The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski: The Winning Kiss Blog Tour

Tour organized by Fierce Reads

Follow the stops HERE

The Winner's Kiss is the very anticipated third installment in The Winner's Trilogy, which also includes The Winner's Curse and The Winner's Crime. I have been riveted to this series since the very first line in The Winner's Curse, and I have loved watching the evolution of these beloved stories and their characters. 

Kestrel and Arin have put me through every emotion imaginable.  I love them dearly and feel fiercely protective of them. In honor of their journey through this series, and the title of the final book, bloggers are sharing their favorite kisses from literature.

What book is your favorite literary kiss in?

I debated for quite a while about what to pick for my favorite literary kiss, because there are just so many good ones. Both big scenes with lots of details, and quiet, subtle kisses that characters have to work hard to get to, or that readers need to peruse carefully to grasp the full effect. I love them alllll. I almost picked a more subtle, hard earned moment, but in the end, I've chosen one that is more on the grand gesture side than the quiet one. 

The Night Circus 

by Erin Morgenstern 

First Published: September 13th 2011 by Doubleday

I read The Night Circus back in 2011 when it released, and then I reread it last month via the audiobook read by Jim Dale. For a book to become one of my favorites, it has to stand up over time, and The Night Circus does that and some. I love it even MORE the second time through. Audiobooks always add more layers of depth to any reading experience, and my adoration for this story and these characters has now multiplied. This includes my love for Celia and Marco and their amazing love story, which starts slowly and blossoms into the most delicious swoon. Because of circumstances, these two don't spend a lot of time together during the book, but everything they do is for each other, and when they are together in the same room, sparks fly. 

Celia and Marco have several winning kisses, but this is my most favorite: 

I'm posting the entire scene, because it is part of why I love this kiss so much. I've also highlighted my favorite kissing line (emphasis mine). 

_______________________________________________________________

"Without a word, Marco turns his back on his instructor. He walks out the door at the back of the room...

Image source

He goes directly to the ballroom, making his way to the center of the dance floor. He takes Celia's arm, spinning her away from Herr Thiessen. 

Marco pulls her to him in an emerald embrace, so close that no distinction remains between where his suit ends and her gown begins. 

To Celia, there is suddenly no one else in the room as he holds her in his arms. 

But before she can vocalize her surprise, his lips close over hers and she is lost in a wordless bliss.

Marco kisses her as though they are the only two people in the world. 

The air swirls in a tempest around them, blowing open the glass doors to the garden with a tangle of billowing curtains. 

Every eye in the crowded ballroom turns in their direction. 

And then he releases her and walks away. 

By the time Marco leaves the room, almost everyone has forgotten the incident entirely." 

_______________________________________________________________

Who is kissing?

Celia and Marco OF COURSE

Why is it your favorite?

Why do I love this kiss? Let me count the ways. 

1) I love the movement of this scene. I am an extremely visual reader, and I can perfectly imagine the kiss playing out like a movie - Marco turning from his argument with Alexander and going straight to Celia in the ballroom, pulling her into his arms, then walking right out the door after their kiss is over. 

2) I love the way Celia's dress, which she created to change the color of whomever she's standing nearest, turns the emerald green of Marco's suit. They are as close together and connected in this moment as they can be, and their blended clothing is an outward representation of how they feel about each other and the fact that they truly are the only people in the world for each other. 

3) I love that even when Marco's left the room, Celia's dress stays green. 

4) I love the fact that Marco is the one who does the leaving in this scene, when it is Celia the illusionist who typically disappears during their encounters. 

5) I love that you can see careful and controlled Marco's desperation for Celia in this scene, and the fact that she feels exactly the same for him. They just cannot stay away from each other, even though they are opponents who have been kept separated.  

6) I love that Celia and Marco create literal sparks and gusts of wind and explosions from their magic whenever they touch. And that in this moment they are so consumed with each other that they aren't able to temper the outward reaction of their lips touching, as a tempest swirls around them. 

7) I love that for the length of the kiss, Marco lets everyone know exactly how he feels about Celia - and she for him, before he takes the memory away from the people in the room.

8) I love that this entire scene takes place without any words being spoken. Actions really do speak louder, and Celia and Marco are experts at expressing their love in ways that are beyond language. If  you haven't read this book yet, wait until you get to the other scene that features kissing and no speaking. 

Bonus Question: what kiss do you hope will occur in Marie Rutkoski's The Winner's Kiss?

Is this a trick question? I'm all over Kestrel + Arin and wouldn't be sad it this book was just one massive make out session. But for real, I'm halfway through this story and LOVING every second of it. 

As part of this blog tour, we get to send a kiss to a friend by giving a copy of The Winner's Curse to someone, and I'm chosen to have it sent to my sister. She is living abroad for the next few years and I miss her so much! I've been sending her ebooks to read, and discussing them has been a great way to stay connected. I'm excited to for her to receive the joy of a package (who doesn't love getting a book in the mail?!) and then to be able to talk about this series as she reads it. 

_______________________________________________________________

About the Book 

The Winner's Kiss
by Marie Rutkoski
Published: March 29th 2016 by Farrar Straus & Giroux
Series: The Winner's Curse # 3
Buy the Book: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | IndieBound 

Book Description (Spoilers for the first 2 books): War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

________________________________________________________________________

About the Author

Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other honors. Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alan McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat. 

Find Marie: Twiter | Website | Goodreads

Follow the tour HERE