We have an absolutely amazing guest post from Poppy, who is recounting some of her favorite book moments!
Poppy is a long-time fan of SBTB and loves cats, books and coffee, in that order. She illustrates The Loo Cats, an imaginative series starring her rescue cats in the most fantastical, improbable scenarios. The series is an ode to four spunky felines who survived abuse and abandonment before they found their forever home. Now they are elderly and ill, and can only travel in their human’s wild, colour-saturated imagination – but they continue to bring delight and iridescence to the lives of those around them. Join them on their adventures @geninepoppyloo on Instagram!
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The past weeks have been brutal, so instead of reading whole books, I have been bingeing on my favourite book moments. This means borrowing dozens of books, revisiting specific chapters, pages – sometimes even sentences! – and then returning them. You have probably guessed where this is going – I’ve put together a Best Book Moments list! I originally picked out ten, but man, that was taking a long time to write. Eventually I settled on my favourite three, and in true meme style, titled the list “The Top Three That Moment Whens”.
Also, a few months ago I picked up phone doodling to cope with dreary work commutes, inexplicable sad days, and fits of anxiety. In the past weeks there have been plenty of those, so there have also been quite a few doodles. To accompany my list, here are three, loosely inspired by the scenes mentioned below.
Warning: There will be cats. In fact, I have edited out the original book characters in favour of cats because #crazycatlady. (Other cats-in-situations doodles are on Instagram @geninepoppyloo if anyone’s interested!)
Alright, here goes in no order of merit:
- That Moment When…Cake and Flowers Don’t Mean Shit if the Guy Don’t Get It
From Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare
As you can guess, Clio and Rafe had all the feels for each other but Rafe thought he should do the right thing (for a variety of reasons) and persuade Clio to go through with the wedding, which brings me to That Moment When:
Rafe decided, rather ham-handedly, to pull out all the stops and get Clio to realise how awesome it would be to be a bride. He surprised Clio with a room stuffed with stunning blooms for her wedding bouquet and a literal buffet of wedding cake. Clio was at first amazed and moved at the incredible effort (and spectacle), until:
She understood his strategy now. He meant to overwhelm her with luxury, lavish choices upon her. If he piled on enough fantasy and spectacle, surely Clio would give in. A little cake waved under her nose, and she would give up her dreams and plans to walk down the aisle instead.
She couldn’t decide whether he failed to understand her, or didn’t respect her… All her plans for this place – and her own independence… Rafe thought she would trade it all for a twelve-tiered cake with cupids bursting out the top.
YES! I love this moment of Clio’s crystal-clear, soul-piercing realization: when she looked past the grandiose gesture to see what’s truly important to her and what she really needed – not the distraction of daffodils and dessert, but understanding and respect. And importantly, she also saw clearly at that moment that she’s not getting it from Rafe. (Although the scene ultimately ended in a sexy food fight, some kissing and a dog that swallowed an engagement ring.)
While I love Clio’s aha moment, frankly, the idea of all the food and flowers going to waste gave me a bit of anxiety.
So here is a doodle inspired by this scene, with my two cuties going to town on the munchies (in this fantasy world they can eat all the cake they want!)
- That Moment When the Heavenly Mountains Shelter You from the Outside World
From My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas
Of course – OF COURSE – my favourite scene is Ying-ying’s and Leighton’s hide-out in a cave near the Heavenly Mountains (the Tian Shan), after he rescued her from a fight with bandits. Their courtship, up to this point, had been beautifully handled as the slow burn of two extraordinary people and their growing mutual attraction. But until the fight and subsequent hide-out, there had been too many complications between them – Ying-ying was disguised as a man and carrying out secret duties on behalf of her stepfather, Leighton was undercover as a Persian gems dealer and spying on behalf of Britain. In the forced proximity of the cave, though, all external circumstances – even their true names – fell away. In that paradisiacal bubble under the shadow of a giant faded Buddhist mural, they could just be two people getting to know each other, taking care of each other, and falling quickly and intensely in love.
He handed her the pouch of gems. She closed her fingers over it, knowing that she was holding a promise.
