“I adored the Iranian sisters, Marjan, Bahar and Layla, who are looking to build a life, start a business and find love in a place so far from home.”

Everything has to be clean and orderly when I sit down to write.

I don’t settle in any other area of my life when it comes to excellence, so why should I lower my standards when it comes to boys?

Those who want to know the facts, and those who want to make up a nice story to feel better.

I like it when my mother smiles. And I especially like it when I make her smile.

Maybe a first love exists to reaffirm the best parts of yourself, the choices you made when you didn’t worry about the consequences.

Ireland has never been more beautiful – the perfect setting for this story filled with humor, hope and possibility.

That’s when you know for sure somebody loves you.

If a man walks in beauty, he will create, and when he creates, he prospers.

A handwritten letter carries a lot of risk. It’s a one-sided conversation that reveals the truth of the writer.

Isn’t this the truth of any good mother? That in all of our lives.

The table is where the big decisions of the family are made and all the arguing takes place.

Love has a funny way of showing up when you aren’t looking for it and didn’t plan on it.

I’m writing novels because I found something I love because I tried it. Don’t be afraid to shake it up.

Energy has to be fed from a source. If you don’t feed the source, it dissipates entirely.

Don’t worry about bad things that haven’t happened yet. It will save you a lot of anxiety.

Looking back, now, I realize that you only ever need one person who lights up that way when you enter a room.