“He looked as if he'd stepped straight off the cover of one of those romance novels she ordered from Amazon.com so she didn't have to be embarassed by some supercilious male clerk in the bookstore.”

“I figured she wanted to get into it with me, some he's-my-man-so-step-off song and dance. If so, she would have to dance solo.I don't do drama.”

“I wondered what he would have thought if he'd known that I'd gleaned most of my information from reading historical romance novels.”

“She understood now why her friend Elizabeth, with her near-genius, analytical mind gave wide berth to murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, and horror stories, and read only romance novels. Because, by God, when a woman picked up one of those steamy books, she had a firm guarantee that there would be a Happily-Ever-After. That though the world outside those covers could bring such sorrow and disappointment and loneliness, between those covers, the world was a splendid place to be.”

“Maybe she should stop reading those damn romance novels. They were giving her crazy expectations.”

“Under her high brows, she eyed him straight on and straight across. She had gone to girls' schools, he recalled later. Those girls looked straight at you.”