Love Story

No matter what, you should always be able to find one good thing about your day.

They loved what they loved, regardless of what other people thought, and that kind of love is a radical, rebellious act.

I love romance because it gives me hope. When I was very unhappy and lonely these were the books that kept me going.

Koi No Yokan doesn’t have a direct English translation but it more or less means the feeling you get when you meet someone and know that falling in love with them is inevitable.

I always thought it was better to keep some distance in relationships, avoid commitment. I never took them very seriously. My parents were very good at showing me what not to do but figuring out the opposite has never been easy for me.

The warm afternoon had turned into a sweltering evening, the kind of English summer night when the air was so heavy you could feel it pressing down on you.

When his eyes find mine, everything I’ve been fighting against falls away.

I inhaled the fresh paint, woodstain and boxes and boxes of brand-new, unread books. To me it was even better than new car, cut grass or freshly washed sheets.

Mad to think we’re living in a time when we don’t believe someone, even when they’re trying to tell you the truth.

It was impossible to be miserable when the world was sunshine, blue skies and strawberries and cream. The air smelled sweet and full, the taste of summertime tangible on my tongue and there was something about the green grass under my feet that made me smile.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her but it seemed so unfair to expect another person to keep my secret.

No man that attractive has ever in the entire history of the world been referred to as “nice”.

In fact, if a man wrote a love story, or any kind of book with a romantic storyline at its heart, it went right in the window and won all the prizes, while my beloved books, the ones that talked about the lives of women, all the things that mattered to us, large and small, were tucked away on a shelf or squeezed together on one very pink table.

You said the best romantic advice you could ever give me was to shag as many men as humanly possible because they’re all so terrible, you might as well go with the one who knows how to bang?

Good, because anything that lets you take a much-needed step back from everything going on in the world today seems very fucking important to me.

Romance novels are popular because they’re escapist.

There’s nowhere else in the world like the English countryside in the middle of summer.

We don’t always know as much as we think we do. You should be a bit more open-minded. You might surprise yourself.

There are lots of things I’ve never tried and I already know I don’t like them.

You say unplanned rambling expedition, I say spontaneous outdoor adventure.

It was the same smile I’d seen the day before, the one that hesitated halfway, like it wanted to make sure he was truly happy before it committed, then lit up his face, my face and the whole world.

It’s a book that teaches women to ask for what they want out of life instead of accepting what they’re given.