Never forget that we are more than the genetic code. We can be more than labels applied to us. We can be more than what others whisper behind our backs. Free will exists. We need to choose to be the best we can be and we need to help others do the same. Believe in yourself.

Ironic, huh? To keep that part of me alive, I have to be close to that which kills it.

Because I know what it feels like to be used, valued only for what you can do... not who you are, not who you want to be.

All my life people have called me gifted. Extraordinary. Blessed. I had all these dreams to become something. Someone. No one ever said I couldn't. No one ever said Killer.

He stares at me so darkly, so hungily that I can only nod. Agree. Of course, I feel it. "I do", I admit.

I was immediately swept up in Ariane's story. Equal parts thrill-ride and love story, The Rules is intense and emotional. This book stays with you long after you finish.

It's unclear who moves first. We're in each other's arms, lips locked, melded, hotly fused. Our hands drag over each other, reacquainting, remembering, almost as if we're both verifying the other one is real flesh and blood.