“He needed fresh air and sunshine. A walk in the woods and afterward a good book to read by the fire.Yeah, that was the life.”

“I'm a thirty-something gay man with a dodgy heart. I sell books for a living. Who wants to read about that?”

“You couldn't hurt a fly."Actually I was pretty good at pinging flies right out of the air, but I tried to look appropriately harmless.”

“The problem with a life spent reading is you know too much.”

“If there was one life skill everyone on the planet needed, it was the ability to think with critical objectivity”

“It was nearly five before Jake walked in. He was sunburnt, wet, and smelled faintly of fish. Sexy as hell. Don’t ask me to explain.”

“See! He likes you,” Natalie said triumphantly.I stared down at the scrawny scrap of fur cautiously sniffing my hand.“He doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m going to feed him.”“Now who’s being a cynic? Anyway, every bookstore should have a cat.”The cat -- assuming it was a cat and not some beige bug-eyed refugee from outer space -- slunk uneasily down the counter, and flinched at the flutter of Mystery Scene pages as a gust of warm air blew in from the street.”