This one comes from a question I got recently from a reader. “Do you ever fall in love,” she asked, “with the boys you write about?”
Well, they’re a little young for me.
Seriously, of course I adore these boys. I couldn’t write about them– I certainly couldn’t hook ’em up with my girls– if I didn’t. But what this question really got me thinking about was other writers’ wonderful guys, the ones I really did fall in love with a little. So there’s a Top Ten for you.
Top Ten Fictional Guys I Really Kinda Sorta, Well, Okay, Totally Wish Were Real
10. Westley. The Princess Bride. William Goldman.
9. Neville Longbottom. The Harry Potter Series. J.K. Rowling. (At least he’s in his twenties by now!)
8. Tom Jones. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Henry Fielding.
7. The Scarecrow. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum.
6. Frederick Wentworth. Persuasion. Jane Austen.
5. Rob Fleming. High Fidelity. Nick Hornby.
4. Atticus Finch. To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee.
3. Edward Rochester. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte.
2. Jack Devine. Sushi for Beginners. Marian Keyes.
And, like no one who knows me wouldn’t see this coming from a hundred pages away…
1. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen.