“When I learned of Aunt Dimity's death, I was stunned. Not because she was dead, but because I had never known she'd been alive.”

“Maybe, when all was said and done, that was where love began and what kept it alive: the simple, everyday act of paying attention.”

“Jack made a pass at me, too. He thought my riding crop was alluring until I smacked him across the face with it." "Good Grief," I said. "Is any woman safe from him? "If I were Horace Malvern," said Emma, "I'd hide the cows.”

“The Handsome Prince Handbook is mute on the subject of chronic workaholism—Prince Charming, apparently, knew how to delegate—and I didn't know where else to turn for help. What do you do when life begins to go wrong and you've used up all three wishes?”

“They were tales of commonplace courage and optimism, for I knew from my own experience that everyday virtues endure best, and that quiet courage is worth more than the grandest derring-do.”

“Fairy tales, as Nell had said, are always complicated.”

“A woman without a past is like a fruitcake without brandy—insipid!”