c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
At the unexpected sight of Spence, Colbie startled hard. How was it that he was the one who needed glasses and yet she’d not seen him standing against the window? “No, I don’t kill a lot of people,” she said cautiously because she was wearing only a towelin front of a strange man. “But I’m happy to make an exception.”He laughed, a rough rumble that was more than a little contagious but she controlled herself because, hello, she was once again dripping wet before the man who seemed to make her knees forget to hold her up.“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said and pushed off the wall to come close.She froze, but he held up his hands like, I come in peace, and crouched at her feet to scoop up the clothes she hadn’t realized she’d dropped.Leggings, a long forgiving tee, and the peach silk bra-and-panty set that hadn’t gotten so much as a blink from the TSA guy.But it got one out of Spence. He also swallowed hard as she snatched them back from him.“Hold on,” he said and caught her arm, pulling it toward him to look at her bleeding elbow.“Sit,” he said and gently pushed her down to a weight bench. He vanished into the bathroom and came back out with a first aid kit.It took him less than two minutes to clean and bandage the scrape. Then, easily balanced at her side on the balls of his feet, he did the same for both her knees, which she hadn’t noticed were also scraped up.“You must’ve hit the brick coping as you fell in the fountain,” he said and let his thumb slide over the skin just above one bandaged knee.She shivered, and not from the cold either. “Not going to kiss it better?” she heard herself ask before biting her tongue for running away with her good sense.She’d raised her younger twin brothers. Scrappy, roughhouse wild animals, the both of them, so there’d been plenty of injuries she’d kissed over the years.But no one had ever kissed hers. Not surprising, since most of her injuries tended to be on the inside, where they didn’t show. Still, she was horrified she’d said anything at all. “I didn’t mean—”She broke off, frozen like a deer in the headlights as Spence slowly lowered his head, brushing his lips over the Band-Aid on her elbow, then her knees. When he lifted his head, he pushed his glasses higher on his nose, those whiskey eyes warm and amused behind his lenses. “Better?”Shockingly better. Since she didn’t quite trust her voice at the moment, she gave a jerky nod and took her clothes back into the bathroom. She shut the door and then leaned against it, letting out a slow, deliberate breath. Holy cow, she was out of her league. He was somehow both cute and hot, and those glasses .
— Jill Shalvis, Chasing Christmas Eve
Head to toe, Ben pressed up against her, and Darcy wanted to rub along him.There wasn’t room for her to move.Her back was against the cabinet and counter, and Ben was all over her front.Would it be wrong to purr? She wondered.
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
Are you telling me there is something better out there than icing in a can? Because I’m finding it hard to believe. That’s been my dirty little secret for years.”	In a move he didn’t see coming, she chuckled and then shifted to straddle him until they were chest to chest. “That’s your dirty little secret?” She shook her head. “We’re going to have to work on that.
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
Her fingertips dug into his shoulders as she pressed closer. Then her lips parted to his, and there was no mistaking the passion in her response.	Wild and sweet…	His eyes were closed, but in his mind’s eye he saw the lights of the giant tree, and he knew he’d found a Christmas memory worth keeping.
— Sierra Donovan, Do Not Open 'Til Christmas
She’s beautiful. Her responsiveness is intoxicating. I have to have this woman.
— D.L. Hess, Sir: The Awakening
Do you want to play a game?” he asks, his tone rich and dark and sensuous like his chocolate. Every atom in me stands at attention. “What kind of game?”“We’ll call it ‘Sir Says’. The rules are very simple—I give you a command. . . and you obey.
— D.L. Hess, Sir: The Awakening
I wasn’t in love with Daniel. I only met him an hour ago. That was impossible. Wasn’t it?
— Melanie Moreland, It Started with a Kiss
You bring out a passion in me I’ve never felt for anyone.
— Melanie Moreland, It Started with a Kiss
One kiss changed my life. Dibs on the rest of yours. ~Daniel
— Melanie Moreland, It Started with a Kiss
He felt lightheaded, almost dizzy, as he deepened the kiss, his fingers curling lightly around the tendrils of her hair. His other arm encircled her waist, pressing her closer, and for a moment he went for broke, kissing her with everything he had.	And now that he knew he wasn’t going to get his face slapped, he slowed down to take his time and do it right. The outside world simply ceased to exist. There was only Chloe, warm in his embrace, as her lips responded to his.
— Sierra Donovan, Do Not Open 'Til Christmas
It’s ok,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.
— Sierra Donovan, Do Not Open 'Til Christmas
He was the perfectly flawed man.
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
What? I know I’m old enough to be his mother – his young mother,” she added. “I can still appreciate an attractive man!
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
That was another thing that was becoming overwhelming --- her emotions. She normally only seemed to have two --- happy or pissed off.
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
Right now, all he wanted --- almost more than his next breath --- was to have Darcy in his bed.	Under him.
— Samantha Chase, Holiday Spice
I like order and knowing everything has its place.”
— “It does have its place. It’s just not there yet.
Three years ago hadn’t been the right time for them. Now certainly was.
— Katie Reus, It's Me Again, Baby
She was always the woman he didn’t want to lose…
— Katie Reus, It's Me Again, Baby
No one was getting past him.
— Katie Reus, It's Me Again, Baby
Maguire?”
— His name on her lips brought up too many naked memories.
