loves of my reading life

Reading is my absolute favorite past time. Often I neglect performing necessary chores - such as washing my hair, cooking or cleaning - because I get lost in a good book. Many of the books I read are part of a series, and over the years I have developed "crushes" on several of the main characters. If only the men of the real world were like the ones in the books I read. I promise I would get my act together to be on their team. My book loves include:

Easy Rawlins
This one should come as no surprise.  I dedicated a whole blog post to the title character of the Easy Rawlins Mysteries by Walter Mosely. Perhaps out of all my book loves, he is my favorite. It was hard not to grow to love him. There were 11 books in the series, and I learned every intricate detail about him. His likes, dislikes, flaws and all. The mere thought of him makes my heart flutter. Unfortunately there are no new books in the series, and Easy may be dead. Nevertheless he shall always carry a special place in my heart.

Mr. Darcy
He is the only character from a standalone book who I absolutely adore. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen has always been one of my favorite reads. Initially I didn't like Mr. Darcy (apparently no one else did either), but as his love for Elizabeth grew, so did mine for him. Granted his first marriage proposal was craptastic, it still touched me. That second one had me all in tears. One day I want my Mr. Darcy.

Severus Snape
Honestly I didn't think much about Snape until I saw the movie version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (right after I read the first book). My love for him was ignited probably because of Alan Rickman's portrayal of Snape. It was the voice and hair. Since reading the rest of the books, I have grown to love him. He is such a tortured soul, and I just want to give him a hug. J. K. Rowling really puts together a nice character.

Harry Dresden
Long before I started reading Harry Potter, I fell for another wizard - the titular character from the Dresden Files. He's like a wizard and private eye all in one. Harry is your regular, ordinary guy who also happens to be a wizard. And did I mention he's sweet? Really, really sweet. He also pushes himself to the limit to save others, despite receiving no thanks. There's just something attractive about a hero.

Roarke.
J.D. Robb's In Death series introduced me to a mysterious Irish enigma named Roarke. I am now slightly obsessed with going to Ireland in hopes of finding a real one. I just know she was inspired by some real Irish man. Roarke is smooth as it comes. He fiercely loves his wife, which is funny considering she's a cop and he's a "criminal." Opposites really do attract (at least in the books).

It's kind of interesting (to me at least) that all my book loves, except one, are white men. I'm all for interracial dating, as it relates to other people. For myself I'm down with the swirl in theory, but not so much in actuality. Most white men don't appeal to me beyond a friendship level. But if I met a white guy who is the essence of one of my book loves there is a good chance I would become Dr. King's dream with him immediately and produce tomorrow children (or at least go on a date with him).