Top 250 Tessa Dare Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “You’re not going to ruin my first kiss. I won’t let you. You’re going to kiss me again, right now. And make it better.”

— Tessa Dare

52. “Because your name should be on it. Because it’s damned tiresome being the one person alive who understands how truly remarkable you are.” He cupped her face in his hands, and not tenderly. “I won’t help you hide that from yourself, or from the world. Not anymore.”

— Tessa Dare

53. “What on earth are you wearing? Did you take orders in a convent since we spoke last? Little Sisters of the Drab and Homely.”

— Tessa Dare

54. “I’ve even taught them a bit of French.” Chase read aloud from the board. “‘Donnez-nous le butin, ou nous vous ferons jeter par-dessus bord.’ What does that mean?” She hedged. “Hand over the booty, or you’ll walk the plank.”

— Tessa Dare

55. “If anyone or anything frightens you, shout.” “Shout what?” He made an aimless gesture. “‘Help,’ I suppose. Or ‘Fire’ or ‘Murder.’ In a pinch, ‘James’ would suffice.” She nodded. “‘Come to me, you magnificent stag,’ it is.”

— Tessa Dare

56. “If you’re a broodmare, that would make me the stud.” “And there,” she said, “is the injustice of the world in a nutshell.”

— Tessa Dare

57. “What you don’t realize is that the world does not need more perfection. It needs more compassion and empathy.”

— Tessa Dare

58. “And before we begin, I should like one thing noted. I knew you had Secret Pain.”

— Tessa Dare

59. “And no matter how strenuously she pinned it, dark, heavy curls worked loose on all sides, like tentacles. Of course, it was an entrancing, strangely erotic octopus. Ransom worried this might be how fetishes developed.”

— Tessa Dare

60. “This is property. Don’t you understand how rare that is for a woman? Property always belongs to our fathers, brothers, husbands, sons. We never get to own anything.” “Don’t tell me you’re one of those women with radical ideas.” “No,” she returned. “I’m one of those women with nothing. There are a great many of us.”

— Tessa Dare

61. “If it’s done right, a kiss changes everything.”

— Tessa Dare

62. “She wants your secrets. She wants your soul. You’ve got to crack yourself open and find that broken, shameful piece of your heart that you’d hide from the world and God Himself if you could manage it. And then serve it up to her on a platter.”

— Tessa Dare

63. “Dear heaven,” Kate breathed. “He’s just covered in blood.” “And dirt,” Sally said. “But cor, he’s gorgeous anyhow.” “Sally, only you could think of such a thing at a time like this.” “You can’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

— Tessa Dare

64. “She would allow him to comfort her. And perhaps, someday, she would listen patiently if a dark, dreary night found him well in his cups and he drunkenly confessed to still feeling scores of wounds that weren’t his own, but those of men under his command.”

— Tessa Dare

65. “That’s because there are no simple answers. Can it be divine bliss? Yes. Can it be a dismal trial? Yes. It’s like conversation. With the wrong person, it can feel forced, perfunctory. Boring as hell. But sometimes you find someone with whom the discussion just flows. You never run out of ideas. There’s no awkwardness in honesty. You surprise each other and yourselves.”

— Tessa Dare

66. “I love you. But I don’t want to be your reason for living. I want to share your life. There’s a difference between the two.”

— Tessa Dare

67. “It’s safe,” she continued, anticipating his concerns. “It’s safe to speak this way. You can trust me. I won’t tell a soul. My Breton is poor, but my French is quite good.” Her French was impeccable. He could have closed his eyes and imagined her to be a native speaker. But damned if he’d close his eyes when she was so near.”

— Tessa Dare

68. “Why did men have to ruin everything? The answer was simple, she supposed – because foolish women gave them the chance.”

— Tessa Dare

69. “The tears came, and she surrendered to them. There was no one to hear, and no one to see. She cried until her eyes were dry and her heart was empty. The foolishness of it all. She’d wasted so many years allowing the value he placed on her to dictate the way she regarded herself.”

— Tessa Dare

70. “When Susanna cocked her pistol, the others followed suit. The chorus of clicks raced down Bram’s spine. “I find this scene wildly arousing,” Colin murmured, echoing Bram’s own thoughts. “Is that wrong?” “If it is, I can promise you company in hell.” His cousin made an amused sound. “And you thought we have nothing in common.”

— Tessa Dare

71. “People toss around the words ‘loyal’ and ‘kindhearted’ as though they’re common qualities. But they aren’t. They’re so rare.”

— Tessa Dare

72. “First rule of love: dinna panic.”

— Tessa Dare

73. “A man might engage in flirtation with distinterest, even disdain. But he never teases without affection.”

— Tessa Dare

74. “He had no secrets left. No defenses. He had nothing, except that same vast, dark, empty, infinite ache that had resided in him for as long as he could remember. An endless flight of stairs, leading down and down into the cold, dark pit of his soul. Now, at long last, he’d reached the absolute rock bottom. And there she was, just standing there. She’d been there all along.”

— Tessa Dare

75. “Hunger, after all, is a more potent seasoning than salt.”

— Tessa Dare

76. “If Rafe had drawn up a list of tasks at Phoebe’s age, he could only imagine it would have looked thusly: 1. Skip lessons. 2. Chase girls. 3. Any excuse for a fistfight. 4. Is that a squirrel? End of list.”

