The first book in the Beautifully Broken series.
Twenty-four-year-old Pax Tate is not always a nice guy. He's a tattooed, rock-hard bad boy with a bad attitude to match. But he's got his reasons. His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt. As Pax grew up, he tried to be the perfect golden boy but his dad couldn't overcome his grief long enough to notice. Pax couldn't keep up the impossible perfect façade, so he slipped far, far from it. Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugly, black void in his heart. Until he meets sweet, beautiful Mila Hill. Mila is a carefree smile to his hardened frown, the beauty to his beast.
When memories of his mother's death resurface, Mila is there to help him mend his broken heart . . . but only if he can stop being a jerk long enough to allow it. Pax says he's working on it. But is that enough to make her stay?