Top 250 Tessa Dare Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “He liked listening to her read. He liked it far too much. Listening to her voice was like floating along a river. Not a babbling stream, bouncing over rocks and such, but a river of wild honey with depth and a low, sweet melody. To keep afloat, he would have let her read just about anything.”

— Tessa Dare

102. “Oh, Lord. Now he was not only an impoverished orphan, but an impoverished, unloved orphan with a passion for books. Her every feminine impulse jumped to attention.”

— Tessa Dare

103. “Because,” he said, “I like to know the names of the people I despise. I keep them in a little book and pore over it from time to time, whilst sipping brandy and indulging in throaty, ominous laughter.”

— Tessa Dare

104. “There was rock-hard, there was hard-as-steel, and then there was the solidity of Rafe’s current erection – which so thoroughly surpassed all his previous experience, he suspected it might be of interest to science.”

— Tessa Dare

105. “She stared at him, horrified. And thrilled. And horrified at being thrilled.”

— Tessa Dare

106. “The love of books was an instant connection, and a true boon for a girl who tended toward shyness, because it was a source of endless conversation. A hundred questions sprang up in her mind, jostling with each other to reach the front of the queue. Did he prefer essays, dramas, novels, poems? How many books had he read, and in which languages? Which ones had he read again and again?”

— Tessa Dare

107. “Because I’m good at it,” he said, sounding agitated now. “I am bloody great at it. And I was never good at anything. Because it’s the one place where I know that my success is mine, and my failure, too. In the ring, I might be facing an Irish dock laborer or an English tanner or an American freedman. When the bell rings, none of it matters worth a damn. It’s only me. My strength, my heart, my wits, my fists. Nothing I was given, nothing I took. I fight because it tells me who I am.”

— Tessa Dare

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

— Tessa Dare

109. “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

110. “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

111. “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

112. “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

113. “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

114. “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

115. “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

116. “He felt a twinge of conscience. Most people would think he didn’t have a conscience, but he did. It surfaced about as often as the lost island of Atlantis, but he did possess one, down deep. And it was bellowing at him now.”

— Tessa Dare

117. “Kate realized she had a grave problem. She was infatuated. Or mildly insane. Possibly both.”

— Tessa Dare

118. “You laid black powder charges. To move a flock of sheep.” Pulling her hand from his grip, she studied the craters in the road. “Sir, I remain unconvinced of your sanity. But there’s no question you are male.”

— Tessa Dare

119. “Because I am not eulogizing another leprosy victim covered in sores that weep marmalade!”

— Tessa Dare

120. “He spoke the words that were most difficult of all. “Love me.”

— Tessa Dare

121. “She passed through the door, walked down a dim corridor, and emerged into a soaring, empty space. What she found made her blood turn cold. Oh, muscadine.”

— Tessa Dare

122. “If I had your life story, it would be the first thing I mentioned to anyone. ‘Hullo, I’m Chase Reynaud. I learned to toddle aboard a merchant ship, and the Seven Seas rocked my cradle. And have I mentioned that no tropical sunset could compare with your beauty?’ The women would fall into bed with me.” “Don’t they fall into bed with you anyway?” “That’s true. But they might do so a half minute faster. Over months and years, those half minutes add up. So let’s hear the rest of the tale.”

— Tessa Dare

123. “Never mind the curtains, you milk-livered, flap-mouthed dotard.”

— Tessa Dare

124. “She smiled. “Do you know, I suspected you were a good man, deep down. Even if very, very, very deep down. In a fathomless cavern. Underneath a volcano.”

— Tessa Dare

125. “A kilt isna a skirt. ‘Tis an entirely different thing.”

— Tessa Dare

126. “We should go after the girls.” “Yes, we should.” Neither of them moved. Alex bit her lip. “We’re going to kiss instead, aren’t we.” He caught her in his arms. “You’re goddamned right, we are.”

— Tessa Dare

127. “Everything in his life backfired. First that rocket at Waterloo. Then his engagement. Now this whole blasted arrangement with Emma. Despite the supposedly impersonal nature of their marriage, she was slowly working her way under his skin, under his scars. If not deeper.”

— Tessa Dare

128. “He wanted to peel the garment from her, cast it aside, and offer himself instead. Chase wasn’t good for much, but he could stand between her body and the world.”

— Tessa Dare

129. “A sham sandwich, indeed. One that sat on a tray of lies.”

— Tessa Dare

130. “You’re here,”he repeated, taking her hand and drawing it against his chest, right above his pounding heartbeat. “In my heart. Somehow you crashed your way into it when I wasn’t looking. The same way you barged into my library, I suppose. But you’re here now, inside. Emma, you’re the very life of me.”

