Step back in time and immerse yourself in the passion, drama, and enduring love stories that have captivated hearts through the ages. This carefully curated collection features the top 88 timeless historical romance quotes, each one echoing the emotions and charm of bygone eras. Whether you’re a fan of sweeping love tales or simply appreciate the beauty of romantic words, these quotes are sure to inspire and delight.
1. “If I die," he whispered in the dark, "dinna follow me. The bairns will need ye. Stay for them. I can wait.” - Diana Gabaldon
2. “A hedgehog? And just how does a hedgehog make love?" he demanded. No, I thought. I won't. I will not. But I did. "Very carefully," I replied, giggling helplessly. So now we know just how old that one is, I thought. ” - Diana Gabaldon
3. “Annabelle gave him a chiding smile. “If you’re implying that I’m spoiled, I assure you that I am not.”“You should be.” His warm gaze slid over her pink-tinted face and slender upper body, then sought hers again. There was a note in his voice that gently robbed her of breath. “You could do with a bit of spoiling.” - Lisa Kleypas
4. “I want to fill every part of you, breathe the air from your lungs and leave my handprints on your soul. I want to give you more pleasure than you can bear.” - Lisa Kleypas
5. “Yes, my boy, you are indeed much faster, bigger, and stronger than me and an altogether superior speciman of God's creation, but I have seen your like before. Only one of us can be master, and it won't be you.” - Emery Lee
6. “Son of a beast tried to bite me when I turned my back to the billets!"...Nostrils flaring and ears pinned, the grey repeated the offense. "He wants another go at it. Be a sport ol' man!" Robert chortled. The indignant Scotsman threw the reins in his face, tromping off to collect the major's horse."I wonder was it reward or punishment Winthrop had in mind in allowing you to keep that brute?" Drake innocently inquired."He only eats Scotsman," Robert quipped.” - Emery Lee
7. “Miss Edmonton: I don't even know where to start. It's too horrifying to even speak of.Jenny: Nonsense. Let's start with the basics. What did your aunt tell you?Miss Edmonton: My aunt said that my husband will come into my room and pull my skirt up. And then he'll put himself inside of me. She said it hurts. She suggested I hold my tongue and pretend I am somewhere else until he is done.Jenny: Yes. I should think it would hurt if you did it that way. Good heavens.” - Courtney Milan
8. “Where are we going?” Annabelle asked, resisting his hold on her wrist.“To the house. If they’re not willing to be witnesses, then it seems I’ll have to debauch you in front of someone else.” - Lisa Kleypas
9. “I’ve never heard of a man being so eager to confess to the parent of a girl he’s just ruined” - Lisa Kleypas
10. “He'd missed matching wits with her. "Shall we duel with our lips?" "You may find yourself eating grass for breakfast.” - Vicky Dreiling
11. “This man was different from all others; he was forbidden fruit, the outsider. Her mother had trained her well, but she had never told her what to do if a man set her heart to throbbing like the hooves of a runaway horse.” - Constance O'Banyon
12. “Midnight Omen Deja vu" - Because everyone should experience love in the Caribbean...at least once in a lifetime.” - Marti Melville
13. “You’re far too prickly tempered to be a mistress. You’re far better suited as a wife.” - Lisa Kleypas
14. “Win told me that one isn’t improved by being at the top of the mountain, one is improved by the climb.” - Lisa Kleypas
15. “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.-Leonard Cohen” - Bailey Bristol
16. “My life is hard. No one would rob me of that. The clothes I am wearing came out of a knotted up black plastic trash bag from a resale shop downtown. And not the downtown where shiny cars wink at you in the sunlight. If a car winks at you in this area it’s being driven by a person you would be best to avoid. My side of downtown is crumbling and skirted by chain link fences.--Rocky Evans” - Gwenn Wright
17. “She did not want to know what charmhe had used to make her love him so deeply. She did not want to know it wasn’t real.” - Penelope Marzec
18. “Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.” - Myrna Ericksen