She grinned at him. “There will be only pebbles inside when I give it back.”
He smiled back. “I would rather have pebbles from you than the Koh-I-Noor from anyone else.”
She watched him ride away, her heart as bright and sun-drenched as the day.
The outside world soon intruded once Leighton travelled out for supplies – he overheard some soldiers talking about Ying-ying and came to the mistaken belief that she was an agent of the Ch’ing state that he was spying on. A heartbreaking and rather horrifying parting followed, and they continued to be separated for years until they met again in London.
I love the cave hide-out for representing those magical moments in life – the brief uncomplicated joy when time, space, and state of being fuse into an unrepeatable instance that can only live on afterwards as a poignant memory. Throughout the book, Ying-ying and Leighton separately reminisced about Xinjiang and their days hiding in the cave, yearning not only for each other and the heartwrenchingly beautiful landscape, but also the persons that they were and the less complicated circumstances they were in then.
Happily for them, they reunited and it’s implied that they would travel back to Xinjiang and the Heavenly Mountains and create new memories. Sadly, the same is not possible for me (for now) so here is me and kitty hiking the stunning Muztagh Ata (the “father of ice mountains”) which sits in Kashgar on the borders of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.
- That Moment When it is the Beginning of the Rest of Your Life
From His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
The Corps believed that dragonettes had to be harnessed soon after hatching; otherwise they would go feral and it would be impossible to press them into service. They were also notoriously finicky about their handlers; the person harnessing them would essentially end up with a lifelong responsibility of care. Knowing how crucial dragons were to Britain’s defence, Laurence reluctantly took on the care of the dragonette, which meant giving up his career in the Navy and his plans to wed.
After Laurence accepted the responsibility of harnessing the dragonette – Temeraire – he went through a series of moments in which he realized it was, indeed, the beginning of the rest of his life, but one that has been unfairly and painfully foisted upon him:
Laurence sat down with a thump and stared at the sleeping dragon, as at an instrument of doom.
…He dearly loved society; conversation, dancing, and friendly whist were his favourite pursuits; and when he thought that he might never go to the opera again, he felt a very palpable urge to tip the laden cot out the windows.
It was not until the ship made port at Madeira, leaving Laurence and Temeraire onshore for a few days, that Laurence started to develop genuine affection for his dragon. This came to the test when the Corps, having heard of the valuable harnessed dragon, arrived to relieve Laurence of his duty. Faced with the prospect of giving up Temeraire to the aviator who was to take his place, Laurence came to his own realization:
Temeraire was quiet for several minutes, while they stood comfortably together… “If you would like to have your ship back,” Temeraire said, “I will let someone else ride me… I will not make you stay.”
Laurence stood motionless for a moment, his hands still on Temeraire’s head, with the dragon’s warm breath curling around him. “No, my dear,” he said at last, softly, knowing it was only the truth. “I would rather have you than any ship in the Navy.”
I’ve re-read the Temeraire series at least three times now, and this scene always makes me sniffly: seeing Laurence go from treating Temeraire as a duty-driven obligation to realising that he wants Temeraire, and would be happy to build a life with what is essentially now his foster child. (Albeit one larger than a warship and with the ability to snap a man in two with a single bite.) Is this what the kids call “owning it”?
I love this entire series for military strategies, the very clever commentary on politics, social and gender issues, and most of all, the human-dragon relationships. That last bit is probably not surprising for an adoring mama to four kitties, so here is one of them mounted on his own dragon whilst his fussing, freaked out mom watches.
And that concludes my list of Top Three That Moment Whens. What are some of your favourite book moments?
This was a beautiful post. I don’t know why but I teared up at the ice mountain doodle. Thank you, Poppy!
I did, too! I am so honored Poppy shared this post with me so I could share it with y’all.
I love this so much. I haven’t read the Novik book, but I love the other two and the art hit me right in the feelings. What beautiful art and I’m so happy you shared it with us.
There are two that I love from the Kate Daniels series:
In Magic Strikes (Book #3) – there is a moment in the final fight scene where Kate’s crew is up against the main villain crew and she recognizes a magic sword they are using. The whole scene where she takes steps to neutralize the sword, plus the reactions to everyone around her are just exciting stuff.
