Sophie Owens is a college professor and mother of an adopted three year old. She believes she has everything she has always desired, until she walks into a store and encounters Caleb, a sexy man who makes her feel alive again. But her world is quickly shattered when Caleb decides he wants the daughter he gave up for adoption back. Although she feels sorry for Caleb's pain and loss, she will do anything to keep Grace with her. Will Sophie open her heart and find compassion for the man who wants to destroy her life? Or will the betrayal and hurt cause her to walk away from love?

Caleb Tucker is a man who has lived the last three years in a hazy existence. When he lost his wife to a ruthless murderer, he loses his will to fight for life and gives up the little girl she was pregnant with. Caleb is so heartbroken and in so much pain at the loss, that he feels he will never find his way back to the land of the living. Until he meets a woman and the daughter he gave away. Although Sophie elicits emotions from him he thought long gone, he decides to fight for custody of Grace. But he does not realize that he is about to destroy the life of an innocent woman. Will Caleb's ice walls around his heart melt from the love of Grace and Sophie? Or will he close his heart and be selfish just to have a little piece of his dead wife back?

A GIFT OF GRACE is a beautifully written novel that had this reader sitting on the edge of her seat until I turned the last page. Ms. Cooper weaves a powerful tale of pain, heart break and passion. Be prepared to have plenty of tissues on hand because this reader sobbed through the whole story. The characters are magnetic and the plot is gripping. Sophie and Caleb grow so beautifully throughout this charming tale, that you can not help but to feel drawn to them. My heart broke for the pain that Caleb was going through and my heart soared from the love of a woman and child who try to make him whole again. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Cooper's potent tales. A GIFT OF GRACE is definitely going on my keeper shelf.