Max Ryan served for ten years in the marines including four deployments to Iraq. After leaving the marines, he recovered from his PTSD by traveling across America, where he found the good in people again. He interrupted his travels to take care of his mother who had terminal cancer. His mother was a big influence on his life and when she died, he wasn't ready to go back to traveling. Instead, he took a temporary job temporarily. Five years later, he is still there. Two years earlier he ended a yearlong relationship with Andrea, who has made him question if true love will ever happen for him.

As a kid, Max was bullied, leaving him with a soft spot for the downtrodden. One night, a mysterious brunette walks into the bar. Taken by her beauty, the two begin a conversation. The more Max talks to her, the more he finds himself drawn to her.

She is smart and kind, but Max can tell that something bad has happened to her.

The sadness Tina conveys intrigues him and makes his giving heart want to know her better and bring her happiness again. The two enter into a relationship and fall in love but, both of them have an extremely troubled past affairs and PTSD.

Max's friends helped him get through his problems. Jimmy DeLasante was his college roommate. Naomi Sanchez is a co-worker who has a past that she doesn't talk about and Alexander "X-Man" Gower is a former marine who served with him in Iraq. They will offer Max guidance and he leans on them in his times of need.

Tina, whose past partner was abusive both physically and mentally, is the first to digress and decompensate. She also has trust issues and is afraid of conflict. Her coping mechanism for conflict is to avoid the situation. At one point, Max pays a rather large bill that Tina's ex-husband created through his jealousy and destructive nature. Tina mistakes Max's kindness for control and they go through a rocky period. This causes Max to flash back to his own horrid past and worry that he is losing Tina. While they are working through this issue, Max is contacted by his ex-girlfriend who wants to talk. Two years earlier he ended a yearlong relationship with Andrea, who has made him question if true love will ever happen for him. He agrees to meet with her secretly, but it backfires when the ex begins calling Max daily and leaving messages.

Tina's trust issues cause her to believe the worst and she moves out. Max decides to go visit X-man in South Carolina. While he is gone, Max realizes that he has to work through his issues and be more open with Tina. While he is gone, Tina's former boyfriend finds her and puts her in the hospital. Max is furious both at the attack and that he wasn't there to prevent it from happening.

Throughout the story, we are introduced to their loving friends and family who are pulling for Max and Tina's relationship to succeed. They try to help them in numerous ways. They guide Max and Tina to come to the realization that they love each other and only care that they are together. The story ends with their marriage and Tina surprising Max with a trip to France to see a sacred Marine Corps relic. They share a toast to each other as the book ends.