19. “I know the truth now. You've figured out I'm falling in love with you and you're trying to make me stop by hurting me this way. Well it won't work.One way or another, I'm going to make you care about me. Yes, I am, unless your cold attitude kills me first.It's only fair, Connor. If I'm going to be miserable, by God, so are you.I am not a common wench and I will not be treated like one.” - Julie Garwood
20. “I intend to marry Michael, and squander all his money and run his life, and make sure he never again consorts with wicked women or gambles with licentious men. I promise I will henpeck him until he has no life beyond what I allow him, and when we die, I will lie in his arms through all eternity.” - Christina Dodd
21. “I love you," she murmured. The words ... it was as though an entire sun had exploded in his chest.He'd been ridiculous. His thrashing thoughts, his grand confusion and torment and helplessness -- it was only love, had always been love, he supposed. It was no precipice he stood at, or rather precipices have little meaning when one finally acknowledges that one has wings. Connor stepped off."I love you, too."Such grave, inadequate words for what it was he felt.” - Julie Anne Long
22. “To those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.” - P. McCree Thornton
23. “For every woman, there is that one man who could get her to go anywhere he wanted her to go, do anything he wanted her to do—reach into her soul and turn her whole world on its ear—challenge everything she thought she believed. Highlighted by 24 Kindle users” - Lenore Wolfe
24. “You are absolutely beautiful," Anne said. "But if you see yourself, you'll want to pin your hair back like a shepherdess in a bad play."(Eleanor) "Are you saying that I normally look as if I'm tending sheep? With straw in my hair? As if I might yodel?” - Eloisa James
25. “Yes. She got into a right state when she realized no one could read them, though. She's setting up some sort of literacy curse. Some of the boys want to know--is that like gypsy magic? Can you curse someone to read?” - Anne Mallory
26. “I want to talk to you. I want to listen to you. I want to walk with you and, yes, I want you in my bed. That's what I want today. That's what I'll want in a hundred years. If you promise to be my wife forever, I will pledge myself to your happiness.” - Christina Dodd
27. “And if you ever - and I do mean ever - try to leave me, I’m goin’ with you.” - Catherine Anderson
28. “Who does not tremble when he considers how to deal with his wife For not only is he bound to love her but so to live with her that he may return her to God pure and without stain when God who gave shall demand His own again.” - King Henry VIII
29. “From my friend, Brig. General Ezell Ware, Jr., CA Nat'l Guard, Dec.Keep on going till you get there, then keep going.” - Tracey Richardson
30. “...Ethan, but I'm certainly not the type of woman to just go home with two men whether I know them or not. It would be highly inappropriate, not to mention stupid.""And you're not stupid.""Not as far as I can tell"...” - M.K. McClintock
31. “No book is written; it's always re-written” - Jean Fullerton
32. “Do I perceive a softening in your heart for me, damoiselle?" He laughed at her scowl. "Beware maid. I will tell you true. After you will come another and then another. There are no strings that can tether me to any woman. So guard your heart.""My lord, you greatly exaggerate your appeal," she replied indignantly. "If I fell anything for you, 'tis hatred. You are the enemy and you are to be despised as such.""Indeed?" He smiled slowly into her eyes. "Then tell me, damoiselle, do you always kiss the enemy so warmly?” - Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
33. “Son of a bitch!" Cash erupted. "He's wearing Nate's guns." Reese had been too occupied gazing into those eyes to notice the oddity of a gun belt strapped around a naked waist. Cash was right. Those were Nate's pretty pearl pistols. Reese had never liked those guns. He liked them even less now. "Sullivan, ask him where he got those," Cash demanded. "What gave you the idea I can speak Comanche?" "Because you are one?" "You're a jackass, but I don't expect you to talk to a donkey." "This is no time to be funny, breed." "Then quit trying so hard.” - Lori Handeland