— Tessa Dare

131. “I loved you with imprudent, reckless abandon. I loved you with all the heart and soul I knew how to command.”

— Tessa Dare

132. “Griff held out his empty hand. “Pauline, I’m here asking you – begging you, if it comes to that – to take my hand. Just take my hand, and promise before God you will never let it go. I will vow the same. Can we arrange for that to happen, someday soon? In a church?” After a moment, he added in a quiet voice, “Please?”

— Tessa Dare

133. “Look at him. The man’s not delusional. He’s in love.”

— Tessa Dare

134. “Amazing, then, how with that one remark, he made a mortifying situation thirteen times worse.”

— Tessa Dare

135. “Squabbling over too little is just human nature. But it says a great deal about a person, what they do with abundance.”

— Tessa Dare

136. “Oh, what fun it was to vex him. He made it so easy to do. Hunting and fishing were all well and good, but truly, Jemmy-baiting had always been her favorite autumn sport. Lucy viewed his staid countenance as an unending challenge. A smooth, thick-shelled egg that begged to be cracked. Any rearrangement of his features constituted a victory, be it a wince, a scowl, or that rarest of expressions – a smile. A smile that showed teeth counted double. Last.”

— Tessa Dare

137. “At some point, while you were roaming the globe, making treaties and dividing the spoils of war, I quietly declared my own independence. I am the sovereign nation of Clio now. And there will be no terms of surrender.”

— Tessa Dare

138. “She rolled toward him, nestling close and throwing her arm over his chest. Her fingers toyed idly with the hair there, sifting.”

— Tessa Dare

139. “You’re mine,” he said hoarsely, lifting his head and staring deep into her eyes, willing her to believe. “If you leave, I will follow. Do you hear me? I will follow and find you and cart you home.”

— Tessa Dare

140. “He had to feel those lips on him again. Had. To. This wasn’t a mild expression of preference. This was an imperative. His body was insistent. To continue his existence on this earth, he now needed the following: food, water, shelter, clothing, and Minerva Highwood’s lips.”

— Tessa Dare

141. “I’m a rather useless insomniac viscount, but” – he gestured at Minerva – “my companion here is a brilliant geologist. There’s a symposium, you see. We need to get to Edinburgh by tomorrow, so she can present her findings about giant lizards and possibly alter our understanding of the world’s natural history.”

— Tessa Dare

142. “Clearly the sight of a well-muscled forearm incited a woman to utter depravity. How else to explain the invention of cuffs?”

— Tessa Dare

143. “Susanna and Lord Rycliff had, in her observation, the ideal marriage. They understood one another, completely and implicitly. They disagreed and argued openly, demanded a great deal of each other and themselves, and they loved one another through it all. They were partners. Not just in love, but in life.”

— Tessa Dare

144. “Oh, Colin.” She dabbed a fingertip to his sticky abdomen, then rubbed her fingers together, as though testing the quality of his seed. “That was fascinating.”

— Tessa Dare

145. “Be honest, Miss Mountbatten.” “I am being honest. Mr. Reynaud has not subjected me to any unwanted attentions, nor taken advantage of me in any way.” Ash looked suspicious, but he didn’t belabor the question. “Regardless. His sexual escapades are merely the tip of the iceberg.” “Oh, I haven’t even acquainted her with the tip,” Chase said merrily. “Not properly.”

— Tessa Dare

146. “Alex worked for her living, setting clocks in the homes of wealthy customers, and she didn’t have time for dreams. She set goals, and she worked to achieve them. Feet on the ground, shoulders squared, and head on straight. She would not – absolutely not – be carried away with romantic fantasies.”

— Tessa Dare

147. “You’ll be five-and-thirty this year, Griffy.” “Yes. Which makes me much too old to be called ‘Griffy.’ ” “More to the point, I am fifty-eight. I need grandchildren before my decline. It’s not right for two generations of the family to be drooling at the same time.” “Your decline?” He laughed. “Tell me, Mother, how can I hasten that happy process? Other than offering a firm push.” Her eyebrow arched in amusement. “Just try it.”

— Tessa Dare

148. “There was a moment of tenderness between them, and for a moment he experienced the most rare, ridiculous emotion- hope.”

— Tessa Dare

149. “Most of the time, a girl needed to rescue herself.”

— Tessa Dare

150. “And he didn’t require any nuzzling, thank you. He had a dog.”

— Tessa Dare