I was just thinking of you,” she said…
— Katie Reus, It's Me Again, Baby
She’d offered him her friendship. Her body. And he’d taken both. He wanted to keep them both. And he also wanted more, so much more. He wanted her heart, like she had his.
— Jill Shalvis, Chasing Christmas Eve
You only live once, right?""Not true," Quinn said, "you live every day. You only die once.
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
His expression was strained. "I'm trying like hell to be the good guy here. I need you to go inside and lock the door behind you to keep out of trouble.""I thought Wildstone was safe.""It is. The trouble isn't going to come from the unknown. It's going to come from me. Go, Quinn. Now. And lock your door."She stared up at him, mesmerized by the thought of him being trouble, images going through her head of him proving it to her, all of them involving little to no clothing and a bed.
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
What about you? Girlfriend? Wife? Kids? Perhaps a gaggle of towheaded, extra large boys who already excel at sports and know how to make fire with the ass end of a lightning bug?
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
Well, are you?”“Am I what?”“Dating people?”Her lips quirked up at the corners. “Are you?”“Nope.”“Neither am I.”“Good. You’re mine until you leave.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
She was everything he’d ever hoped for but hadn’t known existed…
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
I’m not letting you go, Fallon.”Her throat seized at his words. “Brad—““You don’t have to say anything. “I’m just laying it out there.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
Everyone knew that bugs traveled in packs. Only the stupid ones got caught. The smart ones lay in wait for her to go to sleep so they could attack.
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
Some people aren't meant to stay in your life. But, that doesn't mean you can't carry a piece of them in your heart.
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
You look like you should be on a Wheaties box with this haircut.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
Mom used to tell me not to worry when people didn't get me. People throw rocks at things that shine - from the mixed up files of Tilly Adam's journal
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
How my heart missed beating like this. For him. Only for him.
— Ella Maise, Untitled
There's a big difference between want and need," she muttered to herself, picking her pad and pen back up. "I mean I want a bikini body, but I need chicken nuggets.
— Jill Shalvis, Lost and Found Sisters
Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to look at me this way?”	She assumed he was teasing her. “What are you talking about? You didn’t even like me for most of the time we’ve known each other.”	He bent his head before turning to go, his voice low and confident in her ear. “Or maybe I’m just that good of an undercover agent.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
When do you leave?” she asked.	His fingers paused. “Labor Day weekend.”	So soon. Only two and a half weeks away. She nodded, going for a joke. “Good. That’s about when I was planning on getting sick of you, anyway.”	“Pfft. I’m already counting down the minutes until I can make my escape from this room.”	“It’s your room.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
He growled low in his throat. “I don’t think I can do this the nice way, Jessica.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
So you’re saying the ball’s in my court.”	He bent his head, stopping just before his mouth touched hers. “The ball has always been in your court, Jessica,” he said huskily. “From the first moment I walked up to you at the Academy.”	She looked at him for a moment. Then she stood up on her tiptoes and leaned into him.	The instant her lips touched his, John slid one hand to her waist and threaded the other in her hair.	About damn time.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
She wanted this man with an intensity that defied logic. Which was part of the reason she’d been ignoring him. A girl only had so much self-control when faced with all this deliciousness.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
Maybe I’m not the Boy Scout you think I am.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
I have a slight oral fixation.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
Mr. Boy Scout was not for her. He was exactly the type of man her family would expect her to settle down with. Freaking perfect.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
We’ll try to be more sympathetic to your hot nemesis problem. Is she a nightmare to work with?”	An image popped into John’s head, of him kissing Jessica against the hotel room wall in Jacksonville. He could still feel the softness of her skin and hear her breathy moan as he slid his hand underneath her dress. 	Hardly the stuff of nightmares.	“It’s been… interesting.
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
Since you’re obviously in need of something to do, instead of shouting at me through this whole drill, isn’t there some tree you could fell with your bare hands, or a boulder somewhere that needs tossing?
— Julie James, The Thing About Love
Laughing, she stood and held out a hand, “You need any first aid?”“Nah. Your kisses did the trick.
— Katie Reus, Tease Me, Baby
He made it hard for a girl to not fall head over heels.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Truthfully, she was the best thing in his life and he was a complete idiot if he let her walk away from him.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
I just don’t want you to…""What?""Be reminded of the girl that I used to be…
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Not only will I discover every single nerve and crevice in your vulnerable, and very naked body, I will devour and exploit every one of your weaknesses. I won’t merely control you, Reina. I will own you.
— Tara  Leigh, Penthouse Player
Fine. It’s your life, but—” “But you’re still going to tell me what to do?” he asked, a small smile on his lips. She went into defense mode at his amused tone. “Well, I’m sure as hell not going to be quiet about it.” “Duly noted,” he said dryly. “And for the record? I never want you to be quiet, Elle.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Gannon came from loud, passionate Italian stock that wasn’t afraid to smash a plate to make a statement. Paige, on the other hand, systematically choked down any temper and, with frosty efficiency, made him dance like a fucking puppet.