34. “The sun glanced off a long, wicked looking knife in the Comanche's grip. At least Cash wouldn't have long to mourn. The other Indians held similar weapons, but they hung back as their leader knelt next to Sullivan. He muttered something, low and guttural, a single syllable that sounded like an insult, then picked up a lock of Sullivan's hair. The knife descended toward his scalp. "No!" Reese shouted. "Me." The Comanche paused and stared at him with a spark of interest, almost admiration. But that couldn't be since the Indian had no idea what Reese was saying. He continued to try anyway. "Me first." He struggled, wishing he could use his hands to point at himself. "Shut the hell up, Reese," Sullivan said. "What possible difference does it make who they kill first?" "Who knows what might happen. While they're working on me, anyone could show up and save the rest of you." "In that case, me first," Cash drawled. "Me." "No. Yo primero!""Kid, I'm the only one without a wife and far too many children. No one would miss me." "I would." The words were punctuated by the distinct sound of a rifle being cocked. All eyes turned toward the man who had appeared at the edge of the clearing. Cash's sigh of relief was in direct contrast to the sneer in his voice. "About damn time, Rev. We've been waitin' on you.” - Lori Handeland
35. “In my experience there are only a handful of reasons for murder....Jealousy, vengeance, greed, fear and pleasure....Some killers enjoy the kill....For them it is a great game, and for the most part they are the ones I hunt.” - Amanda Quick
36. “Ruth wiped her eyes. Successful at a price? Forgiven but damaged? She wished so much more for her baby sister.” - Sarah Sundin
37. “Just say, dakhilak.”Without hesitation, “Dakhilak.”He nodded. Her accent was getting no better. “Now, you can never take it back.”“Well, what does it mean? Thank you?”She should have asked sooner. He didn’t turn to meet the gaze he felt on him, his voice full of sand, his stomach sick. “It gives me charge of your life.” - V.S. Carnes
38. “He didn’t deserve compassion. Sympathy. Not even understanding. He deserved worse, far worse than he had ever been given.” - V.S. Carnes
39. “Where are you going?""To get my Bible.""Right now? You can't get your Bible out right now! I'm, I'm, we're just about to..."She'd never be able to go through with this if he got out his Bible. She wiped all humor from her face."I believe you. Proverbs 5:18. Rejoice, relish, and romp with your husband."He chuckled. "I'm serious, Connie, and I won't have you feeling ashamed or unclean over anything we do in that bed, tonight or any other night.""I won't. I feel unashamed and very clean. I promise. But please don't get out that Bible.""What? Think you that God can't see us right now?"Groaning, she slid off his lap and covered her face with her hands. He sunk to his knees in front of her, drawing her hands down."I love you. You love me. We are man and wife. God is watching, Connie, and He is very, very pleased.” - Deeanne Gist
40. “Bitter disappointment pushed tears from her eyes."Now what's wrong? I said you could wear it."She drew in a shaky breath."I w-wanted you to l-like my dreeessssss."He moved his gaze over her."The gown makes my mouth water, love.” - Deeanne Gist
41. “Sneezeweed, Drew?"He grinned. "Jealous?""Surprised.""Remind me, and I'll have a talk with Gerald. Give him a few tips.""Promise?""Absolutely.” - Deeanne Gist
42. “Lord Randall barreled inside, brandishing his cane in Drew's face."You beggarly knave, I was told this marriage was in name only! Who gave you permission to consummate the vows?""Theodore Hopkin, governor of this colony, representative of the kind, and it's going to cost you plenty, for that daughter of yours is nothing but trouble. What in the blazes were you thinking to allow her an education?"Drew bit back his smile at the man's shocked expression. Nothing like landing the first punch.Lord Randall furrowed his bushy gray brows."I knew not about her education until it was too late."Drew straightened the cuffs of his shirt. "Well, be prepared to pay dearly for it. No man should have to suffer through what I do with the constant spouting of the most addlepated word puzzles you could imagine."