The combined effect of those words and that burning stare was devastating. Anything that potent ought to be bottled with a tamperproof cap and a warning label. Throughout their courtship, their innate good humor surfaces, a trait which frequently set me off into bouts of laughter. When Jack prepares dinner for Marcy, he sets the table with paper plates, chopsticks and the candlesticks from the fireplace mantle. When he teases her about his food-gathering prowess, I could see her smirking as she looked at the containers from the restaurant.
Some authors have the ability to make the characters come alive.
I suspect that they must imbue the ink with magic. How lucky for us that writers like Ms. Phillips are able to breathe life into characters. Never having had the knack for being able to analyze the secret ingredient that makes some characters come alive and others remain ink on paper, I just know that I had a magical time during the hours I lived vicariously with Jack and Marcy.