Black by Elin Peer

“Some people grow up with caring families, summer camps, and birthday parties.

Not me!

If you saw me, your first thought would be: Goth girl – and then you would look the other way, like everyone else.
But that’s okay, I get it, and I don’t care.
Caring is a luxury I can’t afford. My life isn’t about caring. It’s about surviving, and it’s been that way ever since I ran away from home seven years ago.”

When twenty-one-year old Black, is arrested for shoplifting, she’s forced to reach out to the father who never wanted anything to do with her. As expected, her father rejects her again, but to her surprise his stepbrother, Gabriel, a decorated war hero who has just returned from duty in Afghanistan, shows up, committed to do the right thing and help his new stepniece get back on her feet.

Can a man who gives and takes orders for a living help a rebel who lives to break all rules and answer to no-one? And what happens when Black is forced to go into drug rehab with an unorthodox therapist whose methods are bat-shit crazy and require a parent to come along? Gabriel and Black hardly know each other, but when Gabriel offers to step up and replace his brother, things quickly get intense between them.