— Lucy Score, Mr. Fixer Upper
He already couldn’t remember what it’d been like before her. He’d thought everything was great in his life but then he’d been thrown a curve ball in the form of this gorgeous, passionate woman who he suddenly couldn’t get enough of. Which made it official. He was hers, completely.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
You probably had more adventures today than I’ll have in a lifetime. Walking must seem tame to you.”“Elle, you’re more of an adventure than anything that’s ever happened to me.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Her heart just about stopped. “Us?” she asked in shock. “There is no us. There’s a you. And there’s a me. And okay, so sometimes we get crazy and become a very momentary us but it’s not real.” “It could be,” he said. She gaped at him, completely gobsmacked.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
On and off the field, you're my hardest fall, Zoe. No one ever compared. No one ever will.
— Ella Maise, Untitled
I deserve more. I mean I understand I do. Once you’ve protected someone the way you protected me, you get… well, protective. But I’m no longer that sixteen-year-old girl, Archer. I’m a grown woman.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
What is it with us?
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Whatever you need… Always.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
I want you, Elle," he said, voice low and rough. "It's a goddamn ache, I want you so much.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Oh for God’s sake,” came Morgan’s sleepy voice, disembodied in the dark. “Go after the hot guy, would you?” “The peanut gallery needs to shut up,” Elle muttered into the cushion. “Just sayin’,” Morgan said. “I’d leave you alone out here in a hot minute to go have sex if I had the chance.” “I’m not going to go have sex while you’re out here knowing I’m having sex!” “Your loss,” Morgan said. “Oh my God,” Elle said. “Stop talking!
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
I’m putting a temporary hold on the ‘stay away from me’ thing,’” she said. “just for a minute while I yell at you, and then we’re definitely going right back to it.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
Just remember, there’s not a lot of softness in his life, or room for weakness—of which you’re definitely one. He has absolutely no idea what to do with you, and as an action guy, that’s confusing to him. So maybe think about taking it easy on him. Even just a little bit.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
I want in your life, Elle. All the way in.
— Jill Shalvis, Accidentally on Purpose
So you don't do one night stands. And you're not looking for a boyfriend, or a husband. What do you want, Reina?” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. How could one sentence strike with the force of a lightning bolt? “How about you make me an offer?
— Tara  Leigh, Penthouse Player
I offered my most enticing smile, the one I’d been perfecting for years. Sincere and encouraging, it brimmed with counterfeit confidence. My smile had earned me forgiveness when I deserved none, a seat in first class though I’d only paid for coach.
— Tara  Leigh, Penthouse Player
Jonathan took her hand. “Christiana.”“Yes?” Her rosebud lips parted on an involuntary sigh, and his imagination got the better of his intellect. It took every ounce of control to not crush her . . . take her right then and there.“I shouldn’t have . . . .” He had no right to her. She had not given herself to him. He had yet to even ask, and he shouldn’t. Washington was unforgiving in many matters and getting involved with a nineteen year-old would prove fatal. He already tested the boundaries with his sexual proclivities.“No, please. Do it again.
— Elizabeth SaFleur, Lovely
I have to wonder,” Aaron said, 'does your conscience whack you upside the head every time you contemplate taking a little time to just enjoy life?' - from Fly Away With Me
— Susan Fox
You are so much a part of me that it physically hurts when you are away--like I can't fully breathe until you are back again.
— Rachel Renee, Untangling Rose
Your….your bat cave?” Emily responded.“Yes, I’m quite proud of it. I put those visiting Boy Scouts to good use building bat houses, and now I’ve got dozens of them lining the walls of my tool shed.” She ran a hand down her long, witchy hair. “Bat houses, I mean. Not Boy Scouts. I don’t have any Boy Scouts in my shed.” She looked around, and Ryan couldn’t help but wonder if anyone might indeed be missing a Boy Scout.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Forgive me, God, for I'm about to sin like fuck.
— Clarissa Wild, Father
All sexual activity performed is at the discretion of the participants and is confined to only one hour.
— Karen A. Miles
He finally had a reason to live, just in time to die.
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
I didn't plan to be this dysfunctional at 27, but dysfunctionality has a way of creeping up on you. One second, you're 22, wrapping up your undergraduate degree from a top business school, and then suddenly, you're sitting alone in your car at 27, wondering how five years slipped trough your fingers without so much as a blink.
— R.S. Grey, The Foxe & the Hound
He leans forward and presses a kiss to my cheek. It's so romantic and soft. I want to capture it in a mason jar and preserve it for later.
— R.S. Grey, The Foxe & the Hound
Hiding had been effortless in New York City. Getting lost in a sea of people was as easy as stepping onto a crowded Subway car. Sweet Laurel Cove would be very different. Generations of families filled its church pews, ran its farms, and schooled its children. Anonymity was as rare as lightning bugs in wintertime—as her grandmother would say.
