This meme was created by RachelKiwi over at She is too fond of books and it has addled her brain. She decided that Fridays should be dedicated to logophilia. Logophilia is “the love of words” for all of you without a dictionary close at hand.

Posts are dedicated to either a new word you found in your reading this week, a juicy quote, or a general need to share your vocabulary ability. ‘Cause you know you’ve been dying to show off your reading skills since that final time you took your SAT’s.

Without Further Ado…Word Dynamo

So this week’s post was going to be of a thesaurus theme. I LOVE me a thesaurus. And my love gets lots of play because my students are always looking for synonyms while writing their last-minute assignments in my library.

Word to the wise: There is no good alternative for “swim” without referring to different types of strokes. I learned this the hard way with a 7th grader. Think about it…paddle, crawl, breast-stroke, bathe, dive (which I would argue does not belong in the synonym pool for swimming). Extra credit for those who caught the pun.

Anyway, a few weeks ago a student and I thesaurus-ed a word that really entertained us. Seriously. We were both completely surprised by the idioms that were synonyms for the word. Cracked. Me. Up. But…

We both forgot the original word!

I even went so far as to bring up said account with the student.

She remembered the laughter…

Totally forgot the word.

Said I’d Ninja-ed her brain for the day…it was gonna bug her.

Me too dear student, me too.

But far be it for me to leave you without some word-ly fun. In my desperate attempt to search my computer’s history, and type random stuff into the Thesaurus.com search box the following pop-up kept, well, popping up:

And I thought to myself:

“I want to know how many words I know!”

10 minutes later I was up to 45,563 and counting. That means I’m beyond college people. Give a big Whoo Hoo! for that graduate degree.

So on this Friday I give all Lovers of Words a fun little time waster…Word Dynamo

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at Greads. It’s about answering/asking our readers a random book related question. The question posted by Ginger today is…

Required Reading: Which book from your school days do you remember reading & enjoying? Is there a book published now that you’d like to see in today’s curriculum for kids?

Hmm, it’s all a little blurry at the moment. I’m kinda blanking on what I read in High School English and what I read on my own…

We stuck to the classics in my classes. Think:

To Kill a Mockingbird

(completely forget my experience of this book…always mean to do a reread)

and

Animal Farm

(which I remember loving)

I think we acted out Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar

at some point

and

Read and wrote our own Canterbury Tales

(Again: Loved! Must have been foreshadowing of the future Medieval Lit minor)

But I think my issue with curriculum and required reading (I’m a school librarian OBVI. I have issues with stuff like this, lol) is twofold:

1. Why aren’t there more YA titles on these lists? John Green, M.T. Anderson, even Maggie Stiefvater’s writing…All worthy of more intense study if at least to teach the curriculum standards teachers teach to. 

A little lesson:

Every teacher you’ve ever had has taught to curriculum standards. For a 9th or 10th grade English class a teacher is using various literature to teach them the skill:

RL.9-10.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

What about this particular standard screams to be taught to students via a classic?

nothing.

This strand could be just as easily taught by a more “popular” YA or adult book. Even a non fiction text or memoir. Heck, we could throw caution to the wind and even allow each student to pick a different book. Even if they only had a choice of five or so, students could then pick the book most interesting to them. And if it’s the classic, more power to them. But any other well written title would work…

In the end it’s important for students to grow up with knowledge and admiration of the cannon of literature. But wouldn’t they still admire it if we gave them books they might actually enjoy reading as well?

That’s actually point number two:

The ladies over at Smart Bitches Trashy Books have got me thinking…I’ve been a bad romance reader. I’ve shunned, out of prejudice, a major section of the romance publishing industry.

The Harlequin Novel.

I figured if those intelligent ladies over at Smart Bitches found them worthy of a read or two (if only to pick apart where the whole thing went wrong) I too could give these reads a second chance. And thus, my experiment was born.

I’ve started with Maya Banks’s Pregnancy and Passion series (mostly born of a love for the first book’s title).

So Without Further Ado…

Second in the Pregnancy and Passion Series is:

Wanted by her Lost Love

BookTalk

Kelly and Ryan were seemingly a fairy tale couple. Ryan laid eyes on Kelly as a waitress in an upscale restaurant and knew from the start he had to have her. After a whirlwind romance Kelly and Ryan found themselves engaged and on their way to Happily Ever After.

Until Kelly cheated on Ryan with his brother…at least, that’s what Ryan believes.

