Raise your hand if you have crushed on a fictional character.

Last week I read Austenland, by Shannon Hale – a fluffy, fun bit about a woman who lets her crush on Mr. Darcy get in the way of her real-life relationships.  Most bookish girls have had crushes on their favorite fictional heroes… right?  I know I have.  Please tell me I’m not the only one.  I know I’m not the only one.  How else would Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley have acquired their legions of female fans, without the delicious and safe literary crush phenomenon?

Oh, yes, I’ve sighed over Mr. Darcy.  And Mr. Knightley.  Come to mama.

And for even longer, I have loved me some Gilbert Blythe and Teddy Kent.  I imagined both of them with a shock of hair falling in their brown eyes.  But don’t worry, Anne and Emily, I know they’re your men, not mine.

But even before Gilbert and Teddy, there was another literary boy who struck my fancy.  Oh, Peter Pevensie, I’d have ruled Narnia by your side any day.

Peter is a loving and responsible big brother.  Although he doesn’t believe his sister Lucy when she tells her siblings she has found a magical land in a wardrobe, he doesn’t try to make her feel ridiculous, either.  And when Lucy is proven right, Peter is the first to apologize for doubting her… in fact, that happens multiple times throughout the books.  Peter is quick to own up when he makes a mistake, but he is never tempted by the evil White Witch like his brother Edmund.  Peter grows from schoolboy to warrior to king.  Now what pre-teen girl wouldn’t love a boy who can conquer and rule an entire magical land (with a little help from his friends and one all-powerful Lion, yes), yet still be humble enough to admit it when his little sister is right and he is wrong?

Peter Pevensie is a little young for me these days.  And I don’t need literary crushes anymore – I have a cute hubby to crush on.  Still, I’m proud to own up to my first literary crush being a stand-up guy like Peter.

Who was your first literary crush?