The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri
"You will not understand this, Princess Malini. But there is a subtle pain the conquered feel. Our old language is nearly lost. Our old ways. Even when we try to explain a vision of ourselves to one another--in our poetry, our song, our theater masks--we do so in opposition to you, or by looking to the past. As if we have no future. Parijatdvipa has reshaped us. It is not a conversation, but a rewriting. The pleasure of security and comfort can only ease the pain for so long."
Lady Derring Takes a Lover, Julie Anne Long
"Lady Derring," he said, with grave, ironic pity that made her expression immediately alter to one that suggested she'd like to do him a small violence.
Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas
"Touch me again," Ethan growled, "and I'll kill you with this."
West drew his hand back instantly, his gaze falling to the utensil in Ethan’s grip. "That's a spoon."
"I know."
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley
I could have written to you without including them; after all, the things that happen between lovers are lost to the work of history anyway. But I wrote it down because I need you to bear witness to it. He was here, by and with and in my body. He lives in me like trauma does. If you ever fall in love, you'll be a person who was in love for the rest of your life.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi
A moment ago she had been grasping at straws. Now she had a piece of straw in her hand, and she wasn't going to let it go.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, Mariana Zapata
I'd loved the hell out of her before I knew better, and that thought made my heart ache for kid-Vanessa, who hadn't known any better for a while.
These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs
They fought how Chono prayed: with reverence for the particulars of form and function, and when Esek tried to overpower them by crowding close, all she saw was a whirl of spinning wood before the stave cracked against her shin.
Love Hacked, Penny Reid
He was looking at me--half desperation, half determination, half animosity.
That's right. He was looking at me 150%.
How the Dukes Stole Christmas, Tessa Dare, et al
"We've discussed this. Murdering the duke is not a plan."
"Of course it isn't," Kat replied. "Murdering the duke is an objective. A plan requires specifics."
The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
I'm certain I'll be a ghost when I die. I'll haunt the world's remotest mountains and forests and sand beaches. I'll burst into laughter when the storm breaks. I'll drench myself in the rain. I will never be born as a woman again.
Angel in a Devil's Arms, Julie Anne Long
Mr. Cassidy shifted restlessly from one leg to the other, as though he'd like to be outside gamboling through the woods or whatever it was Americans did since they'd freed themselves from England’s smothering clutches.
Haunted Heroine, Sarah Kuhn
Of course Aveda looked completely unnatural eating a Taco Bell burrito, but she bit into it with single-minded intent, like she was trying to best it at something.
Beautiful Player, Christina Lauren
"Do you even know what a triathlon is?"
"Of course I do. It's the swim, run, shoot a bear thing."
Making Movies, Sidney Lumet
Life has a cruel way of balancing pleasure with pain. To make up for the joy of seeing Sophia Loren every morning, God punishes the director with the mix.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City, George Mann
Rooper had always seen the living Force as a melting pot of shimmering colors, each life, no matter how large or small, contributing to the overall pattern, the shining glow. It was a web that stretched throughout the entire galaxy, linking all living things.
Chasing Cassandra, Lisa Kleypas
"There's no such thing as an old maid."
"Wh-what would you call a middle-aged lady who's never married?"
"A woman with standards?" West suggested.
The Governess Affair, Courtney Milan
When one climbed trees, it was a fool's game to look down. If one did, one risked vertigo. So Serena looked up now, past the oncoming gloom of the night. She focused on the warm orange glow of the lamp and the dimmer light of the stars beyond. She looked up and refused to think of falling.
The Cat Who Saved Books, Sōsuke Natsukawa
"If you find a book easy to read, that means it's all stuff that you already know," he went on. "That's why it's easy. If you find it difficult, then that's proof it's something brand new."
Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky
The nocturnal life of Kiln is less well studied than its daytime equivalent, and that's because no fucker wants to go out into the pitch dark with a butterfly net and trust their luck.
Devil in Disguise, Lisa Kleypas
"I dinna want your money."
Lady Merritt blinked in surprise. "I didn't mean I was going to hand you a sack of cash. I'm a businesswoman, not a fairy godmother."
The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri
When would she have the power to do as she willed--to grind laughing, spiteful men under her heel, and walk on steady ground? Would such a time ever come?
Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger
And Shane whispered to her father, "Why is this happening to us? What did we do to deserve this?"
He looked her in the eyes--his face was gaunt now, his cheekbones were too sharp, and his chin was rough with patchy stubble, but his expression was so tender--and he said, "Nothing. Tragedies aren’t punishments."
I'm Only Wicked With You, Julie Anne Long
But then there appeared on his lips the beginning of a smile, which spread slowly and became crooked and rueful and almost reluctant. He gave his head a slight, slow, disbelieving shake. It might have been the most explicit compliment she'd ever received.
The Deep Dark, Molly Knox Ostertag
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell
Shesheshen wrapped her arms around Homily and held her to her chest for a moment, mourning the realization that she'd fallen in love with someone's pain.
Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky
"Inspector, it was me," Charles supplied helpfully. "I am the murderer."
"That," Birdbot said archly, "is what we are here to determine. Who is the murderer."
"Inspector, I am."
"Do not speak unless you are spoken to. I will not have you interfere in police business," Birdbot boomed, turning up his volume to speak over Charles.
Beard Science, Penny Reid
I didn't usually make pie, but I was waiting for the bread to rise so I could knead it again. I'd woken up with a thirst for violence.
Navigational Entanglements, Aliette de Bodard
Hac Cúc said, wearily, "You're trying to shame me into going after the tangler. And then you toss love in it like it's a consolation prize. Or another way to make me follow you."
Spelunking Through Hell: A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld, Seanan McGuire
"We're all here because of what the crossroads did, and now they never did any of those things, thanks to my granddaughter being too untrained to understand that she was attempting the impossible."
The Brides of High Hill, Nghi Vo
"Oh, he's beautiful," Nhung said in a way that meant no good, or at least, no peace.
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed
She thought of collapsing, and taking a nap. The unicorn might impale her before it ate her; you never knew your luck.
The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar
"Too many people, not enough stuff: the result is extra people. What are you going to do with all these extra people? If you're smart, you'll turn them into a business. That's the Hold. So there will always be a Hold. Because the Ship is a problem. And the Hold is the answer."
The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler
"And I understood: I know what it is like to be from an extraction zone. What it is like to grow up in the place where the taking begins. But an elephant knows what it is like to be an extraction zone. That is their history. The elephant is enormous, but it is not as gigantic as the history of human exploitation."
The West Passage, Jared Pechacek
What do you want? the Blue Lady demanded.
In silent unison, the crowd repeated her question.
Food, said the other Lady. Her arms extended, clamping onto the Blue Lady’s shoulders. Her mouth had learned to open very wide.
Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao
Once we climb into the cockpit, I split my armor at the front, pull out my eight-month pregnancy padding, and abort it behind me.
"Oh, no, not our son," Qin Zheng says, his tone utterly flat.
So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole
She couldn't read his expression. Maybe one day she would ask him why he studied her all the time as if she were one of the books he was always reading. She never knew what he was looking for, only that he rarely found it.
The Feast Makers, HA Clarke
I sat unpunished by anything but circumstance.
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Emil Ferris
And...
The Heiress Hunt, Joanna Shupe
"I was worried you would resent being dragged along under false pretenses."
"Are you kidding? False pretenses are my very favorite pretenses."
Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer
This was the kind of place, like the quarry so long ago, where he'd always expected to die. It wasn't the worst way to meet an end. He liked how the insects chittered on regardless in the trees beyond the light. How he could hear a barred owl's loopy mating call so clearly.
City of Last Chances, Adrian Tchaikovsky
She wanted to tell him off like a child. Don't do this stupid thing. Literally, in the speech of the Divine City Do not be made a part of it. It was all process and passive verbs, in that language. In the City, you did not do, you were. Do not be this thing. As though he was a timber in a ship bound for the seabed.
Monstress, Volume 8: Inferno, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda
Monstress, Volume 9: The Possessed, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Volume 2, Emil Ferris
The Hunger and the Dusk, Volume 1, G Willow Wilson & Chris Wildgoose
We Called Them Giants, Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, & Clayton Cowles
Star Trek: Lower Decks--Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North & Chris Fenoglio
Faithbreaker, Hannah Kaner
'If he had children and gave them half the attention he gives his bread they'd lead very loved lives.'
