Valentine’s Day Special: Swoon-Worthy Quotes

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’ve  decided to add to a list of heart-melting quotes from some of our dearest literary crushes. We got the idea from our friends at YA Crush, who highlighted five of our all-time favorites: Will from “Clockwork Prince”; Adam from “If I Stay”/”Where She Went”; Akiva from “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”; Cricket from “Lola and the Boy Next Door”; and Finnikin from “Finnikin of the Rock.” Tee and Vee are clearly our kindred spirits, so we’re taking their first five lovelies and adding several of our own! Happy Valentine’s Day, fellow YA lovers.

1. Four from “Divergent” by Veronica Roth

“I have something I need to tell you,” he says. I run my fingers along the tendons in his hands and look back at him. “I might be in love with you.” He smiles a little. “I’m waiting until I’m sure to tell you, though.”
“That’s sensible of you,” I say, smiling too. “We should find some paper so you can make a list or a chart or something.”
I feel his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing my ear.
“Maybe I’m already sure,” he says, “and I just don’t want to frighten you.”
I laugh a little. “Then you should know better.”
“Fine,” he says. “Then I love you.”

2. Etienne from “Anna and the French Kiss” by Stephanie Perkins

“You’re the most incredible girl I’ve ever known.  You’re gorgeous and smart, and you make me laugh like no one else can.  And I can talk to you.  And I know after all this I don’t deserve you,m but what I’m trying to say is that I love you, Anna. Very much.

I trail my fingers across his cheek. He stays perfectly still for me. “Please stop apologizing, Étienne.”
“Say my name again,” he whispers.
I close my eyes and lean forward. “Étienne.”
He takes my hands into his.Those perfect hands, that fit mine just so. “Anna?”
Our foreheads touch. “Yes?”
“Will you please tell me you love me? I’m dying here.”
And then we’re laughing. And then I’m in his arms, and we’re kissing, at first quickly—to make up for lost time—and then slowly, because we have all
the time in the world. And his lips are soft and honey sweet, and the careful, passionate way he moves them against my own says that he savors the way I
taste, too.
And in between kisses, I tell him I love him.
Again and again and again.”

3.  Sam from the “Shiver” series by Maggie Stiefvater

“And then I opened my eyes and it was just Grace and me – nothing anywhere but Grace and me – she pressing her lips together as though she were keeping my kiss inside her, and me, holding this moment that was as fragile as a bird in my hands.”

and

“I could still smell her on my fur. It clung to me, a memory of another world.
I was drunk with it, with the scent of her. I’d got too close.
The smell of summer on her skin, the half-recalled cadence of her voice, the sensation of her fingers on my fur. Every bit of me sang with the memory of her closeness.
Too close.
I couldn’t stay away”

4.  Dave from “What Happened to Goodbye” by Sarah Dessen

Dave is that wonderful friend next door that is always there for you.  Despite being the perennial “math geek” he is also incredibly patient and willing to wait until Mclean is ready for more than friendship.

“So,” he said as we turned onto the main road, the muffler rattling, “I’ve been thinking.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “You really need to go out with me.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“You know. You, me. A restaurant or movie. Together.” He glanced over, shifting gears. “Maybe it’s a new concept for you? If so, I’ll be happy to walk you through it.”
“You want to take me to a movie?” I asked.
“Well, not really,” he said. “What I really want is for you to be my girlfriend. But I thought saying that might scare you off.”

5. Jonah Griggs from “Jellicoe Road” by Melina Marchetta

“I’m here because of you. You’re my priority. Your happiness, in some fucked way, is tuned in to mine. Get that through your thick skull. Would I like it any other way? Hell, yes, but I don’t think that will be happening in my lifetime.”

and

“I’m thinking that after last night you shouldn’t have to spend your morning in a hospital finding out if my mother has tried to OD.”

“And I’m thinking that after last night I want to be anywhere you are and if that means being in a hospital asking about your mother, then so be it.”

6.  Joe Fontaine from “The Sky Is Everywhere” by Jandy Nelson

“Forget what I said earlier, let’s stick with this, I might not survive anything more.” I laugh. Then he jumps up, finds my wrists, and pins them over my head.

“Yeah, right. Totally joking, I want to do everything with you, whenever you’re ready, I’m the one, promise?”He’s above me, batting and grinning like a total hooplehead.

“I promise,” I say.
“Good. Glad that’s decided.” He raises an eyebrow. “I’m going to deflower you, John Lennon.”

7. Daniel from “Fallen” and “Torment” by Lauren Kate

A fallen angel doomed to love the same woman must suffer watching her die over and over for all eternity.  There is still so much that Luce doesn’t know, except that Daniel is part of her past lives and they share a love that is eternal.

“Are you okay?” Daniel whispered, his voice soft, his lips so close to hers.
“Yes.” She could feel the beating of his wings. “You caught me.”
“I will always catch you when you fall.”

“I have to go,” he said at last, getting to his feet. “I shouldn’t even be here, but I cannot keep my self away from you. I worry about you in every waking moment. I love you, Luce. So much it hurts.”