— Tessa Dare

77. “I’m attached to you, you idiot. You’re my best friend, and my brother by blood. No one who loves you expects you to be perfect. If by some miracle you managed it, we wouldn’t recognize you.”

— Tessa Dare

78. “Yes, Min. This is how it should be.” Raw need edged his voice. “Never settle for less. Be fearless. Wild and loud and lovely. God, you’re so lovely.”

— Tessa Dare

79. “As an experienced wallflower, Violet Winterbottom knew to stake her ground and guard it.”

— Tessa Dare

80. “Was it a ruthless seduction or a simple mistake?” Her companion scowled. And unleashed a robust chain of what sounded like pure Breton blasphemy. Violet glanced in Finn and Fosbury’s direction, reassuring them with a mild smile. When she spoke again, she kept her voice hushed and her manner calm. “I wasn’t unwilling, if that’s what you’re thinking. Quite the opposite.” “Even so. He was a devil to take advantage. And a fool to ever let you go.”

— Tessa Dare

81. “You are wet, and you are cold. You don’t like being cold. Therefore, I despise you being cold. I would go about murdering raindrops and setting fire to the clouds, but that would take slightly more than an hour. Perhaps even two. So we’re here, and you will cease complaining about it.”

— Tessa Dare

82. “Doubt not my love,” he repeated, with a chorus of knights to bolster him. “If men would seek to part us, death itself would be a veil too thin. For lo, though I wander the earth for my king, you remain – now and ever – queen of my heart.”

— Tessa Dare

83. “Where did you come from?” she whispered, mostly to herself. “What are you wanting here?” One hand shot out, catching her by the hair. Violet gasped at the sharp yank on a thousand nerve endings. His eyes flew open, clear and intense. She read his answer in them. You. I’m wanting you.”

— Tessa Dare

84. “And while I’m on the subject, it’s inadvisable to wander the house at night in the home of a known rake. Your reputation could be compromised.” “I’m not worried. You said the thought of seducing me would never even cross your mind.” “Yes, but sometimes,” he murmured, “a man acts without thinking at all.”

— Tessa Dare

85. “Sometimes the devil you knew was easier to face than the devil who’d pressed you to a bedpost and rolled your nipple under his thumb.”

— Tessa Dare

86. “We have to get out of here, Bram. Before they take our bollocks and use them for pincushions.”

— Tessa Dare

87. “Emma Gladstone had learned a few hard lessons by the age of two-and-twenty. Charming princes weren’t always what they seemed. Shining armor went out of fashion with the Crusades. And if fairy godmothers existed, hers was running several years late. Most of the time, a girl needed to rescue herself.”

— Tessa Dare

88. “You heard her the other night,” Bruiser said. “She wants love. And devotion and compromise. Funny, isn’t it, how women seem to want those things, when they’re saying words like ‘Till death do us part.”

— Tessa Dare

89. “You’re a grown woman, and a clever one. I believe you understand the situation. And I’m going to trust that you know your own mind.”

— Tessa Dare

90. “Pouring tea was just what she needed right now. Such a civilizing force, tea. She would nip sugar with little silver tongs. Stir milk with a tiny spoon. Tiny spoons were incompatible with a state of sensual turmoil.”

— Tessa Dare

91. “Any self-respecting rake had two kinds of women in his life: those he took to bed at night and those who made him a pancake in the morning. If he suddenly wanted both from the same woman, it was a warning flag. One big and red enough for even a blind man to see.”

— Tessa Dare

92. “He followed her down the corridor. “Don’t walk away from me. I’d like some answers here. Whose invitation did I just accept, and what does that slimy prig want of you? And why do I come in third in your affections behind the slimy prig and a squashed beetle?”

— Tessa Dare

93. “I don’t suppose there are eggs? If I do say it myself, I make a very good pancake.” Oh, no. This just grew worse and worse. I make a very good pancake.”

— Tessa Dare

94. “I can’t agree to a convenient arrangement, my lord. Your devotion to duty may be admirable, but ‘lie back and think of England’ simply isn’t for me.” His voice became low and dark. “I cannot promise you everything you might wish, but I promise you this: When I take you to bed, you will not be thinking of England.” “Oh.”

— Tessa Dare

95. “He’d imprisoned himself in this castle to rot. He’d cut off all contact with the outside world. And just when he thought he’d burned all his bridges, this woman – this impossible, sweet, foolish woman – arrived, determined to swim the moat. Breach his defenses. Make a home. Stay.”

— Tessa Dare

96. “This is true valor, I hope you know. Legends have sprung from less. All Lancelot did was paddle about in a balmy lake.” She smiled. “Lancelot was a knight. You’re a viscount. The bar is higher.”

— Tessa Dare

97. “He shushed her. “Goodnight. We’re trapped together in a small, dark space. For the moment, we’re getting on as well as could possibly be expected. I don’t think this is the time to remind me of my many valid reasons to resent your presence and despise everything you stand for.”

— Tessa Dare

98. “This is the normal way with birthdays, see? Amazingly enough, they arrive on the same day, every year.”

— Tessa Dare

99. “He set Miss Goodnight back on her feet. As he lowered her to the floor, her body slid down his, like a raindrop easing down the surface of a rock.”

— Tessa Dare

100. “Emotions were so much easier to sort through one at a time, or so Louisa supposed. She wouldn’t know. Her life always delivered them in bundles, tied with impossibly knotted string.”

— Tessa Dare