What happened to challenge number five? I hear you cry. I couldn’t do it is the simplest answer!!

So here is Challenge Number Six – Heart Throbs.

#1 Jenks

Out of all the characters in all the books I have ever read, I am probably most in love with Jenks from Kim Harrison’s Hollows novels.

I love these books, I love the world Kim Harrison has created and I love her characters. In fact, if I’m honest, I’m actually quite enamoured with several of the characters in these books: Kisten (a vampire), David (a werewolf), Al (a not-particularly-nice demon) and even Ivy (another vampire, she kicks some serious butt and is very sexy whilst she does it) but the one who tops them all in my opinion is Jenks.

Jenks is a pixie. Meaning he is six inches tall, has wings and sparkles when excited or annoyed. Now I normally prefer my men a little taller but Jenks’ wit, dark humour, loyalty to his family and friends, stubborn determination, energy and endless sarcastic backchat made me instantly fall for him.

There you go, I admitted it, I am in love with a pixie. You may now laugh.

#2 Ash Redfern

Second on my list is my first ever supernatural infatuation back from when I was about twelve. Ash Redfern stars in L. J. Smith’s YA series Night World and I was head over heels in love with him the instant it was mentioned that his eyes changed colour. The fact that he was a bad-tempered vampire was something I was able to totally overlook for the simple fact that he had amazingly cool eyes and was cocky and self-assured (for most of the time). Every twelve year old loves the bad boys anyway so he was my ideal man, even if he did generally view me as dinner…

#3 Torak

Next is Torak, the lead character in Michelle Paver’s Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness. I am aware that he is only 15 or so and, if I’m truthful, I’m not madly in love with him because he is in any way stunning or sexy, but for a reason a bit less general and more unique to me: He can talk to wolves.

Wolves are a minor obsession to me, so the instant it became apparent that Torak was more in touch with wolves than most humans, I was lost. Add this to the fact that he is strong, faithful, determined and always trying to do the right thing even when he knows it might be the last thing he does and, yet again, I was putty in his hands.

#4 Richard Mayhew

Finally there’s good old Richard Mayhew from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. I love him because he is as useless as I would be if I were suddenly sucked into a bizarre fantasy world. You read so many books where Just-Normal-Jack gets whisked away into some magical world and mysteriously knows how to use a sword or ride a dragon. Richard doesn’t.

He is clueless and reluctant and doesn’t want to be a hero at all, he just wants to go home. He doesn’t know what to do with a sword and, after seeing far more than he can really believe, eventually just gives in and lets it wash over him in a dreamy kind of way. This is what I would do and, in finding such a kindred spirit, I fell in love with him too.