Book Perfume

Bookish friends, how are you all?

There’s no other way for me to say it: the world is a scary place right now. We’re stressed, we’re scared, and much is uncertain. In my silly corner of the internet here, the least I can do is create a fun distraction. What do you say about a little Spring Hunkness: Championship of Hunks competition?

(Yes, this is the artist formerly known as March Hunkness, but since March is over and is best forgotten, and April may not prove much better, we’re going with Spring Hunkness, okay?)

If you’ve played before, you know what’s up. If this is your first time participating in our little game, WELCOME! You are in for a treat.

Here’s how it works:

The thirty-six dreamboats who have served as our Literary Hunks of the Month will face off, beautiful head to beautiful head. You, lovely readers, can vote, vote, vote until one fictional dreamboat reigns supreme and takes the title of 2020 Book Perfume Champion of Hunks. (And since we didn’t hold this competition last year, 2018 winner Roger Wakefield has definitely been milking it, I’m sure to his father-in-law’s chagrin.)

Who will take the cake this year? That’s up to you. So go ahead and get voting while I head off to the kitchen, because now that I’ve mentioned cake, that’s all I can think about.

Round one closes on Saturday, April 11 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) and you can vote as much as your little hearts desire!

Matchup #1: 

Roger Wakefield, Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
vs.
Heathcliff,  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Matchup #2:

Laurie Laurence,  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
vs.
Captain Frederick Wentworth, Persuasion by Jane Austen

Matchup #3

Willoughby of Allenham,  Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
vs.
Jay Gatsby,  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Matchup #4

Ross Poldark, Poldark series by Winston Graham
vs.
George Wickham,  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Matchup #5

Luke Brandon,  Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella
vs.
Caspian Harrison,  Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams

Matchup #6

John Brooke, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
vs.
Nick Young,  Crazy Rich Asians  trilogy by Kevin Kwan

Matchup #7

Dr. Yuri Zhivago,  Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
vs.
Modern-day Dr. Darcy,  Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Matchup #8

Will Traynor, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
vs.
Jamie Fraser,  Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

Matchup #9

George Emerson, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
vs.
Mark Darcy,  Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Matchup #10

Stephen Colley, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
vs.
Jack Mac,  Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

Matchup #11

Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
vs.
Hareton Earnshaw,  Wuthering Heights  by Emily Bronte

Matchup #12

Lord Melbourne, Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
vs.
Ambulance Sam,  After You and Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Matchup #13

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
vs.
Noel Airman, Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

Matchup #14

Dex Thaler, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
vs.
Alex Brandt, Stay by Allie Larkin

Matchup #15

Edward Fairfax Rochester, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
vs.
Father Ralph de Bricassart,  The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Matchup #16

Matthew Clairmont, A Discovery of Witches series by Deborah Harkness
vs.
George Knightley,  Emma by Jane Austen

Matchup #17

Gale Hawthorne, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
vs.
Professor Friedrich Bhaer,  Little Women by Lousia May Alcott

Matchup #18

Cooper Cartwright, The Heather Wells Mysteries by Meg Cabot
vs.
Prince Freddie of Wales,  The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Don’t forget to check back on Saturday for this round’s winners and the next phase of voting!