After the incident Kelly fled to Texas. Before Ryan she had been well on her way to completing her degree. Ryan’s money had never been his lure, Kelly had been in love with the man. But utterly betrayed by the person she loved most in this world forced Kelly into a situation she never thought she’d be in.

Months later Ryan has a hunch; a feeling. A private detective has found Kelly hiding out in a run down diner working as a waitress. The oddest place for a beautiful woman, close to finishing her education, holding a check with enough zeros to stay in school for life to be. The mystery only deepens when Ryan shows up in Texas only to find Kelly pregnant.

Kelly and Ryan are in a situation filled with landmines of lies and misunderstandings. If they want the Happily Ever After they were so close to getting before they’ll both need to look beyond their past and right the enormous wrong done to both of them.

Review

First off, I was so happy to see that this was a more ‘realistic’ plot than the first in this series. Starting with the cheating incident, Kelly’s following escape and even not revealing the pregnancy made sense. And I especially liked that Ryan was interested in finding Kelly before he knew she was pregnant. It solidified that he still cared for her, not just his impending family.

And it’s not so spoiler-ish to reveal that Kelly didn’t actually sleep with the brother. Does the heroine ever really (knowingly) cheat in a romance? No. And if you have an example otherwise I’d love to see how the author dealt with that one. In this particular case the whole infidelity set up had me STEAMING! I was so furious on Kelly’s part. She’s such a saint for the bulk of this book. Getting the stink eye from every other character in the book and yet she remains committed to moving past their old issues and focusing on their future.

Someone give this girl a cookie…or Gandhi’s house. Cause when it comes to being nonviolent when faced with a personal attack she takes the cake. Gandhi might have even thrown Ryan a swift kick to his privates for being so obtuse!!

But I must hold myself back. Remember, like Kelly, that in reality Ryan was wronged in this whole situation too. Not nearly as much as Kelly has been. But he’s suffered as well and is also trying his best to move past their past and find happiness in the future of their family.

I liked both of them for their commitment to each other. It was a real connection…even with all the drama happening in other parts of their lives.

Fantasy actually played a huge part in this story. I liked that it was used to push off confronting their “issues”. I don’t think they would have as strongly connected without slipping into a fantasy vacation. This also worked because Kelly was aware that it was a ‘fantasy’. Sweeping the pregnant, pre-eclampsia (oops, did I fail to mention that part of the drama…oh yeah, life threatening pregnancy…add it to the list) woman off to an island to rest and relax. Literally carried from place to place is a fantasy if I’ve ever heard one.

The bulk of the story really worked for me. I was right there with Banks for most of the plot arc. However, I’m just going to say that the man practically bought an island to make everything up to her. And while Kelly deserved it I felt like there was too much resorting to ‘gifts’ in the book/series to fix the major “issues” and not enough real emotional connection. And this particular installment seemed primed for a more emotional finish.

But I guess it wouldn’t be a Harlequin Fantasy without someone buying someone else a house, or an island, or a private jet…It practically defines the genre. Why else make all leading men wealthy business men. For the fantasy of extravagant gifts of course. duh.

Rating: 3/5 This is a stronger story of love in a series of drama filled “it’s complicated” relationships. 

Felicia the Geeky Blogger, Missie the Unread Reader, Ash of Smash Attack Reads! And Jen of the Closet with a bibliophile are teaming up for a Celtic themed read-a-long this March. All I heard was Read-a-long and Irish and I was hooked. Shout out to all the Irish gals: holla!

If you’d like more info from a legit source check out Missie’s intro post.

But if you trust me to give you the bare bones they are as follows…

The Book: Hounded

Summary from GoodReads

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Discussion Schedule:

March 02nd: Chapters 1-5 hosted by Geeky Blogger’s Book Blog

March 09th: Chapters 6-10 hosted by On a Book Bender

March 16th: Chapters 11-15 hosted by Smash Attack Reads!

March 23rd: Chapters 16-20 hosted by In the Closet With a Bibliophile

March 30th: Chapters 21-25 + epilogue hosted by The Unread Reader

April 06th: Special interview with Kevin Hearne & announcement of winners!

Remember to Grab the Button if you’d like to join!

BookTalk

“I dream about sledding. That’s what it’s like to barrel forward toward September, to speed toward the day when I will no longer be troubled by amor deliria nervosa. It is like being on a sled in the middle of a cutting wind. I am breathless and terrified; I will soon be engulfed by whiteness and suctioned into another world.

