“
Good memories are like charms...Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.
”
”
James Patterson (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas)
“
In two decades I've lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.
”
”
Erma Bombeck
“
Unwrapping the paper carefully so it doesn’t tear, I find a beautiful red leather
box. Cartier. It’s familiar, thanks to my second-chance earrings and my watch.
Cautiously, I open the box to discover a delicate charm bracelet of silver, or platinum
or white gold—I don’t know, but it’s absolutely enchanting. Attached to it
are several charms: the Eiffel Tower, a London black cab, a helicopter—Charlie
Tango, a glider—the soaring, a catamaran—The Grace, a bed, and an ice cream
cone? I look up at him, bemused.
“Vanilla?” He shrugs apologetically, and I can’t help but laugh. Of course.
“Christian, this is beautiful. Thank you. It’s yar.” He grins.
My favorite is the heart. It’s a locket.
“You can put a picture or whatever in that.”
“A picture of you.” I glance at him through my lashes. “Always in my heart.”
He smiles his lovely, heartbreakingly shy smile.
I fondle the last two charms: a letter C—oh yes, I was his first girlfriend to
use his first name. I smile at the thought. And finally, there’s a key.
“To my heart and soul,” he whispers.
”
”
E.L. James (Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3))
“
And in a small house five miles away was a man who held my mud-encrusted charm bracelet out to his wife.
Look what I found at the old industrial park," he said. "A construction guy said they were bulldozing the whole lot. They're afraid of sink holes like that one that swallowed the cars."
His wife poured him some water from the sink as he fingered the tiny bike and the ballet shoe, the flower basket and the thimble. He held out the muddy bracelet as she set down his glass.
This little girl's grown up by now," she said.
Almost. Not quite.
I wish you all a long and happy life.
”
”
Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones)
“
I put the charm bracelet away in the purse and return it to my jewel case. I don't need a spell to foresee the future; I am going to make it happen.
”
”
Philippa Gregory (The Lady of the Rivers (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #1))
“
Do what makes you happy. It sounds so simple and yet it's so hard, because few of us do. We live out of fear. We live for others, their hopes and expectations. We do what makes everyone else happy.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Snowflake Charm
Be As Unique As A Snowflake: Embrace All Your Dimensions
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
A Mother & Daughter's Love Is Never Separated
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Draw outside the lines! Make the sky purple instead of blue! That's what it looks like to dreamers!
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Shooting Star Charm
To Be Lucky in Love, You Must First Believe in Miracles
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I’m going to lend you my good-luck charm,” I announce, holding up the tacky pink-and-purple bracelet. She gasps. “Seriously?” “Yup.
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Risk (Briar U, #2))
“
The Kite Charm
For A Life Filled with High-Flying Fun, Play with the Wonder of A Child
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Sewing Machine Charm
To A Life Bound by Family, The Thread That Ties Us All Together
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Ice Cream Cone Charm
You Will Never Work A Day Once You Discover A Passion That Makes Your Life Rich & Sweet
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Mustard Seed Charm
With Faith As Small As A Mustard Seed, Then You Can Move Mountains: Nothing Will Be Impossible
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
If I had to describe the scent of Michigan in spring and summer, it wouldn't be a
particular smell – blooming wildflowers or boat exhaust off the lake – it would be a color: Green.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I didn't just see fireworks, I felt them. I felt like I'd eaten a million lightning bugs when I was with him. He made my soul brighter, and that's all you can ask for when you're in love.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Give a piece of yourself. You will never realize how deep of a footprint you might make on a stranger.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The morning light shimmered through the trees and gave the lake an otherworldly hue. Everything in summer Michigan seemed to have a soft shimmer to it, as though God had hung gauze over the sky and softly scattered glitter on all His creations.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The only things we can control are our happiness, our destiny, our impact on others. Rest is up to God.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I've had an amazing life. One filled with blessings I could never have imagined.
