Swoony Boy Alert!! Prince Po (Graceling)

Welocme Back!! It’s time for another Swoony Boy Alert!! But first, HAVE YOU NOMINATED YOUR FAVORITE SWOONY BOY/BADASS CHICK FROM 2011? There are prizes and hugs!! Check out the post here and nominate, and don’t forget to come back to vote. (follow us on twitter or facebook so you don’t miss a thing)

This week, we’re going to cut all the chatter (*SURPRISED FACE*), and get right to the swoon. Our hilarious and adorable agent-mate Alison Cherry (her debut, RED, will be published by Delacorte in the summer of 2013), has been talking up a storm about the book, GRACELING, by Kristin Cashore, and more particularly, about Prince Po. And thankfully, she’s agreed to come here and share! So let’s all get a glass of eggnog, pass the plate of cookies around, and settle in for this week’s SWOONY BOY…By Alison:

When Lo and Christina told me I could write a Swoony Boy Alert on Prince Po, my first reaction was to make incoherent sounds of glee; that meant I could ignore all the boring stuff I had to do and re-read GRACELING for legitimate research purposes! Neither of them has read the book yet, so it must have been annoying when I kept texting them things like, “OMG I JUST READ A REALLY SEXY PART AND I AM DYING,” and “HOLY CRAP SOMEONE GET PRINCE PO INTO MY BED NOW,” and “YOU GUYS, can I just copy down the entire book and post that on your blog because ALL OF IT IS SO GOOD?” But remarkably, they’re still friends with me (I think?) [um, only YOUR BIGGEST FANS ~Lo], and I still get to write this post. I promise I’ll try my best to stop squealing and make sense.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with GRACELING, here’s the scoop:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

So, let’s get the superficial part (by which I mean THE MOST AWESOME PART) out of the way first. Based on the caps-lock flailing above—and the fact that this is a Swoony Boy Alert, duh—you maaaaay have gathered that Po becomes a lot more than a FRIEND to Katsa. I mean, come on, how could she possibly resist him? Po is a big ol’ hunk of delicious man-candy, what with his lean, muscular fighter-body, his hypnotic eyes (one gold and one silver), and the cool tattooed bands on his biceps that mark him as a Lienid prince. I offer you a little taste of the sexytimes that ensue:

“And she felt it then, how near he was. She felt his hand and his wrist, warm under her fingers. He was here, right here, breathing before her; she was touching him; and she felt the risk, as if it were water splashing cold on her skin. She knew that this was the moment to choose. She knew her choice. . . . She wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt warm in his arms, and calm, and safe, and brave. And then she was laughing, laughing at how nice it felt, how good his body felt against hers. He grinned at her, a wicked, gleaming grin that made her warm everywhere. And then his lips touched her throat and nuzzled her neck. She gasped. His mouth found hers. She turned to fire.”

And it gets better, you guys. (Close your ears and go LALALALALA if you don’t want to hear something slightly spoilery.) Turns out there’s more to Po’s grace than being a master fighter—he can also READ YOUR MIND if you’re thinking about something related to him. Can we all just take a minute to consider the ramifications of that in the bedroom?

*considers*

*considers some more* [*we’re considering*… Ohhhhh……..]

*dies*

But you know what? That’s not even the swooniest thing about Prince Po. He possess a quality that we find only in top-notch Swoonies—the executive platinum of swoon, if you will—and it puts all those mysterious loner dudes and hot bad boys to shame.

Po helps Katsa become the very best version of herself.

All her life, Katsa’s been told that she’s a killing machine and that her usefulness lies in her power to hurt and destroy. People fear her across the seven kingdoms, even (especially?) people she hasn’t even met. And so she’s always seen herself as a cold, volatile monster. But Po sees more in her, right from the very beginning. He sees a woman who is willing to make enormous personal sacrifices to do the right thing and to protect the ones she loves. He sees the strongest person he’s ever met, both physically and mentally. He shows her that there’s so much more to her grace than fighting and killing, other things that she can be proud of. (I don’t want to tell you what, though, because that would be super spoilery.) In Po, Katsa finally meets her match in all ways; he challenges her mind, he fills up her heart, and he’s the first person ever to make her work in a fight. (And trust me, guys, you want to read these fight scenes. They are HOT.) Though he’s amazed and humbled by her skills, Po treats Katsa as an equal, not a curiosity. And when he looks her in the eyes—something almost no one else is brave enough to do—she sees herself reflected back, and for the first time in her life, she likes what she sees.

Tell me you don’t want a boy like that.

Go ahead. I dare you.

THANK YOU, ALISON!!! Soooo…*runs to add Graceling to Santa’s list* What did you think? Have any of you read Graceling? What do you think about Prince Po? SHARE YOUR FEELINGS! Tell us about your holidays so far [we swear, we’re chin in hands just waiting to hear], or just leave Alison some love. And you should totally check out Alison’s blog and follow her on Twitter – she’s ADORABLE. And please please please NOMINATE your favorites FOR A CHANCE TO WIN OUR SUPER SWOONY BOOK BUNDLE. Let us give you presents!!!