Good-bye, Hana.” (7, Scribd ed.)

In Delirium Hana was the wild child, the best friend…a girl who, in her last summer of Love, began to fall away from Lena. We knew Hana was a party girl. She’d become addicted to the thrill of the underground parties, the beat of forbidden music, and the kisses of a man. Hana was striving for the love she knew would be forcibly removed from her in September.

What we didn’t see through Lena’s eyes was the destruction Hana’s new life was causing. That like so many sufferers of amor deliria nervosa Hana may have placed her faith and her kisses with a boy who wasn’t worthy. And if a broken heart isn’t bad enough…she’s now staring at love’s perfection, in the form of her best friend’s new relationship. It’s easy to see through Hana’s eyes how someone would want to rip the ability to love from another. If only to make them hurt as much as you…

Review

Geeze! If you weren’t pumped for Oliver’s second installment: Pandemonium (coming to a bookstore near you in just 1 week!) the novella “Hana” is sure to get you salivating.

I just want to take a second right now and remind you all that the novella is Free Online right now. If you don’t mind reading from your computer. Though from personal experience I can tell you it makes it a lot easier to read at work *wink*

But back to the story. This novella gives insight into Delirium. I thought I had Hana pegged. I thought she was a wild child who didn’t really have the guts to go wild or, err, into ‘the wilds’. I thought she was a little rich girl playing with the idea of revolution before heading back into the ranks of good society in September.

Who knew Hana was really off having her heart-broken and her ideologies of love beaten up. Seeing the story through her eyes busts apart what you thought was going on in Hana’s world. And it leads to a cliffhanger I didn’t see coming. I can’t go any further without revealing some spoilers. If you’re now dying to go out and read this one. The Link is Here.

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Honestly, what Hana goes through in this book is so very normal; downright average for our society. It’s all about Hana flirting and going to second base with a guy. Steve to be exact. Hana is dreaming of rainbows, unicorns, and escaping to the wilds to live on love. Steve just wants in her panties.

Ouch – For Hana’s heart and her panties as Steve is not the smoothest maker-outer

But Steve remains a sketchy dude, in part because that’s exactly what he is, but also because he never becomes a fully formed character in our eyes. We see that Hana is pinning her heart on a man who really isn’t in this for the long haul with her. We’ve all watched a girlfriends go through this same process…Wondering why she can’t see a booty-call for what it is…

But in a society where your shot at love is so brief, mistakenly choosing the wrong guy is akin to love-suicide. There will be no second chance.

“Suddenly all I can think about is a line from the book of Lamentations: What glitters may not be gold; and even wolves may smile; and fools will be led by promises to their deaths.” (26, Scribd ed.)

This is about the point that Hana hits her wall. You can see it all fall apart. Her view of the party raid is terrifying. Followed by learning that Lena is secretly in love…The loss of her romantic hope and her best friend is too much. Ending in that cliffhanger! Why Hana? Did you really? WTF?

Dying for Pandemonium next Tuesday!

Rating: 5/5 A little novella that rips what you thought you knew wide open. 

This meme was created by RachelKiwi over at She is too fond of books and it has addled her brain. She decided that Fridays should be dedicated to logophilia. Logophilia is “the love of words” for all of you without a dictionary close at hand.

Posts are dedicated to either a new word you found in your reading this week, a juicy quote, or a general need to share your vocabulary ability. ‘Cause you know you’ve been dying to show off your reading skills since that final time you took your SAT’s.

This week’s words come from my new read The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

Summary from GoodReads:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

I’ve earmarked so many of his words. He uses them uniquely and with multiple meaning. The writing is exceptionally beautiful as well. Such a delight that I had to pick more than one word!

Without Further Ado, My Word(s)…

hamartia  (həˈmɑːtɪə) — n

1. literature  the flaw in character which leads to the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy
2. medical A developmental defect characterized by the abnormalarrangement or combination of tissues normally present in aspecific area.

“…and pulled out, of all things, a pack of cigarettes…

…”Are you serious?” I asked. “You think that’s cool? Oh, my God, you just ruined the whole thing.”

“Which whole thing?” he asked, turning to me…

…”The whole thing where a boy who is not unattractive or unintelligent or seemingly in any way unacceptable stares at me and points out incorrect uses of literality and compares me to actresses and asks me to watch a movie at his house. But of course there is always a hamartia and yours is that oh, my God, even though you HAD FREAKING CANCER you give money to a company in exchange for the chance to acquire YET MORE CANCER…”" (19, eBook ed.)

