Rissa ’s Reviews > Once, Again, Always > Status Update

…Molly practiced making Aster smile, something that had the potential to become a dangerous new hobby if she didn’t manage it properly.
He had such a nice smile.

"I'll try again. I always do," he said, laughter still washing over him. And even though he was laughing at her, it didn't have the same factor of humiliation his laughter had had in their youth. He laughed at her with kindness, with affection, if there was such a thing. She hadn't known he was capable of that.

Aster was laughing. His genuine smile shot a pang of familiarity, of something that felt like home, straight through Molly's chest.

"Just be gentle with me, Graham," he breathed, reeling her in with her own name. "You've got me on the gallows here." He let her braid fall. "But I'll be damned if you're not the most beautiful executioner I've ever seen."

If a book was an opportunity to lose oneself between its bindings, then a bookstore was an opportunity to find oneself between its walls.