Inara, who had saddened at Kissen's first description of Elo, managed a laugh.
'He's also smart, most of the time. But he's gone far away from himself, and he can’t find the way back.'
After Dark With the Duke, Julie Anne Long
"What did it used to say?"
She appeared to give it some thought.
"Seventeen," she replied.
"It used to say, 'The duke has seventeen eyes.'"
Bombshell, Sarah MacLean
"I beg your pardon, young lady," Sophie said, warning in her tone. "What does your brother get that you do not?"
Lorna looked directly at her mother and said, "A title."
Backpacking Through Bedlam, Seanan McGuire
"And because I wish to move in the warm world, to thaw and see things as they have the potential to be, I make myself over to seem as harmless as I can be. Plus, I enjoy it." She smiled toothily. "It is a brave and beautiful thing, to act for enjoyment alone in this world of complications and conflicts."
Triple Sec, TJ Alexander
"What if I rebooked them both for dinner at the same restaurant tonight? I could make a reservation for two tables in different areas and kind of--jump between them?"
"You're describing the climactic scene from Mrs. Doubtfire," Daniel drawled.
The Pursuit Of..., Courtney Milan
I thought this a reasonable response: "Well, if we cannot have cotton except by means of threats, bribery, and corruption, perhaps we should not have cotton."
The Lotus Empire, Tasha Suri
"I don't kill you because it is right or good, or because any great sense of justice compels me to," Rao told him. "I am killing you because you deserve to die, and the world will be better with you gone."
The Lady Gets Lucky, Joanna Shupe
"My head is swimming and I am far too drunk for talking." The shirt obscured her view of his face and he seemed to get stymied in removing it. "Help."
On Vicious Worlds, Bethany Jacobs
In Esek's voice the words lack all concern, but there is a tiny chink in Six's mask, and if Chono looks just right, she can see through the peephole into a dark, malevolent energy that says if she is not all right, they will kill everyone.
While the Duke Was Sleeping, Sophie Jordan
Without removing his gaze from the pair of thugs, he slid the knife from Cam’s arm like it was nothing to him. A task he did all the time. Plucking a flower from a vase.
An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon
Dear Theo, she wrote on a pad of paper once ready to leave, I am off to the Shuttle Bay. Deciding the note not suitably warm, she added: You are not unpleasant to look at when you sleep. Love, Aster.
Notorious Pleasures, Elizabeth Hoyt
Slowly, awfully, Hero arched her left brow. She knew it was slow and awful because she’d practiced the movement in front of a mirror for hours on end at the age of twelve. The result made seasoned matrons tremble in their heeled slippers.
House of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky
"I'm not allowed to fight. It's my faith. It's God's one real commandment."
"I have other commandments," God commented acidly. "It's just the only one you kept."
Marked by Moonlight, Sophie Jordan
"It was Lenny," he said with quiet certainty, then repeated as vaguely as before, "and now you're one of them."
What on earth was that supposed to mean? Had she been involved in some sort of gang initiation and didn't know about it?
Surrender of a Siren, Tessa Dare
He made a gruff noise in his throat--the sort of noise men make when they're working up to saying something and don't quite know how to get it out, but want to keep up the aura of brute masculinity in the midst of their indecision.
Isaiah & Isolde, Julie Anne Long
"I don't really believe I'm a horse, Mr. Redmond," Maria finally assured him, kindly.
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
"You have nothing to say?" Shallan said. "I just accused you of murder."
"No," Jasnah said, "murder is a legal definition. You said I killed unethically."
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, Bee Wilson
The medieval housewife making pancakes in Le Ménagier de Paris stood face to face with the people she was wearying, whereas our servants have mainly been removed from view. We do not see the hands in the chicken factory that boned the breasts, never mind the chickens that gave their lives, nor the workers who labored to assemble the parts of our whizzy food processors. We only see a pile of ingredients and a machine ready to do our bidding. Alone in our kitchens, we feel entirely emancipated.
An Unseen Attraction, KJ Charles
He'd spent his life carefully not looking into an abyss of rage like the pit of hellfire he'd so often been told awaited pagans, because if he ever really looked, he feared he might be angry forever.
You Were Made to Be Mine, Julie Anne Long
She sensed this was someone accustomed to marshaling panache to get through untenable situations, and when confronted with a choice between either death or asking for help he would really have to think about it.
Scandalous Desires, Elizabeth Hoyt
His expression didn’t change, but somehow his eyes laughed, too, a great predator, indulgent.
The Bride Goes Rogue, Joanna Shupe
"That was the most astonishingly terrible proposal of marriage I've ever heard, and that is saying a lot considering Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel."
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Adriana Herrera
She was just a tad shameless when it came to her business. One more item in the list of things he found deeply irritating in everyone but her.
A Thousand Ships, Natalie Haynes
She could see her own future as clearly as she saw everything else. Its brevity was her one consolation.
Chef's Kiss, TJ Alexander
"Once I started thinking about how stupid it was to separate stuff like that, I couldn't stop noticing it everywhere." He looked very serious. "Simone, is this what being woke is?"
A Lady of Persuasion, Tessa Dare
"Isabel is devoted to charity," Toby said.
"Well, of course she is." Lady Aldridge gave her son a beatific smile. "She’s marrying you."
Hot and Sour Suspects, Vivien Chien
"Yuna told me she heard from Jasmine who heard from one of the Mahjong Matrons who said she heard it from Cindy who heard it from Penny at the Bamboo Lounge who said when she was talking to Freddie that he said Rina is mad at you and Megan because you're the whole reason she went to this speed dating thingy to begin with."
The Human Target, Volume One, Tom King and Greg Smallwood
Superman: Up in the Sky, Tom King and Andy Kubert
Wonder Woman, Volume 2: Sacrifice, Tom King, Daniel Sampere, and Tony S Daniel
The Duke Gets Even, Joanna Shupe
"It's why I started this supper club. Because I needed to prove to myself that I was more than what everyone saw."
"A booze-chugging swell who has trouble keeping his pants buttoned?"
"Exactly. Though please do tell Alice to put that on my gravestone."
Winterblaze, Kristen Callihan
Poppy did not do drastic things. She simply died a little more inside each day and wished the world to go away. That had not worked particularly well; the world was still here.
Batman: One Bad Day--The Riddler, Tom King and Mitch Gerards
The Comeback, Lily Chu
I don't want to talk to him right now and hear whatever spin he's going to put on this. I want the unbiased and accurate information proffered by random strangers on the internet with zero insider knowledge.
Stage Dreams, Melanie Gillman
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night, James Swallow
Chin-Riley released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. "That was fun. Wait, no. Not fun. The other thing."
Neanderthal Seeks Human, Penny Reid
She said I owned the clothes of a radiologist and the shoes of an OB/GYN, which is like the medical doctor equivalent of saying that I dressed like a librarian with a propensity for fuck-me boots.
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
But finally he discovered the stairs, all except the bottom one, and fell up them on his face.
Batman, Volume 1: I Am Gotham, Tom King, Scott Snyder, and Mikel Janin
Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Alex Ross
Heartbreaker, Sarah MacLean
"You've a massive gash in your side and you're threatening to bleed to death on a kitchen workbench, Your Grace. Now is not the time for courtly love."
A Kiss at Midnight, Eloisa James
Arabella smiled at him with the guileless charm of a young lady trained to bag eligible gentlemen at fifty paces.
Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
"Were you dying?"
"Yes, very--a cruel love, a strange love, that would have taken my life. Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood."
Margo's Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe
It seemed improbable that men really wanted sex this badly, and yet they did, there was an entire economy based on how badly they wanted it, and for a moment Margo understood the sexual desire she felt was mild in comparison. She would never pay fifteen dollars to look at a guy naked. You could buy two, possibly three sandwiches for fifteen dollars.
Superman: The Harvest of Youth, Sina Grace
The Book of Lost Hours, Hayley Gelfuso
"This is what you think about when you are on the run from the US government?" Anton asked, sounding amused. "Poems?"
"Sure, don't you?"
Batman Arkham: Talia Al Ghul, Dennis O'Neil, Tom King, et al
And...
The End of October, Lawrence Wright
"Can you hear me?"
