If Music Be The Food Of Love...or Hot Boys And Their Instruments (ooh er, missus)

After threatening to write a post about hot boys and pianos, I was surprised to receive a couple of requests to actually do so. I'm not complaining. I am also not limiting myself to pianos. I should probably explain... I have always loved a creative sort of guy. Art is good – but music is better. Any man who can sit down and play me a tune, be it by tinkling the ivories, strumming some strings or banging a drum will always float my boat (and yes, everything there does seem to be a double entendre). In YA fiction, these music men are doubly swoonsome as they invariably are intelligent, hot, troubled or funny. Usually all four. So without further ado, here is my top five countdown:

Five: Edward – Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

I nearly didn't include Edward. Number five was almost going to be Sam from Shiver. However, Edward really fits my mould better. He is troubled, has a dark secret, and is clearly very hot. Sadly, he does not display any humour and also has stalker like tendancies (have I never mentioned that I'm Team Jacob?). He is here, however, because his piano playing saves him for me as a character. He sits at his grand piano, tinkling away, composing songs for his mother and his love and I just forget all the creepy stuff. The lovely Robert Pattinson tipped this for me when I saw him actually playing the piano in the Twilight movie. With his own hands. Swoon....thud.

Four: Joe – The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Here we have a relative newcomer. Joe plays guitar and horn and pretty much everything else you can think of. Unlike many of the others on this list, he is not troubled when we meet him. He is happy and lovely and plays music for the sheer joy of it. I would like him to live in my kitchen with his guitar. And his eyelashes. I would feed him cookies and he would play me songs. Bat. Bat. Bat. Strum. Strum. Bat. Etc.

Three: James – Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Again, James was nearly knocked of his post by Sam (another Maggie creation). In the end, however, I just like James more. He plays the pipes. I live in Scotland where most guys playing the pipes are large and sweaty. Not so, James! He is hot and lovely. He also plays the piano under the tutelage of another hot, musical guy (the fantastic Sullivan- I have no idea what Sullivan plays but he rocks a Julliard sweater, so he must be pretty good. And hot). James is one of my favourite male protagonists of recent times and again he is smart, funny, troubled and caring. Perfect. Also, he writes random words all over his hands which should probably ring alarm bells regarding mental illness, but is actually just really sexy.

Two: Jace – The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Aaaah, Jace. You were so nearly number one. What a guy... Let's check our list of qualifying attributes:  Is he hot? Man, yes. Like Michaelangelo angel hot. Is he troubled? Yes – major family issues. And then some. Is he smart? Uh-huh – he speaks about a dozen languages and seems to be able to quote from every book of note ever written. Is he funny? Laugh out loud and role on the floor so. Most importantly – is he musical? Yes, yes, yes. Even better, he plays the piano in “a desultory fashion”. He's so good, he doesn't even care! I may marry him one day.

One: Sebastian – Sadler's Wells Series by Lorna Hill

So, you may be wondering where all this has come from, this obsession with men and music. Well, we have now reached the crux of the matter. I first read the Sadler's Wells books when I was about nine. I was really into ballet, and that is what they focus on so I was happy (there are also a lot of horses featured, but you can't have everything). Sebastian doesn't appear in all of the books, just the first two where he plays antagonist and love interest to heroine Veronica. Sebastian is smart, wickedly so and unlike any other character on this list (perhaps with the exception of James) is absolutely driven by his music. He cannot live without it, or Veronica, for whom he plays while she dances (usually in some swoony outdoor setting). He is hot – all piercing blue eyes and long piano-player fingers. He is also a bit of a bad boy – in that he can be a bit cruel, his humour sarcastic and his judgements final. Importantly, he has some issues involving family and being chucked out of his ancestral home. For years he was all I looked for in a boy – it is no coincidence that my first love was an immensely talented, hugely sarcastic, slightly broken piano player. And just as Sebastian informed my choices in men then, I suspect he perhaps still does. Ah, Sebastian – you got me at an impressionable age, and my heart remains with you....

So there you have it. My ever so geeky, possibly slightly disturbing list of musical hotties. Prepare to share – I refuse to believe that these are the only YA guys out there who are musical. Or perhaps you have your own list? Write it up, link back, share the hot boy love! I'm off to play me a tune and dream of Sebastian Scott.