Lisa Tawn Bergren

“Loyalty is not loyalty unless one clings to it in the face of adversity. No?”

“One man's poison is another's elixir.”

“And isn't part of your life doing something with the gifts God has given you?”

“God calls us to life, to love, to healing. We merely have to find our way home.”

“If I live in fear of what might be, how can I truly live my life to the full in the present? And if I do not give myself to the day, to hope, to life, what do I miss?”

“I think the truth to living fully is to appreciate what we have, day by day, regardless of what we know might come our way.”

“I believe it is always possible to draw closer to our Lord, whether it be during times of suffering or during times of celebration. It is all life, and all of life comes from God.”

“Prayer is prayer, regardless of where you are.”

“Our faces were overly close, and in that moment something more passed between us. I’d never felt this kind of thing with a guy – such a connection. I knew, in my head, that we were practically strangers; but this thing – whatever it was – made me feel known. Seen. Acknowledged and appreciated and admired.”

“We froze. Neither of us moving, simply staring at each other, wondering if the other was going to move first. "You are," he whispered, "uncommonly stirring." He closed his eyes then, as if he had to in order to break the bond between us, then lifted me to the saddle and stared at the ground as he guided my feet into the stirrups.”

“God," she said, her tone gently reproving, "brought Mr.Kensington to you, and with him, a world of potential. As I see it, each of our lives is a journey, Miss Cora. A path that takes us over the mountain or down through a dark valley. But He never abandons us. Never. That is how He cares for us - walking with us every step of the way.”

“Were they laughing at me? I forced myself to block them from my mind, to concentrate on the lake, the water. What were they to me? People I met today, that was all. We shared blood. The One who mattered to me still found me worthy, still loved me, whether I knew when to curtsy properly or not.”

“And what of your children?" I gestured to the others at the table. "The only thing that divides us from that laborer who toils far beneath the surface of the earth in our fathers' mines is the blood that runs through our veins.""Or half our blood," Vivian said with a sniff."Vivian,"Mr Kensington warned.I didn't flinch. "Half my blood, then," I said with a prim nod back at Vivian. "But if I cut open my wrist alongside yours, would it not appear as the very same red? Despite your effort to be a blueblood, sister, you are as red-blooded as I.”

“We are well," Hugh said, looking me over with more intensity than seemed proper. "And you?""I'm well, thank you," I said, lying through my teeth. I'd been better the day I took to my bed with measles.”

“How dare you - ""How dare I offer you more than you could've ever dreamed?""How dare you waltz in here and presume - ""Presume to prescribe a future with hope and promise?"I shut my mouth abruptly, glaring at him. Then, "Are you quite finished?""Are you?" he asked."I am a free woman, Mr.Kensington. Grown. I can do as I wish.I may be blood kin to you, but I am not your employee." My eyes cut to Mama, but hers remained on the barn."Regardless, you shall do as I say."I let out a sputtering, exasperated laugh. "And if I do not?"He traced the edge of his chipped china saucer. "That would be ill advised.”

“I read once that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something is more important than that fear.”

“Don't rehearse your problems, Dad always said. Meaning, we were only supposed to go through our problems when they were actually upon us.”

“We all have freedom of choice. Over and over again, minute by minute. How will you live your life? For yourself Or for others? For something good? For love? Love.”

“If he lived in my time, Marcello would’ve been in the running for Sexiest Man Alive in People. Rich, powerful, and hotter than wasabi, he was a force. (Kindle Locations 766-767).”

“My eyes shifted to the trickling river. Come spring, it would be ten times as wide and just as deep. On and on it went, rushing toward the distant horizon. Like time. Like life. Sometimes gently falling from one pool into the other, other times fast and cascading, and still other times narrowing into a funnel, a torrent of knots and waves.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something is more important than fear.”

“Only one sort of man is worse than an Italian when it comes to their appetite for women.""Oh? And what is that?""A Frenchmen.”

“She glanced left and right, all wide-eyed and innocent. Innocent as a streetwalker.”

