I enjoyed most of this almost sweet romance. This is not for the Under 18 readers, because it is NOT a clean romance. I voluntarily chose to review this story and I've given it a 4.5* rating. There are certainly a lot of ups and downs with this romance, it had a lot of action in it. It has several issues that are addressed in this, so it goes in several directions quite often. This includes a young child, a puppy who is over active, and 2 cats, one of which is not friendly at all. Parts of this was fun, some very serious. An overall interesting story. ( )

When Jesse is apartment-sitting for his sister, Kim, and caring for her cats and dog he notices a little girl several times in the hallway. He decides to call his sister about her when he sees her crying one day. While he is on the phone, the young girl, Layla, comes screaming for help because her mother is dead. Turns out she wasn't dead but had fainted and only looked dead to the 3 year old. The mother, Belle, had been ill for a long time and not eating right which caused her to faint. Jesse was drawn to these two but couldn't fall in love because he'd never gotten over his first love with his high school sweetheart. Belle and Jesse did finally get together and all was well. That is until Belle's family visited then their new relationship fell apart.

This is an exciting story with a kidnapping, a former soldier with PTSD, and an odd mix of family members that changes everybody's relationship overnight. I loved the characters, especially Layla (Yaya). She's the cutest 3 year old ever.

I highly recommend this wonderful story. ( )