Julia Quinn

It was juvenile, he knew, this need to assign blame, but everyone had a right to childish emotions from time to time, didn't they?

He__ mesmerized her, held her soul captive. And she couldn__ move.__nless you want more than a dream,_ he said.She did.__ill you stay?_ he whispered. __r will you go?__he stayed. Heaven help her, she stayed.And Michael showed her just how romantic a library could be.

Elizabeth, you resemble nothing so much as a hen trying to hatch a book.

You don't have to kiss a lot of frogs to recognize a prince when you find one."-Henrietta Barrett, (Minx, Splendid Trilogy book #3)

the unexpected moment [is] always sweeter.

Thank you,_ she whispered, sending up a quick prayer for his continued recovery.__ou__e welcome,_ Marcus murmured.Honoria let out a little shriek of surprise, jumping back nearly a foot.__orry,_ he said, but he was laughing.It was quite the loveliest sound Honoria had ever heard.__ wasn__ thanking you,_ she said pertly.__ know._ He smiled

No one said we had to spend every waking moment together," he said, "but at the end of the day"-he leaned and kissed each of her eyebrows, in turn-"an most of the time during, there is no one I would rather see, no one whose voice I would rather hear, and no one whose mind I would rather explore.

You are always looking at people like this._ And then she made a face, one he couldn__ possibly begin to describe.__f I ever look like that,_ he said dryly, __recisely like that, to be more precise, I give you leave to shoot me.

I don't know whether to toss you through that window or shake your hand and say 'Well done'" Henry said in a tired voice.

If he was planning to attack and ravish, he gave no indication of being in a hurry to do so.

Not that I knew who you were until last month. But now that I've got you, I'm not letting you go.""You're not?"Blake stared at her in irritated confusion. What was her game? "Do you think I'm an idiot?" he spat out."No," she said. "I've just escaped from a den of idiots, so I'm well familiar with the breed, and you're something else entirely. I am, however, hoping you're not a terribly good shot.

It was heaven. Forget angels, forget St. Peter and glittering harpsichords. Heaven was a dance in the arms of one's true love.

Claptrap last week,_ Lady D announced. __ think the priest is getting old.__areth opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, his grandmother__ cane swung around in a remarkably steady horizontal arc. __on__,_ she warned, __ake a comment beginning with the words, __oming from you____ wouldn__ dream of it,_ he demurred.__f course you would,_ she stated. __ou wouldn__ be my grandson if you wouldn__._ She turned to Hyacinth. __on__ you agree?__o her credit, Hyacinth folded her hands in her lap and said, __urely there is no right answer to that question.___mart girl,_ Lady D said approvingly.__ learn from the master.__ady Danbury beamed. __nsolence aside,_ she continued determinedly, gesturing toward Gareth as if he were some sort of zoological specimen, __e really is an exceptional grandson. Couldn__ have asked for more.__areth watched with amusement as Hyacinth murmured something that was meant to convey her agreement without actually doing so.__f course,_ Grandmother Danbury added with a dismissive wave of her hand, __e hasn__ much in the way of competition. The rest of them have only three brains to share among them.__ot the most ringing of endorsements, considering that she had twelve living grandchildren.____e heard some animals eat their young,_ Gareth murmured, to no one in particular.Hyacinth wrinkled her nose, as she always did when she was thinking hard. It wasn__ a terribly attractive expression, but the alternative was simply not to think, which she didn__ find appealing.

Michael nodded tersely, eyeing a table across the room. It was empty. So empty. So joyfully, blessedly empty.He could picture himself a very happy man at that table."Not feeling very conversational this evening, are we?" Colin asked, breaking into his (admittedly tame) fantasies.

He smacked the heel of his hand against his forhead, as if that could knock the mental picture out of his head. Hell, he though irritably, he didn't want to knock the image just out of his head. He wanted to send it clear across the room and out the window.

If you do not apologize to Lady Honoria,_ Marcus said, his voice so mild as to be terrifying, __ will kill you.__here was a collective gasp, and Daisy faked a swoon, sliding elegantly into Iris, who promptly stepped aside and let her hit the floor.__h, come now,_ Mr. Grimston said. __urely it won__ come to pistols at dawn._____ not talking about a duel,_ Marcus said. __ mean I will kill you right here.

Don__ tell me your name. It__ likely to awaken my conscience, and that__ the last thing we want.

Well,_ she finally said, __e__ coming back shortly, so you are absolved of your responsibilities._ __o._ The word came from him like an oath, emerging from the very core of his being. She looked at him in impatient confusion. __hat do you mean?_ He stepped forward. He wasn__ sure what he was doing. He knew only that he couldn__ stop. __ mean no. I don__ want to be absolved._ Her lips parted. He took another step. His heart was pounding, and something within him had gone hot, and greedy, and if there was anything in the world besides her, besides him__e did not know it. __ want you,_ he said, the words blunt, and almost harsh, but absolutely, indelibly true. __ want you,_ he said again, and he reached out and took her hand. __ want you._ __arcus, I__ __ want to kiss you,_ he said, and he touched one finger to her lips. __ want to hold you._ And then, because he couldn__ have kept it inside for one second longer, he said, __ burn for you._ He took her face in his hands and he kissed her. He kissed her with everything that had been building within him, every last aching, hungry burst of desire. Since the moment he had realized he loved her, this passion had been growing within him. It had probably been there all along, just waiting for him to realize it. He loved her.