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The Girl In Times Square

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 2,242 ratings · 129 reviews

A stunning and powerful contemporary love story from one of the best storytellers this century.

Lily's life is turned upside down with the disappearance of her flat mate, incredible revelations about her family and a personal discovery, all of which will affect her forever! What if everything you believed about your life was a lie? Meet Lily Quinn. She is broke, struggling...more

Published (first published June 30th 2004)

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Feb 25, 2012 Maylin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paperback, kindle

I can honestly say this book changed my life. In fact it was instrumental in saving my son's life.

Above and beyond the excellent story - human interest, mystery, romance, Ms Simon's habitual excellent writing - this has a personal memory for me.

The day after I finished reading it I had a phone call from my son who was run down. Besides being tired he had bleeding gums and was bruising. The doctor said he was stressed and to take it easy. However, this was so close to the symptoms of the heroine...more

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Jul 03, 2012 AJ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, romantic

And again Paullina Simons rips out my heart, chews it up and spits it out. Every single time! The Bronze Horseman remains my favourite book of all time, but this has become another Simons favourite.

Our heroine Lily defines bad luck (I mean, how much can one girl go through - as Spencer says in the book "the hits just keep on coming" - so true!). When we meet her she is a struggling student in New York, her boyfriend has just left her, she has no money and no purpose. There's all sorts of stuff...more And again Paullina Simons rips out my heart, chews it up and spits it out. Every single time! The Bronze Horseman remains my favourite book of all time, but this has become another Simons favourite.

Our heroine Lily defines bad luck (I mean, how much can one girl go through - as Spencer says in the book "the hits just keep on coming" - so true!). When we meet her she is a struggling student in New York, her boyfriend has just left her, she has no money and no purpose. There's all sorts of stuff going on with her (I'll confess it took me a bit to get inside her head, but the more I read and got to know the other characters and learn more of Lily's story, I understood her better) but her life really starts to unravel when she gets some unexpected and unwanted good luck, and then her roommate Amy goes missing. Enter Detective Spencer O'Malley. And it all sort of snowballs from there.

To start with, her family are just hideous (except for Grandma), I seriously wanted to smack the lot of them by the end of the book. Of course she's missing her best friend Amy, but her other friends, Rachel and Paul were great characters. I especially loved them all during the "I'm having SEX" scene, I laughed out loud reading through that one.

The shining light in this book for me was Spencer. The broody, damaged (of course) Police detective assigned to investigate the case of Lily's missing roommate. I just loved him as a character, and his relationship with Lily was the most gorgeous friendship which of course developed into some serious steam. Simons knows how to take your breath away with swoon-worthy leading men and hot romances!!!

I thought the ending to the 'mystery' aspect of the book was a little random and really came out of nowhere, but it was all wrapped up neatly. By that stage though I was so absorbed in other storylines going on in the book I really couldn't have cared less what happened to poor Amy.

In floods of tears I made it through the last few chapters of the book. I thought I had picked the ending, but was completely wrong. I don't want to give anything away though, you'll just have to read it yourself! But have tissues handy and clear your diary if you are going to start this one.

A great read, and a great example of why Paullina Simons is one of my favourite authors.
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Dec 04, 2008 Discoverylover marked it as to-read · review of another edition

"A stunning and powerful contemporary love story from one of the best storytellers this century. Lily's life is turned upside down with the disappearance of her flat mate, incredible revelations about her family and a personal discovery, all of which will affect her forever!What if everything you believed about your life was a lie? Meet Lily Quinn. She is broke, struggling to finish college, pay her rent, find love. Adrift in bustling New York City, the most interesting things in Lily's life hap...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 04, 2009 Fiona rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: zombies

Shelves: given-away, utter-rubbish, setting-usa

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

6 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2012 Lavinia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a somehow fast read, and it was particularly funny because by accident I read it during my first trip to New York, so I was able to situate most of the action. But the story itself... Come on! Not even the writting was particularly interesting. I mean every time the author is saying about some question of O'Maley something like "he asked with his usual astonishing intuition and clarvision" it makes me laugh. How can you say about an inspector guy that he has flair when everything is under...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Shelley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers who want a sad, thought-provoking story

