From reading about our favorite leading men in books to watching them on our screens, Prime Video keeps delivering the hot BookTok men that we know and love. Maxton Hall’s James Beaufort. The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Conrad Fisher. Off Campus’s Garrett Graham and Dean di Laurentis. And now, Dr. Adam Carlsen from The Love Hypothesis. It’s safe to say Prime Video’s men have been consuming all of my daily thoughts, whether through the TikTok edits I watch while doomscrolling or the daydreams I embrace during class. While this list is merely a fraction of the dreamy characters from Prime’s many movies and TV shows, these men have fully captured my attention—and the attention of every college girl with a Prime membership.Â
Where should I even start? How about with the iconic “Dress” scene from Season 3, Episode 11 of The Summer I Turned Pretty? The tension. The subtle exchange of looks. The pure want that Conrad has for Belly. It’s truly a perfect scene that lives rent-free in my mind.Â
Moving on to my summer obsession, Off Campus. The show’s execution, in my opinion, was beautiful. Even the smallest changes made to the story and characters were positive, making the characters more mature and fitting for the present day. This show gave us girls a peek into the little things we want to see from the men of the real world. In a shared intimate moment, all Garrett wants to do is make Hannah feel safe. Dean patiently waits for Allie to say yes and encourages her to follow all her dreams and not put them aside for any man. It’s things like this that make us fall in love with these characters on the pages, and seeing them come alive on screen makes it feel even more real and possible.
Another show I loved over the summer was Sterling Point. Even though it isn’t originally based on a book, the show was executed so exquisitely that you could have believed it was a book before. The leading men in the show were patient, gentle, and kind, and the show explored more than just their storylines. It showcased long-lasting female friendships, reminding us viewers that men aren’t everything. Even though we crave seeing these men and the care they showcase in the pages in real life, it is important to know that we should never give up our own morals and hopes for any individual.
While I am a little late to the game with this one, I binged the first two seasons of Maxton Hall just in time for the final season’s release this December. I fell completely in love with James Beaufort and added him to my never-ending list of book boyfriends. James’s character has so many layers, and with every episode, we see another layer of him unraveling as he starts to show more of his emotions and strays away from the stereotype that men should not show any signs of weakness. He struggles with mental health and learns to heal first before once again trying to win back the love of his life, Ruby Bell.
What is it about these male leads that makes everyone fall in love with them? Is it their height? Their looks? Their exceptionally hot bodies? While it could be any of those, I think their personalities are what win us girls over at the end of the day. These fictional men showcase the characteristics that we want to see in real life: patience, thoughtfulness, little acts of love, and many more. In reality, the traits that are being showcased are the bare minimum, but for some reason the bare minimum has now become unattainable. Why is it so difficult to find a guy in the real world who takes the time to listen to my wants and needs? We aren’t asking for a lot, but if for some reason my requests are too much, I’ll continue to seek out my dream man through the pages of my books and in the comfort of my own bed on my laptop screen.
I want to finish off by talking about one of my favorite leading men from the book that got me into romance reading in the first place, Dr. Adam Carlsen. Wow, what a man. I fell in love with him when I first read The Love Hypothesis in 2021 and fell in love all over again when I saw him take over my screen on September 23. Personally, I didn’t mind any of the changes they made. For me, the most important thing is to keep the essence of the characters the same. I’m not looking to watch something that is an exact copy; I am looking to have the same feeling I did when I first read the book. And I did, in fact, feel the exact same giddiness and joy I did the first time I met Adam and Olive.
I already have a running list of release dates to meet my next Prime leading man. These fictional men will continue to increase my standards, while real men will barely meet them. Maybe I’ll meet one of these men in the real world, but until then, I will continue to have my never-ending list of book boyfriends. Â