Beautiful Things (Second Sons, #1)

by Emily Rath

“Because you men have not been at your best today, and I reserve the right to strike you with it should your hands begin to wander anywhere I don’t want them.”

What an icon

shall hold the whip. Hell, hold the reins if you want. Leave me to run alongside you. I’m sure the exercise would do me good.”

We love a feminist

“All women live their lives in a cage, sir. It is our blessing and our curse. A blessing when men fill the cage with comforts and sweets and place the cage with a goodly view of the outside world…a curse when we are left beating our wings against the bars, isolated and alone…with no way out.”

“Lady Olivia, I believe a widow and her young children are selling flowers over by the smithy. Why don’t you do us all a favor and go spit on them? Best leave no one in doubt of your ugliness.”

“Tom, I love her to distraction. If you hadn’t noticed, we have six children. Five of them in a row came out boys. We could have stopped with an heir. We could have stopped with the spare. But here we are, six children later, and the sun still rises and sets on that woman’s smile. Gods alive, man, I’m mad for it.”

“You really think it’s that easy?” “No, of course not,” she replied. “But life is about our choices as you said. If we make enough of the right kind of choices, we might find happiness. Even if ultimately our choice is to soldier on alone. There can be happiness in that too.”

“No, I am speaking,”

WHAT A QUEEN