Reena Mackay has just been taken advantage of – yet again. This time, the result is that she’s out several thousands of dollars and may have nowhere to live come this weekend. So when Adam and Nick introduce her to Mitch Corrigan, a pro athlete who trains at their club and who’s desperate to move out of the roach hotel he’s stuck in, Reena agrees to live with the tall, muscular, ferocious kickboxer.

Mitch is a man with a rough past, a man who’s almost at the top of a violent profession, and who has a thing for leggy, dark-eyed brunettes. Nobody is more surprised than Mitch himself when he develops a burning attraction to delicate, blonde, blue-eyed Reena: the primal part of him longs to slay a dragon for her, save her from a dark knight, sweep her up in his arms and carry her back to his castle.

But Mitch knows that this is real life, not a fairy tale, and women like Reena never go for guys like him. What he doesn’t know is that Reena understands true brutality and violence all too well; that her continuing faith in people is actually an astounding act of courage; that in her own way, she’s as strong as he is.

When a golden Prince Charming hurts Reena badly, it’s Mitch who’s there to make her feel safe again. But is that enough for her to be vulnerable with another man – especially a man like Mitch? And if she does let him in, will Reena and Mitch get their happy-ever-after (or even happy-just-for-now)?