Tariq's eyes fluttered.
"Are you in pain?" Henry asked.
"Not pain," he whispered. "Something else. Big. A big feeling."
Henry knew the feeling he was describing. It was death.
Other Ever Afters: New Queer Tales, Melanie Gillman
Wedding Dashers, Heather McBreen
"Fuck," he mutters under his breath.
"What?" I ask, worried I'm about to find out, now, at age twenty-eight, that I have an abnormal vagina.
Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan
"You don't have to kill if you don't like it," Key promised. "I'll kill them for you."
"Kill who?"
Against her hair, she felt his mouth curve. "Everyone."
Middletide, Sarah Crouch
Elijah stayed where he was beneath the trees, replaying their conversation over and over in his mind as the downpour lightened into a gentle mist and then faded altogether, leaving the graveyard garlanded with tendrils of snaking fog that lingered between headstones and melted into shadow at the edge of the forest. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have asked Nakita out at the foot of her husband's grave.
How Freaking Romantic, Emily Harding
"Romance exists. It's just so hard to define, we stopped trying and told ourselves we can buy it instead."
He seems to think about it for a minute, taking a sip of his drink as he looks across the room. "I still think Mrs. Goodridge enjoyed that dick pic, though."
Hotel Iris, Yoko Ogawa
The stories came bubbling out of him like baby spiders hatching from their eggs, each episode giving rise to another memory, anecdote, or tirade against an imagined enemy.
Thief of Shadows, Elizabeth Hoyt
She glanced rather distractedly over his shoulder, and Winter had to repress the urge to look. This wasn't St. Giles--presumably he was safe from attack here.
The Scandal of It All, Sophie Jordan
After brief contemplation, he decided to scale the wall outside her bedchamber after all.
The Untold Story, Genevieve Cogman
The Storyteller's eyes were filled with a bitterness past Irene's comprehension, centuries old--no, millennia. It was like seeing into cold wet caves lost somewhere far underground, where light never came, and where things bred and ate themselves and died. "I cannot remember," the Storyteller said, and the despair in their voice was absolute.
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal, Adriana Herrera
"I thought you said you were done with her?" Cassandra teased.
"I was obviously lying through my teeth," Cora groused as she set off at a run.
How to Tame a Wild Rogue, Julie Anne Long
It was disconcerting to feel that the world, in fact, might have some dimension he'd overlooked. That she might have something to teach him.
Mr Collins in Love, Lee Welch
One longs to ask--for bread or money or a friend--and yet one cannot. It is not pride, exactly, or not pride alone. It is the knowledge that, afterwards, they will know you are a person who had to ask, and they could use that information against you, if they wished.
Dragons Love Tacos, Adam Rubin
Knockout, Sarah MacLean
"No one is going to see my undergarments," Imogen protested.
"Certainly not with that attitude," Sesily said, getting up from the settee and passing Adelaide the box of chocolates.
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing, I mean, that its abiding is a most generous reprieve.
The Human Target, Volume Two, Tom King and Greg Smallwood
Batman, Volume 2: I Am Suicide, Tom King and Mikel Janin
Wonder Woman, Volume 3: Fury, Tom King and Daniel Sampere
Holes, Louis Sachar
Three days after Sam's death, Miss Katherine shot the sheriff while he was sitting in his chair drinking a cup of coffee. Then she carefully applied a fresh coat of red lipstick and gave him the kiss he had asked for.
For the next twenty years Kissin' Kate Barlow was one of the most feared outlaws in all the West.
Lord of Darkness, Elizabeth Hoyt
Their swords locked, each man straining into the other, sweat running down Godric’s back, and then Trevillion rolled his eyes and leaned close. "Run, you idiot."
Haunted Ever After, Jen DeLuca
"I thought you said you don't like to banish spirits. That it was okay for them to stick around."
"Not if they're assholes."
Hunchback, Saou Ichikawa
Being able to see; being able to hold a book; being able to turn its pages; being able to maintain a reading posture; being able to go to a bookshop to buy a book--I loathed the exclusionary machismo of book culture that demanded that its participants meet these five criteria of able-bodiedness.
The Duke Buys a Bride, Sophie Jordan
She made a sound. It was nothing he had ever heard from a woman before. At least never directed at him. It was a kind of like a...jeering snort.
My Season of Scandal, Julie Anne Long
"I wish my name was Rowena, or Rebecca," she said wistfully.
"How much ratafia have you had?"
"I wish my name was Ratafia," she replied, mournfully.
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, Jamie Loftus
Sold at the park from the year it opened, the Fenway Frank is as close as I can get to a nostalgic connection to my filthy, sticky, fucked-up homeland, boiled and then grilled in a split-bread bun and topped with whatever the fuck you want, not my fuckin' business, it's your hot dog, Jame.
The Rogue of Fifth Avenue, Joanna Shupe
She shot him a disgusted look over her shoulder and he couldn't help but grin widely.
Indeed, he was doomed.
How to Catch a Wild Viscount, Tessa Dare
Some gentlemen angled trout while on holiday; others shot game. Arthur Brooke made it a sport to disenchant--as though it were his personal mission to drive fancy and naivete to extinction.
How the Duke Was Won, Lenora Bell
He sighed and began scooping up wet debutantes.
Pitcher Perfect, Tessa Bailey
"Mailer and I also co-own a truck, but he has custody this week."
"This sounds like a totally normal friendship with healthy boundaries."
Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord, Sarah MacLean
"He did not say, 'Marry me, Isabel.'"
Lara waved one hand. "A semantic issue."
Semantics seemed rather vital, suddenly.
Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto
Angel and I used to talk about where we'd go, where we'd jump, if we were on one of those ships. She wanted to go to an inner world, make a name for herself where all humankind could know it. I always wanted to go home, see the ocean, touch the real earth my family always talked about. Feel that connection--the one my dad maintained we all still had. Even after all the change and ruin, there was still a piece of me there.
An Unnatural Vice, KJ Charles
He had a carnivore's smile, sharp-toothed and vicious, and when it touched his eyes he looked like a fallen angel with no regrets.
This Scot of Mine, Sophie Jordan
"So let me understand this. Your brother told him you're ruined with another man's child and the man proposed?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Confounding, isn't it?"
The Prince of Broadway, Joanna Shupe
Flowers and jewelry from admirers hadn't ever wooed her, yet a man who noticed her gambling skills? That was dangerous.
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart, Sarah MacLean
"I'm a duke! How is it possible that the title opens doors the world over, but in this family, it seems to only count against me?"
Nick grinned. "Our perverse nature."
If I Only Had a Duke, Lenora Bell
She felt his kiss spread all the way down to her leather-encased toes, like a drop of Prussian-blue watercolor paint touched to a wash of water to create a hazy, cloud-strewn blue sky.
The Duke's Stolen Bride, Sophie Jordan
"No female has ever admitted to sickening from my nearness."
"Indeed, no one has admitted it before now," she retorted.
Ghost Business, Jen DeLuca
He didn't want to talk. Talking was for people who weren't kissing Sophie, and he was no longer interested in being one of those people.
The Duke is Mine, Eloisa James
"Quick, bright," he said again, "a bird falls down to us, darkness piles up in the trees."
Blame It on the Duke, Lenora Bell
Alice studied the gentleman who made parlor maids squeak and debutantes swoon, as if he were a map, plotting out the best route to cross him.
Hot for Slayer, Ali Hazelwood
(Regrettably, I cannot recommend growing up in a small nunnery located in eighth-century East Anglia.)
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The world was to me a secret, which I desired to discover; to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own.
And...
We retired early to our apartments, but not to sleep; at least I did not. I remained many hours at the window, watching the pallid lightning that played above Mont Blanc, and listening to the rushing of the Arve, which an below my window.
No Longer Human, Ozamu Dazai
I was plagued by a heavy sense of loss, as if my heart had become empty.
The undrunk glass of absinthe.
Lake of Souls, Ann Leckie
Draped on a branch overhead lay a snake, brown- and gold-scaled, its coiled body as broad as my arm. It stared at me unblinking, head raised, tongue flickering. "Hail, Benefactor, generous and blessed," I murmured, because you never know with snakes.
