It was a terrible decision, and I confess I'd make it again.

I can hear my brother's voice in my head. Your problem is that you're too emotional. But how can I not be emotional, Rowan? How can I not care?

For males twenty-five is the fatal age. For women it's twenty. We are all dropping like flies.

Maybe it is desperation. Maybe we can't let things fall apart without trying. We can't let go of the people we love.

Life is much different from the days when there were lilies in my mother’s garden, and all my secrets fit into a paper cup.

She's been conned, ruined, left for dead, and she's not going to forgive any of it. She will soldier on, if only out of spite.

When I was 11 or 12, I was really bored with everything on my summer reading list. It was all happy, middle-grade kinds of books. I was getting frustrated, because I liked to read. My mother went to the library and got me a copy of 'The Other Side of Midnight' by Sidney Sheldon. It was my first adult book.