In no particular order.
1. Varen from Nevermore: Dark, tortured, brooding and mysterious is how I like my guys, and Varen Nethers is about as tortured and brooding as you can get. There's just something about his stoic resignation that makes you want to leap in and save him, both from himself and the horrors that surround him.
2. Will from Firelight: Technically, I'm just starting this book, but I already love Will, the young draki hunter out to get Jacinda (in more ways then one). Like I said, I've only just begun, but I expect the romance to get fire-breather hot really soon. :D
3. Gale from The Hunger Games: No, I am not Team Gale. I am not Team Peeta, either. I will reserve judgment for who I think should get the girl. But Gale is a skilled hunter and a rebel, and I like him slightly more then the soft, somewhat bumbling baker boy. (Team Peeta, don't kill me. I like Peeta, too, just not as much.) I have a sneaking suspicion who Katniss will end up with, but having only recently read Hunger Games (yes, I'm late), I still have two more books to see where the story takes the characters.
4. Kylar Stern from Way of Shadows: Not a YA book, but Kylar starts out as a street rat and grows into a formidable assassin. That's all it takes for massive love from me. Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for assassins (my favorite YA hero is and remains Valek from Poison Study). I don't know why I love assassin stories so much. Maybe its the mystery, the dark allure, the inner torment. Or maybe its because I'm also a ninja nut.
5. Mackie Doyle from The Replacement: Mackie is weird. He's different. He's a changeling. And I might have a biased love for all things faery. But Mackie tries so hard to be human, to do the right thing, even though he really doesn't belong in either world, that you can't help but admire his determination.
Those are my top 5 guys for 2010. Who are yours?
