Quotes from Laura Lee Guhrke

Like a phoenix rising from ashes, she had created a new life for herself out of the wreckage of the old one, and it suited her down to the ground. She was a duchess with no duke, a mistress with no master, and much to the bafflement of society, she liked it that way. Her life was comfortable, safe, and as predictable as a finely tuned machine, every aspect within her control.

Pardon me for not being willing to commit my entire future to you based on two kisses and a blueberry muffin.

She would continue to be mistress of her own life. She would be no victim, not of her circumstances, not of Fate, and certainly not of any man. Not ever again.

A woman could be as beautiful as she felt herself to be.

How much time do I get in exchange for that rose?" For the rose, a short engagement. For the speech, you get a lifetime." I can live with that," he said, and kissed her.

I enjoyed reading when I was a boy, but these days, I read all the time and it has rather taken the pleasure out of it for me. When I am at leisure, reading is the last thing I want to do." "That makes sense, I suppose. But for me, reading is an adventure. It makes me an armchair traveler and takes me places I shall never be able to go.

The human heart must be a strong and resilient thing, Daphne decided when she awoke the following morning. She was surprised to find that she was no longer in the throes of wrenching heartbreak and pain. Instead, in a strange way, she felt as if she had been reborn.

As far back as I can remember, whenever you used to look at me, your face would light up as if someone had lit a candle inside you.

No one judging her by her appearance would dream that Miss Daphne Wade had a rather salacious habit of staring at her employer's naked chest whenever she had the chance, although most women would have agreed that Anthony Courtland, Duke of Tremore, had a chest worth looking at.

No, she was just a woman. And that meant she could feel, she could need, she could give and she could receive.

Viola started for the door, but turned in the doorway to look at her one more time. "By the way, Daphne, beauty does not mean a thing, you know." Daphne watched as her new friend vanished through the doorway, and she smiled a bit ruefully. "Beautiful women always say that," she murmured to the empty doorway.

She gave him a dubious look, as if he wasn't quite right in the head. "Sometimes, Englishman, I do not understand you. I love you, but I do not always understand you." She turned and started across the meadow. He remained where he was and watched her walk away, with her skirts in her hand and the sun on her hair. "I love you, too," he said, but only after she was too far away to hear. "I always have.

You long to jump off, but you just can't work up the nerve, so you tell yourself you're content to look at the view.

If you're not gratified, you should be," he told her as he tucked the letter back in the breast pocket of his jacket. "All the other members of my staff were running around like panicked rabbits without you." "But not you, I am sure." "I was too astonished to panic.

You're killing me," he told her, panting, his palms sliding down over her ribs to explore the rest of her shape—her waist, her hips, her thighs. "Killing me by inches." He lifted his body from hers enough to yank up her skirt. "But it's a damn fine way for a man to die.

One couldn't spend one's entire life waiting for life to start.

Shakespeare's Iago could be played as a soul in hell, driven, dark and desperate, willing to do anything, willing to use anyone, in order to escape from that hell.

He likes you," Miss Dove said, sounding surprised. "Yes," Harry answered with an unhappy sigh. He had long ago accepted the fact that cats adored him. The reason, of course, was because both God and cats had the same perverse sense of humor. When the animal buried its claws in his thigh and began to knead with happy abandon, he set his jaw and bore it. "Mr. Pigeon? Rather fitting for you to choose that name, Miss Dove. Both birds, you know.

Nothing causes more pain, frustration, and disappointment than unfulfilled expectations.

This was why I did what I did," she whispered. "I looked at those men at the ball, and I thought of that night in the carriage when you touched me, and I knew I could never let any of them touch me." She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, pressing his hands to her breasts. "Only you.

Never again was she going to sit by while life went on around her. Never again was she going to wait for fate to hand her what she wanted. From now on, she was going to reach out and grab her dreams and not let go.

There were times, however, when a man had to make a strategic retreat to win the game.

Marry me and make an honest man of me in my butler's eyes." He kissed her. "Marry me and save me from having to chase loose women for the rest of my life." He kissed her again. "Marry me, darling," he said once more against her lips. "Because I adore you.

Resolved untested was moot.