Shelves: intense-read

4.5 Stars
When I first read this book (about a year ago), I wasn't sure what to think as I went along. It wasn't typical in any way, in fact, the female lead is young and rather unpredictable, facing a uniquely difficult situation. The person with whom she confides has his own struggles, which we as readers strive to understand throughout the whole book. Who are these characters, what drives them? I found it fascinating that although they seemed atypical to me, (people I didn't think I could rela...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-chick-lit

This book had me puzzled. At the beginning, I had no idea if I want to read on. Read it or leave it? Love it or hate it? I did enjoy the language and the writing style, but the total lack of plausibility in some of the described situations and characters was really getting on my nerves. The girl wins 18 million dollars and decides not to take it? Out of superstition? Hello? I would understand if she had anxiety problems or depression or whatever else that surely can affect your judgement. But he...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Chan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an absolutely fascinating novel. I was a bit disappointed with A Song in the Daylight so I had little hopes for an improvement on this one, however I was mistaken. Although it's a bit of a romance, it is not too romanticized. It comes with a thrill, anticipation and such broken characters...just *sighs.
Lily is a character of misfortunes, and it is through her string of unlucky events in her life that she meets Detective Spencer Patrick O'Malley. With her best friend missing, and a "sudden...more

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Aug 18, 2012 La Mala rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved Lilly!

Note : .Read the next excerpt with the following soundtrack: .
The Lonely Island - I just had sex

Lily could not believe the dizzying waves of happiness washing over her. She was having sex again! She was having SEX. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops, wanted to tell about it to strangers on the street. She wanted to have it with the windows open, with the shades up. She wanted to do it in public places, in corridors, on the bus, on the subway. To Paul, to whom she ran for hai...more I loved Lilly!

Note : .Read the next excerpt with the following soundtrack: .
The Lonely Island - I just had sex

Lily could not believe the dizzying waves of happiness washing over her. She was having sex again! She was having SEX. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops, wanted to tell about it to strangers on the street. She wanted to have it with the windows open, with the shades up. She wanted to do it in public places, in corridors, on the bus, on the subway. To Paul, to whom she ran for hair color on Monday, the first thing she said was, “I’m having sex!”
“You are? Congratulations! Maria, come here!” Paul yelled across the beauty salon. “Did you hear? Our Lily is having sex!”
“Having sex, you? With who?” Across the salon!
“Like that’s important,” scoffed Paul. “Nobody cares, Maria. She’s having SEX, didn’t you hear?”
“I hear, I hear.”
They were so loud, so fantastic.
Rachel came in to work, and Lily didn’t even have time to open her mouth, Paul was already volunteering information. Rachel said skeptically, “Sex with a man in his forties? Is that even possible?”
“Well, obviously.”
(...)
Lily walked past his precinct wondering if she should go in, say hi, beep him maybe. She decided not to. She rushed home instead, to see if there were any messages for her. Since when was she so eagerly checking her messages? Since she was having SEX again!
(...)
And there was a message from him. Even his voice didn’t sound the same anymore, it sounded deep and husky, it was a voice that was having sex—with her. “Hey,” he said in the message. Lily loved the familiarity. Not even an “It’s me.” Just “Hey.” “Hey. Where are you? Pick up. I’m out all day in Jersey, and then uptown in Washington Heights. I’ll call you later. Try to be home.”
Lily never moved from the phone the rest of the day. She didn’t even have music on, just in case some tympanic drum would mask the sound of the phone ringing. She made sure it was charged and plugged in, and all the lights were invitingly green.
When it rang, she was in the bathroom—of course!—and she lunged for it and said the most expectant “Hello?” of her life.
“This is your grandmother. How are you feeling?”
Lily was on the phone for ten minutes. She hoped the caller ID was working. She waited until seven in the evening for him to call. He didn’t. She painted, she drew. Unfortunately all she saw in her mind to draw was naked bodies, naked male bodies, lean muscles, lean waists, the space between the navel and the pubis—and then some. The wide spread-out hands, the fingers, all the digits, his and hers, at the moment of their greatest tension. Two large masculine hands tightly gripping two female calves. The man’s lips from heaven, ready for more, wet, slightly parted. Lily couldn’t sell these pictures on a Saturday afternoon on a family street. They were nearly pornographic.
Nearly?
At seven o’clock, Lily was finishing up a drawing of a man’s thigh when she heard a strong knock. She jumped up, she ran to the door, then slowed down to open it, trying to appear calm, but she was out of breath, and there he was, standing in the hall, smiling at her. Spencer smiling. He must be having SEX too!
”
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Apr 15, 2012 Judi/Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even though Paullina Simon's novels are usually over-wordy she still has the writing ability to pull me into the story until the end because her characters and the situations they are involved in are multilayered and almost always surprising. "Girl in Times Square" (formally written under the title "Lily") is just one of those novels. Lily, a happy go lucky but lacking in self confidence, is a 25 year old woman that is barely making ends meet when her room-mate, Amy, turns up missing. Shortly af...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2009 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: love-story, favorites

