Jennifer Ryan > Quotes

“Music takes us out of ourselves, away from our worries and tragedies, helps us look into a different world, a bigger picture. All those cadences and beautiful chord changes, every one of them makes you feel a different splendor of life.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“Grief feels a lot like fear. We’re afraid of it taking us over. But we owe it to ourselves, to those we have lost, to let grief in. Only then can we start to remember them with a cheer in our heart, a cheer for them and all that they were.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Spies of Shilling Lane

“Sometimes the magic of life is beyond thought. It's the sparkle of intuition, of bringing your own personal energy into your music.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“And isn't love between two people better than hatred, in this world of violence and mourning? There seemed to me a fragile kindness in their love that survived through this poisonous war. Even though one of them hadn't.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“...we spoke about dying. [Prim] told me how she'd nearly died of malaria. She said that she didn't mind the thought of death. That realizing you're going to die actually makes life better as it's only then that you decide to live the life you really want to live.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“That’s it! That’s the measure of success, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“The amount that you love and are loved. It’s love – don’t you see?”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Spies of Shilling Lane

“Perhaps there is something good that had come from this war: everything has been turned around, all the unfairness made grimly plain. It has given us everyday women a voice - dared us to stand up for ourselves, and to stand up for others. We have less to lose in this world of chaos and death, after all.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“Sometimes you have to feel grateful for what you have, see the good, and only the good. We only have one life. One chance for happiness. And sometimes we forget that we can actually choose whether we want joy or cynicism. Let’s pick joy.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Spies of Shilling Lane

“The volume swelled with passion and deliberation as we poured our emotions into every darkened corner of the church. Every dusty cloister and crevice reverberated, reaching a crescendo in the final chorus, a vocal unison of thirteen villagers that cold, still night, pouring out our longings, our anxieties, our deepest fears.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

“A book isn't just a physical object. Once you've read it, it becomes a thought, a story, a memory that is alive inside you forever.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Underground Library

“The books had been purged. She imagined them in a heaving fire, spitting and exploding with lives dedicated to food: plumes of gold and green smoke would light the sky, the aromas of feasts of ages past infusing their memories into the universe."

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan”
― Jennifer Ryan

“A book isn't just a physical object; once you've read it, it becomes a thought, a story, a memory that is alive inside you forever.”
― Jennifer Ryan

“When I saw you in the diner the first day we met, your eyes amazed me. I think I fell in love with you then. Now when I look in your eyes, I see the promise of the future we’ll have together. Some of the sadness is gone. I hope once all of this is over, I’ll see happiness in them every day.”

-Jack to Jenna”
― Jennifer Ryan, Saved by the Rancher

“I know you want her to be alive--you feel like you need her to carry on. But the body in the coffin is just that: a body, the shell of the person you love. The essence of Mrs. Quince, the one you know and love, is all around us, in nature and the stars, in every recipe of hers that you cook, and deep inside your heart....No matter how many times we say that someone is dead, the fact is we simply can't imagine a world without them.

[Audrey Landon, to Nell Brown]”
― Jennifer Ryan

“Hey,” a deep unfamiliar voice said from behind her. Every nerve went on alert. Her heart pounded with fear. Instinct told her to run, but how far could she go with him so close?
She grabbed a knife from the butcher block beside her and spun around, hurting her sore feet but not really feeling the pain. “Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”
Somewhere in her muddled mind he looked familiar, but the fear stole her rational thoughts. Her hands shook and she backed up into the counter, looking everywhere for an escape that seemed impossible.
“Hey now, you’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Tears filled her eyes. Too much to take in one night, she stammered, “Get out. Leave me alone.”
The stranger took a step toward her, and she took one toward him. “Get out, or I’ll gut you where you stand.”
One side of his mouth cocked up in a slanted grin. His eyes flashed with admiration, confusing her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m looking for Owen.”
“He doesn’t live here. Why does everyone think he lives here?” she yelled.
A flash of movement came from her left; she swung to face the new danger and inhaled when Owen rushed her, pushing the knife out of his way and pulling her close. She immediately dropped it and grabbed hold of him as he kept his back to the stranger, her back to the counter, and his big body protecting her. “You’re okay, sweetheart. That’s my brother, Brody. He came to help me board up the glass door.”
He hugged her closer when she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and held him tighter, crying all over the front of his shirt, her face buried in his chest, her bravado from a moment ago drained away, overwhelmed by her fear. Owen was here, holding her, keeping her safe. She needed him and refused to let go, even when he tried to back away.
“Brody, man, you want to give us a minute.”
“Sure. I just wanted to let her know I’m here. She’s got a lot of guts, facing off with me with that knife. I like her.”
“Yeah, I like her, too.” Owen brushed his hand over her head and settled into her, holding her tight and close. Brody left with a chuckle and an “I bet you do.”
All of a sudden she felt foolish, but it didn’t stop her from staying in Owen’s arms. She shifted on her feet, and he slid his big hands down her back to her waist, hoisting her up onto the counter. His warm hands settled on her thighs, spreading them wide so he could stand between them. Close. Intimate. Their eyes met, and he reached up and swiped his thumbs across both her cheeks, taking away the tears.
She got hold of herself enough to say, “Your brother is huge.”
“You just faced off with an ex– Army Ranger. He could take you out with one lethal smile.”
“He wasn’t smiling.”
“He doesn’t much, since he got home. Unless he’s with Rain."