Depressed is the last thing I am. Realistic, yes. Sad, never.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Hot Air Balloon Charm
Life Can Be Filled with Adventure If You Let Yourself Soar
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Book Charm
Your Story Will Never End As Long As Your Chapters Are Shared
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Will you dance with me?" The charms on Sahara's bracelet clinked against one another as she lifted her arms to link them around his neck, her love for him proud and open.
Deep inside, even the part of him that was the void, merciless and dark and broken, knew happiness, knew joy.
”
”
Nalini Singh (Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling, #15))
“
My mom says tears are just too much emotion, like when the bathtub overfills...and she says hugs are like Band-Aids.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You can create and be anything in this world that you want to be...Your imagination should be limitless.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Happiness, I've learned, is not only quite magical, but also contagious.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You can't schedule fun, and you can't put it off for the future. At some point, you just have to say to heck with everything and dive in headfirst.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The worst thing in the world is to have regrets. You will always have a few, but they shouldn't be ones that keep you up at night.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Dragonfly Charm
Embrace The Magic of Nature & Life Will Be Filled with Good Fortune
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Puzzle Piece Charm
To A Life Filled with Friends Who Complete You
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
The Loon Charm
To A Life Filled with A Love Whose Voice Always Calls You Home
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I hear my family's voices in the jangling of my charms.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
There's only one way to tackle life, enjoy a day at the beach, and jump into a Great Lake: Headfirst!
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
What wish did you grant me?" Lolly asked. "I can't tell you," the little girl said very seriously. "But if you believe, it will come true.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
We have all been given a seed of faith, but it is up to us to spread that around. We must believe in ourselves, have faith in what we don't understand. When we do, the world will open. You will no longer fear.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You've known what you were born to do since you were a little girl. You just fought it. We all do. You just needed faith. A little push. (...and a little hope)
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You must remember, unhappiness can consume you entirely, without you realizing. Happiness is a choice.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You bring your own weather in your life.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Think of what you could be, not what everyone else wants you to be.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Helen opened her eyes and gazed into the luminous blue of the sky. Was it crazy, she wondered, to be as grateful as she felt now, for moments like this, in a world that had atomic bombs in it—and concentration camps, and gas chambers? People were still tearing each other into pieces. There was still murder, starvation, unrest, in Poland, Palestine, India—God knew where else. Britain itself was sliding into bankruptcy and decay. Was it a kind of idiocy or selfishness, to want to be able to give yourself over to the trifles: to the parp of the Regent’s Park Band; to the sun on your face, the prickle of grass beneath your heels, the movement of cloudy beer in your veins, the secret closeness of your lover? Or were those trifles all you had? Oughtn’t you, precisely, to preserve them? To make little crystal drops of them, that you could keep, like charms on a bracelet, to tell against danger when next it came?
”
”
Sarah Waters (The Night Watch)
“
She saw that they felt themselves alone in that crowded room. And Vronsky’s face, always so firm and independent, held that look that had struck her, of bewilderment and humble submissiveness, like the expression of an intelligent dog when it has done wrong.
Anna smiled, and her smile was reflected by him. She grew thoughtful, and he became serious. Some supernatural force drew Kitty’s eyes to Anna’s face. She was enchanting in her simple black dress, enchanting were her round arms with their bracelets, enchanting was her firm neck with its thread of pearls, fascinating the straying curls of her loose hair, enchanting the graceful, light movements of her little feet and hands, enchanting was that lovely face in its animation, but there was something terrible and cruel about her charm.
”
”
Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina)
“
He looked around and yawned. “I haven’t been sleeping well. It’s nice in here. But after a while the lushes will fill the place up and talk loud and laugh and the goddam women will start waving their hands and screwing up their faces and tinkling their goddam bracelets and making up with the packaged charm which will later on in the evening have a slight but unmistakable odour of sweat.”
“Take it easy,” I said. “So they’re human, they sweat, they get dirty, they have to go to the bathroom. What did you expect – golden butterflies hovering in a rosy mist?
