My Favorite Romance: Kristin Baker P.

. . . Don't ask me to spell her last name. I don't want to embarrass myself. You guys have heard me rave about my friend Kris and have read my critique of her WIP "Cobalt." She's a familiar face around here. She's also one of the voices I trust most in my writing. Like all those who critique my work, her voice is unique from any other. Because Kristin doesn't write romance (and blushes whenever her characters brush hands . . .), I thought she'd be PERFECT for sharing her favorite romance. And she was. She reminded me of a scene I hadn't even thought of in connection with romance (because the book is NOT a romanctical book!) But of course, it is one of my top tens as well, because it helped me reconcile something I didn't like about that book . . . I'll just let her explain. Without further adieu--



Ooh how fun! Okay, a couple popped into my head. There's the following scene from the end of my own book, Blood Moon. I like this because Nissa has been feeling the first stirrings of feelings toward Theryn (they used to hate each other), wondering if she really likes him or what exactly it is she's feeling, and worried that he doesn't feel the same. It's very first-drafty though! And I blushed like mad when I was writing it. LOL

Theryn pulled me away from the tree and put his arms around my shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut against his neck, willing the tears not to come, trying to control the panic fluttering in my chest like a trapped bird. “There’s hope, Nissa,” he whispered into my hair. “Ymethand said it won’t heal on its own. But there’s something we can try.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and let him hold me upright. His dragon wings pressed against my hands, feeling like leather that had spent a few hours in the sunshine. He stroked the back of my neck, and I stopped caring how he felt, whether his touch was only to see if my magic had run too low.
“What do we need to do?” I asked, my voice almost breaking.

The end scene from Mockingjay, which actually made me cry. (And is a major spoiler for anyone who hasn't read the books yet.) {Me, having to say my piece. I never wanted Katniss to end up with Peeta, and felt even more so throughout the second half of Mockingjay, but this scene pulled it together for me, and like Kris, it ended up being one of my favorites, especially Peeta's last line. As Kris mentioned SPOILER ahead. If you haven't read Mockingjay, you might want to quit reading here.}

Peeta and I grow back together. There are still moments when he clutches the back of a chair and hangs on until the flashbacks are over. I wake screaming from nightmares of mutts and lost children. But his arms are there to comfort me. And eventually his lips. On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.
So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real."

Oh gosh, I just teared up again! LOVE that scene, it's so tender and emotional.

{Me too! Thanks, Kris, that was lovely. You can, of course, read Kristin's awesome blog here.}