Monday Mix-Up – BOOK BOYFRIENDS #2

Jamie Frasier might be my longest book boyfriend, but Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind was my first. How can anyone talk about book boyfriends and not mention his name? I read GWTW for the first time when I was about thirteen. I’ve read it many, many times since. Each and every time, my heart beats faster with the appearance of Rhett.

What makes this man so appealing? Aside from the fact that he’s handsome and a snappy dresser? He’s ornery and playful. The man loves to tease and provoke Scarlett, pushing all of her buttons, and enjoying every minute of it. He’s intelligent and witty. Every quip he makes drips with sarcasm and flies over the heads of his company. He’s passionate and demanding. When he sweeps Scarlett into his arms and charges up the stairs with her, I nearly swooned. He’s arrogant, conceited, and painfully flawed. He’s not a good person in many respects, yet by the end of the book, my heart breaks for him…every time.

I think part of Rhett’s appeal is in his mystery. Margaret Mitchell keeps his scenes short, sweet, and infrequent in the beginning. With every page, I held my breath hoping and waiting for him to appear again. I think Scarlett felt the same way. And Mitchell never reveals too much about Rhett. What we know of his past is through gossip and innuendo and we can only guess what events shaped him into the man he became. And oh, what a man that is!