*The books eligible could be published in any year, they simply had to be read by me in 2020.
Clicking on book cover brings you to my review if I wrote one or GoodReads page if I didn't.
Nominees:
1. Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell
The coldness of her voice brought Dominic's glance up to her eyes. For the space of one breath, two breaths, three, husband and angry bride measured one another.
I love this challenging moment, you can feel the tension and I can't wait for it to snap.
2. Bliss by Judy Cuevas
“Dis non”
This is a "if you know, you know". I can't explain it, you have to read the story to get the magnitude of emotion behind these two little words.
*Honorable Mention
"You should know, Hannah, that I would marry you over and over, as many times as it takes to make the world see I love you."
3. Beast by Judith Ivory
"With him, I became aloud the person I had always been silently inside myself."
I've been in a relationship for 18yrs and this line is the best I have ever come across that explains my love. My eyes always water when I read it.
*Honorable Mentions
"I mean, there is a real seduction to having someone listen and know you, accept you just as you are."
He wanted to hold her so badly his skin twitched; at the thought of her, his scrotum thumped like a butter churn with its paddle in action. And just admitting this profound insight to himself gave Charles an erection that could have lifted logs off a river.
I will never let this description go, carve it in stone so future generations will never look at butter and logs on a river the same again.
4. Beauty Like The Night by Joanna Bourne
Hawker sat at the head of the table, his feet propped on one chair, evening coat and cravat thrown over another. His shirt was open at the collar, his cuffs rolled back, and his waistcoat unbuttoned.
I debated putting this in the Favorite Scene category but really it's all about this quote description. I mean, gawd damn, please don't make me such a thirst factory for a fictional character.
5. Highland Sword by May McGoldrick
His entire body became aware of her awareness. He'd thought her beautiful from the first moment he saw her in Inverness. But she had an aloofness that made her mysterious, an untamed fierceness that he found fascinating. Being near her was like standing by a loch at the onset of a summer storm. He wanted to be swept away.
SWOON. The poetry here. Just SWOON.
6. Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch
If she genuinely disliked him he'd turn elsewhere, but beneath the sparring between them, perhaps even because of it, he felt...something. A slow, brewing lightning storm that made the hair lift on his arms and had him anticipating things he couldn't yet put a name to.
The hair lifting, the beginning of awareness, I love these moments.
7. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
What would I have done? Because this could have been her, storming out of the house at eighteen after a fight with her mother. Or leaving work. Doing what women did every day.
This quote hurts, it's about a girl that was murdered only because she was caught alone doing an everyday mundane thing. It makes me rage-y and it makes me want to clasp and squeeze hands with the nearest woman to me.
8. What You Wish For by Katherine Center
It made me wish I didn’t have to try so hard with everybody all the damn time. It made me miss my mom —again, as always. It made me wish I had somebody— anybody— in my life who would love me no matter what.
Heartbreaking and sad, you can feel the loneliness in this quote. A big reason I read romance because I want to feel like everyone has someone or something out there that makes them feel understood and as less lonely as possible.
9. Recipe For Persuasion by Sonali Dev
“I like to believe we changed things at least a little, your mother more than me. But in this changed world, you girls can’t seem to see how it was for us. You can’t see our obstacles because we removed them for you. And now you get to judge us from a perspective that we weren’t lucky enough to enjoy.”
Oof, this was line. The scene went by a bit quick but this hit me like a Courtney Milan quote. I read it and then 20 seconds later I'm going back to it to reread and then my eyes are watering. I feel like a day of class discussion needs to be devoted to this quote. We should always be pushing but also respecting the work of the past.
*Honorable Mentions
She was with him even when she wasn’t with him.
“Do you mean it?” Her voice was a whisper.
He swallowed, his thickly stubbled jaw tightening. “Mean what?”
“Everything you say to me with your eyes?”
10. Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
The way he’d gone in on those wings had her skeptical about his technique. It could be either very good for Val or an altogether disaster.
Ugh, the way this line has destroyed me being around anyone eating chicken wings. Help.
Winner:
This quote right here is what I want to read about and feel when I pick up a romance book.
If I didn't feel such a personal connection with this line I would have probably picked Recipe for Persuasion but yeah, the Beast quote hit me in the soul.
2018 Winner
Have a favorite quote from 2020 that has stuck with you?
Next time, Favorite Heroine and Favorite Hero...
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