“Don't you agree? Swordplay is a dance of sorts, an understanding of the logical, most sophisticated next step. Except that in a fight, one must take the unexpected step. In dance it is all about taking the right, expected step.”

“If you both care for each other more than you care for yourself, your marriage will endure all.”

“His eyes opened, and he stared at me. The morning light was streaming through the window,and my hair rolled in waves over either shoulder.“God has smiled upon me. I have the most beautiful wife in all the land.”

“I nodded, pretending to be a hundred times more courageous than I felt.But that was the thing about courage. Sometimes you had to fake it to feel it.”

“What could I do, to make the most of this day, whether I was in my own day, or this one? What amazing history was I seeing firsthand? Would I embrace it, instead of crying and whining? Was it in me to be grateful for my situation? Truly in me?”

“How good it felt, to do some good, here and there. Perhaps this was what it meant to be an adult. To grab the opportunity at hand, make the most of the day, regardless of what it looked like.”

“And sometimes, God asks us to wrestle with the unfamiliar until it becomes our new familiar. Until we can breathe freely in that new place.”

“I believe this country has already been painted by the hand of God. We can cover it over with our own creations, but it will merely mar what is already perfect”

“I finally meet a guy who's interesting and who seems to have a half-interest in me and it is TOTALLY the wrong time and place.”

“Together, come what may.”

“Lia aimed, shifted and waited, watching one man peek out time and time again. She let her arrow fly anticipating his next peek at us and it pierced his eye.“Okay that’s just going to make ’em mad ” I said.“Three hundred and ninety-two ” she said to Luca tossing her braid over her shoulder and taking aim again.“Saints in heaven ” he said to me rolling his eyes “how much deeper in love can I yet fall?”

“Fantasizing about an Italian hottie was far better than my normal dreams.”

“Lia let out a low growl and moved her arrow to the base of his fat throat. "What do you think, Gabi? Would you like to see these nuptials through?""Not this day," I said"How about on the morrow?" Marcello asked, smiling and lifting my hand to his lips. "If I am your groom?""Hold that eHarmony thought," Lia whispered in English. "We gotta get out of here.”

“They shall never believe that a young lord of Siena would march directly into their camp.""And if they do?"He gave me another small smile. "Then my beloved lady shall have to come and rescue me.""Us," Luca corrected him, slurring his words now. "Have to rescue us."He adjusted Luca across his shoulders. "Stay with me, Luca," he said sternly."Can't get much closer m'lord," Luca mumbled.”

“He hesitated, as if wrestling with the desire to cross the space between us and kiss me until I admitted I was just a tiny bit in love with him too. But he didn't. He didn't.”

“I think the trick to living fully,” I said, thinking through each word, “is to appreciate what we have, day byday, regardless of what we know might come our way.” I took a breath and slowly looked from one of myparents to the other. “If I live in fear of what might be, how can I truly live my life to the full in the present? Andif I do not give myself to the day, to hope, to life, what do I miss?” I raised my eyebrows and shook my head.“Life itself, I think. At least the way I wanna live it.”

“We are attempting to play God, when maybe God put ushere in the first place.” Father Tomas’s words by the stream came back to me. I could see his stick in theriver, the water dividing on either side. “We can only move forward with what we have been given. Negotiatethe river of life. Of time. And we’ve been given this,” I pleaded, waving at our circle. “Family. Love. Joy. Life.Can we not embrace it, for as long as we have it? Isn’t it what we all most dearly want, deep down?”

“We all belong to Him, from the cradle to the grave, whether we know it or not. And He'll see justice done in His own time and in His own way. Now if we trust in Him, that's all we have to think about. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm just saying it's what I think we're go do.”

“You can't be any earthly good if your head is always in the heavens.”

“Sometimes the heart tells us to venture where the mind fears to tread.”

“I am here for a reason. This is no haphazard mistake. What good can I do with what I have?”

“My kingdom for a flush toilet.”

“Okay, try this on for size, Tall, Dark and Handsome. I won't be born for almost seven hundred hundred years. How's that strike you?”