Once Smitten, Twice Shy Quotes

“I don’t know if you believe in soulmates, Will, but I think that’s who your soulmate is—someone whose existence blows your world wide open, someone who makes you want to be brave and curious.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I’m in your corner just as much as you’re in mine, okay? On the hard days, I’ll be the arm to hold on to, the pair of hands to do what you can’t, the feet that carry you when yours won’t take another step. And on the gentle days, the feel-good days, I’ll be there, too, grateful that I get to be your friend and see you shine.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I write stories that I hope make every reader in some way feel a little less lonely, a little more seen and loved. I’m grateful that in my life, that affirmation isn’t just the stuff of fiction—it’s a fact of my existence, thanks to them.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“This okay for you?” I ask. “Juliet, you’re about to let me be inside you—you could ask me to stand on my head and I’d find it beyond okay.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I know I can’t take away your pain, as damn hard as I wish I could. I just need to know, before we do this, that I won’t ever be adding to it. That you’ll tell me if I’m hurting you,” he says. “If I’m too heavy, if anything is uncomfortable, okay?”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“can’t stand to spend another second in your presence without you knowing that I might not be sure yet, if my heart’s love will be enough for you—” He brings my hand, clasped inside his, against his chest. “But every corner of that heart, in all its imperfection, is yours, if you want it. And if you don’t…well, I’ll more than understand.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Slowly, I stand, clutching my cane, and wend my way toward the bar with a few swats of the cane at stubbornly obstructionist legs to part the way. Mobility aids are great for getting through a crowd.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I take as tepid a shower as my sore body can tolerate. I wear my unsexiest pajamas. I curl up in bed with my sad, creepy book, determined to overcome this. But when I fall asleep, even with all that effort, Will Orsino still makes a fantastically filthy appearance.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Juliet: I really appreciate you thinking about that. How did you know I need to eat GF? Will: At Boulangerie, you got a GF lemon bar. Figured it was a dietary restriction. In my experience, nobody willingly eats GF unless they have to.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“That’s…what your laugh feels like, like it should be—as loud as it is pretty.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I want to show her that I might not be the smoothest talker or the most capable romancer or the life of the party, but I’m plenty capable in other ways. Ways that could make her feel so damn good.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Will?” “I’ll eat wherever,” he says, still watching the pigeons. “As long as these flying rats aren’t nearby.” “Flying rats!” I gasp. “They are not flying rats. Pigeons are adorable.” “Adorable,” he grumbles, shimmying past me as a pigeon waddles toward him. “Will, are you…afraid of pigeons?” “No,” he barks, before hopping back as another pigeon waddles toward him. “Shoo!” I say to the pigeons, waving them away. They flutter up into the air and land farther down the sidewalk. “See? All taken care of.” Will gives me a narrow-eyed look. “I had it in hand.” “Sure you did.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I love love. Friend love. Family love. Romantic love. Romance novels celebrate all of that.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Will and I owe each other the chance to actually get better, and that means we have to make space for not just our successes but also our struggles. I don’t tell him he flubbed it, but I don’t disagree, either.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I believe we all deserve the kind of happily ever after that we want. If we’re brave enough to put our true selves out there, we can find someone who wants us for all of that, who wants that same kind of happily ever after, too.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I didn’t say that,” I tell him. “You were definitely weird. I said you didn’t weird me out.” He groans, hanging his head. “I knew it.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I hope you feel comforted in knowing that only affirming, compassionate relationships—with oneself and others—are championed in this narrative.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I’ve shaved, when I’ve otherwise kept my big beard to hide because I didn’t want to be seen by others but I’ve decided it’s worth it to be seen by anyone, if only for the chance to be seen by her.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“When I spend time with you, I forget everything else that ever made me happy—the perfect night of games and food and laughter with my family, the unbeatable line in my favorite song, the most breathtaking sunset, the best whiskey I’ve ever made. And when I’m not with you, when everything else that brings me happiness is all that’s left, the only thing I can think is just how much I want to share that with you, how much I want you to share with me what makes you happy, too.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Fuck it,”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Oh, it’s loud all right. But it’s…right, how it should be. Like…fireworks. When you’re staring up at the sky, watching them light up the night, all sparkle and glitter, there’s nothing else that should follow that beauty but an epic boom. That’s…what your laugh feels like, like it should be—as loud as it is pretty.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Because they make me happy,” I tell him. “I’ve only realized it recently, but I’ve struggled with anxiety for a long time; even before I understood what I was dealing with, I think I gravitated toward romance novels because they never made me anxious, because I could always count on a happily ever after. Even when things get rough in the story, it always worked out. That reliability is really comforting. And…I love love. Friend love. Family love. Romantic love. Romance novels celebrate all of that.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“Because I believe we all deserve the kind of happily ever after that we want. If we’re brave enough to put our true selves out there, we can find someone who wants us for all of that, who wants that same kind of happily ever after, too.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“He just feels like a man who grew up surrounded by women, who’s learned how to make them feel seen and safe.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“And yes, romance novels are fictions, happy, hopeful stories. But I think they often capture very realistic human fears and hopes, and how the former often stop us from going after the latter, how love can make us feel safe and brave enough to change that.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I want to kiss her. Badly. I want to cup her face and take her mouth with mine, make her melt into my touch. I want to show her that I might not be the smoothest talker or the most capable romancer or the life of the party, but I’m plenty capable in other ways. Ways that could make her feel so damn good.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“When I spend time with you, I forget everything else that ever made me happy— the perfect night of games and food and laughter with my family, the unbeatable line in my favorite song, the most breathtaking sunset, the best whiskey I’ve ever made. And when I’m not with you, when everything else that brings me happiness is all that’s left, the only thing I can think is just how much I want to share that with you, how much I want you to share with me what makes you happy, too.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“The most important people in our lives—because of how deeply they matter to us, how much of ourselves we entrust to them— it means they hold our heart in their clutches. That is terrifying. And some days the fear of how . . . exposed that makes us feel, all the unknowns it introduces, well, that fear is loud. But the love, the joy it brings you, the hope it gives you, can be even louder, the more you turn toward it, the more you give yourself over to it, the more you choose it. That’s how love gets the last word.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I think that’s who your soulmate is— someone whose existence blows your world wide open, someone who makes you want to be brave and curious.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy

“I love you,” I whisper. And I love that I don’t even know exactly when it happened, not like it seems to in my favorite stories, when it’s some grand epiphanic moment. Falling in love with Will has been like slowly wading into water since the moment I saw him, and now I’m saturated, neck deep in it, its power and beauty, our trust, and tenderness, and safety surrounding me.”
― Chloe Liese, Once Smitten, Twice Shy