Mia Appleby has spent her whole adult life trying to forget her roots. She was embarrassed to grow up in a cluttered double-wide trailer in Tennessee with her mother and older sister who only cared about trying to trap a man, any man. Yep, when she grew up, she was going to have nothing to do with that kind of trashy life, and she certainly wasn't going to need a man for anything. Well, except for one thing...sex without commitment.

Mia's life really had worked out as planned. She has a great job in LA as an ad executive, owns a beautiful home and has money to burn on clothes and Jimmy Choo's. And her roots were firmly behind her until her troubled niece, Hope, shows up on her doorstep, reminding her of the past and shining a light on Mia's shallow existence.

While Mia is trying to tap into her repressed maternal instinct to care for Hope, she actually begins to fall for Kevin, her hunky new neighbor and local high school teacher. In typical role reversal, Kevin is the nurturing, emotional, sensitive type who keeps getting his feelings hurt by hard-edged Mia, who thinks guys are only good for one thing.

After having a bit of a life meltdown at age 30, Hope and Kevin end up teaching Mia some significant lessons about herself, the meaning of life and love. In between some steamy sex scenes, this chick-lit book actually has a few good messages to share with readers about patience, acceptance and love.