“This time they would find the path to love and to acceptance. This time, she would know and understand the secrets of his heart as well as those of her own.”

“When a man finds a woman who is capable of accepting him for himself, he’d be a fool to let her get away. When a man discovers a woman who believes in him and who is strong enough to understand and forgive his past, he’s finally able to stop wrestling with his conscience and his self–doubt. He welcomes that woman into his life and his heart, and he thanks God that they found each other in time to make a life together. And when a man loves a woman who’s that unique, he damn well marries her.”

“Maybe when you're young, you love people as much for their potential as for who they are right now. And if that's the case, what happens to love when time passes and that potential starts to shrivel and fade? Does love die with it?”

“Jace leaned down. 'Are you crying?' 'No.' She looked away and swiped her sleeve cross her face. 'Just leaking happiness.”

“She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark. Someone who would wait with an umbrella to walk her home in the rain, and smile like sunshine when he saw her coming. Who would dance with her on her balcony, keep his promises and know her secrets, and make a tiny world wherever he was, with just her and his arms and his whisper and her trust.”

“Karou wished she could be the kind of girl who was complete unto herself, comfortable in solitude, serene. But she wasn't. She was lonely, and she feared the missingness within her as if it might expand and... cancel her. She craved a presence beside her, solid. Fingertips light at the nape of her neck and a voice meeting hers in the dark. Someone who would wait with an umbrella to walk her home in the rain, and smile like sunshine when he saw her coming. Who would dance with her on her balcony, keep his promises and know her secrets, and make a tiny world wherever he was, with just her and his arms and his whisper and her trust.”

“You can't seek revenge then become obedient again. You can't pick and choose when you will and won't follow God. It's something that's done all the time or not at all.”