In Magic Breaks (book #7)- In the previous book a beloved character is killed. So when in this book, Kate gets the opportunity to avenge the death, it is a thing of terrible beauty. Kate’s methodical, brutal, clinical take-down of the murderer was boss. There is a single line: “A cut. A cut. A cut.” That poetically sums up Kate’s mindset.
From Lynne Connolly’s Richard and Rose series, Book #3 – Venice – Richard and Rose are on their honeymoon and stumble across a couple who are attempting a long con on them. They think R&R are ‘pigeons to be plucked.’ There is this great scene at the end where R&R finally decide to stop toying with the couple and the con artists learn, to their horror, just who are the pigeons and who are the sharks in room. At one point violence ensues and Rose, a lady and a Duchess, who should be swooning, instead sips her brandy, looks down coolly and says “He’s bleeding. He’ll ruin the carpet.” Whereupon Richard, in sheer delight at her aplomb says “God, how I love you.”
Oh, Poppy, thank you. For every word and doodle, every emotion. This was magic.
What a lovely post! Thank you, Poppy.
I love everything about this list–the moments you identified, your commentary on them, your adorable doodles, and, esp., your decision to make this list in the first place. I have never had a desire to read AU Napoleonic fiction with dragons, but now I think I have to. 🙂
Loved this!
That moment when:
Rohan gives Elinor cinnamon toast in Ruthless by Anne Stuart (she’s been trying to keep her psycho and ailing mother and sweet sister safe and fed in extreme poverty, and the luxury of toast with ‘lashings of butter’ and cinnamon—melted my heart)
Phillip puts Lizzy’s hands on the back of his neck and tells her that he’s had her crown tattooed on his neck because he is hers in The Princess Deception by Molly Jameson (god, Phillip is my catnip, so sexy, an old friend who always carried a torch for her and follows her to Pembroke where she’s been exiled for starting a scandal, swooning so hard right now)
when Michael kisses Stella in the hotel bathroom in the Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (justthe best written passionate kiss ever)
I suppose it’s for the best that I’m at work, since I would be standing in front of my book case right now, pulling book after book to reference. I’ll stick to ones I have access to because of reviews:
That moment where the apology goes into the next level. It’s not groveling. It’s an actual request for forgiveness that seeks to let go of hurt and move into the future.
Thea Harrison’s Midnight’s Kiss:
“I want to let go of the past,” he said quietly. “Can we do that? Let’s draw a line right here and agree that whatever happened before is over and done. We make a pact to forgive each other and move on.”
He could hear the stress in her breathing from across the room. “Why?”
“Because I love you more than anything we’ve done to each other,” he told her. “Because I want to believe you’re right, and that we can make different choices that redefine our lives. Because I believe in you now more than I was able to believe in you then.”
That moment where intimacy preceeds sexy times. Not instalust, not proinquety, not adrenaline or pantsfeels. Actual intimacy.
Kristen Callihan’s Shadowdance
“I want to let go of the past,” he said quietly. “Can we do that? Let’s draw a line right here and agree that whatever happened before is over and done. We make a pact to forgive each other and move on.”
He could hear the stress in her breathing from across the room. “Why?”
“Because I love you more than anything we’ve done to each other,” he told her. “Because I want to believe you’re right, and that we can make different choices that redefine our lives. Because I believe in you now more than I was able to believe in you then.”
Also, that moment when you know her family is going to accept you unconditionally in a lovely little scene in Jullian Stone’s An Affair with Mr. Kennedy, which I don’t have a quote from, but her mother is patching Zak up and there’s this lovely little exchange between them that tells him how much Cassie is adored by her family, and how much they are willing to accept and adore him.
@DonnaMarie, your second quote is the same as the first. Can you please please please fix it? I’m dying to see the actual text!
@SusanE: DUH! My cut & past skills are not what they used to be…
the quote should have read:
“They were twined together, Jack’s thigh between her legs, her arms wrapped about his shoulder and around his waist, his arms doing the same. Though it did not feel sexual, not at that moment. If felt peaceful. And she could not help but think of them as two strings, wound up tight to become rope, and stronger for it.”
