Kiss Me, Annabel Quotes

“She'd always thought that a broken heart sounded rather romantic. But in truth it was physical. Her whole chest ached, as if she'd been struck with a knife. With all her witless calculations about how to make a man desire her, she'd never realized that the most important thing was to make him like her. Or even love her. What a fool she was.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“How many times would I damn myself for you? Ask me that."
"How many?" she said faintly, her eyes searching his face. She stopped breathing to hear his answer.
"Till the gates of hell close," he said flatly.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“Undoubtedly I will receive letters asking about the coney's kiss. The truth is that I made it up. There are many Renaissance jokes about coneys, or rabbits. The word was associated with women, particularly with their sexual parts, and young men in plays tend to boast of their coney-catching ways. I've never read a joke about a coney's kiss: One has to hope that that doesn't reflect a lack of imagination of [sic] the part of sixteenth-century men.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“At some point Ewan had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. His forearms were bulging with muscle, and his shoulders appeared likely to rip through the thin linen of his shirt. Annabelle swallowed, thinking of Ewan without his shirt at their picnic. He wasn't even breathing hard.

"Where do you get all these muscles?" she asked.

"Lifting damsels in distress." He grinned at her, and there was a slight lurch as he leaped off the carriage and landed with a splash in the ditch.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“From here she could see miles of dark emerald forest with just a few birds erupting from its depths like flying fish skimming an ocean ...
'Annabel!' Ewan called.
She looked down. He was standing in water, after all. So without a moment's trepidation, she launched herself from the downed carriage, coming home to his arms with all the security and the pleasure of child leaping from the second stair.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“The sun danced through the small leaves of the oak, turning them saffron and dappling the blankets with the ghosts of baby leaves. Ewan very seriously filled all the glasses with bluebells, and gave them water from the stream, so the picnic turned from a very formal affair, all heavy silver and starched linen, to a child's tea party.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“Ewan felt a searing stab of guilt. He'd taken an exquisite, laughing young woman away from the London ballrooms that were her natural milieu and reduced her to a tearful, freezing damsel in distress. What's more, he'd taken her virginity, and given her only potatoes to eat. And for what? Due to a quixotic idea that he would alleviate her fear of poverty?

No. Annabel had accused him of not being honest with himself. The truth of it was that he'd sent his carriages away out of pure, unadulterated lust, no matter how much he would like to dress it up in fancy ideas.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“I do not diminish his love for me,' Imogen said. 'I would never do that. I know precisely how much he loved me: as much as he was capable of loving any woman, probably. He loved me somewhat...after his stables, perhaps more than his mother.'
'Oh, Imogen,' Annabel said. 'Why dwell on such a-'
'Grief is like that!' Imogen snapped. 'You can only fool yourself so far.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“But Draven did love you,' Annabel protested. 'He told you so as he died. Don't diminish his love, now that he's not here to repeat it to you.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“You're confusing desire and love,' she said, watching him. 'They are not the same.'
'I do love you. I feel near to murder at the idea of you marrying another man, and that's the truth of the matter.'
'Desire is bloody, perjured, full of blame.'
Ewan walked up the steps to her. 'Is that poetry?'
'Yes.'
'I don't like the sound of it. There's something nasty about that poet.'
'It's Shakespeare,' Annabel said.
Ewan obviously dismissed Shakespeare as a lost cause. 'We would be happy together,' he said.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“There was no mistaking the look in his eyes. Pain wrenched her heart. All those skills she had developed so painstakingly as a girl were apparently going to destroy a dream that she'd never had the courage to hold...'It's only desire,' she explained, watching his eyes. 'Desire is an artificial thing, created by - by -'
'By what?'
'By artificial things,' Annabel said obstinately. 'Smiles I practiced, Ewan...You don't understand how fabricated it all is...I let my hips sway when I walk, because men like it. You like it.'
'Your hips don't sway naturally?'
'No. Or perhaps they do at this point, but only because I consciously changed my walk when I was younger. But it's all just a facade, put on to inspire desire.' ...
'A game of desire?'
"No. A game to get what I wish from men.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“The sky was a high, pale blue, like faded linen hung in the sun ... Under the alders were bluebells, dark blue, blue flowers hanging their little heads from the beauty of their blossoms.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel

“You cannot ask women to marry you whom you barely know.'
'Why not?' he asked. Compatibility is not something one discovers after five encounters rather than one. One must make an educated guess.'
'That's just it: you know nothing of me!'
'Not so,' he said promptly. "Number one, you're Scottish. Number two, you're Scottish. Number three -'
'I can guess,' she said.
'You're beautiful,' he finished, a fleeting smile crossing his face.”
― Eloisa James, Kiss Me, Annabel