What I think is so smart about the use of this word is it’s double meaning for our new love interest’s potential character flaw (spoiler: he doesn’t actually smoke them, which is kind creepy but our heroine seems to understand). It also serves as a pretty apt definition of cancer itself…which is the subject matter of the book.

Full Disclosure: didn’t know the secondary meaning of the word till I looked it up. Goes to show you should just Google every word you don’t understand. Or at least have your Nook look it up for you. Mine’s good like that

toroid  (ˈtɔːrɔɪd) — n

1. geometry  a surface generated by rotating a closed planecurve about a coplanar line that does not intersect the curve

“…one day I was shooting free throws – just standing at the foul line at the North Central gym shooting from racks of balls. All at once, I couldn’t figure out why I was methodically tossing a spherical object through a toroidal object. It seemed like the stupidest thing I could possibly be doing.” (26, eBook ed.)

The word toroidal surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it to pop up there. Made me happy that it did.

sobriquet or soubriquet  (ˈsəʊbrɪˌkeɪ) — n

1. a humorous epithet, assumed name, or nickname

“Now, it wasn’t as if I held my phone in my sweaty hand all day, staring at it while wearing my Special Yellow Dress, patiently waiting for my gentleman caller to live up to his sobriquet.” (47)

Not gonna lie. John Green is smarter than myself. Took me at least 3 re-reads of that sentence to figure out what the ‘sobriquet’ was…Tricky, tricky capitalizing Special Yellow Dress. Like verbal camouflage.

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at Greads. It’s about answering/asking our readers a random book related question. The question posted by Ginger today is…

Book Blogger Pride: What do you take pride in when it comes to blogging?

I don’t know that I take pride in anything…

To be honest I’m really doing all this for myself. Ha. Sorry faithful readers. I may not suffer from pride but narcissism is looking like a pretty strong hit, lol.

(Me staring at myself in the mirror = Narcissim…-ish. It was the best I could do people.)

So instead of a huge post on What TheLibrarian Does Well, I’m gonna ruminate on why it is I spend all this time reading and typing…for no foreseeable income (sorry Dad, lol)

1. I Read A LOT. Always have, and if God blesses me with decent eyesight, always will. I’ve explained in many a post that my addiction to the written word borders on obsessive. Current Unread Book Count (Just Nook): 83. Told you it was a sickness.
2. I like being Critical. I’ve always enjoyed analyzing my reads. This may have been born of my time in undergrad. All those hours spent reading and dissecting the great works of literature. I enjoy a book more when I take the time to pick it apart a bit.
3. The Urge to Write. I found that once removed from my years of higher ed. I missed writing. I’ve never been one to write for fictional purposes, instead I love to write analysis and criticism where it applies to reading. Like point #2 writing my view of a text allows me to enjoy it that much more.
4. The BookTalks. I’m not lying in my About Me. A huge reason I started blogging was because I was constantly searching for good reviews and booktalks online and not finding them. I hope that librarians are using my talks and adapting them for their own. I know how rough it can be to face down a room of uninterested teens. You need to go big or go home when it comes to recommending reads.

So that’s it. Utterly boring answer

What about you dear readers? What do you think I do well? What do you love about your own reading or blogging experience? Do Tell…

First up in the Pregnancy and Passion Series is:

Enticed by his Forgotten Lover

BookTalk

Rafael de Luca has a lot on his plate at the moment. Head of a high-powered company his day is already hard enough even without the amnesia he suffers from after a plane crash. Desperate to keep this handicap a secret from investors and stockholders alike Rafe’s business partners (and best friends) are filling in the dark hole that is the last 4 months of Rafe’s life.

One thing the boys weren’t aware of: Texan beauty Bryony…the woman carrying Rafe’s child

Four months earlier Bryony had the time of her life. Meeting and falling in love with Rafe during the time on her island home gave her a view of happily ever after. After selling a stretch of beach to Rafe he boarded a plane with promises of a return trip and a life together. Little did either know that a plane crash would erase the memory of Bryony…and Rafe’s promise to return.

Now Bryony is seeking the man whom she thinks betrayed her. But faced with medical facts will she stick around and risk her heart a second time?