— Teresa Tysinger, Someplace Familiar
Private fireworks are far superior to public fireworks.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
We don’t have to tell secrets. We don’t have to talk at all. We could just, you know, kiss . . . and stuff.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Damn, I really want to kiss you.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
He turned his head to look at her, trying to think of ways to plead his case. Some way to dazzle and beguile her and make her glad that it was him she was here with. Something witty and persuasive, but she turned at precisely the same moment he did, with invitation in her eyes, and all he could come up with was, “Damn, I really want to kiss you.” Her hesitation was a mere fraction of a second. “Me too,” she whispered. It was all he needed to hear, and in an instant she was in his arms. He kissed her, hard, with no prelude, no artful negotiations or seductive machinations. Just hungry kisses that sent his mind spinning and his body following. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm, with one hand on his chest and the other wrapped tightly around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Her mouth was sweet, as sweet as he’d imagined, with lips so soft he could have fallen over the edge of that lighthouse and thought the sensation was just from her touch.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
That place is turning into the Hotel California.You know, you can check in, but you can never leave.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Maybe you should get a very large life insurance policy on the next husband,” Lily suggested slurping her coffee loudly. “You know, before he makes an ash of himself.”“Very funny, but don’t think I haven’t thought of it. It’s an unpredictable way to score more rental properties, but I do seem to be good at burying men.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
It’s hard raising parents.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
There are no bears on the island.”“Really, are you sure because I was hiking with my Dad and I’m sure I saw one? Either that or it was a humongous man-eating badger, with fangs. It might have been frothing at the mouth.”“Man-eating, huh? No problem then. I’m a girl.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Life had a way of shifting under her feet like quicksand and she had learned to just make the best of it. Like Gigi always said, ‘when God closes a door, he shoves you out the window.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Too bad he was officially the enemy.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
Just one more?” he said, holding up his thumb and index finger to indicate tiny. Oh so small. “Just one more little one? I don’t think that was my best work, and what if this is the only time we ever kiss? Then you’ll go on for the rest of your life thinking that’s the best I can do. I don’t think my ego can take that.” He sure as hell hoped this wouldn’t be the only time they ever kissed. In fact, he was going to make damn sure of it, and then some. But for the moment, this angle was going to work for him. He could see her indecision. He leaned closer, his lips nearly touching hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as he whispered against her mouth, “Just one more.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
His eyes settled due west and gazed through the silhouetted, leaf-bare branches to the now-black rolling hills of the mountains he called home. The sun was setting on another day in Laurel Cove, though he couldn’t help but wonder what was rising on the horizon.
— Teresa Tysinger, Someplace Familiar
Her life was more like a series of tattered Post-it notes with hastily scribbled goals written in dull pencil. Some of them stuck. Lots of them didn’t.
— Tracy Brogan, My Kind of You
You are you because you love the way the world looks through your camera. You are you because of the way you love your friends and family. Not because some scar is on your body. That's a part of your history and what helps form what you believe in. not what defines you.
— A.M. Willard, Heated Sweets
That's because those pages got torn to shreds when you left, now you both are in different chapters. He wants you - like always, and you want the hot guy down the street. Typical Frankie and Brody style. You guys dance one wild tango, if you ask me.
— A.M. Willard, Heated Sweets
She reeked of respectability and sophistication, and he went hard on a helpless surge of lust.
— Mackenzie Crowne - To Win Her Smile
If I’m not mistaken, he’s bragging about his accuracy and prowess—” A bark of male laughter came through the phone’s earpiece and Piper finished on a squeak, “In his sport.”“Nice clarification, sweetheart, but it ain’t bragging when it’s the truth.
— Mackenzie Crowne - To Win Her Smile
I’m going to kiss you.”Another whimper, but she didn’t jerk from his hold. “I know, and that’s an extremely bad idea.
— Mackenzie Crowne - To Win Her Smile
Off-limits or not, she was beautiful. The type of beautiful he could fall for.
— Dawn Altieri, Burn
You seriously have a Dalmatian? Is that, like, mandatory for a firefighter?
— Dawn Altieri, Burn
What if you get called to a fire?”  His eyes raked over her as he prepared to devour her. “Let it burn.
— Dawn Altieri, Burn
Adorably dysfunctional twenty-something seeks handsome veterinarian. Serious offers only.
— R.S. Grey, The Foxe & the Hound
She rocked her hips into him and gasped. “Do you have a sleeping cabin on this boat?”	His teeth brushed her ear. “Yes.”	“Do you have protection?”	Her question didn’t register through the haze of his hunger for her.	“Cannons, a cutlass, and a few pistols.”	She chuckled and kissed him again.	“How about condoms?
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
She tasted like run, root beer, and something wild he couldn’t place, but it didn’t matter.	He wanted more.	Craved it.
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
First rule of a pirate’s mate, keep yer eye on yer destination, not yer doom.
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
If you could see your whole life laid out before you, there’d be no reason to live it, right?
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
I thought you only had eyes for your ship.”	God, she was beautiful. “Until I met you.
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
She smiled, and his dead heart warmed.	One smile would never be enough.
— Lisa Kessler, Magnolia Mystic
I want to slap him.Curse him.Scream at him.Slap him some more.I want to reach a hand into his chest and squeeze that life-sustaining organ until he collapses from the lack of blood flow and the agonizing pain pummeling his heart until it’s scarcely beating. I want him to hurt so badly that he can barely breathe while strips tear from his heart.I want him to feel everything I’m feeling.To hurt as much as I do.I want all that.But I can’t convince myself it’s the truth.Because I love him too much.
— I don’t want him to hurt like that.
As soon as I saw her, I knew I had to stay far away from her. Being with her makes me feel like I’ve been starving for so long. Sofia has given me a taste of something I didn’t know I wanted. Something I am now desperate for. Her.
— E.R. Wade
Surround yourself with things that make you smile.”
