**Note: There may be some small spoilers in these descriptions but nothing major is given away. However, if you have not read a series and want to avoid all spoilers I would suggest skipping the descriptions**
A large amount of this list is dedicated to my favorite bad boy’s of YA though I do admit a few of the nice guys slipped their way in as well. I must admit that I, like many many others who swoon over fictional characters, am a sucker for the bad boys. The broody, snarky, dangerous ones. The ones who can be down right mean one moment and then fiercely over protective the next. The nice guys do however, on occasion, snatch my heart with their sensitivity and their devotion. Here is a list of the top ten fictional boys who snuck their way into my heart forever:
10. Noah Shaw-The Mara Dyer Series
He’s British…he’s charming…he’s somewhat enigmatic…and he’s down right sexy. Not much more you can ask for from a book boyfriend. Noah Shaw is what made the Unbecoming such a memorable book for me.
Quotes:
“I’ll be gentle,” Noah added. My breath caught in my throat as he looked at me from beneath those lashes, ruining me.
“You’re evil.”
“And you’re mine.”
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“So,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “You’re a smuthound with daddy issues?” The corner of his mouth turned up in a slow, condescending smile.
I wanted to smack it off his face. “Well, you’re quoting it. And incorrectly, by the way. So what does that make you?”
His half-smile morphed into a whole grin. “Oh, I’m definitely a smuthound with daddy issues.”
9. Ky Markham-The Matched Trilogy
Ky is one of the few good guys on this list. He and Cassia’s relationship is just so simple and beautiful. He teaches her to experience the beauty of words in a world that has fought to hide it at all costs. Ky fights corruption by teaching what has been hidden and ignoring a system that has taken away basic rights from the people of their community. Ky is sexy because he chooses love in a system that tries to choose love for you.
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Quotes:
“Because in the end you can’t always choose what to keep. You can only choose how you let it go.”
8. Alex Sheaths-The Delirium Series
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Alex is another boy who is sexy because of his devotion to the preservation of love in a world that has tried to smother it out. In Alex’s world, love is a disease. Delirium it is called. At the age of 18 every person is “cured” by an operation which basically removes the part of their brain which gives them the ability to love. Essentially a huge part of what makes them human is being permanently cut out. Lena meets Alex just months before she is supposed to be cured and he introduces her to the idea that love is not something that should be feared. He teaches her to love.
Quotes:
“Everyone is asleep. They’ve all been asleep for years. You seemed … awake.” Alex is whispering now. He closes his eyes, opens them again.”I’m tired of sleeping.”
7. Dimitri Belikov-Vampire Academy/Bloodlines
Dimitri Belikov is sexy in that forbidden instructor bad ass kind of way. He is viewed as a god among the Dhampir guardian community because…well…he is a god. Dimitri is the best guardian Rose has ever encountered and being an almost equally bad ass guardian, of course she is drawn to him. What makes Dimitri so sexy is that beneath his hardcore exterior he is also a sensitive and romantic man.
Quotes:
“No. If I let myself love you, I won’t throw myself in front of her. I’ll throw myself in front of you.”
“Wait until next time,” he warned. “I’ll do things that’ll make you lose control within seconds.”
6. Jace Herondale-The Mortal Instruments
Jace Herondale is the king of snark. He’s sarcastic and cocky and also a totally bad ass shadowhunter. Jace is smart and sexy and even though he’s got walls surrounding his heart, when he does let someone in, he loves them more fiercely than any other character I’ve ever read. Jace wears the weight of the world on his back. He wants to fix everything and kill every demon in the world. But what he wants most of all is Clary and boy does he fight for her.
Quotes:
“I don’t want to be a man,” said Jace. “I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.”
“Well,” said Luke, “you’re doing a fantastic job.”
“I swear on the Angel.” He ducked his head down, kissed her cheek. “The hell with that. I swear on us.”
“I don’t care,” Clary said. “He’d do it for me. Tell me he wouldn’t. If I were missing-”
“He’d burn the whole world down till he could dig you out of the ashes. I know,” Alec said.
5. Will Herondale-The Infernal Devices
Will is the tortured soul of this group. Will has sacrificed more than any other character in order to keep those around him safe. Plagued by a curse set on him by a demon when he was just a boy that will kill anyone who loves him, Will has spent his life pushing everyone away. The only good thing Will allows in his life is his best friend and Parabati Jem and even that relationship is haunted by the fact that Jem is slowly but surely dying. Will spends his time connecting to characters in books since he cannot connect to any of the real people in his life. He uses booze, women, and insults as a means to stop others from loving him. Of course when he meets Tessa he finds it much more difficult to push her away and lets tiny moments of his true self slip. But his actions push her right into the arms of Jem. Poor Will =[ All every girl who’s read The Infernal Devices wants to do is love him!