I REALLY loved this book. There are enough plot summaries, so I won't add mine. This book has everything: murder mystery, suspense, family skeletons, great plot/character development, and a tender love story. Lily is just such a lovable character. She remains loyal to her dysfunctional/shady family--all the while battling cancer. As much as I was captivated by all the subplots, it was the love story between Spencer and Lily that had me turning pages until the wee hours of the night. It will capt...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 02, 2013 Rachel Zylstra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All I can say is I LOVED it!
A few people have recommended this book to me, and while I'm already a die-hard Paullina Simons fan I never got around to reading this one until now.

I love all of her books, while none are the same, they all have that Simons style of writing that I just can't get enough of. You are so involved with the characters you can't help but love them and then miss them when they story is over.

While Tania and Shura will always have number one spot as my fave fictional couple, S...more

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Oct 24, 2008 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Poor. Far too much emotion and bad luck. The murder is kind of incidental to the unfortunate life of the main character, and I just really didn't care.
And I loved the character of Spencer O'Malley in Red Leaves, buin this he was just pathetic.
I was sorely disappointed by this book, and felt I had really wasted my £5.99!

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Apr 24, 2011 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paullina Simons writes strong characters. She doesn’t leave herself much choice. With the suffering she heaps on them, they have to be strong to live through some 600 pages of fictional life. What keeps me coming back to her stories though, are those very same characters. She writes them so true to life that they rattle around in my head every time I put the book down. Irritating, really, when you set a book down, but it won’t leave your head.

Case in point, The Girl in Time Square. I was almost...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Claire rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, reading-group, unfinished

Oh dear! I sort of knew from the blurb this wasn't really my thing, but made a bit of an effort since it's for reading group!

I read Tully, Red Leaves and 11 Hours when I was about 16. I can't really remember what they were about but seem to recall them being gripping, if not particularly believable. I made it to the end of her books then and perhaps had more patience for ridiculous storylines, but I can't continue with this one anymore I'm afraid.

It's mildly gripping - I've managed to get to ove...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Avec un mélange de roman policier et de romance parfaitement dosé, cette lecture m'a beaucoup plu et c'est avec beaucoup de plaisir que j'ai découvert une nouvelle auteure.

Bien sûr, les amateurs de romans policiers purs n'y trouveront pas leur compte, il ne faut pas s'attendre à trouver ici du suspense de la première à la dernière page. Il y a juste de quoi passer un bon moment, de quoi se détendre.

L'écriture est fluide, jolie, le récit est prenant et se lit très facilement. J'ai trouvé le perso...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another great book by PS! I must admit that the first part of the book didn't really grab me the way I wished, and I thought maybe it was going to drag on - being 600 pages long! But to PS's credit the story unravelled with many gripping moments, and by the time I knew it I couldn't put the book down!

Lily is a character filled with lots of uncertainty, someone who didn't know how to live life. But when a combination of mystery, tragedy and luck comes her way she is forced to look at life from a...more

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May 24, 2010 Trace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-book-list

I had read the Bronze Horseman by the same author a few years ago. It was amazing. I'm looking forward to reading another of her novels.