— He reached up and caressed her cheek. “You make me smile
Forget walking, right now I could fly."-Marcus
— Katie Michaels, Never Let Go
I tilt my head slightly to one side, taking in her blue sleeveless dress which ends a few inches above her knees. She looks exquisite. Definitely perfect for dessert.“I know what I want to eat and it’s not lemon cake.” I say thickly.Heat flares up in her eyes and I know the cake has been forgotten.She wants to be dessert.
— E.R. Wade, Stay With Me
Then just how do you conduct business, Vance? I knew you were hiding something from me. Something told me you were their attorney. You definitely have the look of one. It was just something about the way your pant legs whispered above the shine of your shoes but I didn’t want to believe it,” she recalled from the day of the chaos on the premises of Stone & Nichols. She thought he looked darn good then as well as today.
— Lawana Dinkins, Burgundy & Brown's,The Executives, Her Knight In All Of His Honor
It wasn't until the morning after my uneventful shift, when I wake up, dazed and tense and frustrated as hell, that I realize I'm getting obsessed with that girl, my partner, and this thing is running me ragged.
— Charlotte Penn Clark, The Partnership
There’s a reason why relationships don’t work out. It’s usually better to take a few steps back if you have any doubts before it gets complicated and you find yourself in a tangled web, not of your doing, but somehow you end up paying the price.
— E.R. Wade
I drag my eyes away from his sexy hands and my gaze collides with his. His penetrating blue gaze holds mine. He knows. He knows what I am thinking.He knows that I would rather have him fucking me senseless than sitting in the midst of everyone trying to make small talk, pretending that his mere presence hasn’t almost driven me to my wits’ end. Feeling overwhelmingly aroused, heat creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. My pulse is racing. My heart is pounding so hard.Awareness crackles between us. His eyes hold mine with a frightening intensity like he can devour me with one touch.
— E.R. Wade
Nothing in life is permanent. All of it will eventually disappear…Maybe we’re supposed to know that…accept it, and live our lives differently because of it. Rearrange our priorities based on the finite number of heartbeats we have left.
— Lindsey Frydman, The Heartbeat Hypothesis
And on bad days, when his aura of sadness blazed like an alarm he couldn’t turn off, I felt like I was doing everything wrong.
— Lindsey Frydman, The Heartbeat Hypothesis
This is no dream, Novi. Everything you are experiencing is real and until you accept that, you will not be able to go home.”“Yeah, okay. Sure. Twin queens, talking otters, Autumn Fae, houses suspended in midair. Yep, totally real. Got it.
— Brynn Myers, Falling Out of Focus
Ha! Don’t you know that writers are control freaks? We make our characters dance to our own weird tunes. That’s half the fun.”She angled his head ever so slowly to the right. “What’s the other half?” Just as the position became uncomfortable, she reversed the motion.“Rewriting,” he said. “You know how you think of a brilliant response to an insult six hours later when it’s utterly useless? A writer has a time machine. I can go back to the moment the insult was hurled and parry it with my slow but rapier-sharp wit.”“Relax. I’ve got you,” she said, rotating his head gently to the right. “I guess us nonwriters think you just sit down at your computer and the book comes out the way we read it.”“We foster that myth. It makes us seem more like creative geniuses and less like mere craftsmen.
— Nancy Herkness, The VIP Doubles Down
I’ve had pedicures before, and I’ve had milk shakes. Just never at the same time. And it’s glorious.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
I think if we ignore that night, that kiss, then we’re both denying a part of who we are.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Jeez, you two,” Savannah muttered.	“Shush. It’s like free porn,” Riley teased.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Matt hissed her name as she moved above him, sliding along the hardened length of him. “What is it you want, baby?” he asked, his voice gruff.	“You,” she replied honestly. “I want more of you.” 	“You have me. All of me.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Matt?”	“Hmm?”	“Kiss me.”	He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “Sweetheart, I thought you’d never ask.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Because that was the problem with society. It cared too much about who you fell in love with but never about why. The why matters.
— L.J. Shen, Defy
Why the anchor?""Because sometimes, it's nice to feel like there's someone who can save you.
— L.J. Shen, Defy
I think I like you," I muttered, pressing my face to his muscled torso in a hug. I felt his heartbeat under my ear."I think I like you back.
— L.J. Shen, Defy
There was too much between them to think of any type of future. Yet, with him standing in front of her, she wanted to think of the future. Wanted him to wrap his arms round her. Kiss her. Tell her it would be all right.
— LaVerne St. George, The Master's Plan
My hands still on his shoulders. “Hi,” he says. “Sorry.” “For what?” “For the fact that you are such a big flirt.” He laughs. “You’re the one in my lap. I was just sitting here minding my own business.” “Just the plane, then?” “Of course.” I try to stand up, but he pulls me back down again. “Man, the plane is really bumpy today,” he says.
— Kasie West, The Distance Between Us
You feel pretty ,manly to me," I breathed out, all jelly-legged with half-mast eyes."And you feel like a woman worthy of a fight, Ms.Greene.
— L.J. Shen, Defy
Speaking of cupcakes, Will wants two dozen off your special menu to take on the road after the wedding.”		“The, erm, peach kind?”	“The peach kind,” Lindsey said.	“I like the peach kind,” Josh said.	Mikey had named them Sex on a Peach. And they were Kimmie’s second biggest seller, after the Hairy Dicks, which were coconut cake balls strategically placed with Dahlia’s chocolate-covered, ice cream-filled bananas.	And Josh’s frown had disappeared, and now he was grinning as if he knew it.	All of it.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
He liked the way her smile infected him and infused a bit of heat into his cold bones—a warmth missing until he'd opened the door to her flower shop.