Review

First off I have to say I had a hard time swallowing the concept of a hidden pregnancy and amnesia. Bryony kept said pregnancy a secret because when Rafe left her island home he promised to come back to her. And Rafe never called, texted, or returned because he had amnesia. Rafe suffers from short-term amnesia, meaning he’s only forgotten the last 4 months or so of his life rather than the whole thing. Conveniently, the only space of time he’s known Bryony. Did I mention the amnesia occurred because of his plane crashing on his way back to New York from Bryony’s island home. No need to worry, mere months later Rafe only suffers from amnesia…no major physical injury attained during the PLANE CRASH.

This is where I have to remember that I read, only a month ago, a story in which a time traveling Scottish Laird saves a woman and baby in a plane crash (no injury sustained) with only the sheer power of his arms. This is only one of the major tragic events that befall this couple within their single week together – falling in love. I thought it helped support their instalove. I must give Bryony and Rafe a little leeway…Maybe if one of them was a magical time traveler?…

But back to the story. I think I’m torn because:

A. This is actually not the weirdest romance plot I’ve ever come across…contemp or otherwise, so why can’t I let these dramatic plot points go?

B. The author has a good base for a story. The character motivations are clear and understandable.

I think for the amnesia to have worked for me the author needed to take it further. Rafe openly admits he thinks it’s a little ridiculous that he suffers from the ailment. But he fails to remember Bryony in any way. No smell recognition (perfume, hair, etc.), no touch recognition, no “feeling in the bones”, nothing. Yet, the author makes Rafe instantly protective of her. It just didn’t fit. You can’t say you have no connection to someone then play the “instinctively protective” card and the “no connection” card at the same time. Further, to start the book with a prologue of time on the island…or the plane crash…Bryony waiting by the phone. Giving the reader some basis for their relationship would have been extremely helpful from a plot point of view. I do realize that later in the book things turn out differently than we expect, but I still think a prologue could have been done.

This lack of prepping the reader for major plot points continued throughout the book. It was as if the plot was nothing but major scenes with none of the downtime to develop emotions or deeper understanding of the characters. This disappointed me because in all honesty as wild as the plot sounds Banks really could have made it work. The plot points were there, character motivation was good she just didn’t have the finer details down.

The strongest relationship in the whole book was Bryony and her grandmother. There was smooth dialogue and genuine warm feelings between the two. Rafe and Bryony were a rushed romance…which you think makes sense because of the whole amnesia thing…but then the ending kinda blows that theory out of the water and you’re left scratching your head as to how they fell in love so quickly…

But…

If I take this book with a grain of salt (as is my vow in this experiment) it was an easy evening of reading. At less than 200 pages I was on a roller coaster of pleasant trashiness. And one to be honest, I enjoyed enough to continue on with the series. It really is Banks’ ability to create a solid story idea – even if the execution fails a bit – that is deliciously trope filled. It’s like watching day-time reality tv. Pretty rough, but I dare you to look away.

Rating: 2.5/5 You can’t possibly refuse a few short hours of your day to a title like Enticed by his Forgotten Lover…you know you gotta read it. 

Yes. The perceived Trashiest of the Trashy reads.

We all know I’m a huge fan of the romance genre and I had thought my reading palate was fairly diverse. Bring me your Urban Paranormal Vampire Kings, Your haunted Medieval Scotsman, Rugged Cowboys, Rakish Regency Dukes, and the Modern Men at all socioeconomic levels…fisherman to billionaire their sexy six-packs are all welcome in my reads.

But the more fond I became of the uber-intelligent Smart Bitches Trashy Books blog the more open my eyes became in regards to my ‘trashy’ reads. These women look at the romance genre from a literary criticism point of view as well as a simple pleasure read. I hate to admit that I almost enjoy their posts more when they don’t like the read. The way they break it down is hilarious.

But back to my point. I noticed a plethora of Harlequin Silhouette Desires books in their review base. You know those red-spined books that are aplenty in your local grocery store? The ones you cleaned out of your mother’s bookshelves (grandma for me!). Those trope filled, quick and dirty reads that we’ve all tried at some point. I realized that I was kinda prejudiced against them. I don’t think I’d picked one up since age 14 instead running toward the more mass-market best sellers…the romance books that looked more like ‘real’ literature to me.

I know.

“For shame!” I thought.

