“Never has anyone been so willing to be ruined as you were.”

“Coyness wasn't the only thing Ardetta had been aggressive about and he'd had to summon up all his southern chivalry to turn her down gently. When he'd relented and obliged her with a kiss, she'd been on him like ugly on an ape. He'd narrowly escaped her clutches with his honor intact.”

“The worst part was he never did get any of that damned apple pie.”

“Poor Almafae hadn't been quite right since the time she'd stuck her head in a gnat ball at the age of two.”

“Never again could he see a dogwood blossom or eat a fish without thinking of her.”

“Don't you ever save me again. Do you hear me, you hotheaded little incendiary? Don't help me, rescue me, offer me succor, or do me a favor. Do you understand, you nihilistic dynamitard! Don't you dare ever save me again!”

“She was full of flaws which with time would evolve into full-blown personality defects.”