UPDATE:

DONE! Absolutely riveting. I could not put it down. Read it in 3 days despite it being exactly 599 pages long (and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it!). This author is gifted at creating real, authentic characters and is VERY gifted in particular in creating love stories that tug at the heartstrings. In my books, this is one author who could give...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tropey-tripe, womens-fiction

I'm just not sure that I'm going to be able to finish this book. The whole premise of it is based on something so unbelievable (winning the lottery but not cashing it in, not caring when your housemate inexplicably goes missing) that the rest of the story is almost unreadable. Building a house on sand, and all that.

I loved the Bronze Horseman trilogy and I remember loving Tully as well, years ago, but this book is just trope after trope, a contrived plot line that really just feeds into further...more

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Jan 14, 2010 Happy2read rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although most people's favourite Paullina Simons' novel is The Bronze Horseman, it was The Girl in Times Square that captivated me the most. A completely absorbing tale of Lily, a broke, struggling college student who discovers everything in her life is a lie.
She battles physically and emotionally through the revelations that shock her and those around her and she grabs hold of those precious moments in life that give her hope.
I devoured this novel in 3 days and upon completion wished it would n...more

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May 05, 2013 Sanaz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Why I decided to read this book:
I was looking for a book that no one had recommend to me or I had herd of so I decided to go to the library and chose a random book, the book was on display facing backwards, so I had a quick skim of the synopsis and decided to give it chance.

Which category on the bingo board this book completes:
This book completes the 'A book with a female main character' on my bingo board. I find the category very easy to review about as most books have a female main character,...more Why I decided to read this book:
I was looking for a book that no one had recommend to me or I had herd of so I decided to go to the library and chose a random book, the book was on display facing backwards, so I had a quick skim of the synopsis and decided to give it chance.

Which category on the bingo board this book completes:
This book completes the 'A book with a female main character' on my bingo board. I find the category very easy to review about as most books have a female main character, I would of liked this category to possibly be more specific or to have an additional factor to the category such as ' A book with a heroine main character' to give it more personality and make it more appealing to review on.

My favourite quote from this book (and why) :
'Daughters are supposed to be friends to their mothers in their old age.' was my favourite quote from the book. Lily and her mother don't have the typical mother-daughter relation ship that most females share, for her its the complete opposite, although deep down, very deep down she must love her mother but only for the reason of loving your mother, because she is your mother. Lily's mother doesn't seem to care much about Lily or anything but her self at all which to me is beyond frustrating (the arrogance her mother has within herself will make you want to scream in frustration) as all she seems to care about is herself and causing others to feel frustration when she is constantly reminding everyone of her own problems. At that moment I felt so devastated for Lily and furious at her mother. How can she be a friend to her mother when her mother is not even a mother to her? How could she say such a thing with such ease and simplicity without realising what a horrible and self-centred person she is. I could just feel the anger that must be built inside Lily when her mother has said something like that. The impact on the quote and the strong reaction it was able to make me feel was why it was my favourite, it made me feel made what lily felt, the quote made me feel as though I was apart of the story.

Something new I learned from the book is:
In the book 'The Girl in Times Square' Lily who is the lead character discovers that she has been diagnosed with cancer. To Lily it was a foreign subject, she didn't really know much about cancer in general and especially about her diagnosis and so did I. Throughout the chapters the doctors and nurses are having to explain to Lily about her disease, effects she will go through and all the medical reasons as to why she is ill, this also benefited me as a reader as I was learning some new things that I never knew before such as what 'Acute promyelocytic leukemia' (a cancer of the blood and bone marrow) was and the damage that it can do to a body. It was convenient to learn about things like this all in a story.

A character or setting that was interesting to me (and why):
Lily's mother Allison Quinn was the character that was most interesting to me, but for all the wrong reasons. Allison was so frustrating that sometimes I would slap myself or scream, she was so arrogate and inconsiderate toward anyone’s feelings but her own. Allison had a drinking problem and this caused her to be the centre of attention, her husband would do his job in supporting her though this rough experience but Allison would constantly push him away and blame all of her problems on him. Allison's character had the kind of power to make the reader cringe and bite their finger nails, she was like the fly in your room that would not stop buzzing!. This to me is what made her so fascinating and it made the book so exhilarating to read.

