4.5 stars 
 Winter Jacobson has a plan. The countdown to graduation is on, and after that? Freedom. But she isn't counting on Cade Maxwell to insert himself into her life. 
 Winter is independent, and that's putting it lightly. Afraid to rely on anyone, she has learned to do what it takes to take care of herself, including putting up with handsy customers and leering stares. At times her independent streak made her hard to like and made her hard to get to know. But I loved the lessons she learned through her own stubbornness and that same trait of Cade's. 
 Cade has a knight in shining armor complex. He's been looking out for his sister and niece for five years and tried to swoop in and save Winter. But his controlling, protective instinct comes from a good place and showed just how much he cared for the people (especially women) in his life. 
 Though Cade and Winter had opposite childhood experiences, they had a similar outcome. I loved them together. Winter's walls came down slowly, as opposed to Cade's quick attraction. He had to give her time to process her feelings and space to feel the independence she held so important. 
 Tessa, Haley, Annette and Jason made for great supporting characters. They gave support in perfect amounts with some tough love moments thrown in when softer measures weren't making any progress. 
 This was a great story, with fun moment among some heavy, emotional ones. I took off half a star because there were times early in the book where I wished the pace was a little faster, but overall I loved the story. These characters had some great lessons to learn, and I loved the process that brought them to that knowledge. This is the first book of Ms. Walsh's that I've picked up and after I finished I knew I had a new author to add to my watch list. I will definitely pick up more from her and watch for the next book in the series. 
 I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. This review is also posted at Reviews by Tammy and Kim.