-----------------------------------------"I require fifteen thousand pounds."Lord Randall spewed ale across the floor. "What! Surely drink has tickled your poor brain. You're a FARMER, you impudent rascal. I'll give you five thousand."Drew plopped his drink onto the table at his side, its contents sloshing over the rim. A satisfied smile broke across his face."Excellent." He stood."When will you take her back to England with you? Today? Tomorrow?"The old man's red-rimmed eyes widened. "I cannot take her back. Why, she's already birthed a child!" Drew shrugged. "Fifteen thousand or I send her AND the babe back, with or without you.” - Deeanne Gist
43. “That first scream, my lord, was indeed your daughter, my wife, and if you kill me, your grandchild will be quite without a father. Won't you come in?” - Deeanne Gist
44. “Oh, they'll never believe a woman could solve such puzzles. They'll just assume I'm humoring you by editing it myself and allowing you to put your name to it."She raised her eyebrows. "But you wouldn't be."He humphed. "They'll never hear me admit it.""I will," she said, a smile curving her lips.He shrugged. "They'll believe me, not you.” - Deeanne Gist
45. “Their daughter scrunched up her hands and legs, waving them wildly in the air. He opened his palm, allowing the babe to kick his hand."Is she like a puppy?"Constance choked. "What!"He looked up. "Will she get her spots later?"Laughter bubbled up from within her as she playfully whacked him on the shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I'm afraid she will. As soon as the sun touches her skin, the freckles will appear."A delicious two-dimple grin spread across his face. "Good. I find I'm rather partial to freckled redheads.” - Deeanne Gist
46. “… Looking at her, I think I know better what romantic love is.”… she asked, “What is it?”“It is parental love,” he answered thoughtfully. “Wanting to protect and keep the other person safe. As well as the love of friendship - esteeming the other person, even desiring each other’s company beyond all others. And it is lust,” he said, meeting her eyes, and was rewarded with seeing them darken, her breath becoming slightly unsteady, one little word jerking her out of her clinical assessment. He smiled, a predatory, seductive grin. “The physical needing of the other person, the quickened pulse, the sweaty heat.” His hand, which still rested on hers, began slowly moving, his fingers dancing over her skin. “Combining them makes the result greater than its individual parts. Because it produces something else. It creates … a steadiness. A strength. I can’t explain it well - being only an outside observer - but I only know that out of my friends' relationships, my sister‘s marriage is the epitome of grace.” - Kate Noble
47. “The workings of the male mind are twisted indeed." Winnifred Crane” - Kate Noble
48. “Listen. Just because we got a mutual hankering, doesn't mean we have to act on it. Aside from the hankering, there isn't much about you that I like. So far, you've been a pain in the behind. And I might as well tell you, I've followed through on one hankering and getting shot was more of an enjoyable experience. I didn't like it.” - Maggie Osborne
49. “Never judge yourself by the narrowstandards of others. What we do together here is ourbusiness, nobody else's. Never, never doubt what we havejust done is anything but love. Never let yourself be restrictedby thoughts of what society would have you do, what it wouldaccept or condemn. Please promise me that.” - Lynne Connolly
50. “It was not an unusual site to see Negro tenant farmers crossing the intersection of Spring and Barbrick on the way to the cotton warehouse” - Nancy B. Brewer
51. “You’re my home, Susanna. My home, my heart, my dearest love. Wherever you are, that’s where I belong. Always.” - Victor Bramwell, Earl of Rycliff” - Tessa Dare
52. “I been running up a bill with the devil ever since, and now he's come to collect on the debt.” - Steven B. Weissman
53. “Ne uplići se u ono što te se ne tiče.” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
54. “Što u ustima i u srcu, neka bude i na djelu. Samo od riječi i od srca još uvijek malo koristi.” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
