Top Ten Tuesday #8: Top Ten Books With Sexy Heroes

I know I haven't done this for a while, but I've been meaning to. This week is a free topic week, so I'm going to talk about the top ten books I know of that have sexy heroes.

These are in no particular order, just as they come to mind. And remember, sexy is in the eye of the beholder.

1.  Edward Rochester - from Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte There is just something about that brooding, deeply troubled man that is also incredibly sexy.I'm not sure I would have turned him away from the revelation of his insane wife was made, but then again, I don't live in those times, and maybe I'd think differently if I did.

2.  Lucifer - from Lucifer by Mike Carey This is a series of eleven graphic novels about Lucifer, first begun in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, then spun off by Mike Carey (just forget about the TV show, they've totally got it wrong). Lucifer had charm that's off the meter. He's not just charming, he's sexy and smart, and don't forget he was once an angel. He doesn't tell you something just because he thinks you want to hear it. He believes in free will and speaking the truth. And yeah, he's damn hot.

3. Rhett Butler - from Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This man is also charming, and very sexy, but he's got a fire that I'd love to warm myself on, and when he loves, he loves deeply. Seeing Clark Gable's face doesn't hurt, but I loved Rhett even before I saw the movie.

4. Dracula - from Dracula by Bram Stoker  My love affair with the Count began when I first read the book, about the age of twelve. That was the first time I was ever turned on by a fictional character, I think, even if I'm not sure I realized it then. He was dark, mysterious, charming (see a pattern here? lol), and a vampire. I may love my werewolves, but I have a special place in my heart for vampires, especially this one.

5. Cardinal Richelieu - from The Cardinal and the Queen by Evelyn Anthony - This is a fictionalized account of the relationship between Cardinal Richelieu and Anne of Austria. Since Richelieu is my historical crush, this is a no-brainer. He's highly intelligent, sexy (at least in my eyes) and wields power without having to possess it. I would have loved to be able to know him.

6. Acheron - from the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon This series is chock full of sexy guys, but Acheron is special. He's hot and he's powerful, he has a mysterious tragic past, and he's every woman's wet dream. (I also have the doll of Acheron, which is fabulous and very sexy!)

7. Sherlock Holmes - from the series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Okay, maybe the man had issues with drugs, but he has a terrific mind, which is sexy alone. And yes, I can't help but think of Benedict Cumberbatch, but once again, I've loved Holmes since way before BC came along lol

8. James Bond - from the series by Ian Fleming Even without the movies, James is sexy, suave, sophisticated, intelligent, and he has some amazing moves. Add Daniel Craig to that mix and you have the perfect man :)

9. Napoleon Bonaparte - from Desiree by Annemarie Selinko and from The Last Love by Thomas Costain I loved the young Napoleon, the eager lover, the ambitious young soldier who wanted only to follow his star. There is just something about him, even after he got older, that I cannot resist. That's why I listed both books, since I loved him in both

10. Edmund Dante - from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - Sexy, tragic, generous... it's hard not to want to hold this man and make everything all right.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop here lol  I have other things to talk about, just need to find the time. New shows I'm watching. It's been a while, but I'll get there. Thanks for being patient!

If you want to read other people's lists, go here.

Top Ten Tuesday #2

Welcome to another week of Top Ten Tuesday!

This week, the top ten list is: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are music allyinclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.) Hmmm, that requires me to fill in the blank. Okay, I accept the challenge. I'm going to write a list of the Top Ten Books which Feature Characters Who are Real People 

Here is my list, again in no particular order, just as they come to me. Okay, you may already know my fondness for the first person I'm going to list. Duh, he's on the top of my blog, right?

1. The Cardinal and the Queen by Evelyn Anthony - the character in question is Cardinal Richelieu, who is also my historical crush. This novel tells of the relationship between him and Anne of Austria, wife to King Louis XIII of France. It's a fascinating story, and a great romance. There  were rumors at the time that the Cardinal was the real father of Louis XIV (Louis XIII was gay). I first read this over forty years ago and I'm still not tired of it.









2. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - again Cardinal Richeleu, although quite a different tale. D'Artagnan is fresh out of Gascony, gone to Paris to seek his fortune, having been given a letter to get him into the King's Guards. While in the process of delivering said letter, he encounters three different men by whom he finds himself challenged to a duel on the following day. These men, as it turns out, are the Three Musketeers, but before any of the duels can take place, they are spotted by the Cardinal's Guards (dueling is illegal in France at this time) and they end up fighting against the Guards, together, and become bffs in the process. In Dumas' tale, Richelieu is the bad guy whom they must outwit at all costs.

