Something Spectacular (Something Fabulous, #2)

by Alexis Hall

Wherever you fit on the gender spectrum, I idolise you, and you’re powerful; remember that some of the best artists in the world reject gender norms. —Bimini Bon Boulash

“He’s a duke?” Belle lifted her brows impishly. “Are you sure? He’s never mentioned it.”

I love how Valentine gets trolled throughout this book

It was beautiful, but it was beautiful in the way that the night was beautiful in winter, when it was at its blackest and coldest, and you felt as infinitesimal as the distant stars.

“When I spoke of my searching, I did not make it clear enough that the miracle was not that I found someone like you. It is that the person I found was you.”

“Fuck nice. I deserve someone spectacular.”

Orfeo pushed themself onto an elbow—impossibly inviting, with their long limbs, and all the exquisite ambiguities of their flesh laid bare, elements of masculinity and femininity both, proving the lie of either.

Plus, the food was limited, consisting mainly of grapes, plain biscuits, and the boring kinds of cheese. The soft white ones that tasted of rind and halfheartedness.

“Yes. I’m a motivated self-starter who is also a team player.” “What does any of that mean?”

“You seem very concerned about dukes.” “I am,” said Bob, greatly wearied. “There is something about me that feels as though it inexorably attracts them. I think it is my ordinary looks coupled with my striking eyes, alongside the fact I am mostly sensible yet given to impulsive attempts to control my own destiny.”