Moonstorm, Yoon Ha Lee
A flight of clanner fighters burned up intercepting a swarm of missiles converging on her position. She marked them in passing, as though they were a poetry recitation in the language of vectors, and not a sacrifice in the present moment.
My Killer Vacation, Tessa Bailey
Myles heard me. He obviously heard everything I said. Do I just adopt a new identity and join a commune now or what? How is this kind of thing usually handled?
Zomromcom, Olivia Dade
She would pat his arm in consolation, but she didn't want to accidentally stab him, so she simply cast him one last, split-second glance. Stamped him indelibly into her memory, strong and whole and nearly unhinged with terrible, terrified love for her.
The Devil of Downtown, Joanna Shupe
She was going to be the death of him. They would find him buried under the mounds of her blind trust and faith in humanity.
A Rogue by Any Other Name, Sarah MacLean
"Perhaps you’d realized you were wrong and did not want to admit it aloud?"
Cross gave a little snort of laughter from his position at the door, and Michael considered killing him.
National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home, Anya von Bremzen
Everything was born out of Neapolitan pizza, insisted Davide--pronouncing "everything" (tutto) with an explosive force that suggested a cosmic Big Bang responsible for all life forms on the planet.
And...
For every gastronationalist claim of my yogurt, my baklava, there's a universalist counterclaim that all foods belong to all people. Both arguments are in their way fictions, as I'd learned, mythologies created by the different imagined communities.
Superman Smashes the Klan, Gene Luen Yang and Guruhiru
A Daring Arrangement, Joanna Shupe
"I am capable of charming your mother, Julius. After all, I am English. We learn how to charm dour old matrons before we can walk."
Misfortune Cookie, Vivien Chien
"I keep myself curious with the hope of seeking truth, that it will mean something...that it helps someone get closure or peace of mind, whatever that may look like for them. And when I look at it that way, then there's no room for the fear to creep up and take over."
How to Be a Wallflower, Eloisa James
Cleo summoned a charming smile and aimed it in his direction like a weapon. Showing that he wasn't an idiot, he flinched.
The Virgin and the Rogue, Sophie Jordan
There was indeed one thing worse than a dinner party of depraved and debauched individuals, and it was a dinner party full of good and proper members of Society. Quality people. Ugh.
An Unsuitable Heir, KJ Charles
"Now, let's see, it was a pint of bitter for Mark and Nathaniel, half for Rowley, pale ale for Justin, and lemonade for Clem. How's my memory?"
"Impeccable," Nathaniel said. "Unfortunately, what you seem to have brought us is a bottle of gin."
Lord of Ice, Gaelen Foley
He knew he had brought this on himself, but he had not foreseen what a very cold place the world could be when someone as sunny and warm as Miranda FitzHubert treated one with cool reserve.
Love is a Rogue, Lenora Bell
"I was told that you would accept my proposal of marriage."
"You were told wrongly, then."
"You won't have a better offer."
"There couldn’t possibly be a worse one."
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover, Sarah MacLean
"May I speak plainly?" Pippa asked, as though she had not been speaking plainly for the last four days. For her entire life.
Duke of Midnight, Elizabeth Hoyt
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again she appeared before him like some ancient goddess, calm and otherworldly, standing under the tall trees as if she owned them, his dogs at her side.
Moon Knight, Volume 2: Too Tough to Die, Jed MacKay, Federico Sabbatini, et al
Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey
"Without asking me any follow-up questions, can I hide in your kitchen?"
"Fuck sake, what have you done now?"
The Duke Effect, Sophie Jordan
She snorted. "Oh, spare me your noble altruism. I am not ruined like some bit of fruit that has gone sour and spoiled. I do not require saving. Any more than I require a husband."
A Scandalous Deal, Joanna Shupe
"You cannot think a pot of Earl Grey and a few crumpets are going to fix this mess, do you?"
"That just proves you’ve never had really good crumpets."
The Reluctant Countess, Eloisa James
Giles cleared his throat. "Being in love is not a condition to which Englishmen are prone."
A River Enchanted, Rebecca Ross, x2
When she met his gaze again, she couldn't discern if he was disappointed or relieved. His face was as composed as music, a language she couldn’t read.
The Beast Takes a Bride, Julie Anne Long
"I'll tell you the greatest sacrifice I ever made for a woman," Lucien finally said. "After I married her, I moved into this boardinghouse, whereupon I met you, Delacorte, and was subsequently forced to hear that story, which I cannot now ever unhear."
The Devil's Own Duke, Lenora Bell
"Haven't you always wanted to waltz with a mysterious and devastatingly handsome stranger?"
"You must have me confused with a lady who thinks you're handsome."
Hollywood Heroine, Sarah Kuhn
"I..." She blew out a long breath and cocked an eyebrow at me. "I am definitely not talking you out of any part of this, right? I should just give up now and get dressed?"
A Fire Endless, Rebecca Ross
Torin stood mere paces away from her, tall and thin and streaked with dirt. His feet were bare, and his tunic was tattered. There was grass in his beard and blue flowers in his long flaxen hair. He looked otherworldly, and yet his eyes were fixed on her and her alone, as though no one else was in the hall. No one else in the realm apart from her.
Sidra dropped her pestle.
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished, Sarah MacLean
"Well. This is a treat. It's not every day a duke gives up his title to take on work."
"I hear it happens quite often in novels," Temple said.
The Conductors, Nicole Glover
"A story is a living creature, and they need a personal touch to live on. You breathe in your woes, your loves, your troubles, and eventually they become something new. They aren't the books you love so much. Stories change with the tellers."
The Impossible Fortune, Richard Osman
"In my line of work 'cold storage' was where you kept corpses until it was politically expedient to return them to their mother country, but I’m guessing that’s not what you do?"
Holly stops eating her broccoli tart for a moment.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, Ally Carter
"Are we doing the make out so no one suspects us thing?" Ethan whispered.
Her big, brown eyes and soft, full lips were just inches away. Even in the shadows, he could see her thinking. "Maybe?
He swallowed hard.
The Husbands, Holly Gramazio
She sorts through her clothes and puts on jeans and a shirt and a big jacket and low boots. Perhaps later, her clothes say, she will lasso a cow.
The Seventh Veil of Salome, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
"It's passion. It's madness on the stage. The intensity of feeling that gets under your skin. It's chasing a moment you'll never regain. It's loving, for the first time. When you love like that, I think, you'd like to tear your heart out. Salome cuts off John the Baptist's head, but he already ruined her. He stabbed her heart."
Just for the Summer, Abby Jimenez
Emma pulled her shirt open and put the swaddled raccoon inside.
"Are we even sure this is safe?" I asked, glancing at the lump under her shirt.
"If they're not safe, why are they cute, Justin?" Emma said.
"It's the forbidden puppy," Mom said.
Ready or Not, Cara Bastone
She's in leather boots up to her knees and a trench coat that's open at the waist. Her beautiful blond hair is tumbling everywhere. She completely ignores me and lioness-pounces Ethan using only her eyes. If she were a single panel in a comic, the caption would read Jury's Out, Bitch.
One Day in December, Josie Silver
He has the confident aura of wealth around him, louche and debonair. I know, I know. Who uses words like that anymore? Me, apparently, after a day spent drinking local beer and reading The Great Gatsby in a hammock.
PS: I Hate You, Lauren Connolly
The three dots appear and disappear on his screen multiple times, and I snort. Dominic Perry tried to make a naughty joke and now he can't follow through on it.
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen, x2
"I know you feel for me; I know what a heart you have; but yet you are--you must be happy; Edward loves you--what, oh! what can do away such happiness as that?"
"Many, many circumstances," said Elinor solemnly.
Skye Falling, Mia McKenzie
I try to imagine what a normal person, who was good at human-people stuff, would say, and I come up with the following: "That must have been hard."
Faye looks at me, nods. "Yes, it was."
NAILED IT!
The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo
"Why?" he said. "Why sentence yourself to death?"
"Do you want to argue or do you want to kiss me?"
He closed the space between them in two strides and took her in his arms. "I assure you I am capable of both."
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover, Sarah MacLean
She would no doubt be exceedingly dangerous when she came of age.
"What can I do for you, Miss Pearson?"
"I came to ask you to stop helping to get my mother married."
It appeared she was exceedingly dangerous now.
