Hi friends! Can you believe it’s the third Saturday of the month already? Ack! You know that means it’s time for me to feature a romance reader from the community. Today we have my buddy Has. Of course she’s way better known than I am, so likely no introduction is necessary.
Has was kind enough to write a post – and I think it’s fantastic. She’s even left us all with a question, and I hope you answer because I’m super curious too.
My First Fictional Crush
I think we all have fictional crushes. There is something magical and just plain fun in crushing on a character, especially when it takes you by surprise! I think it is a sign of good author and writing because they’re characters truly come alive to the reader. But I think there is something more special with the first character you fall for. In my case it also coincided with one of my all time favourite series which helped to cement my love of reading. This raises the question whether a reader develops a fictional crush is due to the series or a book they really love and how easy it is for them to fall for a character. But I think with my own personal experience, it is rare to have a character that you become really attached and love so much that even if you enjoy the series or a book, there is something even more special for a character to remain with you for a long time.
The first series that I totally got sucker-punched in love with a character, was Tamora Pierce’s classic fantasy YA series, the Song of the Lioness quartet. My first fictional crush was with its main lead Alanna. I think I fell in love with her character within the first few pages of her switching places with her twin brother and donning a boy’s disguise so she could attain her ambition to become a female knight. I loved how strong and stubborn she was and that she also had flaws and made mistakes. I also found her character relatable because she had to work hard to reach her goals even with the setbacks, and dealt with bullying, and puberty. At the time, I rarely read anything like this which was in a fantasy setting but also covered every day issues.
It also had a great cast of supporting characters including, George who was the king of the rogues, Prince Jonathan who was her steadfast best friend and love interest; as well as Duke Roger the charismatic, untrustworthy and ruthless villain in the series. I also adored Faithful her snarky magical cat who offers Alanna advice and at times unwelcome commentary especially when she is about to do something stupid.
Even though the elements that made Song Of The Lioness series were not unique at the time, it was refreshing and different for me as a teenager because it had an assertive female character who was a warrior and also experienced normal every-day fears and life experiences. So I eagerly jumped at the chance to read the followup series – The Immortals, set a decade after Song of the Lioness ended and I discovered Numair.
Oh my geeky adorable, and funny Numair the mage, you made my heart flutter as a fourteen year old. Within the first few pages of his introduction in the first book of the series, Wild Magic I knew I had a huge crush on him because he was funny, smart and his bookworm nature had me at hello! Although Numair was one of the most powerful magical characters that Pierce has created, he was never serious or brooding and I loved how he was more focused on arcane subjects rather than focusing on his power. I loved that balance of the powerful black robed mage tempered with a fun sense of irreverence and a fun sense of humour.
I love my dark alpha heroes, such as Daemon and Lucivar from the Black Jewels trilogy, Adam from Mercy Thompson series, Curran from the Kate Daniels series, and Judd and Kaleb from Psy/Changeling series. Some of these heroes use humour as well which adds another dimension to their characters. I also have a girl crushes on Mercy and Kate because they use humour to help deal with the situations they’re in and it is a wonderful way to help to help center their fears or worries. And they are both relatable and have flaws, and they do make mistakes.
There is something really special and delightful with a hero who has a fun sense of humour that shines in the pages and this is why my favourite characters tend to be geeky or use humour even if they are dark characters. My recent fictional crush is Roman from the Kate Daniels series who is a dark mage and has a penchant to wear Eeyore pyjamas and he does remind me of Numair. And like Numair Roman is very powerful but again uses humour as a way to ground him from not succumbing to darker urges.
So who was your first fictional crushes and what are your all time favourites?