In the meantime I remembered another Kristen Callihan, Evermore, that I liked for the same reason, only more so because these are characters who been dealt some really awful stuff in their lives. BTW the character’s name is Holly Evermore, so also cute little play on her name:
“ ‘Shh.” She snuggle closer. “Let yourself feel. It’s alright. It’s only me. Here with you.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and fought against the hot prickles behind his lids that threatened to unman him. His breath came in sharp, agitated bursts. Still she held him.
“I will not let you go, William.”
He swallowed convulsively. She held on tighter. “You are mine now.”
A choked sound left him – half laugh, half sob. “Evermore.”
As if she’d been waiting for his capitulation, she tilted her head and placed a soft kiss on the vulnerable spot on his neck where his artery lay below the skin. Slowly she rose to cup his cheek. Her smile was radiant in the amber light. And when she leaned close and placed a soft open kiss upon his mouth, his breath hitched, flowing into her.”
Yes, emotional intimacy in the middle of physical intimacy. It’s not the sexy times just for the sake of sexy times. It’s also about being welcomed into someone’s heart and soul. It made me swoon.
In Mystic and Rider, the part where the Mage Senneth tells the King’s Rider, Tayse, how much she loves him, gets me every time I read it.
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. Sebastian was the weird kid at school, who wore a purple jacket and eyeliner. Now he’s back in town as a dentist who wears very elegant suits and doesn’t date. Paxton is the town princess. She spends her life doing Good Works and living up to the impossible standards of a Southern Lady. Sebastian is her only friend and she’s desperately in love with him.
That moment when Paxton’s new friend Willa hits Sebastian with a clue-by-four is great. But the best moment comes after – when he tracks down Paxton and makes his big confession: “I’m not gay”.
One of my favorite moments is the secondary romance in Courtney Milan’s “The Heiress Effect.”
There’s a scene towards the end of the book where the main heroine’s sister starts by standing up for herself and ends by standing up for herself, standing up for her guy, and declaring her love for him in one badass line that makes me want to just stand up and cheer.
The main romance is great, too. But that’s one of my favorite romance novel scenes ever. (I’m not spoiling it so that if you haven’t read it, you can read it for yourself someday)
One of my favorite book moments is from SCANDAL by Amanda Quick–her brothers (the Fabulous Faringdons) and her extortion-prone papa are being sent off. In the past, she’s done just about anything to keep them in her life, but Papa trying to shoot her husband, um nope. So when faced with his upcoming exile, she smiles brightly and said, “Do be sure to write.”
re: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Laurence reads to his dragon. He wasn’t much of a reader before, but since the dragon likes books and they’re too small for him to read himself Laurence finds books on subjects the dragon likes and reads them aloud to him.
Omg! Poppy here! Thank you everyone for your super lovely and encouraging comments and for sharing your book moments! Looks like I’ve got a lot of new books to check out. 🙂 🙂
Late to the party due to vacay. This is such a great post about an experience all readers share.
The first moment that comes to my mind is the scene in White Demon (The Hollows road trip edition) where Rachel’s damaged soul/aura is trapped in a milk bottle for healing and Trent (who is not her boyfriend) appears as she’s baking cookies in an imaginary spiritual kitchen. The ensuing kiss is THE BEST, evoking both every fairy tale kiss ever and Keebler’s best efforts. I have to read that scene twice every time I get to it and I’ve made a few forays just to relive the home baked goodness.
There’s also a scene in Trojan Gold by Elizabeth Peters where Vicki Bliss is hanging on to John Smythe in the midst of an avalanche and he finally breaks down and utters those 3 little words. IIRC, she manages to yank him out of the snow bank at that point.
Sigh. . . that moment when.
Oh bravo! Really tough week and this made me happy. Love the pictures too. My fav scene in ilona Andrews books is Nevada and the 5000 carnations fromn Rogan. Actually the entire scene starts in the mall when Nevada first notices carnations, her description is spot on and now buy my carnations from trader joes.