Zoey Pappas grew up in a on-stoplight farm town. Now she has landed her dream job as fifth-grade teacher at the urban Diamond Projects School, but can she handle it? An Irish cop assigned to work with her as the Drug Awareness teacher isn’t helping matters either. He’s too efficient, too cocky, and too…handsome. And he carries the weight of his difficult family and secret blame. As the two are thrust together in the concrete jungle, where everyone needs second chances, will Zoey and Gavin Corrigan find their own second chances…together?
Cleo Lampos weaves together another great story where the components of disabilities, gangs, inner city travesties, a frightened young teacher, and romance all mingle together. The author draws on her personal experiences in an inner-city school, bringing real life and authenticity to a captivating story. I love this author!
This is the story of Zoey Pappas, a young woman of Greek decent from a small town, who wanted to make a difference in the lives of children, so instead of working in her family’s restaurant, she became a teacher in an urban Diamond Project’s School in Chicago.
It’s also the story of Chicago Police Officer Gavin Corrigan, who’s involved in the school’s drug awareness program, and in a drug rehab program for adults. In his spare time he’s a jail Chaplain.
These two unlikely people come together in their faith in God and their love for the underdog. It’s a sweet story of hopes and dreams, of fears and failures, and of second chances.
The author has a way of drawing you into each of their stories that keeps you turning the pages. Granted, there are some formatting issues with the ebook version, but they don’t detract from this wonderful story. And because it’s a book about Christian values, the characters do pray, and they also quote from the Bible, but it all blends in with the context of the story. This is another heartwarming novel from master storyteller, speaker, and author, Cleo Lampos.