, I never really pay attention to how characters are described physically and end up imagining my own version of them, but this time it was easy to picture the characters as they were described.
Although I didn't love this story, I did enjoy reading it due to the tension that was felt at times. Stone is one of those characters that makes you want to yell at him for his mistakes and his hot/cold attitude.
Overall, this book gets 3.5 Platypires from me.