Book Perfume

Last week, I put the call out for a little fun and you answered! The results for round one of our 2020 Spring Hunkness Championship are in. There were some close calls, some not-so-close calls, and the surprise upset of our reigning champion, Roger Wakefield, getting knocked out off the bat by that wuthering devil Heathcliff! (Some of us love a bad boy. I get it.) Another surprise? Of the three Little Women hunks in the competition, John Brooke is the only one left standing. (While I’m remaining completely impartial during this competition, I can’t help but be pleased as punch for Mr. Brooke. He’s always been a bit of a third fiddle to the oft-discussed Laurie and Bhaer, so it’s nice to see him get a moment in the sun.)

The deck has been shuffled and the next round of voting is open! Cast your votes for the Elite Eighteen to determine who will make it to the Nifty Nine.

Matchup #1:

Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
vs.
Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Matchup #2:

Gale Hawthorne,  The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
vs.
Fitzwilliam Darcy,  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Matchup #3:

Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
vs.
Mark Darcy,  Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Matchup #4:

Jamie Fraser,  Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
vs.
John Brooke,  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Matchup #5:

Ross Poldark,  Poldark series by Winston Graham
vs.
Ambulance Sam,  After You and Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Matchup #6:

Captain Frederick Wentworth, Persuasion by Jane Austen
vs.
Luke Brandon,  Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella

Matchup #7:

George Knightley,  Emma by Jane Austen
vs.
Alex Brandt,  Stay by Allie Larkin

Matchup #8:

Edward Fairfax Rochester, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
vs.
Cooper Cartwright, The Heather Wells Mysteries by Meg Cabot

Matchup #9:

Stephen Colly, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
vs.
Modern-day Darcy, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

The polls close Friday at 11:59 p.m. (ET) and you can vote as much as your book-loving hearts desire. Get voting and get swooning!