3. The Last Love by Thomas Costain - The character is Napoleon, and it tells the story of his  

exile on the island of St. Helena and his relationship with a young English girl named Betsy Balcombe. I've heard rumors of a film to be made, supposedly starring Al Pacino, but have seen nothing. Pacino would make a lousy Napoleon, in my opinion, so I'm actually glad.







4. Desiree by Annemarie Selinko  - Another book with Napoleon, but an earlier Napoleon. Desiree is the daughter of a silk merchant in Marsailles. She meets the young man with great ambitions and they fall in love and become engaged. But when he leaves for Paris, in order to further his career, and she doesn't hear from him for a long time, she borrows some money from her maid and follows him, only to learn things she'd rather not hear. This is the first book that ever made me cry. It's a great story, and the movie features Marlon Brando as Napoleon, and Michael Rennie as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.

5. The Trial of Adolf Hitler by Phillippe Van Rjndt - The story begins as the Third Reich is

crumbling around him. Hitler is committed to suicide before capture, and has decided he and his bride, Eva, shall both die. They each have poison and a pistol, as they retire to their room in the Bunker to die. Hitler shoots Eva, then himself. But Fate intervenes and the bullet he fired at himself does not kill him. He is found and rescued by one of his faithful. He recovers and takes a new name and identity, burying himself in a small town in Germany, where no one knows him, and leads a quiet life. Years pass. Hitler, under his new name, is well loved by the citizens of the town, but he decides that the time has come for him to reveal himself, and to demand a trial to exonerate him of the the crimes attributed to him. The stunned nations of the world, learning that he is alive, don't know what to do, or what to charge him with. They get together, and finally come up with three charges, and make arrangements for a trial.  Now the ending was a foregone conclusion, as I suspected it would be, but really, in terms of the charges and the evidence that was presented hi Hitler's defense, I didn't find it quite so cut and dried. In fact, I think it might have been a miscarriage of justice. But that's just my opinion, and of course, it's a novel, so it didn't happen.

6. Lamb, The Gospel of Christ According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore - The title says it all, it's a great book, and I loved it. He has a real way with words, and the story just flows so smoothly. Hilarious and sensitive and deeply moving.












7. Depths of Glory by Irving Stone - This is an historical novel about Camille Pissarro, the

Impressionist. It was my introduction to the Impressionists, and features other artists as characters, including Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Van Gogh and others. I loved this book, and would gladly read it again.







8. The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone - This one is about Michelangelo and Pope Julius II, the struggle between them, as he painted the Sistine Chapel. Great book, also a really great movie starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison.

9. The President's Lady by Irving Stone - Another Stone novel, yes, so shoot me lol  This one is about the love between Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel, before he was even President. It's a very romantic and poignant tale, and the movie is well worth watching too. Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward.

10. Love is Eternal by Irving Stone - a novel about Mary Lincoln, before and after her marriage to Abraham Lincoln. This lady definitely had issues, but it's also a great portrait of Abraham Lincoln. 

11. Blennerhassett by Charles Felton Pidgin - This novel is about Vice President Aaron Burr, including his infamous duel with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. I read this many years ago and loved it. I recently bought it again, so I could read it again. Worth re-reading. 

Feature & Follow Friday

Question of the Week: Tell us about a book character you’d trade places with.

That's a hard question, and I'm not sure I would do that. If you're familiar with the book and the character, you know everything that will happen, so what kind of a life is that? 

On the other hand, if I trade places with the character, maybe I can change the outcome of whatever happened to him or her.  

So let's think about this. I can trade with Scarlett O'Hara, and keep Rhett Butler's love and quit pining for Ashley Wilkes. I wouldn't mind trading places with Desiree, though, and then I'd be loved by Napoleon (even if he does jilt me) and then get to marry a Marshall of France and later become Queen of Sweden. That sounds really cool. But then, speaking of Napoleon, if I changed places with Betsy Balcombe, from The Last Love, and be a friend to him.

So many choices. I think I'll go with Cardinal Richelieu, of the Three Musketeers and have fun fighting the musketeers and ruling the country of France.