Better

There is no rose without a thorn. There is no passion without torment. Vanessa Clark, a second-year college student, has a visceral love of books and rain and an unbreakable bond with her best friends. Marked by her parents' difficult divorce, she found comfort in Travis, apparently the good guy that all mothers-including hers-would like next to their daughter. With him she hopes to be able to build a happiness that she has been missing for too long now. After two years, however, even that love seems to have cracked and only rubble remains in Vanessa's heart. At least until, in class, she meets new classmate Thomas Collins for the first time. With a body covered in tattoos, green eyes in which it is all too easy to get lost, and a troubled past, Thomas is an explosive mix of charm and arrogance. He and Vanessa, so different from each other yet deep down so similar, fit together like pieces of a puzzle, giving life to a tormented relationship, made up of moments of passion and glimpses of tenderness, furious quarrels and reconciliations. But Vanessa wants more, she dreams of true, romantic and all-encompassing love, the kind of love story told in the novels that she never gets tired of reading. Thomas, on the other hand, shuns every bond, feeling as though a perennial tangle of thorns is agitated in his chest. And yet, if understanding each other is difficult, parting is impossible. This Work has been translated with a grant from the Centre for Books and Reading of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

There is no light without shadow. There is no love without pain. Loving each other has never been easy for Thomas Collins and Vanessa Clark. Their romance is fueled by passionate nights and fierce jealousy, hot sparks and seemingly insurmountable misunderstandings. After nearly losing each other, their relationship finally appears to be growing in the right direction. For the first time, Thomas confides in Vanessa, sharing the traumas in his past that have turned him into a broken soul incapable of bonding with anyone. But not even this rekindled closeness can overcome Thomas's deep, gripping distress. While Thomas spirals into self-destruction, Vanessa does her best to move on. She revisits her relationship with her old boyfriend, Logan, who has never accepted the end of their relationship and is ready to provide the support she deserves. Thomas is devastated and angry, because he knows that Logan isn't the right guy for Vanessa. But Thomas can't seem to keep himself together, his pain and addictions tearing him apart. Can there be a happy ending for two hearts on a collision course?