”
”
Raymond Chandler (The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6))
“
Friends are the pieces who complete us, the pieces that complete life's puzzle.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, then you can move mountains. Nothing will be impossible.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
You don't need permission to have fun. Fun is the one thing we can do anytime we want. Fun is always free!
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
If you only focus on your past, you're doomed. You have to honor your past but be focused on the future. You have to believe that there are always happier days to come.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
She smiled... and let loose a happy scream that seemed to release decades of insecurity, unhappiness, obsessiveness and worry.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I’m going to lend you my good-luck charm,” I announce, holding up the tacky pink-and-purple bracelet.
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Risk (Briar U, #2))
“
Good memories are like charms. Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.
”
”
James Patterson
“
Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Lauren
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
This charm is a reminder to live a life in which you become a person of many dimensions. Only that way will you become a whole, happy person.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Love, laughter and great memories – wasn’t that what life was truly about?
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
Good memories are like charms...Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.
”
”
James Patterson (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas)
“
The Tiara Charm
You Should Always Feel Like A Queen, Even for A Day
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
hopscotch, jump rope, charm bracelets, buried treasure, Harriet the Spying, blood sisters, crank calls, pot, coke, quaaludes.
”
”
Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad)
“
Jocelyn and I have done everything together since fourth grade: hopscotch, jump rope, charm bracelets, buried treasure, Harriet the Spying, blood sisters, crank calls, pot, coke, quaaludes.
”
”
Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad)
“
If you put yourself out there, you're going to get hurt at some point. Yes, your boyfriend or husband could leave you. He might stray. He could die way too young like your grandfather. And, at some point, you will both probably say things to one another you immediately want to take back. But, if you remain alone, your heart will ache for all that you never experienced. Love is filled with great beauty and great pain. But there is no beauty to life if you don't put your heart at risk. The ability to love is one of the greatest gifts we're given. It's the reason we're here.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Tell me about the loons,” Lolly would always reply. And he would. “They mate forever, just like humans,” he would tell her. “They always come home, to the same place, same lake, every year, as soon as the ice thaws. They are territorial, and mates will defend their home from other loons. Small lakes can only accommodate one pair of loons, so they are always together, and they always talk to each other.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Or were those trifles all you had? Oughtn’t you, precisely, to preserve them? To make little crystal drops of them, that you could keep, like charms on a bracelet, to tell against danger when next it came?
”
”
Sarah Waters (The Night Watch)
“
These charms capture every moment of my life...and yours, too. None of us would be sitting here today without them. They tell the story of where we've been, how far we've come, and where we still hope to go. I still believe that my life is like that dragonfly charm I gave you when you were a girl: Despite any sadness, it has been filled with good fortune.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Arden had learned in journalism school, however, that there were three kinds of readers: Ones who always opened a book or magazine to page one, and started from the beginning; readers who always read the last page first (Arden could never understand those readers); and readers who randomly opened to a page somewhere in the middle to gauge their interest. I
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Unwrapping the paper carefully so it doesn’t tear, I find a beautiful red leather box. Cartier. It’s familiar, thanks to my second-chance earrings and my watch. Cautiously, I open the box to discover a delicate charm bracelet of silver or platinum or white gold—I don’t know, but it’s absolutely enchanting. Attached to it are several charms: the Eiffel Tower; a London black cab; a helicopter—Charlie Tango; a glider—the soaring, a catamaran—The Grace; a bed; and an ice cream cone? I look up at him, bemused. “Vanilla?” He shrugs apologetically(...)
”
”
E.L. James (Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3))
“
The dead do not
become stars or ghosts.
in fact, they are
hardly undone.
Soon their randomly
dispersed parts
reappear one
by one on
foreign hosts-
the beloved ear
or freckled arm,
separate as a
milagro or bracelet
charm. It is not
grotesque, though
odd. Even a piece
does us some good.