55. “Pravda ne da svoje djece, a svaki pravednik krvno je čedo pravednosti.” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
56. “Pravda nije uvijek brižna majka!” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
57. “Da nema kukolja, rodila bi čista pšenica.” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
58. “Nema prokletstva. Ima samo zlih i dobrih, ali zli su uvijek jači, iako ih je manje. Od jedne kapi žuči zagorčiš vrč čiste vode!” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
59. “Tko se odviše nada, mnogo gubi. Manje nade donosi više!” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
60. “Klonuo je pored njezinih nogu kao pas pred nogama gospodara...” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
61. “Da sam ja car radio bih ovo: Nastupajući na prijestolje okrunio bih se svim krunama koje bi mi donijeli. Prisegao bih na sve ustave koje bi mi predložili. Potvrdio bih sve privilegije što ih ima povijest. Okupio bih na dvoru u blještavom sjaju sve velikaše, plemiće i sve popove. Zasuo bih te ljude častima, naslovima i ordenima. Iskitio bih njihova prsa, a onda bi radio mimo ustava, mimo privilegija. Kršio bih iz dana u dan sve što sam potvrdio. Radio bih po svojem i sa svim zanosom uvjeravao ih kako je sve to laž. U korist velikaša i plemića i popova! Kad bi prigovarali priredio bih bogate dinee, sjajne svečanosti; odlikovao ih ljubaznim prijateljstvom, obasipao ih novim titulama kao pokladnim prhuticama. Vozio bih se s njima u svečanim sjajnim povorkama u kojima bi imali prva mjesta. Gospoda bi uživala, a narod zadivljen dvorskim sjajem, klicao bi svima. Da, velčanstvo, masi treba blještavila, carskog sjaja, a ne jednostavnosti. Vjerujte, veličanstvo, masi svih staleža više imponira sjajan šesteropreg nego tucet plemenitih ideja; više imponira carska krunidba, za koju se potroše milijuni, i parada u kojoj se pregazi desetak majki s djecom, nego stotinu tisuća bijelih hljebova kojima biste nahranili sirote. Ja bih na sve pristao, sve prevario: neprijatelje bih vezao, progonio i uništio, prijatelje bih tovio, i tada bi pobjeda bila sigurna.” - Marija Jurić Zagorka
62. “Although most advice should be distrusted, particularly when it comes from myself . . . keep an open mind, Miss Hathaway. One should never look a rich husband in the mouth." - St. Vincent” - Lisa Kleypas
63. “He would die in this room, buried alive by the weight of his life.” - Christine Fonseca
64. “The heavy smell of incense gave me an uneasy feeling as if I had walked into a tomb” - Nancy B. Brewer
65. “Killy arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "Don't be thinkin' you can deceive this old man. I've been makin' a fool of myself over women since before you were born.” - Pamela Clare
66. “Making love with you is even more wonderful than making music."He drew her closer. "Och, Sarah, you _are_ my music.” - Pamela Clare
67. “He was, she realised, quite graceful. The very idea surprised her. Male grace was a quality she'd never thought of beyond the ballroom; either a man could dance a quadrille with skill and without stepping on her feet or he could not. But here was another kind of grace altogether--and untrained grace, an instinctive animal grace.” - Pamela Clare
68. “It wilna end wi' me, Campbell. Slay me, and you'll face my brothers and after them my Muhheconneok kin. You cannae possibly kill us all.” - Pamela Clare
69. “You think Diana would come to your bed?” Ned threw his head back and laughed. “You’re mad! First of all, she would never break her marriage vows. Secondly, she’s certainly deduced by now what a whoremonger you are. She wouldn’t touch you with gloves, my friend.” from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (DEVIL DEVERE book #3)” - Victoria Vane
70. “Marcus stood at the mantel mirror, fussing with his lace cuffs, adjusting his cravat and openly admiring his reflection. “I’ll beguile her with the full power of my persuasive charm.”“And should that fail?”Marcus turned to his secretary with a slow, devious grin. “Why, Nick, I’d have thought it obvious. I’ll just have to ruin her.”-A BREACH OF PROMISE” - Victoria Vane
