Quotes from Lisa Kleypas

I had learned that there were substitutes for a mother who couldn't be a mother. You could find love with other people. You could find it in places you weren't even looking. But the original wound would never heal. I would carry it with me forever, and so would Tara. That was the trick . . . accepting it, going on with your life, knowing it was part of you.

Maybe if he read enough novels about the problems of fictional people, he might find some clue about how to solve his own.

My sweet, there are altogether too many respectable ladies in the world. The supply has far exceeded the demand. But there's an appalling shortage of attractive pirates, and you do seem to have a gift for plundering and ravishing. I think we've found your true calling.

I didn't think there was any way to convince Jack that he wanted more than I had to give, that to people who'd been damaged the way I had been, fear and the will to survive would always be more powerful than attachment. I could only love in a limited way

I think I'm in love with her. Either that, or I have a stomach disease with a side effect of uncontrollable sweating.

Love was the secret behind everything...love was what made vineyards grow and filled the spaces between the stars, and fixed the ground beneath his feet. It didn't matter if you acknowledged it or not. You couldn't stop the motion of the earth or hold back the ocean tides, or break the pull of the moon. You couldn't stop the rain or pull a shade over the sun.

Just look at the fellow, standing there like a bloody Greek god. Do you think she chose him because of his intellect?

Justine," Zoe said, "I don't want to curse anyone." "Of course you don't, you're much too nice. But I don't have that problem.

Just because you don't understand or agree with something doesn't mean that it lacks merit.

I like that word," Pandora mused. "Strumpet. It sounds like a saucy musical instrument." "It

Christopher felt a smile -his first genuine smile in a long time- pulling at his lips. "Does Miss Hathaway have many suitors?" "Oh, yes. But none of them want to marry her." "Why is that, do you imagine?" "They don't want to get shot," the child said, shrugging. "Pardon?" Christopher's brows lifted. "Before you marry, you have to get shot by an arrow and fall in love," the boy explained.

Sometimes people don't have to make you love them...you just do, and there's no help for it.

Yesterday I finally realized that all the things I thought were wrong about you were actually the things I enjoyed most. I don't give a damn what you do, so long as it pleases you. Run barefoot on the front lawn. Eat pudding with your fingers. Tell me to go to hell as often as you like. I want you just as you are.

Courting sometimes has the unpleasant side effect of marriage.

You aristocratic ladies and your gold-plated twats. You always think it's such a honor for me to touch you." He surveyed her with mocking green eyes. "You think you're the first high-kick wench I've ever had? I used to have blue-blooded bitches like you pay me to do this. You've gotten it for free.

Surely it wouldn't harm you to try." "Oh, yes it would!" His jaw hardened as he labored to explain. "You're too inexperienced to understand, but…some men are possessed of a far greater sexual drive than others. I happen to be one of them. I can't go for long periods of time without—" He broke off impatiently as he saw her expression. "Damn it, Evie, it's unhealthy for a man not to release his seed regularly.

I loved him so much, loved his fearlessness, his strength, even the ambition that would someday take him away from me.

You can keep a bunch of crabs in a shallow container, and none of them will escape. Because as soon as one of 'em tries to climb out, the others pull him back in." -Hardy

You say the gentleman I knew has been replaced. How I wish I could offer better comfort than to say that no matter how you have changed, you wil be welcomed when you return. Do what you must. If it helps you to endure, put the feelings away for now, and lock the door. Perhaps someday we'll air them out together.

Helen spent three days in Rhys Winterborne's room babbling incessantly while he lay there feverish and mostly silent. She became heartily tired of the sound of her own voice, and said something to that effect near the end of the second day. "I'm not," he said shortly. "Keep talking.

I knew I would replay the scene countless times in the years before me, each time thinking of different things I should have said and done. But all I did was walk away without looking back.

No woman should be afraid to sparkle.

Rather than argue, Amanda smiled at him. "And then what will you do while your son or daughter is in charge of your store and your companies?" "I'll spend my days and nights pleasing you," he said. "It's a challenging occupation, after all." He laughed and dodged as she went to swat his attractive backside.

A queen, you are," he said softly. "I could travel the world the rest of my life, and not find another woman with half your ways.