“Charms
”
”
Kay Ryan (The Niagara River)
“
Life has not always been easy on her... yet she has somehow managed not only to survive but also to believe in the beauty of the world. She has remained an optimist. She has fun in this life, no matter what. I've learned that you can plan your life all you want, but you can't control it. You have to dive headfirst into it, experience its joys and pains...you have to live...and then you have to share those stories with the ones you love before its too late.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
He smiled, then looked up, focusing all of his twisted attention on me again. “That’s it. Come here. All you have to do is say yes, and you’ll be a Reaper for the rest of your life. Don’t you want that, Rory? Don’t you want that more than anything?” I smiled at him again, as though the thought made me happy. All the while, though, I kept clutching Babs’s hilt, focusing on the feel of her in my hand, along with my charm bracelet around my wrist. That was what was real, not the red Reaper fog that Covington wanted to drown me in forever. I wasn’t a Reaper, and I never, ever would be—no matter what. Aunt Rachel was
”
”
Jennifer Estep (Spartan Heart (Mythos Academy: Colorado, #1))
“
I held my breath as the door swung open and Meg Shaw stood in a spill of light from a Tiffany lamp. Her dress was ivory and sequined and it clung in exactly the right places to do me harm. White pumps and sheer stockings. Charm bracelet and a fine silver chain at her neck. Lucky I didn’t knock her out thrusting the posies in convulsive reflex.
”
”
Laird Barron (Blood Standard (Isaiah Coleridge, #1))
“
He is happy now, I am happy now, and that has made us kinder, more generous. We are all happy now. Happiness, I’ve learned, is not only quite magical, but also contagious.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Humans are like dominoes. Once we start to fall we tend to take everyone along with us.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I am the keeper of my mother's memories.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
My mother's charms, I know, aren't just charms. They are pieces of her, hard won through love, loss, and life.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: take a trip through New York City this Christmas)
“
If you live every day like it's your last, then you have no regret, because each new dawn it's a blessing in itself — a gift you didn't know you were being given.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet)
“
But even the bad stuff in life can teach you something, shape you.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I have no desire to wear my friends like charms on a bracelet. I have dear friends. We’re very close, too.
”
”
Eva Lesko Natiello (The Memory Box)
“
It’s a part of life. You never know what you are going to get, you just have to be strong enough to deal with it. Keep a positive attitude and have a little faith.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
broken glass is my bracelet with its heart-shaped diamond and benitoite charm.
”
”
M.J. Rose (Tiffany Blues)
“
Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5))
“
Give your full heart to whatever you do. It will ensure that you are always rich in happiness. If you have that, then you will always be exactly where you are supposed to be in life.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
I gave Annabel the bracelet and she loves it. I'm going to get one for myself and every time the little bell charm rings it will remind me how important it is to be loyal to your friends.
”
”
Penelope Bush (Diary of a Lottery Winner's Daughter)
“
But maybe the Charm Bracelets understood more about life than I did. From an early age they knew what little value the world placed in books, and so didn't waste their time with them. Whereas I, even now, persist in believing that these black marks on white paper bear the greatest significance, that if I keep writing I might be able to catch the rainbow of consciousness in a jar.
”
”
Jeffrey Eugenides (Middlesex)
“
After all, I was a woman who regularly ran into things, who tripped and who sometimes felt frazzled. I found that some of the best things in life happened when you accidentally bumped into them.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
I've come to appreciate that our elders- our grandmothers- are not only the pillars of our families, the charms in our lives, but also the bridges to our past and the steppingstones to our future.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Good memories are like charms, Nickey. Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they take a long, colorful bracelet. (pg. 79) Suzanee's Diary for Nicolas
”
”
James Patterson (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas)
“
The bracelet and the first charm appeared the day I punched Austin Jackson in the nose. I didn't mean to slug him. His face just got in my way. It was a bruising end to a disastrous first month in middle school.
”
”
Jenny Lundquist (The Charming Life of Izzy Malone)
“
You know, the earth is what grounds us in life for a very short time. The starts from Mary's family remain forever in my garden. They represent a way to keep the memory of those we love alive, no matter where we live, or how much time has passed.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
I've learned that you can plan your life all you want, but you can't control it. You have to dive headfirst into it, experience its joys and pains... you have to live... and then you have to share those stories with the ones you love before it's too late.