71. “Hang you, DeVere! She's a close friend, nothing more." He furrowed his brow once again. "Though I do fear of late that she entertains some...expectations.""You think the young widow may aspire to quite another surrogate role? They all do, ol' chap. Expectations and demands—titles, money, time, attention. The female half of the species are little better than vampires, sucking away one's very lifeblood.” - Victoria Vane
72. “What is your name, my pet?""Kitty," she replied.DeVere threw back his head with a guffaw. "Kitty? How delightfully apropos!" His erstwhile companions forgotten, he patted a muscular thigh. "Come then, Kitty, my sweet, little puss. Sit on your master's lap, and I'll stroke you 'till you purr."-A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE” - Victoria Vane
73. “You intend to keep me confined in here with you for three days?" His voice was low and ominous."It doesn't have to take three days," she said, "It just depends how long it takes for you to come to your senses.""My senses?" he shook her so hard she thought her teeth would rattle. "It is you whose mind is disordered if you think you can tame me like some pet! Is that what you think, Vesta? That you can somehow turn a man like me into your little lap dog?""No," she said, as earnest as she had ever been in her life. "I could never imagine you as a lap dog. Ever. You are a Mastiff. Big, powerful, dignified, brave, and yet gentle." She nodded with a look of self satisfaction. "Yes. Most definitely a Mastiff." from THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS” - Victoria Vane
74. “I stop to brace myself against the walls, which are painted with the fingerprints of family.” - Nancy B. Brewer
75. “You don't have to say a thing except yes. You don't have to do anything, either, I'm quite willing to plan it all." "You?""Yes me.""You'd plan all of it? Even the wedding?""Why not?""You don't even like to plan your own breakfast."He grinned. "You mean more to me tban bacon.""More than [i]bacon?[/i] I'm honored.""You should be, my foolish pea brain.” - Karen Hawkins
76. “France is to me the heroine in the romance of all the nations of all time. This feeling was born in me years ago when I read how her noble sons had defended America in its cradle. Today I am proud that I am one of the millions who will come to save our heroine from the clutches of the villain from across the Rhine.” - William Arthur Sirmon
77. “Today’s breakfast consist of rice and a piece of bread fried in a bit of salt pork grease. At least I have my memories of grand banquets and fine foods, but this is all the children have ever known. I suppose it is best not to have anything to compare.” - Nancy B. Brewer
78. “There isn’t going to be a ‘next lover,’” Grant said automatically, outraged by the idea. “I’m the only man she’s going to have.” - Lisa Kleypas
79. “Women. You'll interpret anything as love. You see a man wearing an idiotic expression, and you assume he's been struck by Cupid's arrow when in reality, he's digesting a bad turnip.” - Lisa Kleypas
80. “Tell them I have the headache--no, the plague! I need something nice and contagious.” - Lauren Willig
81. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that one only comes up with clever, cutting remarks long after the other party is happily slumbering away.” - Lauren Willig
82. “He lay on the bed, freshly shaven and washed, legs crossed at the ankles and arms propped behind his head. His posture said, Yes, ladies. I truly am this handsome. And I don't even have to try.” - Tessa Dare
83. “...¡Querer que yo no la vea!¡Querer que no me le acerque, es pedir al pájaro que no cante, al sol que no alumbre, a la mariposa que no busque la luz, a los ojos que no vean, al corazón que no ame, al alma que no sienta, a mí, que no sea humano!” - Lucila Gamero de Medina
84. “Rule three? You mean there's more?” - Shehanne Moore
85. “I was shy,” said six-foot-one of bashful male. He grunted as a sharp, feminine elbow thudded inconspicuously into his side.” - Anne Gracie
86. “Lord Carradice managed to look wicked, smug, and saintly, all at the same time.” - Anne Gracie
87. “Do you think ladies’ eyebrows can communicate as well?” she asked.“No, they don’t have sufficient thicketry,” he said with authority.“Thicketry?”“Yes, that is the official term.” - Anne Gracie
88. “Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.” - Nancy B. Brewer
