Quotes from Laura Florand

Maybe," Summer said. "But an adult child's pride in her father is a small compensation for feeling loved by him when she's young.

it's perhaps better for a prince to learn young that looking before one steps is basic self-preservation.

Remember karma: the fruit you harvest grows from the seeds you plant.

What's your rush? the key's scent said. The stone of the street said. The bright young sun said, seeking its way into the color-washed walls through cracks and crannies and shirts hung out like flags between balconies to dry. I've got all day. You've got all week. We've got a half-dozen centuries.

I meant us," she whispered. "I destroyed us." His fingers tightened against her cheek. "I'm not destroyed." Her breath stopped. "I'm scarred." He withdrew his hand and closed it carefully into a fist at his side. Again it slid in search of a pocket, but found none in which to bury itself. "I'm battered. But I'm still standing, Kai.

You don't meet many people who let you practice your self-confidence on them that way. The ones who do are either very weak or very strong.

Paris was a good place to fight your demons.

You boys grew up in peacetime, financially secure, with a powerful family name behind you. And you still want me to make things easier for you. I'm just giving you a little enrichment. Like they do for zoo animals, to keep them from expiring from boredom.

Always performing who they are instead of being it

for some reason, he didn't want her to look back at him with rejection or reciprocal challenge. He definitely didn't want her to look at him as if she was mentally gauging her ability to kill him to defend herself. He wanted her to look at him like she looked at his chocolate, as if she was absorbing strength and happiness. And was in no hurry to leave it. It turned his heart all funny to think of being looked at by her that way.

My feelings are my own responsibility. I don't see what trust has to do with it. I can't go around handing them off to other people.

A man's strength was supposed to be against the outside world: to fight it back from himself and those he took under his protection: his wife, his children, and for a man strong enough, more people still, people like his employees. To turn it inward, against the very people you had been given that strength to protect, because you couldn't deal with the outward fight, was the ultimate weakness.

It was hard to trust in happiness, coming from another person, but . . . there was so much of it, around him.

Lea--when a man climbs a glass mountain, it's not usually for the damn golden apple. It's for the person he gives the apple to.

She was all-out, delighted enthusiasm, like a stupid, bubbling stream, and the guy would just cup that in his hands for the hell of it, splash his face with it, and drop the leftovers back into the river.

You can't ever really have enough worth that when you're gone, the spot you left won't close over.

Humble people were unsettling at best. All that lack of backbone. It was just creepy. Like talking to linguine.

meant us," she whispered. "I destroyed us." His fingers tightened against her cheek. "I'm not destroyed." Her breath stopped. "I'm scarred." He withdrew his hand and closed it carefully into a fist at his side. Again it slid in search of a pocket, but found none in which to bury itself. "I'm battered. But I'm still standing, Kai.

Kids aren't bonsai. Maybe instead of trying to make them beautiful to the rest of the world, you should just love them and let them grow.

With aggressive come-ons, at least you knew where you stood. Holding hands, you got - hopeful.

for some reason, he didn't want her to look back at him with rejection or reciprocal challenge. He definitely didn't want her to look at him as if she was mentally gauging her ability to kill him to defend herself. He wanted her to look at him like she looked at his chocolate, as if she was absorbing strength and happiness. And was in no hurry to leave it. It turned his heart all funny to think of being

Sylvain flung out his hands. "You think my father never screwed up with me? You think I never screwed up with him? You don't get only one chance, for God's sake. You get five million chances, second after second every day. You don't have to get every single one of them perfect. Merde. It's not chocolate.

Never choose half of anything just to be safe when you have a chance to have something whole and perfect.

In his view of what he wanted from the world, there were an infinity of moments that were beautiful, as this one was beautiful, with the light from the town hall gilding her jawline and shining off her hair in the cold northern night that made him want to pull her in and warm them both. "And