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Charm Bracelet)
“
Is coffee okay? I’ve run out of tea.” Arthur nodded and sat down on the sofa. Lucy leaped up and settled on his lap. He stroked her head and she looked up at him with her orange eyes. “Where’s next on your travels?” Mike said as he placed two steaming mugs on the table. “What’s the next charm you’re trying to trace?” “I don’t know. I’m intrigued by the paint palette. And I haven’t thought about my mother-in-law for years. Or perhaps I should just stop searching. It makes my head hurt.” “You should never give up,” Mike said. “Those charms on your bracelet could be lucky.
”
”
Phaedra Patrick (The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper)
“
My aunts were elegant American women, dressed in silk and fur, with diamond rings and charm bracelets and other bracelets as heavy as chains. Their moving hands were jangling, they were playing a symphony in gold. The style of these people was so different from mine. They were as strange to me as I must have looked to them. That fall of 1947, women's fashions had changed entirely. While I left Bucharest, went through Europe for a month, a new `look' was launched in Paris by Christian Dior. Skirts were long, coats big and long, a sloppy style, a `new look', the Dior style.
”
”
Pearl Fichman (Before Memories Fade)
“
There’s surprise in his voice, as if women are somehow incapable of boldness. Or maybe his surprise stems from the fact that, in person, I’m anything but bold. Compared with other outsize personalities in the art world, I’m positively demure. No all-purple ensemble or flashy footwear for me. Tonight’s little black dress and black pumps with a kitten heel are as fancy as I get. Most days I dress in the same combination of khakis and paint-specked T-shirts. My only jewelry is the silver charm bracelet always wrapped around my left wrist. Hanging from it are three charms—tiny birds made of brushed pewter
”
”
Riley Sager (The Last Time I Lied)
“
I shake my head, thinking of times past, before everything had happened. I wish I could take back all of the times I complained about being too hot, or too cold, or being bored, or too busy. I wish I could have all those times back, and just be happy to be in the moment. All of my little complaints seem so silly, so trite, especially now.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
Tina Gardenia was as happy as a cat with a full belly.
She had kept Luca Lowell’s heart safely on her charm bracelet, and it had been wonderful.
It was Sunday morning again, and Luca was clunking around in the tiny kitchen on one bare foot and one walking cast, making coffee by the smell of it.
Tina snuggled Muffins close to her face. “You’re a handsome boy,” she cooed.
“I know you’re talking to the cat,” Luca said. “Why don’t you talk to me like that?”
“You already get more than enough compliments, Mr. Lowell.”
“How many dunks do I dunk your tea bags?”
“You don’t dunk. Just pour the water on and let it steep.”
“How’s it going to steep if you’re not dunking?”
“Fine,” she said. “Give it... seven dunks.”
“Gotcha. Seven dunks.” He started counting them out.
Tina nuzzled the ginger cat sprawled out on the couch. “You’re the prettiest boy in the world,” she said.
Luca growled, “I heard that.”
“Focus on your dunking.”
“Darn it. I lost count.”
“That’ll teach you for listening in on other people’s private conversations.”
Luca snorted and went back to dunking.
For the last two weeks, Muffins had been coming to visit at the tiny house regularly, and Luca had been pretending to be a jealous boyfriend. He and the cat were bonding on their own, though, often snuggling up on the couch together, watching their favorite shows. Luca liked true crime shows, and Muffins liked a warm lap and chin scratches.
”
”
Angie Pepper
“
I want you to know that life will try to crack you like an egg and your silence will eventually break. Someday you will spill some of those painful secrets and taste a modicum of much-needed freedom. You will lose a great deal as a result but the gains will outweigh every loss. You will love and be loved by a beautiful man in a place where your mutual passion won’t be a marker of shame but pride. You will be awkward and alone and alien for a long time but you will transform these qualities, which is to say yourself, into a work of art. You will wear your awkwardness, your aloneness and your alienness in your hair like gold thread. You will adorn your wonkiness on your wrist like a charm bracelet studded with stars.