Quotes:
“Are you implying that shreds of my reputation remain intact?” Will demanded with mock horror. “Clearly I have been doing something wrong. Or not something wrong, as the case may be.”
“Sometimes, when I have to do something I don’t want to do, I pretend I’m a character from a book. It’s easier to know whatthey would do.”
He banged on the side of the carriage. “Thomas! We must away at once to the nearest brothel. I seek scandal and low companionship.”
4. Daemon Black-The Lux Series
Daemon Black is one of the newest boyfriends I’ve added to my list and he climbed my top ten list at record speed. When it comes to bad boys, he is the best. I’ve never read a book that made me actually physically want a boyfriend in my life as much as the Lux Series has. Because Daemon is just that hot. He and Katy have a love/hate relationship that is chock full of sarcasm and witty banter. Daemon is actually very mean to Katy in the beginning, hoping to push her away. In the end of course that doesn’t work because nothing reels in a girl faster than treating her badly when underneath it all you actually like her (sad truth).
Quotes:
My lips pressed into a hard line. “You’re such an ass. Has… anyone ever told you that?” He flashed a genuinely amused smile. “Oh, Kitten, every single day of my blessed life.”
“Stalking me again, I see. Do I need to get a restraining order?” “In your dreams Kitten.” He smirked. “Oh wait, I’m already starring in those, aren’t I?” I rolled my eyes. “Nightmares, Daemon. Nightmares.”
“His eyes widened slightly with surprise. “Well I was preparing this whole speech about how you need to stop denying that I consume your every waking thought and haunt your dreams. Now I’m not sure what to say. -Onyx
3. Adrian Ivashkov-Vampire Academy/Bloodlines Series
Poor Adrian. He is one of those characters who you just can’t help but love and root for because he is such a mess. Many view Adrian as a rich, lazy Moroi who has had everything in life handed to him and wastes his time partying. And he lives up to that reputation. He is sexy and sarcastic, your typical bad boy. But, as we begin to see in The Vampire Academy series, Adrian Ivashkov is dearly misunderstood by all of those around him. Thanks to Sydney Sage, in the spin off series Bloodlines, we are finally beginning to see bits and pieces of the good side of Adrian Ivashkov. The good parts which have been hidden behind his drinking and his attitude all this time. Though Adrian has always feigned a certain aloofness, he is ultimately a sensitive and emotional character.
Quotes:
“Don’t worry, little dhampir. You might be surrounded by clouds, but you’ll always be like sunshine to me.”
“Dreams, dreams. I walk them; I live them. I delude myself with them. It’s a wonder I can spot reality anymore.”
“My God, Sage. Your eyes. How have I never noticed them?”
That uncomfortable feeling was spreading over me again. “What about them?”
“The color,” he breathed. “When you stand in the light. They’re amazing… like molten gold. I could paint those…” He reached toward me but then pulled back. “They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
2. Tobias Eaton (Four)-The Divergent Series
Four is one of my all time favorite fictional characters. If I could choose any one of the boys from this list to actually be my boyfriend, it would definitely be Four. He’s brave and he’s devoted but what makes him my favorite is that he doesn’t feel the need to protect Tris. He loves her because of her strength which ultimately helps make her a stronger person. They complement each other the way I believe a true good relationship should. That’s not to say he wouldn’t ultimately make sacrifices to protect Tris, he just doesn’t feel the need to coddle her and protect her from the world at every moment. Also he is brave and a badass which is just sexy.
Quotes:
“What did you do?” I scream. “You die, I die too” Tobias looks over his shoulder at me. “I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions.”
“I’ll be your family now.”
“I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren’t all that different.”
1. Augustus Waters-The Fault in Our Stars
I’m not sure that anyone will ever replace Augustus Waters in my heart as number one fictional boyfriend of all time. The only boy on this list that comes from a contemporary novel, Augustus won me over with his undying devotion to Hazel Grace. Not only is he the ultimate nice guy, but he is also the perfect mixture of smart and sarcastic without the snark. Augustus and Hazel’s story is one of the deepest depictions of love that I have ever read. They understand the true depth of love in a way that other teenagers (and many adults) cannot without also being faced with the reality of death. To this day I cannot think about this story without a pool of tears forming in my eyes.
Quotes:
“My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.”
“I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things.”
“It’s a metaphor, see; you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do it’s killing”
“I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend.”
Honorable Mentions:
Kaiden Rowe-The Sweet Trilogy
Tucker Avery-Unearthly Trilogy
Eio-Origin
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