Yay, a good romance :)

“Forgiving isn't always something you do for the other person. Sometimes, forgiving is something you do for yourself. Forgiveness sets you free.”

Declan White is the fraternity chaplain, and a hot one at that. He's a 'nice guy', but he's had his heart broken, and we first meet him going through grief at the betrayal of his best friend. He can't get over the love for the girl he thought he once had but he must accept that perhaps it was never meant to be.

“Emotionless, I drift into darkness. I'm not sure I like this new place I'm in. Not the darkness - we became friends a long time ago. It's the total and utter lack of feeling. I thought I would like it but... I don't.”

Eliza Nichols left her perfect life behind her when she moved to college. She lost everything she ever loved in one night of foolishness and hasn't forgiven herself since. She uses meaningless sex as an escape, looking for something, even though her pain is a reminder that she's still alive, getting by.

But it wasn't until meeting Declan that she finally realised that being alive wasn't the same as living.

“The voices in my head hushed to a whisper... still there, still painful... but bearable. That's the closest I've been to happiness in a long damn time.”

“If I've learned anything, it's that you can't make someone feel the way you do. It's meant to be or it isn't.”

Both of them have their issues, but when Declan offers to be Eliza's escape, they find much more than just that. Declan realises that unlike Quincy, he's willing to fight for Eliza. But she's the one holding back, and to move forward, she must face her past and the demons that haunt her.

“When someone you love, someone you'd lay your life down for, gets lost in the dark, you follow them. Maybe you can't be the light they need. Maybe you don't even need the light. And maybe, just maybe, it's enough to just be there in the darkness. Together.”

I won't go on and on but I loved the characters. It was like 'bad girl' with the 'nice guy' and it was sweet for a change. Even though the book had its darkness, I found it a really easy read that still held a great quality to it.

“Life is a battlefield, a constant struggle between darkness and light.”