Skip to main content

Favorite Declarations of the Romantic Sort PLUS GIVEAWAY

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It is also International Book Giving Day. In this spirit of both days I bring you a swoon post and a giveaway.

On Tuesday I posted my TTT post on Books That Make Me Swoon. I wanted to do my own separate Valentine's post today and decided to go with favorite Declarations of the Romantic Sort, whether they are the first admission of love, a proposal of marriage, or an admission of the first attracted interest (or all three of those at once! Looking at you here, Lord Peter.)

In the interests of trying to be as non-spoilery as possible I will put the title of the book said declaration comes from but no other information. Just the quote and title with author.

"Don't you see Elisa? I love you the way a drowning man loves air. And it would destroy me to have you just a little."
-Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

"But given…the obvious road block, I'm not sure how much we can get to know each other." He rushes on. "As people, because you're an interesting person and I value that in friendship. That's seriously what I'm after, not that I'm after you and I'm not talking about, you know, 'knowing' each other. Like in a biblical way or anything, although you're obviously pretty, I mean , very pretty and totally worth knowing both ways…Okay, shut it, Oliver, Shut it."
-Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

"I think we should live happily ever after. It should be hair-raising."
-Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

"I've never thought of it like that. How could I? If you were any other woman, I could tell you I loved you, easily enough, but not you-because you've always seemed to me like a part of myself, and it would be like saying I loved my own eyes or my own mind. But have you ever thought of what it would be to have to live without your mind or your eyes, Kate? To be mad? Or blind? I can't even talk about it. That's the way I feel."
-The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.""
-Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"The only, only thing I ever did wrong," he remarked. "It was in the green glass all along wasn't it?"
"I didn't know how to get the bottle out of my cloak without your seeing it," I answered, in a  voice that was suddenly shaky and exhausted. "So the only chance was to let you see it, because you might think it was amusing to pretend you hadn't….And I shouldn't attempt to rise if I were you, Captain Sherwood. You'll be unconscious in another moment."
But Peaceable had risen already-to this day I don't know how he did it-swaying dizzily, with one hand clenched over the back of his chair, yet insanely, unbelievably, erect and unruffled.
"A gentleman can hardly continue to sit," he said in his serenest and most level voice, "when he asks a very remarkable young lady to do him the honor of marrying him. And-" he somehow contrived to grin at me wickedly, "I usually get what I want Miss Grahame," he added and pitched over in a tangled heap on the floor.
-The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope  

Typing the entire scene of Peter's first meeting with Harriet in Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers would take up ridiculous amounts of space, and there is no one quote to fully capture the perfection of it, but it definitely belongs on the list. When a man known for his smooth moves and silver tongue manages to introduce himself and propose marriage in a most awkward fashion within a matter of minutes it is always good reading.

"Before you make a decision, I want you to know that I love you."
-The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Now for the Giveaway.

I will give away one copy of any book mentioned in this post or Tuesday's post to one reader. To enter simply comment below including which book you are interested in and a way for me to reach you if you win (email or twitter handle). Open to anyone who lives in a place Book Depository ships free to.

Giveaway closes at 8:00 PM EST Sunday, February 16.

Comments

Rima said…
Those quotes all sound amazing, but I especially love Oliver's from Going Vintage. His declaration amid his apparent nervousness is adorable. I'd love Meant to Be, heard it's a great contemporary. Happy V-Day!
oceanangel_92(at)hotmail(dot)com
Charlotte said…
Thanks for the lovely romance, and the giveaway! I can't believe it took me as long as it did to read The Sherwood Ring--such a lovely book! And I can't believe I still haven't read Crown of Embers, so that's the one I'd want!
April said…
hahah love the Marshall gif.
Unknown said…
Oooh! Those Elizabeth Marie Pope quotes are speaking to me. I think I'd like one of those. :) Great post, Brandy!
Valia Lind said…
I've never read anything by Elizabeth Marie Pope and I feel like I need to change that now. Lol Thanks so much for this post! I love me some good quotes :) @ValiaLind
DaNae said…
I'm kicking myself that I never checked Pope wrote anything other than THE PERILOUS GARD.
SarahSparkle said…
Oh, I just gave someone my copy of Going Vintage and I haven't had the chance to buy it again! Thank you, I hope I'll be lucky! (Twitter: @SarahNyiri)
Pensrose said…
Ooh! Queen of Attolia or Howl's Moving Castle. Both are such wonderfully amazing books. I'd probably be debating Strong Poison too if I didn't already own it. (@pensrose)
Anonymous said…
AHHHHHH!!!!! Oh, Brandy, I think we have very similar romantic tastes.

Since I own all of the others, I'll say Sherwood Ring
Unknown said…
This gave me a lot of feels! I'm reading Jellicoe Road right now and I'm falling IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK. SO PERFECT. I'd love Meant To Be (from Tuesday's post) because the cover is so CUTE and the story looks sweet as well. Thank you for the giveaway <3
My e-mail is lolathenolan@gmail.com
And Happy Valentine's Day to you!
tatterjil said…
Sherwood Ring! I love love love it but I do not own it. (I do, however, own The Perilous Gard -- in an increasingly tattered paperback.) Twitter : @rabbitchaser87
Anonymous said…
Okay, so obviously I need to read Going Vintage, The Sherwood Ring and the rest of the Peter and Harriet books. Love that you thought of making this list! I want to come across all of the declarations that you mentioned here. Don't enter me in the giveaway since I still haven't read the last book that I won from you (A Corner of White). :P
Anonymous said…
The Perilous Gard is one of the best recommendations you ever gave me. Sighhhhh.

(And that's saying something, since you've given me a lot of good recommendations :)

Popular posts from this blog

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper  by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has