Joan Concilio

“The maid said no, for she had a sense of the fragility of things, and she felt she was a small plant in a small patch of soil held between the rocks of a dry and windy place, and she was not wanted by the world, and here she was at least known, and she was tolerated, and that was a blessing.”
― Mohsin Hamid, Exit West

“He knew he loved her; he knew it to his core. He loved her for her kindness, her ability to laugh both at him and at herself, and her intelligence. But most of all, he loved her for the feeling he had when he sat next to her on his couch in silence or woke up next to her in bed, that feeling of peace and happiness. That he was with someone who understood him and everything about him. That everything was right with the world.”
― Jasmine Guillory, The Proposal

“WAS THIS WHAT LOVE WAS? Being happy when you thought about someone; wanting to never stop thinking abou tthem, even when you were fighting; having every damn thing in the grocery store remind you of them, from diapers to sour cream; wanting to be a better writer and friend and person because of how they were and how they made you feel; wanting to be with them, all the time, even though you kept fighting it.”
― Jasmine Guillory, The Proposal

“Fondness warmed his gaze from the inside out, as if he was seeing exactly the person he wanted to see.”
― Christina Lauren, The Soulmate Equation