by Kat Latham
One of the biggest reasons I’m a romance fan is that the genre thrives on strong characters. A good romance novel will put human behavior under a microscope and expose all the nuance of our emotions.
Reading a novel can make me feel like I’ve met new friends, or become part of a new community or family. I don’t mean that in a pathetic way. I love my family, friends and (sometimes) community. But I also love escaping into a new world, and well-written characters draw me in like nothing else.
I don’t know about you, but I start getting sad when I’m about 20 pages from the end of a book I love. I despise saying goodbye to people I’ve come to admire. If they’ve made me laugh or cry, I feel even worse (and let’s not mention those rare characters who make me laugh AND cry).
So today I’m giving everyone a magic potion. This potion will let you bring one character to life for a week.
Even though I usually write about contemporary romance here at The Season, the character I’d choose comes from a Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. I’d want to meet Captain Wentworth. Not just so I could swoon over him (though there would certainly be significant swooning involved).
I’d want to know about his naval experiences. He must’ve seen some serious badass battles to have earned money and respectability as a sailor. And, let’s face it, judging from the letter he writes his heroine Anne, the man has a stunning way with words. I’d want to hear his beautiful, deep voice telling me stories about life in Regency England—on land and sea.
I can see two problems with my magic potion. First, real people can be disappointing.
What if Captain Wentworth looked around my neighborhood—the docklands of London—and recognized that in his time it was known for cheap prostitutes and press gangs who knocked men out and sold them to ships’ captains? I’m sure he didn’t act like a saint during those years in between being rejected by Anne and then meeting her again. Jane Austen was probably too much of a lady (and too good a writer) to include information like that. What if Captain Wentworth wanted to revisit his sleazy days and told me about all the doxies he’d done?
What if he got really excited about how penicillin could help him with his itchy medical issue?
Second problem: sending him back to the pages of his novel after a week. If he really turned out as admirable as he is in Persuasion, I’d hate to say goodbye. Of course, I know he’d need to get back to Anne, and I’d never try to take the place of his heroine. I love Anne too much for that. But I’d miss spending time with my unusual new friend.
Unless, of course, he refused to adopt the modern habits of daily showering and deodorant –wearing. In which case, Anne can have him.
If you could bring one fictional character to life for a week, who would it be and what would you do? Is there a heroine you’d share a pitcher of margaritas with? A hero you’d smooch? Or would you prefer to keep characters where they belong? Comment and enter to win Miranda Neville’s THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT
Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!
I don’t have just one characters for myself.I think when i read a book i insert myself in there lives,kind of like in the background.I love to watched lords,lady and the below ranks struggle to make things work between them and sometimes they don’t know there doing it but at the end there in love.I like the way they dress and there balls.The 1800 sound great sometimes in books.I love most everything about it except marry for title or money. I hope thats the answer you needed.
I want to bring Rhett Butler back to life, first just to stare at him a bit, and second to tell him to go back to Scarlett and give her one more chance. As a young, impressionable teenager, the ending of GWTW broke my heart. That’s when I learned that I really did prefer HEAs whenever possible.
I think I would bring Eve and Roarke and just hangout with them for bit!
Kat, great blog! I guess it would be any of Lisa Kleypas’ heroes. Maybe Lord St. Vincent from ‘The Devil In Winter’. Fascinating to talk to I bet. Or more.
I had to give your question some thought. In the end, I decided that I really would prefer them just in the book. I would hate to find out that upon conversation, I was not as fond of them or that they thought I was uninteresting. Better to just let my imagination run wild.
Continuing the naval theme you mentioned, I’d like to bring to life Capt. Jack Aubrey. I’m sure he’d have many interesting tales to tell and I’d be interested in hearing in his own words how he raised himself in the ranks.
For sheer kicks and giggles, as an alternate personality, I’d pick Stephanie Plum, as long as no one was shooting at her that week. Would love to have a peek at Morelli and Ranger and a yummy dinner at her parent’s house!
Enjoyed reading the comments. I would like to meet a lot of the characters I read about in person. However, my imagination goes wild when I am reading about them. Reality might be worse. Eating a nice lunch with the mannerly Mr Darcy would be a treat.