— Lyz Kelley, Blinded
If heaven existed, she’d just found it. His earthy scent. His stabilizing energy. Nothing smelled better, not even fresh bread from the oven, or a puppy or lilacs in the summer. He filled every crevice in her heart, gluing the broken pieces back together, one breath at a time.
— Lyz Kelley, Blinded
A fake ring. A fake engagement. Fake love. Everything was fake. Shiny and put together on the outside, empty on the inside.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Her eyes slid closed, her secret places pulsed in anticipation, and his lips settled onto the skin beneath her ear.	That was magic.	She held perfectly still.	He pressed a kiss to her neck. Then another, lower. A third, even lower. 	She squirmed.	He dropped his hands. “Sorry. I---“ 	“Don’t stop,” Kimmie whispered.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
In the third cabinet under the counter, she hit the good stuff. “Oh! You have a KitchenAid.”	“If you’re planning on caressing my mixer, you should know that might make my testicles explode,” he said from behind her.	Her cheeks went hot enough to glow. “That would be awkward.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Your mother can’t hear you here.” 	“Distance is no match for my mother’s eavesdropping and mind-reading skills.”	“I had steel anti-mind-reading plates installed this week. Specially designed to be Marilyn-proof. Also sounds an alarm if she gets within two hundred yards of the building, and I sent the guards downstairs to ninja training. You’re safe.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Yes, Mel. That's exactly why I left without explaining. Because I think about you before I think about myself. Always remember that, Little Ballerina. Always.
— L.J. Shen, Defy
She smelled like a mountain valley in springtime and made him dream of the future in a way he hadn’t considered possible.
— Lyz Kelley, Blinded
Josh squeezed her arm. “I’ll behave,” he murmured. “For now.”	She’s going to pickle your cucumbers.”	“He has more than one?” Natalie whispered.	“That’s between me and Kimmie,” Josh replied.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
It's been six months since I took a bite of that shiny, forbidden apple, and I've never been the same.
— Kristen Luciani
I don’t know,” she said quietly. “A guy in a pair of ripped jeans who takes off his shirt because he’s all sweaty is kind of hot.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Trust Me. I know what I want and it’s right in front of me.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
The only thing standing between her and her beautiful new home was her own silly insecurity and Matt Reed.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
She was too busy to think about getting involved with anyone. Even one of the sexiest men alive.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Getting involved with him wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t in the cards. It wasn’t part of anyone’s plan…. Now was the time to focus on her career and getting settled, not on sexy rock stars.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
I always hated guys who were so damn wrapped up in themselves they thought they could do no wrong.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “Turns out I’m one of them.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Trust me. I know what I want, and it’s right in front of me.”	Her eyes went wide as she softly gasped.	And then he pressed against her fully and kissed her.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
I can be patient, Vivienne, and I believe you’re worth waiting for.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
He knew the saying was “the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach,” he was kind of counting on it working the other way around.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
I can’t say I particularly like Matty Reed. But you, Matt? I like being with you.”…	“That’s good, Viv,” he said.	“Because I like being with you. And I want…” He leaned in a little closer, “I need…” His lips were mere inches from hers…
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
Her eyes fluttered open and she found Matt to be impossibly close – so close she could see the flecks of gold in his green eyes, could almost count his incredibly long lashes. Vivienne swallowed hard.	This was it.	There was no going back.	And she really didn’t want to.
— Samantha Chase, One More Kiss
You smell like you showered in gingerbread," he said, his breath warming her ear."Bite me," she croaked.His low laugh ruffled her hair. "I might just do that. I really, really like gingerbread."At that moment, so did Madison.
— Debbie Mason, The Trouble with Christmas
He stood in the open door, hands planted on the roof of the Suburban. "I've never had a woman tell me I gave her nightmares before, but plenty have told me I played a prominent role in their dreams.
— Debbie Mason, The Trouble with Christmas
Grinning to himself, Blue went out the door pulling out on his T-shirt. So sue him, he had changed his mind, but he sure wasn’t going to quite admit it. She’d laugh like a hyena, and he had some pride. He found his hat, made sure to clean up Roy’s kitchen, and went out to see to the horses. God, had he ever had so much fun in a relationship before? Most of them had been just about sex, and he and Jenna still hadn’t even done that.Maybe that was the secret. Liking someone first and then realizing you wanted to make love to them made a lot more sense. Blue put on his hat. And he would be making love with Jenna, he was damned sure about that. Sometimes even a Marine had to reassess his priorities. 44%
— Kate Pearce, The Maverick Cowboy
When he grasped her hand, he felt the calluses on her palm. He was thinking about how tough she was, and then she smiled. It was tentative and brief but it touched his heart, and then she was gone. He watched while she disappeared over the hill and then took the box into the kitchen, refilled his coffee and opened the lid. 36%
— Sharon Sala, Saving Jake
I decided I wasn’t ready for whatever this is.” He lifted her chin, and kissed her gently, his heart hammering. “I couldn’t risk… what might happen.”	“What made you change your mind?” she asked, her lips inches from his.	He wrapped her in his arms, pressing her close. “It was a bigger risk if I didn’t take the chance.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
Hey there,” she said, her blue eyes shimmering.Collin swallowed hard, and took her in his arms, cradling her head against his chest. “Hey, yourself,” he murmured into her hair, and kissed her head. He held her there for as long as he could without it becoming awkward, then gripped her shoulders and stepped back.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
If Madison had a gun, she'd shoot out the sound system pumping "Jingle Bells" through her office speakers. Instead, she bit off Rudolph's chocolate head and pointed a finger at the brightly colored, foil-wrapped Santa on her desk. "You're next, big guy.