I loved this book to pieces, there was romance, mystery, pain, and friendship all embedded in this fantastic book. I would recommend this book to any one who is looking for a bit of everything in a book! 5/5 :)

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Sep 18, 2010 Amkd69 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 14, 2011 Cate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, mystery

A 2-star rating looks bad, but according to the Goodreads rating scale 2 stars = okay. This book really was just okay. It wasn’t great, wasn’t bad – it was okay. Okay is a pretty okay word. Today I had an okay day, lunch was okay – could have been more a bit more satisfying. Just like this book. I think the love story kept myself reading more so than the murder/mystery plot.

You can’t help but feel sympathy towards poor Lily. Wow she has had a lot of bad luck and I really did feel for her situati...more

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Aug 17, 2009 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: new-york, own, mystery, love-romance, 2009-reads

My copy is actually called "Lily". I have not had the brainpower required to write a decent review over the past 8 weeks (although Cooper is starting to sleep through the night so hopefully it will return soon!) and so I am going to keep this simple. I really enjoyed this book and liked it even more when I realized a large part of the book was a mystery. Just like Simon's other books, I would not recommend to my more conservative friends. She definitely favors the F word in her writing. In The B...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another great Paullina Simons book! I am now a great follower of her work & am anxiously awaiting Tatiana & Alexander! In Lily, we find another regular girl who develops into a heroine & a romantic lead. As her roommate goes missing, Lilly develops a relationship with the detective who is investigating the case. then Lilly gets sick & her whole dysfunctional family comes into the picture, the roommate is still missing, and it is a fascinating read! You will love Lily! I was sorry...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Lynette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this as I really wanted to try another Simmons book after being blown away by the Bronze Horseman series. This is a good read but not in the league of that.
It deals with illness and I always struggle with any story that has a medical edge as I'm a doctor and they rarely get things right. This wasn't incorrect at all but I just don't enjoy that storyline. I wasn't sure about Lily the main character, she didn't annoy me like some but couldn't really get a feel for her. Overall a good story...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Natasha Chowdory rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't know what to expect with this book, but I was amazed. I know a lot of people prefer 'The Bronze Horseman' but this was excellent. It had a lot of the things I like, a likable(ish) main character, familial relationships that strike a chord, and an honestly gripping mystery that only gets resolved (albeit hurriedly) towards the end of the story and romance! Also the protagonist was the same age as me, so it was even more apt. I couldn't put it down, can't recommend the book enough!!!

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Jan 15, 2012 Katy Sheffield rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 12, 2012 Tasmin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. The prose draws the reader in really quickly and I love the characters of Lily and Spencer. Spencer is one of my favourite fictional characters ever. The twist shocked me and even though it was mostly a sad book, some of the dialogue was genuinely funny. It made me think about how much I appreciate my life and what I should be doing different.

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Apr 08, 2010 Renae rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favorites

This author has the ability to take me to a place no other can. The character development in her stories is amazing. I felt Lily's pain. I felt Spencer's pain (and addiction). This author is not for the light hearted. It's actually quite depressing. Fortunately, the ending was satisfying to me. She writes a fabulous mystery too. Although I rate this a 5 star, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

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About Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad, USSR, in 1963. At the age of ten her family immigrated to the United States. Growing up in Russia Paullina dreamt of someday becoming a writer. Her dream was put on hold as she learned English and overcame the shock of a new culture.

After graduating from university and after various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator Paullin...more

More about Paullina Simons...

Books by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman (The Bronze Horseman, #1)

Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman, #2)

The Summer Garden (The Bronze Horseman, #3)

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Quotes from The Girl In Times Square

“I didn't know how to live my life, and suddenly I was thrust into it and had no choice but to live it.” — 3 people liked it

“She hadn't meant to do it. Falling this crashingly in love with Spencer didn't take Lily by accident. It took her by storm.” — 3 people liked it

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