I’m a defender of romance. A white knight of the virgin/rake pairing. I’m willing to suspend reality to follow just about any love story. But a nagging feeling told me I had turned my back on a huge selection of the genre. I needed to return to my teen-reads and revisit a Harlequin. When I saw the title “Enticed by his Forgotten Lover“, part of a Pregnancy and Passion series, I thought: “This is it, it doesn’t get more Harlequin-esque than that”

And so I began. I’m 3 books in already and not sure what I think. Later today I’ll post my review of Enticed by his Forgotten Lover so you can see how this little experiment is going. Get excited…if you haven’t already gathered this little nugget is about a case of amnesia and seduction by a pregnant lady. True, at times it’s slightly more subtle than that…but I suppose you’ll have to tune in later to see what I really think!

Proposal Scenes to be exact.

They’ve been picked randomly…mostly because I was able to remember that a proposal scene happened in these particular books! Some of them surprised me during the re-read…Did you remember that Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth twice? That Rhett was unromantic? or that Ash really did it when he became Meghan’s Knight?…I didn’t either. So please, find some chocolate and enjoy this post of love.

Without Further Ado…Marriage Proposals

Gone with the Wind

“I always intended to have you, Scarlet, since that first day I saw you at Twelve Oaks when you threw that vase and swore and proved that you weren’t a lady. I always intended having you, one way or another. But as you and Frank have made a little money, I know you’ll never be driven to me again with any interesting proposals of loans and collaterals. So I see I’ll have to marry you.”

“Rhett Butler, is this one of your vile jokes?”

“I bare my soul and you are suspicious! No, Scarlett, this is a bona fide honorable declaration. I admit that it’s not in the best of taste, coming at this time, but I have a very good excuse for my lack of breeding. I’m going away tomorrow for a long time and I fear that if I wait till I return you’ll have married some one else with a little money. So I thought, why not me and my money? Really, Scarlett, I can’t go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands.”   (1160, Mitchell)

Pride and Prejudice

I’d like to note that I have this very saying on a tea towel…and you can have one too, or a mug, or a t-shirt…just check out Brookish’s Etsy Shop.

“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.” (172, Austen)

But she rejects him…he was a bit of an ass up until this point…But we all know the poor man tries again, with success…

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.” (326, Austen)

That’s 150 pages of groveling that Mr. Darcy had to do! I think he’s earned his happy ending…I may have folded for the first proposal *sigh* it was pretty good, never did have Elizabeth’s pride…

Twilight – Eclipse

“Now, I want to do this right. Please, please, keep in mind that you’ve already agreed to this, and don’t ruin it for me.”

“Oh, no,” I gasped as he slid down onto one knee.

“Be nice,” he muttered.

I took a deep breath.

“Isabella Swan?” He looked up at me through his impossibly long lashes, his golden eyes soft but, somehow, still scorching. “I promise to love you forever – every single day of forever. Will you marry me?”

There were many things I wanted to say, some of them not nice at all, and others more disgustingly gooey and romantic than he probably dreamed I was capable of. Rather than embarrass myself with either, I whispered, “Yes.”

“Thank you,” he said simply. He took my left hand and kissed each of my fingertips before he kissed the ring that was now mine. (459 – 460, Meyer)

The Iron Fey – The Iron Daughter

This is officially the closest they come to an actual proposal…and it’s just too good to pass up!

“My name is Ashallyn’darkmyr Tallyn, third son of the Unseelie Court…Let it be known–from this day forth, I vow to protect Meghan Chase, daughter of the Summer King, with my sword, my honor, and my life. Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side. And should it fail to protect her, let my own existence be forfeit. This I swear, on my honor, my True Name, and my life. From this day on…” His voice went even softer, but I still heard it as though he whispered it into my ear. “I am yours.”

Entwined

“Mr. Bradford,” she said. “I’m not going to propose to you.”

The twinkle in Mr. Bradford’s eyes faded. So did his smile. He managed to keep it on his face. It looked painful.

“Oh,” he said.

“Mr. Bradford?”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind it so very much if…you know…you proposed to me?”

The light in Mr. Bradford’s eyes jumped to life. He beamed so largely it almost wasn’t crooked.

“If you want.”

Romeo and Juliet

Did you remember that it was fair Juliet that did the proposing?…

JULIET

Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I’ll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

(Act 2, Scene 1)

Thought I’d end this post with the above picture of Leo and Clare *sigh* this very scene started a crush (on Leo) that lasted for YEARS…

…Ok, might still be prey to it. While searching for the photo above I found this:

Yep, still have a thing for Leo…Enjoy that one with your chocolate too