”
”
Diriye Osman
“
I simply nodded. ‘I disagree actually. I have read that those people who are surrounded by love, compassion and the positive attitude of others - while also believing in their own ability to heal, or having a type of dedication to a greater energy, be it karma, God, magic, whatever - have a surprising survival rate. Hence, I choose to make sure my interests in this area are equally balanced.
”
”
Melissa Hill (The Charm Bracelet: A Novel (New York Christmas Romance))
“
Her silver brocade wedding gown was of the most shimmering cloth I have ever seen, encrusted with glittering embroidery of silver roses. It had a wide skirt, a seventeen inch waist, and a tight bodice with short sleeves. [She wore] superb jewels: bracelets, drop earrings, brooches, rings.… The precious stones with which she was covered, gave her a charming appearance.… Her complexion has never been lovelier.
”
”
Robert K. Massie (Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman)
“
She leaned forward, eager to see what it was. She was wearing her charm bracelet that day, as she always did, so she was eager to add the new one. But what was it?
“That’s funny,” Luca said. “It looked a lot bigger in the store.” He dropped the charm into her hand. It was a teeny, tiny ring. An engagement ring.
“Luca,” she said.
The older lady giggled nervously.
“Hang on,” Luca said. “Don’t say anything yet.” He reached into his pocket again, and that time he pulled out a full-sized ring. One that would fit on her finger.
It was the second most beautiful thing Tina Gardenia had ever seen.
The most beautiful thing she’d ever seen was Luca’s blue eyes, glistening as he looked up at her and asked, “Will you marry me?”
The word came out of her mouth without even registering in her brain. “Yes.”
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his big shoulders.
The other patients, and some nurses who’d approached quietly, clapped and cheered.
”
”
Angie Pepper
“
Grace adored Amelia. The older woman was a close friend of her grandmother and mother, and a constant in Grace's life. She visited Amelia often. The inn was her second home.
As a child she'd always raced up the stairs and raided Amelia's bedroom closet, and Amelia had encouraged her unconventional behavior. Grace had loved dressing up in vintage clothing. Attempting to walk up in a pair of high button shoes. Amelia was the first to recognize Grace's love of costume. Her enjoyment of tea parties. She'd supported Grace's dream of opening her business, Charade, when Grace sought a career. From birthdays to holidays, the costume shop was popular and successful. Grace couldn't have been happier.
She admired Amelia now. Her long, braided hair was the same soft gray as her eyes. Years accumulated, but never seemed to touch her. She appeared youthful, ageless, in a sage-green tunic, belted over a paisley gauze skirt in shades of cranberry, green, and gold. Elaborate gold hoops hung at her ears, ones designed with silver beads and tiny gold bells. The thin metal chains on her three-tiered necklace sparkled with lavender rhinestones and reflective mirror discs. Bangles of charms looped her wrist. A thick, hammered-silver bracelet curved near her right elbow. A triple gold ring with three pearls arched from her index finger to her fourth. She sparkled.
”
”
Kate Angell (The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine)
“
It was getting difficult to see exactly what was going on in the pool and a fourth officer jumped in as one came up with the unconscious form of the first cop. While others pulled the half-drowned man from the pool, three more wrestled Skorzeny to the surface and dragged him to the steps at the shallow end of the pool. He wasn't struggling any longer. Nor was he breathing with any apparent difficulty. The biggest of the three cops later admitted to punching him as hard as he could in the stomach and Skorzey doubled over. Another half-dragged him, still on his feet, shirt torn, jacket ripped, out of the pool and put a handcuff on his left wrist.
Skorzeny pulled his arm away from the cop and, suddenly straightening, elbow-jabbed him in the gut, sending him sprawling and rolling back into the pool. Skorzeny turned toward the back
fence and was now between the pool and a small palm tree. Before him were two advancing officers, pistols leveled. Behind him two more circled the pool. Skorzeny lunged forward and all fired simultaneously. The noise was deafening. Lights in neighboring houses began to go on.
