Get some tissues ready. You’re going to need them after reading the latest excerpt from Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis.
The new adult novel comes out on Aug. 16, and just last week, Star Wars shared the first excerpt featuring a heavy moment between Leia and Luke immediately after the Battle of Endor.
This week’s excerpt comes exclusively through Inverse and features Han Solo’s unplanned yet beautifully romantic proposal to Leia.
"“Han’s track record with love wasn’t necessarily the best. But this thing with Leia — it felt like more than… He couldn’t quantify it. It just felt more. He’d tried to walk away, more than once. Maybe, if he’d been able to leave Hoth when he’d planned…”"
The scene is set on Endor – after the celebration fires have died down and all the Rebel leaders have begun conferring about what happens next. Han grapples with his new title of general and some inner self-deprecating humor. He just wants the other leaders to tell him where to fly and whom to shoot.
"But Leia hadn’t been at the debriefing with him and the other generals, so he went to find her.“Sorry!” Han said, throwing up his hands. “I’ve got things on my mind.”“Oh, am I just a thing?” Leia’s voice sliced through Han’s brain.“Hey, now, you don’t occupy my every thought, Princess,” Han snapped back, but the warm smile in his eyes belied the statement."
But even as Leia gives him some updates on new details about Imperial remnants around the galaxy and what they need to do next to stamp out the Empire for good, Han can’t stop thinking about her…just her and him and what he wants next for their relationship.
"He loved her.She was a princess, the face of the Rebellion, the new government’s greatest hope, a symbol more than a person. But she was also just Leia. And she was his. Han needed her the same way he needed the Falcon — sure, he could fly without her, but what was the point?“Marry me,” Han said."
Read Leia’s answer and the rest of the excerpt over on Inverse.
The rest of the novel follows Han and Leia in their life as newlyweds amid the ashes and embers of the war that both brought them together and briefly tore them apart. It also features their honeymoon aboard the Halcyon luxury Starcruiser – yes, the same one you can stay in at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel releases on Aug. 16 and is available now to preorder.