Top Ten Tuesday: Classic & More Recent Characters Who Should Team Up

Happy Tuesday! Today’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday is ‘Characters Who Should Team Up‘. The sheer number of possibilities made my head spin lol. After thinking about it for a while I decided it would be fun to see which classic characters & more recent characters should team up. Whether it’s because their personalities are similar, they have the same talents, or they’re in similar life situations, these classic characters and their more recent counterparts would each make an amazing team!

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Anne and Grace (from Pepper Basham’s Freddie and Grace Mysteries) are definitely kindred spirits, especially in how they ‘live’ the books they read. Grace is, dare I say it, even more wonderful than Anne but they would most assuredly consider each other a bosom friend. If they teamed up, we would be in for a delightfully bookish adventure that would leave us smiling big.

Mr. Knightley (swoon) and Sweet on You’s Zander Ford (swoon) are both in love with their best friend… and have been for years. Said best friend is completely oblivious, so I know they would have a lot to commiserate about if they teamed up. A Knightley/Zander combination would also give us a plethora of swoony quotes like “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more” (Knightley) and “I’ve loved you since I was fourteen, and I’ll love you for longer than eternity lasts” (Zander). All the swoons from me for these two swoonilicious heroes. (Can I use the word ‘swoon’ any more in this paragraph? lol)

Alcott’s Jo March and Chiavaroli’s Taylor Bennett (from The Orchard House) are both authors and both well-versed in the complexities of sisterhood. And while that may be where their similarities end, I still think that these two characters would be a formidable team if they were to participate in a story together.

Nancy Drew & Annalee Spain (from Patricia Raybon’s Annalee Spain Mysteries) are both independent young women who have a knack for putting clues together to solve a mystery. Neither one will take off her ‘amateur sleuth’ hat until answers are found, despite the risk to her own life and limb. Together they would be unstoppable. And since the 1st Nancy Drew mystery appeared on the scene in 1930, they are almost contemporaries.

The Beast and Mimi Matthews’ Captain Jasper Blunt (from The Belle of Belgrave Square) are both troubled, intimidating, and ultimately wonderful heroes. And while I’m not sure my swooning sensors could take the two of them teaming up, I would certainly make the effort! I will never ever get over besotted Jasper and his endearing Beast-ness. Never. Ever. I just…. aslw;efrlkmfsl;;ldflfndkmsa … I can’t even.

Both Jane Eyre and Midnight’s Budding Morrow‘s Sarah Drayton know what it’s like to search for love and belonging … and what it’s like to live in a former wife’s shadow (whether either realizes it immediately or not). I think if these two teamed up, they would start a support group … and I bet Sarah wouldn’t hesitate to introduce Jane to the Giver of Grace who freely offers the most powerful love in the world.

In Jane of Austin, Lodge’s homage to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Callum Beckett is the Colonel Brandon character. And of course they have a lot in common. Both veterans, both with tragic backstories, both choosing to remain in the shadows – but not out of the picture – as the woman they love initially falls for the flashier ‘hero’. Both steady and kind beta heroes… and both deliciously swoonworthy. Should they ever team up, I have no doubts that the Willoughby character would not get nearly as much page time.

Ok, stay with me on this one lol. At first glance, this one may seem to be a stretch. But Lucy Pevensie and Brielle Adebayo (from Toni Shiloh’s In Search of a Prince) are more alike than you might first think.  They are each surprised to learn that they are royalty – Lucy as a Queen of Narnia and Brielle as the future Queen of Ọlọrọ Ilé. Both heroines really step into their roles with determination and courage, and they hold fast to their beliefs even when others do not. I think the two of them, though in very different situations, would have a lot to talk about if they teamed up, and they would absolutely be leaders I could fully support. I know I’d move to a joint Pevensie/Adebayo kingdom in a heartbeat!

Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Mehl’s Kaely Quinn (from her Kaely Quinn Profiler and The Quantico Files series) are each uniquely gifted with an ability to see things that no one else does, in ways that no one else does. I think if the two of them teamed up on a task force, there would soon be no more unsolved serial killers in the US and probably not even the world. I’d love to follow along behind them and observe their separate styles, which would undoubtedly clash until they figured out how to work together.

Like Elizabeth Bennett, Lone Star Sweetheart’s Katherine Bruno is paired with a man who gets under her skin, and her preconceived notions plus her sassy mouth just might wound his pride whenever they’re in close proximity. I do think, though, that if they teamed up they could teach a class on how to avoid making hasty assumptions without all the facts… and how to give that guy a second chance to make a first impression.

What about you? Which of these dream match-ups would you most like to see? Can you think of any other classic & more recent characters that should team up?