Douchebag or Dreamboat Archives : All About Romance

Blast from the Past: Mr. Darcy: Douchebag or Dreamboat?

originally posted on July 14, 2014

Welcome to the AAR “Douchebag or Dreamboat” series, in which AAR staffers take famous literary heroes to trial for perceived slights, misdemeanors and otherwise unsavory behaviours. Are they a victim of their circumstances, time and/or personality, or are they just plain douchey?

Mr. Darcy: Imperious Misanthrope or Just a Shy Guy?

One of the best things about being an AAR staffer is the fantastic conversations and debates we have off-line. Usually, they begin when one of us has an idea for a blog post and would like input or opinions from the rest of us. Often we find ourselves going off on tangents, and some very interesting discussions arise.

Recently, one such a discussion had us putting none other than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, beloved hero of Jane Austen’s sublime Pride and Prejudice, through the wringer. The original topic was the prevalence of what we’ve coined the Alpha […]

The Way Back on Wednesday: Alex Markov: Dreamboat or Douchebag?

By Maggie Boyd|2021-09-09T09:04:41-04:00September 8th, 2021|Categories: Anne AAR, Caroline AAR, Characters, Dabney AAR, Dreamboat or Douchebag, Haley AAR, Heroes, LinnieGayl AAR, Maggie AAR, Mary AAR|Tags: Douchebag or Dreamboat, Kiss an Angel, susan elizabeth phillips, Wayback on Wednesday|

(originally published on June 3, 2016)

In another of our occasional series in which we discuss the merits – or lack thereof – of fictional heroes and heroines, AAR staffers turn their attention to Alex Markov of Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Kiss An Angel taps into the classic “arranged marriage” trope. The two protagonists, Daisy and Alex, are blackmailed into marriage by a third party: Daisy’s dad. Daisy agrees in order to avert legal trouble and avoid prison. For Alex Markov, this was his year for paying off big debts, first with his deathbed promise to Owen Quest to take the circus out for its last season under the Quest name, and then by agreeing to marry Max’s daughter. In all these years Max had never asked anything of him as repayment for having saved Alex’s life, but when he’d finally gotten around to it, he’d asked for a doozy. […]