-Brody, Claire, & Owen”
― Jennifer Ryan, Falling for Owen

“To her [Mrs. Quince], food symbolizes the exchange of love. We nourish who we love.

[Nell Brown]”
― Jennifer Ryan

“Next, make the icing. Melt the butter or margarine, then mix with the cocoa powder, milk powder, sugar, and vanilla essence until soft and shiny.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Kitchen Front

“I realize that death isn’t the part of life to fear the most. It is the fear of not living up to our true potential.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Spies of Shilling Lane

“In the end, the best we can hope for is that we’ve left our mark on the people who matter most to us, that we’ve loved them so well, a piece of us will forever remain a part of them.”
― Jennifer Ryan, Her Renegade Rancher

“Survival is about sticking together.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Kitchen Front

“Like most every time she slept, she had a nightmare. Her body went rigid and still beside him, her breath caught and stopped,”
― Jennifer Ryan, At Wolf Ranch

“It takes a lot of time to get over someone. At first, it's like your world has stopped turning, like everything has gone into black and white and all that matters is that they have gone. But slowly the unstoppable scream of pain becomes a howl, and then it becomes a cry, then a moan. I know it doesn't feel like it, but new life will begin to fill in the gaps.

[Audrey Landon, to Nell Brown]”
― Jennifer Ryan

“across”
― Jennifer Ryan, Her Lucky Cowboy

“If only he’d confided in her, trusted in her love”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Me I Used to Be

“more range of motion today. Working it out while I mix up batter for the baked goods helps.” “Good.” “So, how”
― Jennifer Ryan, Falling for Owen

“I’ve been waiting for you.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Me I Used to Be

“Love is the most crucial thing we have.
Above reputation, above beauty, above our kindest actions.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Spies of Shilling Lane

“two flatbed tow trucks lumbered down the driveway. Each with a covered vehicle on the back. They pulled up in front of the house and positioned themselves to unload the vehicles.
The man in the first truck got out and said, “This Stargazer Ranch?”
Jack replied, “Yeah.”
“You the owner, Jack Turner?”
“Yeah.”
“Delivery’s for you, man.”
Jack and Caleb came off the porch, staring at the trucks and the man.
“Whose cars are these?”
“Yours. Sign here, please.”
Jack signed and the man got out two pink slips. “Who gets the Camaro?”
Caleb and Jack looked at each other blankly.
“She didn’t,” Caleb blurted.
“If the she you’re referring to goes by Jenna Caldwell, then yes, she did,” the delivery man said.
“Uh, the Camaro is mine, I guess.” Jack couldn’t believe it. She bought him a car.
“Okay, sign here.”
Jack did and took the pink slip.
“Is the Mustang for you?” the delivery man asked Caleb.
Caleb opened his mouth, closed it, then said still unsure, “Uh, yeah, I guess it is.”
“Sign here and we’ll get them unloaded.”
“Jack, she bought me a car. Why did she buy me a car?”
Stunned, they could only stare.
“This can’t be real. People don’t buy other people cars. Not like this.”
“I don’t know. She bought me one, too,” Jack said, dumbfounded.

-Deliveryman, Jack, & Caleb”
― Jennifer Ryan, Saved by the Rancher

“He held Evangeline’s gaze, silently letting her know all she was doing was putting off the inevitable. And if she didn’t come to that conclusion soon, he’d push. Because if she didn’t sign the contract, she’d find that maybe he wasn’t so willing to break his back working for everybody when he could go to work for someone else and support his family without worrying about the rest of them.”
― Jennifer Ryan, The Me I Used to Be

“Books give us so many things. They give us a world to imagine, a cozy corner to lull us to sleep on a hard, cold stone floor. They give us facts and figures to guide us. A knitting pattern or a recipe to help us with the rations, a map of the world or the history of Europe, the poets from the last war, and the news of this war too. They give us joy, hope, and inspiration. They help us to see inside someone else’s world and empathize with people we’ve never met. And if there is one thing the world needs right now, it is the willingness to understand and connect.”
The Underground Library,”
― Jennifer Ryan