Skorzeny's body twitched and bucked as the heavy slugs ripped through his body. His forward momentum carried him into the officers ahead of him and he half-crawled, half-staggered to the southeast corner of the yard where another gate was set into the fiberglass fencing. Two more officers, across the pool, cut loose with their pistols, emptying them into this writing body which danced like a puppet. Another cop fired two shots from his pump-action shotgun and Skorzeny was lifted clean off his feet and slammed against the gate, sagging to the ground.
En masse from both ends of the pool they advanced, when he gave out with a terrible hissing snarl and started to rise once more. All movement ceased as the cops, to a man, stood frozen in their tracks. Skorzeny stood there like some hideous caricature, his shredding clothing and skin hanging like limp rags from his scarecrow form. His flesh was ripped in several places and he was oozing something that looked like watered-down blood. It was pinkish and transparent. He stood there like a living nightmare. Then he straightened and raised his fist with the cuff still dangling from it like a charm bracelet.
'Fools!' he shrieked. 'You can't kill me. You can't even hurt me.'
Overhead, the copter hovered, the copilot giving a blow-by-blow description of the fight over the radio. The police on the ground were paralyzed. Nearly thirty shots had been fired (the bullets later tallied in reports turned in by the participating officers) and their quarry was still as strong as ever. He'd been hit repeatedly in the head and legs, so a bulletproof vest wasn't the answer. And at distances sometimes as little as five feet, they could hardly have missed. They'd seen him hit.
They stood frozen in an eerie tableau as the still roiling pool water threw weird reflections all over the yard.
Then Skorzeny did the most frightening thing of all. He smiled. A red-rimmed, hideous grin revealing fangs that 'would have done justice to a Doberman Pinscher.
”
”
Jeff Rice (The Night Stalker)
“
While I was deep in my fantasy, in yet another episode of perfect timing, Marlboro Man called from the road.
“Hey,” he said, the mid-1990s spotty cell phone service only emphasizing the raspy charm of his voice.
“Oh! Just the person I want to talk to,” I said, grabbing paper and a pen. “I have a question for you--”
“I bought your wedding present today,” Marlboro Man interrupted.
“Huh?” I said, caught off guard. “Wedding present?” For someone steeped in the proper way of doing things, I was ashamed that a wedding gift for Marlboro Man had never crossed my mind.
“Yep,” he said. “And you need to hurry up and marry me so I can give it to you.”
I giggled. “So…what is it?” I asked. I couldn’t even imagine. I hoped it wasn’t a tennis bracelet.
“You have to marry me to find out,” he answered.
Yikes. What was it? Wasn’t the wedding ring itself supposed to be the present? That’s what I’d been banking on. What would I ever get him? Cuff links? An Italian leather briefcase? A Montblanc pen? What do you give a man who rides a horse to work every day?
“So, woman,” Marlboro Man said, changing the subject, “what did you want to ask me?”
“Oh!” I said, focusing my thoughts back to the reception. “Okay, I need you to name your absolute favorite foods in the entire world.”
He paused. “Why?”
“I’m just taking a survey,” I answered.
“Hmmm…” He thought for a minute. “Probably steak.”
Duh. “Well, besides steak,” I said.
“Steak,” he repeated.
“And what else?” I asked.
“Well…steak is pretty good,” he answered.
“Okay,” I responded. “I understand that you like steak. But I need a little more to work with here.”
“But why?” he asked.
“Because I’m taking a survey,” I repeated.
Marlboro Man chuckled. “Okay, but I’m really hungry right now, and I’m three hours from home.”
“I’ll factor that in,” I said.
“Biscuits and gravy…tenderloin…chocolate cake…barbecue ribs…scrambled eggs,” he said, rattling off his favorite comfort foods.
Bingo, I thought, smiling.
“Now, hurry up and marry me,” he commanded. “I’m tired of waiting on you.”
I loved it when he was bossy.
”
”
Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels)