Thursday Thirteen #54

13 Most Romantic Fictional Couples

I'm not really a romantic per se, but hey, I'm a woman and we all, whether we want to admit it or not, love a good romance. I don't read any books that are just romances, but I don't enjoy many books that don't have at least a little bit of a love interest, because yes, I have two X chromosomes, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Likewise I don't usually watch movies that are just for the sake of romance, but I'm not above enjoying the occasional decent love story.

(In no particular order.)


1. Aragorn and Arwen - And no, I don't mean Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortensen. I mean the original characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She, as an elf, gives up her chance to go to the grey havens and live as an immortal. Very touching.

2. Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane - I've always been a big Dorothy Sayers fan, but my favorite books are the little series where Lord Peter meets, falls in love with, chases and eventually marries Harriet. She gets on my nerves at first, but he is so much the perfect catch, that it makes it all worth it in the end when she sees the light. (The series with Harriet Vane is as follows: Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon.)

3. Princess Leia and Hans Solo - Come on, you know we all love the scene where he suddenly realizes that Luke is actually Leia's twin brother, so there is no competition for her heart after all. (He's dumb, but he's so very handsome.)

4. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet - I love the book, of course, but I have to admit that I think of the actors from the A&E film version when these names cross my mind. Who doesn't love Mr. Darcy? And how many of us girls didn't dream we were Lizzy?

5. Donald Lockwood and Cathy Selden - This is the main love interest in the movie Singin' in the Rain. Gene Kelly...ahh.

6. Captain and Maria Von Trapp - I have to admit that I'm thinking of the musical here, and not the actual story from which it was taken, although I'm sure they qualify too. Yet another rags to riches, really, with a few twists. We girls are real suckers for the cinderella stories.

7. Sabrina Fairchild and Linus Larrabee - Both of these movies, the old one with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, and the new one with Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford, are great. Every woman dreams of being swept off her feet by the man who could have anyone he wanted.

8. Roderick Alleyn and Agatha Troy - Alleyn is the Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard in the mystery stories of Ngaio Marsh. He falls in love with, and eventually marries, Agatha Troy over a series of stories. Very Wimseyesque as far as that goes.

9. Raoul de Valmy and Linda Martin - This is the love interest in Mary Stewart's Nine Coaches Waiting; one of my favorite books. (She wrote nine romantic suspense novels, and they're all very good. Her later stuff is annoying.) Yet again, the man is rich and powerful, yet somehow loves and rescues a fair maiden who finds herself alone and in distress.

10. Sir Samuel Vimes and Lady Sybil - These are two main characters in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, yes, it's actually satirical fantasy, but they make a romantic couple nonetheless, because of their flaws rather than in spite them.

11. Andrew and Princess Angelique - What, you've never heard of these star-crossed lovers? That's because Andrew is a rat from Wyoming, and Angelique is the princess of France's rat underworld. (Her palace is under the Louvre) These characters are from Dear Rat, one of my favorite books from childhood. And speaking of childhood....

12. Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson - The poor man lets Nancy drag him literally all over the world, but that's romantic, right? He's always there for her, while still somehow attending classes at the mysterious Emerson University. I remember wishing Ned and Nancy would, you know, at least kiss or something. He kissed her on the cheek once in a book, and that was very exciting.

13. Amaryllis and John Guido - These characters are from The Magic Garden by Gene Stratton Porter. The story is not very realistic at all, but compelling, nonetheless. I read it as a child, on accident, because I had been told to read The Secret Garden, and got mixed up. I haven't seen the book in years, so I'm sure the relative romanticism of the couple has diminished a bit, but I remember them being oh, so interesting when I was young.


There, and now you all know what a sap I really am.


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