I think the first fictional character I fell in love with was Mr. Darcy, with Heathcliff a close second. And even as an adult I have a weakness for that sort of brooding, apparently distant character who proves to be intensely passionate. When I finally got around to picking up the Twilight books, I read them compulsively until I was through, even the partially finished manuscript from Edward’s point of view. My favorites of the romance novels I read always featured couples who had reason to hate each other until they fell passionately in love. And few TV romances have surpassed Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s tortured Buffy and Angel, or Buffy and Spike.

That dynamic obviously has a powerful appeal, and not just to me. I wonder why. Is it because it’s nice to imagine that the attractive man who appears uninterested in us is actually harboring a dangerous passion?