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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
Mr. Darcy.
Oh, Darcy. What a snob you were – but thankfully, you were “properly humbled.” You saw the error of your ways and opened your eyes to the feisty delight that is Elizabeth Bennet.
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Outlander (Starz Tie-in Edition)
Diana Gabaldon
Jamie Frasier.
We love his dry sense of the humor, his worldly ways (impressive for an 18th century Scot) and the fact that while he doesn’t always know what Claire is doing, he trusts her and loves her completely.
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The Thin Man
Dashiell Hammett
Nick Charles.
He has a past, for sure, but once he marries Nora, he’s (usually) on the up and up. Nick and Nora are each other’s equal – we love the way Nick lets Nora be herself. And their witty banter? The best ever.
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Storm Front
Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden.
A detective AND a wizard? Now that’s just cool. His love life is star-crossed, to say the least. His paranormal investigations take up all his time, and he just can’t seem to find the right girl (or vampire).
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The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand
Howard Roark.
Ayn Rand’s classic novel is, some say, a thinly-veiled philosophic treatise promoting the ideals of Objectivism. Roark is an individualistic aspiring architect whose affair with Dominique is tumultuous, to say the least. We can’t get Gary Cooper out of our heads when we read.
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The Outsiders 40th Anniversary edition
S. E. Hinton
Ponyboy Curtis.
Kate from Team RIF says, “I’d marry Ponyboy and make a wedding band out of a gum wrapper.” Ponyboy is a 14-year-old greaser who has to deal with so much – including the death of his parents – and somehow make sense of the fact that life is just not fair. Let us save you, Ponyboy!
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Anne of Green Gables
L. M. Montgomery
Gilbert Blythe.
He’s tall, dark and handsome and he knows it. But poor guy, he makes one snide remark about Anne’s red hair, and she snubs him for years. When they connect at college, Anne’s head is so full of the romantic ideal of a melancholy hero (ahem) she doesn’t recognize how great he is. And then finally she does. Happily ever after.
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The Magician's Land
Lev Grossman
Quentin Coldwater.
“He’s funny,” says Alana from Team RIF, “and he has white hair because of a spell, which might sound weird but I think I’d be into it.” He’s kind of awful in the first two books but as he grows up and leaves behind his depression and drug use, he becomes Fictional Husband material.
Reader, I’d marry him (if I could). Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we asked RIFers “who’s your fictional husband?” What a terrific collection of books you shared – and not all romances as we expected. A nice mix of classic and contemporary novels, with leading men who are powerful, funny, smart, flawed, each irresistible in his own way. They’re mostly stand-up guys (eventually – many of them change a lot along the way). All Fictional Husband material for sure. We have to give an honorable mention to RIFer Mary C.N., who nominated Willa Wonka. Why? “Living in a chocolate factory!” Awesome.
Featured Image by Romanno/Shutterstock.com
