Tell me what you’ve done.

My Most Questionable Book Boyfriend

I have a confession.

I have loved fictional men I would absolutely tell my best friend to stay away from.

Not “maybe give him a chance.”

Not “he seems misunderstood.”

I mean:

Change your number. Lock the door. We’re getting coffee and discussing your decision-making immediately.

And yet somehow, when he exists inside a book?

Suddenly I have questions.

What happened to him?

Why is he like this?

Is he actually terrible, or is he just emotionally complicated, devastatingly loyal, and in desperate need of several uninterrupted therapy sessions?

And most importantly:

Is he soft with her?

Because apparently that changes things.

At least in my fictional moral code.

I’ve overlooked possessiveness.

I’ve forgiven threats.

I’ve watched a man make a decision so spectacularly questionable that I had to put the book down for a moment…

…and then picked it right back up.

Because surely there was context.

There was always context.

The Part I Don’t Usually Admit

Sometimes the red flag is part of why I’m interested.

There.

I said it.

Not because I want that behavior in real life.

Fiction is allowed to be fiction.

But give me a complicated man who is dangerous to everyone except the person he loves?

Unfortunately, I am listening.

Give him a terrible reputation and exactly one soft spot?

Still listening.

Let him say “Who did this to you?” in that particular fictional-man way?

Darling.

We may have a situation.

And somewhere along the way, I stop asking:

“Is this man a red flag?”

And start asking:

“But is he a well-written red flag?”

Which is how I end up emotionally attached to a fictional man whose behavior I would describe as concerning if anyone asked me about him in daylight.

I know what he did.

I saw the warning signs.

I have reviewed the evidence.

And apparently…

I’m still keeping him.

This is Confess.

We’re interested in the thoughts you usually keep in the diary.

Now You Confess

You don’t have to give us his name.

You don’t have to tell us the book.

Just tell us the truth:

Who is the most questionable book boyfriend you’ve ever loved?

What was the red flag you absolutely should not have ignored?

And what did that fictional menace do that made you forgive him anyway?

Come on.

The library doors are closed.

And remember:

This is a judgment-free library.

Unless your answer is “he murdered everyone but her.”

Then Carmen may have some follow-up questions.

The diary’s open. 💋

🖤 Romanceaholic
Love stories. Taken seriously.