The Truth About Happily Ever After

Catherine Taylor Maddox doesn't have a happy life. She doesn't expect a happily ever after for herself. All she wants is love. She wants more than the love of her siblings, but due to the daily beatings brought on by her parents, she doesn't expect much. She knows that life isn't fair and that not a lot of dreams become a reality. But sometimes, when your reality is as horrible as hers, you want to get lost in your dreams and escape, even for just a while.

Jacob Harley Jackson has grown up looking at the love his parents share and wants to have that kind of love as his own. He hasn't slept around like most of his friends, preferring dates to try to see if she's 'the one'. So far, he's had no luck. Every girl he's met doesn't have that extra oomph that causes him to gasp for breath and struggle for words. He hasn't met that one girl that he wants to be around all day or one that doesn't ever tire him or get tired of him.

As he starts to lose hope of ever meeting her, the one he wants for the rest of his life, Catherine steps in. She doesn't seek attention; in fact, she shies away from it. She cares more for her siblings than for herself from what he can see. She doesn't care about her future or what college she'll go to, only about Brandon' and Elizabeth's futures. She intrigues him enough for him to wonder if she could be the one. She intrigues him enough to try to find out.