— Debbie Mason, The Trouble with Christmas
Vivi held up the front page of the New York Times, pointing out the headline: 'The Grinch Who Killed Christmas.'"Way to go, Grinch,
— Debbie Mason, The Trouble with Christmas
She heard a low laugh and glanced over her shoulder, meeting Gage's amused glaze. 'You're trouble', he mouthed.'No,' Madison thought when she went all warm and gooey inside, 'I'm in trouble.
— Debbie Mason, The Trouble with Christmas
Slow and sweet and sexy….	“Hell of a first kiss,” he said with a hint of a grin.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
I have a fabulous idea.""Oh, I don't like this. Last time you had a fabulous idea, I wore a cast for six weeks. I still can't straighten my arm completely.""That was years ago," I said, brushing aside her concern. "This one will work. Do you have any exceptionally handsome men friends, willing to be my fiancé?
— Sue Barr, Fiance for Hire
More. Give me more.I don't know if you're ready for this. He's shirtless.You're killing me. Is he built?Like a Greek god.Nooooo.....so unfair. I don't have any hot neighbors, just acres and acres of corn fields.
— Sue Barr, Man of Her Dreams
I have a fabulous idea.Oh, I don't like this. Last time you had a fabulous idea I wore a cast for six weeks. I still can't straighten my arm completely.That was years ago. This one will work. Do you have any exceptionally handsome men friends, willing to be my fiancé?
— Sue Barr, Fiance for Hire
You could never like me too much,' I tell him, my gaze meeting his. His eyes are serious though, making my smile fade. With gentle fingers he brushes the hair away from my forehead, making me tingle. " Maybe I don't just like you." -Wade &SydneySafe Bet by Monica Murphy
— Monica Murphy
I'm going to own your body, Lila, because you f*cking own mine.
— Stephanie Witter, Be A Doll
What happened tonight won't change a thing.""You're mistaken, Lila. Everything started changing the moment we met.
— Stephanie Witter, Be A Doll
Sex or sleep? What will it be, Lila?
— Stephanie Witter, Be A Doll
I'm not going to toy with you tonight. A kiss was more than I bargained for, but, little wife, that f*cking kiss is just the beginning. Tomorrow is a brand new day.
— Stephanie Witter, Be A Doll
Heaven’s Bakery help them all.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
He was the most handsome nightmare she had ever met.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
He was sort of Kimmie’s boss. And he wasn’t just a thorn in General Mom’s side – he was a whole stinking rosebush. If the rosebush were six feet of hunky, cake-blaspheming, rich playboy.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
If my mom sees you here, she’ll ---“	“Paper the walls with my innards while the innocents watch?
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
But he knew how to kiss a woman until she needed his kisses more than she needed to breathe. Until her bones melted. Until she gave him exactly what he wanted.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Is he nice?” one whispered over her gum paste roses for this weekend’s wedding cakes.	“Um, obviously,” Kimmie said.	“You’re why he’s always coming around? I know he’s hot stuff in Chicago, but he always seems so stiff when he comes here,” another added from the sink.	“Honey, you want them stiff,” a third said…
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Right on time, sugar.” Josh draped his arm around her shoulders and steered her through the lobby. “Traffic okay?”	“Yeah, except when that alien spaceship landed on I-90 and then all those crickets jumped out to perform Beethoven’s Fifth on kazoos. Otherwise, clear sailing.
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
Are those the Edible Undies cupcakes?” one of the women in the kitchen asked.	“They’re the Nipple Lickers,” Kimmie answered. “Without the nipples.”	“I heard you perfected the Sex on a Peach cupcakes,” another feminine voice said.	“Can you squeeze me in for a double order of Spank Me Strawberries the weekend before Knot Fest?
— Jamie Farrell, Sugared
You’re doing this for Kimmie for free.”
— “I’d do anything for Kimmie.”
No panties for you. And no touching. I need to hear a yes, sir.
— Renee Rose, The Don's Daughter
I want more than last night. I want you.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
Nat,” he whispered and lowered his head.	Her heart missed a beat as his soft mouth brushed against hers. Then his lips were atop hers, firmly, his tongue sliding against them.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
Look at me, Nat. I won’t bite.”	There was a long pause before he said, “Hard.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
He leaned in close, his mouth near her ear. “Dance with me.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
You can’t change the past. It’s already done. Looking back only keeps you there.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
Sometimes you can miss out on something amazing by being in a hurry.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
He was a living, breathing fantasy. Her own rock and roll fantasy at that! And every minute of every day it was getting more and more difficult to ignore the attraction brewing between them.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
He still had the problem with getting the album finished. Now was definitely not the time to be messing around with a reporter or a woman. And now he had both those things rolled into one glorious package. He just hoped he survived them both.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
With this one kiss it was possible Riley Shaughnessy had ruined her for any other man. She’d dated plenty in her life, but no one had ever kissed her like this. And she had a feeling no one else ever would.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
Brace yourself, Savannah Daly. I’m taking you home to meet the family.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
Ladies, ladies, ladies,” Hugh Shaughnessy said as he strode into the room with his son in his arms. “There is plenty of this baby – and his poop – to go around.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
I’m here for your pants and shoes.
