“But when you needed him to suspend that suspicion, it was like trying to convince a hungry lion not to take down and injured gazelle - completely against his nature.”

“And this is the library,” Mrs. Simcosky said, leading Beth into a generous room with a fire flickering in a river rock fireplace. “Or, as Mason liked to call it, my love den.” She drifted to one of the floor to ceiling book shelves and trailed her fingers down a bevy of colorful spines. “He used to call my books ‘the other men’.”

“For a moment she was convinced she was still dreaming. That she’d fallen asleep while reading one of JR Ward’s Brotherhood of The Black Dagger romances and had inserted herself into a dream based on the book. Any moment now he was going to start growling Mine Mine Mine and let loose with some spicy bonding scent. Or flash a massive set of fangs.”

“Oh no, this was real. And it just went to show that her secret weakness in literary escapism did not translate well into reality. The last thing she needed or wanted in real life was a bonded alpha male. Romantic fiction aside, they were serious jackass material.”

“Many writers are recognized for their PHD mentality--Poor, Hungry and Driven.”

“I don't know if my life will ever be completely normal again, but something like normal is a good start.”

“Trying to figure out why Radley’s such a horse’s butt is all." "It’s a course we take at the academy," that deep voice said from beside her. She looked up to see Radley’s dark eyes staring down at her. Her face flushed before she could prevent it. "Being a Horse’s Ass 101. I got an A+.”