"You will not understand this, Princess Malini. But there is a subtle pain the conquered feel. Our old language is nearly lost. Our old ways. Even when we try to explain a vision of ourselves to one another--in our poetry, our song, our theater masks--we do so in opposition to you, or by looking to the past. As if we have no future. Parijatdvipa has reshaped us. It is not a conversation, but a rewriting. The pleasure of security and comfort can only ease the pain for so long."
Lady Derring Takes a Lover, Julie Anne Long
"Lady Derring," he said, with grave, ironic pity that made her expression immediately alter to one that suggested she'd like to do him a small violence.
Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas
"Touch me again," Ethan growled, "and I'll kill you with this."
West drew his hand back instantly, his gaze falling to the utensil in Ethan’s grip. "That's a spoon."
"I know."
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley
I could have written to you without including them; after all, the things that happen between lovers are lost to the work of history anyway. But I wrote it down because I need you to bear witness to it. He was here, by and with and in my body. He lives in me like trauma does. If you ever fall in love, you'll be a person who was in love for the rest of your life.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi
A moment ago she had been grasping at straws. Now she had a piece of straw in her hand, and she wasn't going to let it go.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, Mariana Zapata
I'd loved the hell out of her before I knew better, and that thought made my heart ache for kid-Vanessa, who hadn't known any better for a while.
These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs
They fought how Chono prayed: with reverence for the particulars of form and function, and when Esek tried to overpower them by crowding close, all she saw was a whirl of spinning wood before the stave cracked against her shin.
Love Hacked, Penny Reid
He was looking at me--half desperation, half determination, half animosity.
That's right. He was looking at me 150%.
How the Dukes Stole Christmas, Tessa Dare, et al
"We've discussed this. Murdering the duke is not a plan."
"Of course it isn't," Kat replied. "Murdering the duke is an objective. A plan requires specifics."
The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
I'm certain I'll be a ghost when I die. I'll haunt the world's remotest mountains and forests and sand beaches. I'll burst into laughter when the storm breaks. I'll drench myself in the rain. I will never be born as a woman again.
Angel in a Devil's Arms, Julie Anne Long
Mr. Cassidy shifted restlessly from one leg to the other, as though he'd like to be outside gamboling through the woods or whatever it was Americans did since they'd freed themselves from England’s smothering clutches.
Haunted Heroine, Sarah Kuhn
Of course Aveda looked completely unnatural eating a Taco Bell burrito, but she bit into it with single-minded intent, like she was trying to best it at something.
Beautiful Player, Christina Lauren
"Do you even know what a triathlon is?"
"Of course I do. It's the swim, run, shoot a bear thing."
Making Movies, Sidney Lumet
Life has a cruel way of balancing pleasure with pain. To make up for the joy of seeing Sophia Loren every morning, God punishes the director with the mix.
Star Wars: The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City, George Mann
Rooper had always seen the living Force as a melting pot of shimmering colors, each life, no matter how large or small, contributing to the overall pattern, the shining glow. It was a web that stretched throughout the entire galaxy, linking all living things.
Chasing Cassandra, Lisa Kleypas
"There's no such thing as an old maid."
"Wh-what would you call a middle-aged lady who's never married?"
"A woman with standards?" West suggested.
The Governess Affair, Courtney Milan
When one climbed trees, it was a fool's game to look down. If one did, one risked vertigo. So Serena looked up now, past the oncoming gloom of the night. She focused on the warm orange glow of the lamp and the dimmer light of the stars beyond. She looked up and refused to think of falling.
The Cat Who Saved Books, Sōsuke Natsukawa
"If you find a book easy to read, that means it's all stuff that you already know," he went on. "That's why it's easy. If you find it difficult, then that's proof it's something brand new."
Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky
The nocturnal life of Kiln is less well studied than its daytime equivalent, and that's because no fucker wants to go out into the pitch dark with a butterfly net and trust their luck.
Devil in Disguise, Lisa Kleypas
"I dinna want your money."
Lady Merritt blinked in surprise. "I didn't mean I was going to hand you a sack of cash. I'm a businesswoman, not a fairy godmother."
The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri
When would she have the power to do as she willed--to grind laughing, spiteful men under her heel, and walk on steady ground? Would such a time ever come?
Sheine Lende, Darcie Little Badger
And Shane whispered to her father, "Why is this happening to us? What did we do to deserve this?"
He looked her in the eyes--his face was gaunt now, his cheekbones were too sharp, and his chin was rough with patchy stubble, but his expression was so tender--and he said, "Nothing. Tragedies aren’t punishments."
I'm Only Wicked With You, Julie Anne Long
But then there appeared on his lips the beginning of a smile, which spread slowly and became crooked and rueful and almost reluctant. He gave his head a slight, slow, disbelieving shake. It might have been the most explicit compliment she'd ever received.
The Deep Dark, Molly Knox Ostertag
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell
Shesheshen wrapped her arms around Homily and held her to her chest for a moment, mourning the realization that she'd fallen in love with someone's pain.
Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky
"Inspector, it was me," Charles supplied helpfully. "I am the murderer."
"That," Birdbot said archly, "is what we are here to determine. Who is the murderer."
"Inspector, I am."
"Do not speak unless you are spoken to. I will not have you interfere in police business," Birdbot boomed, turning up his volume to speak over Charles.
Beard Science, Penny Reid
I didn't usually make pie, but I was waiting for the bread to rise so I could knead it again. I'd woken up with a thirst for violence.
Navigational Entanglements, Aliette de Bodard
Hac Cúc said, wearily, "You're trying to shame me into going after the tangler. And then you toss love in it like it's a consolation prize. Or another way to make me follow you."
Spelunking Through Hell: A Visitor's Guide to the Underworld, Seanan McGuire
"We're all here because of what the crossroads did, and now they never did any of those things, thanks to my granddaughter being too untrained to understand that she was attempting the impossible."
The Brides of High Hill, Nghi Vo
"Oh, he's beautiful," Nhung said in a way that meant no good, or at least, no peace.
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed
She thought of collapsing, and taking a nap. The unicorn might impale her before it ate her; you never knew your luck.
The Practice, The Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar
"Too many people, not enough stuff: the result is extra people. What are you going to do with all these extra people? If you're smart, you'll turn them into a business. That's the Hold. So there will always be a Hold. Because the Ship is a problem. And the Hold is the answer."
The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler
"And I understood: I know what it is like to be from an extraction zone. What it is like to grow up in the place where the taking begins. But an elephant knows what it is like to be an extraction zone. That is their history. The elephant is enormous, but it is not as gigantic as the history of human exploitation."
The West Passage, Jared Pechacek
What do you want? the Blue Lady demanded.
In silent unison, the crowd repeated her question.
Food, said the other Lady. Her arms extended, clamping onto the Blue Lady’s shoulders. Her mouth had learned to open very wide.
Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao
Once we climb into the cockpit, I split my armor at the front, pull out my eight-month pregnancy padding, and abort it behind me.
"Oh, no, not our son," Qin Zheng says, his tone utterly flat.
So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole
She couldn't read his expression. Maybe one day she would ask him why he studied her all the time as if she were one of the books he was always reading. She never knew what he was looking for, only that he rarely found it.
The Feast Makers, HA Clarke
I sat unpunished by anything but circumstance.
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Emil Ferris
And...
The Heiress Hunt, Joanna Shupe
"I was worried you would resent being dragged along under false pretenses."
"Are you kidding? False pretenses are my very favorite pretenses."
Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer
This was the kind of place, like the quarry so long ago, where he'd always expected to die. It wasn't the worst way to meet an end. He liked how the insects chittered on regardless in the trees beyond the light. How he could hear a barred owl's loopy mating call so clearly.
City of Last Chances, Adrian Tchaikovsky
She wanted to tell him off like a child. Don't do this stupid thing. Literally, in the speech of the Divine City Do not be made a part of it. It was all process and passive verbs, in that language. In the City, you did not do, you were. Do not be this thing. As though he was a timber in a ship bound for the seabed.
Monstress, Volume 8: Inferno, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda
Monstress, Volume 9: The Possessed, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Volume 2, Emil Ferris
The Hunger and the Dusk, Volume 1, G Willow Wilson & Chris Wildgoose
We Called Them Giants, Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, & Clayton Cowles
Star Trek: Lower Decks--Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North & Chris Fenoglio
Faithbreaker, Hannah Kaner
'If he had children and gave them half the attention he gives his bread they'd lead very loved lives.'