— Robin Bielman, Once Upon a Royal Christmas
Sweetheart, for you, I’d share whatever you asked.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
I’m not most women…""...I’m getting that.
— Robin Bielman, Once Upon a Royal Christmas
Her eyes widened as he stalked her from across the kitchen.	“There is no way I can ignore you – it’s impossible. Just like it would be impossible to stop breathing.” And then, because he figured they were already fighting, he might as well poke the bear a little more. So he grabbed her and kissed her. Hard. Wet. And wild.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
What is it you want, Savannah?” His voice was so low it was almost a growl.	She looked up at his face finally as she licked her lips. He was going to make her say the words – to tell him why she was up here, knocking on his door and ogling him like the world’s greatest treat.	“You,” she said, her voice barely audible.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
That was the hottest haircut ever.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
Baby, the tumbleweeds can wait.
— Samantha Chase, This Is Our Song
I’d have to be dead not to want you.
— Avery Flynn, Her Enemy Protector
I’d offer you a ride, but ---“ …	“Maybe next time,” she said.	He nodded and gave her a sly grin. “Then I have something to look forward to.”	Ellie’s eyes glinted as she turned, and headed toward the spruce forest. After covering several yards, she glanced over her shoulder, and caught him staring.	“I’d say we both do.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
Man.
— Motorcyle.
She wasn’t the only one with an eye for sexy men – especially ones licking ice cream.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
I’m not gone.” He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “And we’ve got tonight.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
But your perfectly good bed doesn’t come with a blanket of stars.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
Collin’s playful look turned serious, and he stood, took Ellie’s hand, and eased her up to join him. He pulled her into his arms, pressed her close against his hard body, and swayed to the music. Combing his fingers through her hair, he swept it away from her ear, and whispered huskily, “This feels right.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
You sing?” she asked.	“Mostly in the shower.”	“Then I should’ve had my ear to the bathroom door when you were in there.”	He pinched the beads at the end of the tie on her blouse, and rolled them between his fingertips. “You should’ve been in there with me.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
You’re the kind of girl who deserves way more than a one-night stand.
— Tracy March, Could've Said Yes
I don’t think I’d feel any more violated if he’d stripped me bare. I might as well have lain down before him openly exposing all my flaws and my fears, inviting him to psychoanalyze me.
— Siobhan Davis, Finding Kyler
I was wrong last night. Kyler isn’t just trouble. He’s an apocalypse-level disaster waiting to happen. I need to find some fallout shelter to hide in. And quick.
— Siobhan Davis, Finding Kyler
He knows I’ve seen something in him. Something I recognize, only because it exists in me too.
— Siobhan Davis, Finding Kyler
This whole scenario is sick, depraved, but also grossly fascinating. I’ve become a Peeping Tom. And. It’s. Turning. Me. On.
— Siobhan Davis, Finding Kyler
What is that?” Addison inspects the food with a look of sheer revulsion on her face. You’d swear I just handed her a plate full of arsenic. “The Works Burger with fries and extra onions and cheese, exactly as you ordered.” I keep my voice level.She sends me a scathing look. “Do I look like I’d ever consume that amount of saturated fat?
— Siobhan Davis, Finding Kyler
And sometimes when I feel that much emotion, something inside of me just snaps.
— Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us
It was right that she was now staying at the ranch. She belonged there.
— She belonged with him.
You don’t put pressure on me to be something I’m incapable of being. You accept me exactly how I am.
— Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us
And when you love someone, seeing them sad also makes you sad.
— Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us
How different her life would be if Orrin hadn’t contacted her in July. She wouldn’t be embroiled in kidnapping, espionage, and murder.
— Donna Grant, The Hero
I'm a big man, sugar. When I come down on a woman, I want soft, not a bundle of sticks that I might break." - Logan
— Cherise Sinclair, Master of the Mountain
On my honor, I ain’t ever tasting another woman’s sexualfavors. Even if the bakery offers ’em up in a cupcake wrapper andcalls ’em whipped dreams.
— Jamie Farrell, Smittened
The Milked Duck was empty, save for Dahlia’s two part-timehelpers, but they were all rushing around, anticipating the firstguests for her Risqué Flavor Tasting event any moment now.The up front freezers were stocked with Chocolate Orgasm,Peachy Passion, Sexual Favors, Mikey’s favorite Cherry Popperand more. She had a case of Sin on a Stick treats ready to go and atemporary menu up on the board behind her.
— Jamie Farrell, Smittened
This Chocolate Orgasm is the best chocolate ice cream I’veever had.”“Mikey helped with that one,” Dahlia heard herself say.Mari Belle laughed, a light, pretty sound. “I sense hisinfluence in the Hazel’s Nuts.
— Jamie Farrell, Smittened