I wouldn’t bring any of them to life for a week – can you imagine their discomfort being dragged out of their comfy lives where servants anticipate their every need? They would be so out of sorts to realize that their ‘waitress’ at lunch also has 5 other tables to serve – or worse – that if I took them to McDonald’s that they have to order what is off the board for lunch – how plebian! Nope…much rather leave them where they are comfortable…but maybe I could go back in time for a week… totally picturing myself in the Bridgerton home…
Characters really make the book for me. But I don’t want to bring anyone to life. I like them where they are! Thanks for the column.
too many possible answers to choose from — so many wonderful heroes I’d love to swept away by (before they went back and then fell in love with their lady’s of course), and the women who good sense & humor would be great to get to know over drinks and shared stories of said men 😉
one hero comes to mind that I would be happy to steal (and since his book hasn’t come out is “still available” although his planned herione could seriously kick my butt, it would be worth it) is Adrian from Joanna Bourne’s books. 🙂
I think I prefer to keep the characters in the book, very separate from my reality. It’s more fun that way!
I would love to hang out with Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
I’m thinking I’d prefer keeping them as characters. I’m usually disappointed in movies after reading the book. And if I interacted with them, it would change everything! Afterall, in my mind (as written by the author), they have to be so much better than anyone in real life lol.
For me it would have to be Rhett Butler, he was one handsome man. Although the book didn’t have a happy ending it could have. It just needed a little more for the HEA. I could really get into spending a week with Rhett.
Alex Kennedy from Megan Hart’s Tempted and Naked. He is sexy, ornery and playful. I adore that character. He would be so much fun to hang out with.
Eve and Roarke from JD Robb’s In Death Series. I would just like to hang out with them for a while.
I would like to meet Elizabeth Darcy. I think she could live without servants, appreciate the modern world, and we could have a good cozy, make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn.
Oh, I would take Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice– before he met Elizabeth– and make him fall in love with ME! Haha 😉 Nah. He and Elizabeth belong together. I guess I would have to leave all the characters alone. Sigh. 🙂
What a good question. I think I would love to meet Roarke from the future or Brodick from the past. And i would love a cocktail with their ladies.
I would want to meet the main character in the book IMPATIENT WITH DESIRE by Gabrielle Burton. It is not a romance per se but rather historical fiction. It is the story of Tamsen Donner, the wife of the leader of the ill-fated Donner Party. It is the first book I really didn’t want to finish. Yes, I knew how it ended before reading it, but I did not expect to become so attached to Tamsen. Ms Burton does an excellent job drawing her characters and making them and their situation very real.
I realized Tamsen and I would have been good friends. I very likely would have joined their trip West. The closer I got to the end, the more I dreaded it. I put the book aside knowing she would die. If I didn’t finish the book, she would still be alive. Finishing the book was like loosing a dear friend, tears and all. If we met, maybe I could help her talk her husband out of taking the “short cut” that cost so many their lives. Of course that would change history, a no no.
I can’t decide which character I would like to bring to life. There are so many great books with wonderful characters that it would be hard for me to choose just one or two to bring to like.
Oh, fun question! I’m not sure I can think of a good answer though. Most of my favorite books are paranormals, and I wouldn’t feel safe around those characters – if you know what I mean. 🙂 Heck, I’d be intimidated to meet most of my own characters, and I share my brain with them. LOL!
I don’t think I’d like to bring any character to life, it would spoil the whole thing. 🙂 I would prefer to enter the story and to watch it live. And there are many characters I liked over the years and many many books.
Great post! If I had to bring some heros to life…maybe Derek Craven from Dreaming of You or Jason Fielding from Once and Always.
Keep the great posts coming, Kat!
Even though my love now is to read historical romance, if a could pick a character in a book I could be it would be Nancy Drew. The Nancy Drew mysteries is what really motivated me to be a reader when I was in 5th grade and ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks. If it hadn’t been for these stories it would have been a much harder stay but these stories keep me entertained and my mind off of what I was going thru. They also motivated me to read biographies of historical women and what they accomplished. What young girl wouldn’t be enthralled to be caught up in mystery, intrigue and someone fighting to be able to accomplish what only men at the time were allowed to do!