Favorite Heroes, Heroines, & Couples

AAR is polling for your favorite heroes, heroines, and couples.  Below are mine.  Go vote for yours!

Heroes:

1. Will Parker, Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer

2. Alexander Barrington Belov, The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

3. Sebastian Verlaine, To Have and to Hold by Patricia Gaffney

4. Devon, The Windflower by Laura London

5. Nardi de Saint Vallier, Bliss by Judy Cuevas

6. Samuel Gerard, The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale

7. Nick Allegrezzo, Truly, Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson

8. Bobby-Tom Denton, Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

9. Nick Ziegler, Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie

10. Daniel Watson, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes

(I really had trouble ranking the top three, and Myles Dampier from The Sea Wife by Holly Cook almost made the list.  A lot of these guys are alpha jerks or overly testosterone-y.  I have a weakness for that. #1 and #10 are just very, very sweet. )

Heroines:

1. Leda Etoile, The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale

2. Merry Wilding, The Windflower by Laura London

3. Rachel Wade, To Have and to Hold by Patricia Gaffney

4. Georgeanne Howard, Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson

5. Rachel, Archangel by Sharon Shinn

6. Sophie Dempsey, Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

7. Maddie Timms, Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale

8. Maggie Beaumont, Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

9. Mia Thermopolis, Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

10. Melissa Romney-Jones, The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

(These were quite a bit harder to come up with than my fave heroes list.  That was a bit troubling to me.  I think for me the heroine is often a placeholder, so she has to be really unique or I have to really like/identify with her in order for her to make this list.  The top three immediately came to mind, after that I had to consult my spreadsheet.  I wonder if the titles from Catch of the Day on will make my list in a few years.)

Couples:

1. Tatiana Metanova and Alexander Barrington Belov, The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

2. Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie, Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

3. Roan Sullivan and Claire Maloney, A Place to Call Home by Deborah Smith

4. Rev. Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne, Rev. Clare Fergusson mystery series by Julia Spencer-Fleming

5. Quinn Hunter and Krissa French, Till the Stars Fall by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

6. Delaney Shaw and Nick Allegrezzo, Truly, Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson

7. Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

8. Nell Sweeney and Will Hewitt, Nell Sweeney mysteries by P. B. Ryan

9. Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers, Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

10. Nora Becket and Christian de Rivers, Lady Gallant by Suzanne Robinson

(I'm voting for chemistry here or how well these characters match, rather than how much I like them individually.  Which is why The Windflower doesn't make this list; as much as I love Merry and Devon, the cast is in many ways an ensemble one.)