Inara, who had saddened at Kissen's first description of Elo, managed a laugh.
'He's also smart, most of the time. But he's gone far away from himself, and he can’t find the way back.'
After Dark With the Duke, Julie Anne Long
"What did it used to say?"
She appeared to give it some thought.
"Seventeen," she replied.
"It used to say, 'The duke has seventeen eyes.'"
Bombshell, Sarah MacLean
"I beg your pardon, young lady," Sophie said, warning in her tone. "What does your brother get that you do not?"
Lorna looked directly at her mother and said, "A title."
Backpacking Through Bedlam, Seanan McGuire
"And because I wish to move in the warm world, to thaw and see things as they have the potential to be, I make myself over to seem as harmless as I can be. Plus, I enjoy it." She smiled toothily. "It is a brave and beautiful thing, to act for enjoyment alone in this world of complications and conflicts."
Triple Sec, TJ Alexander
"What if I rebooked them both for dinner at the same restaurant tonight? I could make a reservation for two tables in different areas and kind of--jump between them?"
"You're describing the climactic scene from Mrs. Doubtfire," Daniel drawled.
The Pursuit Of..., Courtney Milan
I thought this a reasonable response: "Well, if we cannot have cotton except by means of threats, bribery, and corruption, perhaps we should not have cotton."
The Lotus Empire, Tasha Suri
"I don't kill you because it is right or good, or because any great sense of justice compels me to," Rao told him. "I am killing you because you deserve to die, and the world will be better with you gone."
The Lady Gets Lucky, Joanna Shupe
"My head is swimming and I am far too drunk for talking." The shirt obscured her view of his face and he seemed to get stymied in removing it. "Help."
On Vicious Worlds, Bethany Jacobs
In Esek's voice the words lack all concern, but there is a tiny chink in Six's mask, and if Chono looks just right, she can see through the peephole into a dark, malevolent energy that says if she is not all right, they will kill everyone.
While the Duke Was Sleeping, Sophie Jordan
Without removing his gaze from the pair of thugs, he slid the knife from Cam’s arm like it was nothing to him. A task he did all the time. Plucking a flower from a vase.
An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon
Dear Theo, she wrote on a pad of paper once ready to leave, I am off to the Shuttle Bay. Deciding the note not suitably warm, she added: You are not unpleasant to look at when you sleep. Love, Aster.
Notorious Pleasures, Elizabeth Hoyt
Slowly, awfully, Hero arched her left brow. She knew it was slow and awful because she’d practiced the movement in front of a mirror for hours on end at the age of twelve. The result made seasoned matrons tremble in their heeled slippers.
House of Open Wounds, Adrian Tchaikovsky
"I'm not allowed to fight. It's my faith. It's God's one real commandment."
"I have other commandments," God commented acidly. "It's just the only one you kept."
Marked by Moonlight, Sophie Jordan
"It was Lenny," he said with quiet certainty, then repeated as vaguely as before, "and now you're one of them."
What on earth was that supposed to mean? Had she been involved in some sort of gang initiation and didn't know about it?
Surrender of a Siren, Tessa Dare
He made a gruff noise in his throat--the sort of noise men make when they're working up to saying something and don't quite know how to get it out, but want to keep up the aura of brute masculinity in the midst of their indecision.
Isaiah & Isolde, Julie Anne Long
"I don't really believe I'm a horse, Mr. Redmond," Maria finally assured him, kindly.
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
"You have nothing to say?" Shallan said. "I just accused you of murder."
"No," Jasnah said, "murder is a legal definition. You said I killed unethically."
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, Bee Wilson
The medieval housewife making pancakes in Le Ménagier de Paris stood face to face with the people she was wearying, whereas our servants have mainly been removed from view. We do not see the hands in the chicken factory that boned the breasts, never mind the chickens that gave their lives, nor the workers who labored to assemble the parts of our whizzy food processors. We only see a pile of ingredients and a machine ready to do our bidding. Alone in our kitchens, we feel entirely emancipated.
An Unseen Attraction, KJ Charles
He'd spent his life carefully not looking into an abyss of rage like the pit of hellfire he'd so often been told awaited pagans, because if he ever really looked, he feared he might be angry forever.
You Were Made to Be Mine, Julie Anne Long
She sensed this was someone accustomed to marshaling panache to get through untenable situations, and when confronted with a choice between either death or asking for help he would really have to think about it.
Scandalous Desires, Elizabeth Hoyt
His expression didn’t change, but somehow his eyes laughed, too, a great predator, indulgent.
The Bride Goes Rogue, Joanna Shupe
"That was the most astonishingly terrible proposal of marriage I've ever heard, and that is saying a lot considering Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel."
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Adriana Herrera
She was just a tad shameless when it came to her business. One more item in the list of things he found deeply irritating in everyone but her.
A Thousand Ships, Natalie Haynes
She could see her own future as clearly as she saw everything else. Its brevity was her one consolation.
Chef's Kiss, TJ Alexander
"Once I started thinking about how stupid it was to separate stuff like that, I couldn't stop noticing it everywhere." He looked very serious. "Simone, is this what being woke is?"
A Lady of Persuasion, Tessa Dare
"Isabel is devoted to charity," Toby said.
"Well, of course she is." Lady Aldridge gave her son a beatific smile. "She’s marrying you."
Hot and Sour Suspects, Vivien Chien
"Yuna told me she heard from Jasmine who heard from one of the Mahjong Matrons who said she heard it from Cindy who heard it from Penny at the Bamboo Lounge who said when she was talking to Freddie that he said Rina is mad at you and Megan because you're the whole reason she went to this speed dating thingy to begin with."
The Human Target, Volume One, Tom King and Greg Smallwood
Superman: Up in the Sky, Tom King and Andy Kubert
Wonder Woman, Volume 2: Sacrifice, Tom King, Daniel Sampere, and Tony S Daniel
The Duke Gets Even, Joanna Shupe
"It's why I started this supper club. Because I needed to prove to myself that I was more than what everyone saw."
"A booze-chugging swell who has trouble keeping his pants buttoned?"
"Exactly. Though please do tell Alice to put that on my gravestone."
Winterblaze, Kristen Callihan
Poppy did not do drastic things. She simply died a little more inside each day and wished the world to go away. That had not worked particularly well; the world was still here.
Batman: One Bad Day--The Riddler, Tom King and Mitch Gerards
The Comeback, Lily Chu
I don't want to talk to him right now and hear whatever spin he's going to put on this. I want the unbiased and accurate information proffered by random strangers on the internet with zero insider knowledge.
Stage Dreams, Melanie Gillman
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night, James Swallow
Chin-Riley released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. "That was fun. Wait, no. Not fun. The other thing."
Neanderthal Seeks Human, Penny Reid
She said I owned the clothes of a radiologist and the shoes of an OB/GYN, which is like the medical doctor equivalent of saying that I dressed like a librarian with a propensity for fuck-me boots.
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
But finally he discovered the stairs, all except the bottom one, and fell up them on his face.
Batman, Volume 1: I Am Gotham, Tom King, Scott Snyder, and Mikel Janin
Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Alex Ross
Heartbreaker, Sarah MacLean
"You've a massive gash in your side and you're threatening to bleed to death on a kitchen workbench, Your Grace. Now is not the time for courtly love."
A Kiss at Midnight, Eloisa James
Arabella smiled at him with the guileless charm of a young lady trained to bag eligible gentlemen at fifty paces.
Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
"Were you dying?"
"Yes, very--a cruel love, a strange love, that would have taken my life. Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood."
Margo's Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe
It seemed improbable that men really wanted sex this badly, and yet they did, there was an entire economy based on how badly they wanted it, and for a moment Margo understood the sexual desire she felt was mild in comparison. She would never pay fifteen dollars to look at a guy naked. You could buy two, possibly three sandwiches for fifteen dollars.
Superman: The Harvest of Youth, Sina Grace
The Book of Lost Hours, Hayley Gelfuso
"This is what you think about when you are on the run from the US government?" Anton asked, sounding amused. "Poems?"
"Sure, don't you?"
Batman Arkham: Talia Al Ghul, Dennis O'Neil, Tom King, et al
And...
