You know what it is you smell on him, Haven? Testosterone. It's leaking out of his pores.

Both of us were quiet with the recognition that something was ending, and something was beginning.

...just a little touches her and there. He puts his hands on your arms or back, he stands close to you, getting you used to him... it's a mating ritual. Like March of the Penguins.

One glance and I knew exactly who and what he was. The classic alpha male, the kind who had spurred evolution forward about five million years ago by nailing every female in sight. They charmed, seduced, and behaved like bastards, and yet women were biologically incapable of resisting their magic DNA.

A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.

When you love a child, you forgive her before she can even ask. Basically you've already forgiven her for things she hasn't even done yet.

A book had always been a door to another world... a world much more interesting and fantastical than reality. But she had finally discovered that life could be even more wonderful than fantasy. And that love could fill the real world with magic.