The End of October, Lawrence Wright
"Can you hear me?"
Tariq's eyes fluttered.
"Are you in pain?" Henry asked.
"Not pain," he whispered. "Something else. Big. A big feeling."
Henry knew the feeling he was describing. It was death.
Other Ever Afters: New Queer Tales, Melanie Gillman
Wedding Dashers, Heather McBreen
"Fuck," he mutters under his breath.
"What?" I ask, worried I'm about to find out, now, at age twenty-eight, that I have an abnormal vagina.
Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan
"You don't have to kill if you don't like it," Key promised. "I'll kill them for you."
"Kill who?"
Against her hair, she felt his mouth curve. "Everyone."
Middletide, Sarah Crouch
Elijah stayed where he was beneath the trees, replaying their conversation over and over in his mind as the downpour lightened into a gentle mist and then faded altogether, leaving the graveyard garlanded with tendrils of snaking fog that lingered between headstones and melted into shadow at the edge of the forest. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have asked Nakita out at the foot of her husband's grave.
How Freaking Romantic, Emily Harding
"Romance exists. It's just so hard to define, we stopped trying and told ourselves we can buy it instead."
He seems to think about it for a minute, taking a sip of his drink as he looks across the room. "I still think Mrs. Goodridge enjoyed that dick pic, though."
Hotel Iris, Yoko Ogawa
The stories came bubbling out of him like baby spiders hatching from their eggs, each episode giving rise to another memory, anecdote, or tirade against an imagined enemy.
Thief of Shadows, Elizabeth Hoyt
She glanced rather distractedly over his shoulder, and Winter had to repress the urge to look. This wasn't St. Giles--presumably he was safe from attack here.
The Scandal of It All, Sophie Jordan
After brief contemplation, he decided to scale the wall outside her bedchamber after all.
The Untold Story, Genevieve Cogman
The Storyteller's eyes were filled with a bitterness past Irene's comprehension, centuries old--no, millennia. It was like seeing into cold wet caves lost somewhere far underground, where light never came, and where things bred and ate themselves and died. "I cannot remember," the Storyteller said, and the despair in their voice was absolute.
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal, Adriana Herrera
"I thought you said you were done with her?" Cassandra teased.
"I was obviously lying through my teeth," Cora groused as she set off at a run.
How to Tame a Wild Rogue, Julie Anne Long
It was disconcerting to feel that the world, in fact, might have some dimension he'd overlooked. That she might have something to teach him.
Mr Collins in Love, Lee Welch
One longs to ask--for bread or money or a friend--and yet one cannot. It is not pride, exactly, or not pride alone. It is the knowledge that, afterwards, they will know you are a person who had to ask, and they could use that information against you, if they wished.
Dragons Love Tacos, Adam Rubin
Knockout, Sarah MacLean
"No one is going to see my undergarments," Imogen protested.
"Certainly not with that attitude," Sesily said, getting up from the settee and passing Adelaide the box of chocolates.
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing, I mean, that its abiding is a most generous reprieve.
The Human Target, Volume Two, Tom King and Greg Smallwood
Batman, Volume 2: I Am Suicide, Tom King and Mikel Janin
Wonder Woman, Volume 3: Fury, Tom King and Daniel Sampere
Holes, Louis Sachar
Three days after Sam's death, Miss Katherine shot the sheriff while he was sitting in his chair drinking a cup of coffee. Then she carefully applied a fresh coat of red lipstick and gave him the kiss he had asked for.
For the next twenty years Kissin' Kate Barlow was one of the most feared outlaws in all the West.
Lord of Darkness, Elizabeth Hoyt
Their swords locked, each man straining into the other, sweat running down Godric’s back, and then Trevillion rolled his eyes and leaned close. "Run, you idiot."
Haunted Ever After, Jen DeLuca
"I thought you said you don't like to banish spirits. That it was okay for them to stick around."
"Not if they're assholes."
Hunchback, Saou Ichikawa
Being able to see; being able to hold a book; being able to turn its pages; being able to maintain a reading posture; being able to go to a bookshop to buy a book--I loathed the exclusionary machismo of book culture that demanded that its participants meet these five criteria of able-bodiedness.
The Duke Buys a Bride, Sophie Jordan
She made a sound. It was nothing he had ever heard from a woman before. At least never directed at him. It was a kind of like a...jeering snort.
My Season of Scandal, Julie Anne Long
"I wish my name was Rowena, or Rebecca," she said wistfully.
"How much ratafia have you had?"
"I wish my name was Ratafia," she replied, mournfully.
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, Jamie Loftus
Sold at the park from the year it opened, the Fenway Frank is as close as I can get to a nostalgic connection to my filthy, sticky, fucked-up homeland, boiled and then grilled in a split-bread bun and topped with whatever the fuck you want, not my fuckin' business, it's your hot dog, Jame.
The Rogue of Fifth Avenue, Joanna Shupe
She shot him a disgusted look over her shoulder and he couldn't help but grin widely.
Indeed, he was doomed.
How to Catch a Wild Viscount, Tessa Dare
Some gentlemen angled trout while on holiday; others shot game. Arthur Brooke made it a sport to disenchant--as though it were his personal mission to drive fancy and naivete to extinction.
How the Duke Was Won, Lenora Bell
He sighed and began scooping up wet debutantes.
Pitcher Perfect, Tessa Bailey
"Mailer and I also co-own a truck, but he has custody this week."
"This sounds like a totally normal friendship with healthy boundaries."
Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord, Sarah MacLean
"He did not say, 'Marry me, Isabel.'"
Lara waved one hand. "A semantic issue."
Semantics seemed rather vital, suddenly.
Hammajang Luck, Makana Yamamoto
Angel and I used to talk about where we'd go, where we'd jump, if we were on one of those ships. She wanted to go to an inner world, make a name for herself where all humankind could know it. I always wanted to go home, see the ocean, touch the real earth my family always talked about. Feel that connection--the one my dad maintained we all still had. Even after all the change and ruin, there was still a piece of me there.
An Unnatural Vice, KJ Charles
He had a carnivore's smile, sharp-toothed and vicious, and when it touched his eyes he looked like a fallen angel with no regrets.
This Scot of Mine, Sophie Jordan
"So let me understand this. Your brother told him you're ruined with another man's child and the man proposed?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Confounding, isn't it?"
The Prince of Broadway, Joanna Shupe
Flowers and jewelry from admirers hadn't ever wooed her, yet a man who noticed her gambling skills? That was dangerous.
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart, Sarah MacLean
"I'm a duke! How is it possible that the title opens doors the world over, but in this family, it seems to only count against me?"
Nick grinned. "Our perverse nature."
If I Only Had a Duke, Lenora Bell
She felt his kiss spread all the way down to her leather-encased toes, like a drop of Prussian-blue watercolor paint touched to a wash of water to create a hazy, cloud-strewn blue sky.
The Duke's Stolen Bride, Sophie Jordan
"No female has ever admitted to sickening from my nearness."
"Indeed, no one has admitted it before now," she retorted.
Ghost Business, Jen DeLuca
He didn't want to talk. Talking was for people who weren't kissing Sophie, and he was no longer interested in being one of those people.
The Duke is Mine, Eloisa James
"Quick, bright," he said again, "a bird falls down to us, darkness piles up in the trees."
Blame It on the Duke, Lenora Bell
Alice studied the gentleman who made parlor maids squeak and debutantes swoon, as if he were a map, plotting out the best route to cross him.
Hot for Slayer, Ali Hazelwood
(Regrettably, I cannot recommend growing up in a small nunnery located in eighth-century East Anglia.)
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The world was to me a secret, which I desired to discover; to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own.
We retired early to our apartments, but not to sleep; at least I did not. I remained many hours at the window, watching the pallid lightning that played above Mont Blanc, and listening to the rushing of the Arve, which an below my window.
No Longer Human, Ozamu Dazai
I was plagued by a heavy sense of loss, as if my heart had become empty.
The undrunk glass of absinthe.
Lake of Souls, Ann Leckie
Draped on a branch overhead lay a snake, brown- and gold-scaled, its coiled body as broad as my arm. It stared at me unblinking, head raised, tongue flickering. "Hail, Benefactor, generous and blessed," I murmured, because you never know with snakes.
Moonstorm, Yoon Ha Lee
A flight of clanner fighters burned up intercepting a swarm of missiles converging on her position. She marked them in passing, as though they were a poetry recitation in the language of vectors, and not a sacrifice in the present moment.
My Killer Vacation, Tessa Bailey
Myles heard me. He obviously heard everything I said. Do I just adopt a new identity and join a commune now or what? How is this kind of thing usually handled?
Zomromcom, Olivia Dade
She would pat his arm in consolation, but she didn't want to accidentally stab him, so she simply cast him one last, split-second glance. Stamped him indelibly into her memory, strong and whole and nearly unhinged with terrible, terrified love for her.
The Devil of Downtown, Joanna Shupe
She was going to be the death of him. They would find him buried under the mounds of her blind trust and faith in humanity.
A Rogue by Any Other Name, Sarah MacLean
"Perhaps you’d realized you were wrong and did not want to admit it aloud?"
Cross gave a little snort of laughter from his position at the door, and Michael considered killing him.
National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home, Anya von Bremzen
Everything was born out of Neapolitan pizza, insisted Davide--pronouncing "everything" (tutto) with an explosive force that suggested a cosmic Big Bang responsible for all life forms on the planet.
For every gastronationalist claim of my yogurt, my baklava, there's a universalist counterclaim that all foods belong to all people. Both arguments are in their way fictions, as I'd learned, mythologies created by the different imagined communities.
Superman Smashes the Klan, Gene Luen Yang and Guruhiru
A Daring Arrangement, Joanna Shupe
"I am capable of charming your mother, Julius. After all, I am English. We learn how to charm dour old matrons before we can walk."
Misfortune Cookie, Vivien Chien
"I keep myself curious with the hope of seeking truth, that it will mean something...that it helps someone get closure or peace of mind, whatever that may look like for them. And when I look at it that way, then there's no room for the fear to creep up and take over."
How to Be a Wallflower, Eloisa James
Cleo summoned a charming smile and aimed it in his direction like a weapon. Showing that he wasn't an idiot, he flinched.
The Virgin and the Rogue, Sophie Jordan
There was indeed one thing worse than a dinner party of depraved and debauched individuals, and it was a dinner party full of good and proper members of Society. Quality people. Ugh.
An Unsuitable Heir, KJ Charles
"Now, let's see, it was a pint of bitter for Mark and Nathaniel, half for Rowley, pale ale for Justin, and lemonade for Clem. How's my memory?"
"Impeccable," Nathaniel said. "Unfortunately, what you seem to have brought us is a bottle of gin."
Lord of Ice, Gaelen Foley
He knew he had brought this on himself, but he had not foreseen what a very cold place the world could be when someone as sunny and warm as Miranda FitzHubert treated one with cool reserve.
Love is a Rogue, Lenora Bell
"I was told that you would accept my proposal of marriage."
"You were told wrongly, then."
"You won't have a better offer."
"There couldn’t possibly be a worse one."
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover, Sarah MacLean
"May I speak plainly?" Pippa asked, as though she had not been speaking plainly for the last four days. For her entire life.
Duke of Midnight, Elizabeth Hoyt
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again she appeared before him like some ancient goddess, calm and otherworldly, standing under the tall trees as if she owned them, his dogs at her side.
Moon Knight, Volume 2: Too Tough to Die, Jed MacKay, Federico Sabbatini, et al
Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey
"Without asking me any follow-up questions, can I hide in your kitchen?"
"Fuck sake, what have you done now?"
The Duke Effect, Sophie Jordan
She snorted. "Oh, spare me your noble altruism. I am not ruined like some bit of fruit that has gone sour and spoiled. I do not require saving. Any more than I require a husband."
A Scandalous Deal, Joanna Shupe
"You cannot think a pot of Earl Grey and a few crumpets are going to fix this mess, do you?"
"That just proves you’ve never had really good crumpets."
The Reluctant Countess, Eloisa James
Giles cleared his throat. "Being in love is not a condition to which Englishmen are prone."
A River Enchanted, Rebecca Ross, x2
When she met his gaze again, she couldn't discern if he was disappointed or relieved. His face was as composed as music, a language she couldn’t read.
The Beast Takes a Bride, Julie Anne Long
"I'll tell you the greatest sacrifice I ever made for a woman," Lucien finally said. "After I married her, I moved into this boardinghouse, whereupon I met you, Delacorte, and was subsequently forced to hear that story, which I cannot now ever unhear."
The Devil's Own Duke, Lenora Bell
"Haven't you always wanted to waltz with a mysterious and devastatingly handsome stranger?"
"You must have me confused with a lady who thinks you're handsome."
Hollywood Heroine, Sarah Kuhn
"I..." She blew out a long breath and cocked an eyebrow at me. "I am definitely not talking you out of any part of this, right? I should just give up now and get dressed?"
A Fire Endless, Rebecca Ross
Torin stood mere paces away from her, tall and thin and streaked with dirt. His feet were bare, and his tunic was tattered. There was grass in his beard and blue flowers in his long flaxen hair. He looked otherworldly, and yet his eyes were fixed on her and her alone, as though no one else was in the hall. No one else in the realm apart from her.
Sidra dropped her pestle.
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished, Sarah MacLean
"Well. This is a treat. It's not every day a duke gives up his title to take on work."
"I hear it happens quite often in novels," Temple said.
The Conductors, Nicole Glover
"A story is a living creature, and they need a personal touch to live on. You breathe in your woes, your loves, your troubles, and eventually they become something new. They aren't the books you love so much. Stories change with the tellers."
The Impossible Fortune, Richard Osman
"In my line of work 'cold storage' was where you kept corpses until it was politically expedient to return them to their mother country, but I’m guessing that’s not what you do?"
Holly stops eating her broccoli tart for a moment.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, Ally Carter
"Are we doing the make out so no one suspects us thing?" Ethan whispered.
Her big, brown eyes and soft, full lips were just inches away. Even in the shadows, he could see her thinking. "Maybe?
He swallowed hard.
The Husbands, Holly Gramazio
She sorts through her clothes and puts on jeans and a shirt and a big jacket and low boots. Perhaps later, her clothes say, she will lasso a cow.
The Seventh Veil of Salome, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
"It's passion. It's madness on the stage. The intensity of feeling that gets under your skin. It's chasing a moment you'll never regain. It's loving, for the first time. When you love like that, I think, you'd like to tear your heart out. Salome cuts off John the Baptist's head, but he already ruined her. He stabbed her heart."
Just for the Summer, Abby Jimenez
Emma pulled her shirt open and put the swaddled raccoon inside.
"Are we even sure this is safe?" I asked, glancing at the lump under her shirt.
"If they're not safe, why are they cute, Justin?" Emma said.
"It's the forbidden puppy," Mom said.
Ready or Not, Cara Bastone
She's in leather boots up to her knees and a trench coat that's open at the waist. Her beautiful blond hair is tumbling everywhere. She completely ignores me and lioness-pounces Ethan using only her eyes. If she were a single panel in a comic, the caption would read Jury's Out, Bitch.
One Day in December, Josie Silver
He has the confident aura of wealth around him, louche and debonair. I know, I know. Who uses words like that anymore? Me, apparently, after a day spent drinking local beer and reading The Great Gatsby in a hammock.
PS: I Hate You, Lauren Connolly
The three dots appear and disappear on his screen multiple times, and I snort. Dominic Perry tried to make a naughty joke and now he can't follow through on it.
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen, x2
"I know you feel for me; I know what a heart you have; but yet you are--you must be happy; Edward loves you--what, oh! what can do away such happiness as that?"
"Many, many circumstances," said Elinor solemnly.
Skye Falling, Mia McKenzie
I try to imagine what a normal person, who was good at human-people stuff, would say, and I come up with the following: "That must have been hard."
Faye looks at me, nods. "Yes, it was."
NAILED IT!
The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo
"Why?" he said. "Why sentence yourself to death?"
"Do you want to argue or do you want to kiss me?"
He closed the space between them in two strides and took her in his arms. "I assure you I am capable of both."
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover, Sarah MacLean
She would no doubt be exceedingly dangerous when she came of age.
"What can I do for you, Miss Pearson?"
"I came to ask you to stop helping to get my mother married."
It appeared she was exceedingly dangerous now.
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