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Who doesn’t love the Holiday of Hearts? Pas moi! The Queen of Hearts is sitting safe and secure in her romance palace, waiting for the Valentine’s Day booty to start piling up. (That’s booty, not bootie. The Queen is a class act. She wants romance, gifts, offerings, for Valentine’s Day, not some gratuitous bootie call. And, no, she won’t settle.)

As you may recall, I asked you to send me your votes for the title of ABC Daytime’s Hottest Couple. I got a million, zillion votes, and most of them were, oddly enough, for characters who aren’t currently anywhere near each other. Sorry, kids, but I’m not writing about any pairing that isn’t a pairing, because I can’t write about what I can’t see and analyze on my screen. But that doesn’t mean I won’t give you all credit for loving your faves enough to send me e-mail after e-mail after e-mail to extol their virtues. So, without further ado, here were the top three picks for Hottest Couple sent in by readers.

3.   General Hospital’s Jax and Skye After that hot, hot, hot wedding night love scene, I can’t blame fans for wanting them back. Who doesn’t miss that kind of steam on the screen during this chilly winter of GH discontent?

2.  All My Children’s David and Anna.  Two fabulous performers with the acting chops and swoon factor to keep the temperature rising. Tons of baggage, yes, but I’d pay good money to see them unpack those bags and stay awhile.

1.  GH’s Jason and Liz. Their faithful fans just won’t take no for an answer. Jaime B. argued that her estranged faves share “great friendship, angst, humor and ignitable chemistry.” I have to admit, I never saw the big Liason deal, but I suppose there must be something there to have so many people hanging tough for the Couple That Never Was.

So those were the fan’s votes. Now we get to the good part. What does the Queen of Hearts think? Overall, I have to admit, this is not a good time for romance on the soaps. People are breaking hearts, acting crazy, and skipping town all over the place, leaving romance in the lurch. Quel dommage! But I did my best, closely examining all the couples currently together, looking for music, moonlight, love and romance, something special that stood out from the pack of passion’s punks and pretenders.

My #3 choice is Cris and Natalie on One Life to Live. They’re adorable, they’ve been through trials and tribulation with old girlfriends, psycho villain husbands, split-personality moms, weddings and babies and even a separated-at-birth twin sister, but they’ve persevered. And they’re just so pretty! (If David Fumero isn’t the best-looking guy on TV, who is?) Snowed in together, finally able to make love after months of denial, Cris and Natalie started a raging fire.

For #2, I pick the same pair as the fans. AMC’s David and Anna have it all — intensity, intelligence, passion, a clash of wills, deep and desperate love, and now a baby. They’re proof that you can be over 30 and still generate some amazing heat.

But for my favorite coosome twosome, I’m going with a sweeter, younger, more unique choice. These two represent all the trembling romance and dewy-eyed idealism of Valentine’s Day, when you promise to stay in love forever, recklessly give away all of your heart, and go to hell and back if that’s what it takes to stay together. Hell... That’s what makes this couple so special. He hasn’t been to hell, but he has been to heaven and back, just to be with her. Who can top that kind of commitment?

My funny valentine

Sweet, cosmic valentine

Don’t put a stake in my heart

Ed sent you back for me

Quite unbelievably.

But then Livvie kept us apart

Can our romance hope to survive?

How can Caleb be alive?

No DNA seems so contrived.

I may barf!

Don’t kill my ma for me

Just stay gaga for me

Stay with me, Valentine, stay.

And every day is Valentine’s Day.

Now, wasn’t that nice? Yes, it’s true. Alison and Rafe, Port Charles’ winsome blonde beauty and her hunky, stalwart beau, are my choice as the most interesting, romantic and exciting couple currently gracing ABC soaps. He really did come back from that big round-up in the sky just to be with his lady love. Ain’t no mountain high enough pales by comparison. She really did utter something in the neighborhood of this classic line: “Today was a really bad day!  I found out my mother is a vampire and I almost married my brother!” And she made it seem believable and sad and poignant, while they both made their subsequent tangle on the couch seem right and undeniable, even with that brother-sister thing hanging over their heads. That’s no mean feat.

Of course, he wasn’t really her brother. Of course, they figured that out eventually. Of course, their troubles aren’t over. He may need to stake her mother, vampy Elizabeth, and he totally has to get rid of the threat posed by big, bad Caleb, and they’ve still got that wedding to get to... But they manage to telegraph love, longing, desire, and a desperate need to find sanity together while everything around them goes to hell in a hand basket. More than any other couple out there, I think Rafe and Alison project the inevitability and destiny of love that just cannot be denied.

And it’s been set up beautifully, with a slow, tender build, a major conflict (She’s mortal! He’s not!), a shattering black moment (Rafe gets sucked back to heaven!), a path around the crisis (Rafe gets special dispensation!), a surprising reversal (No memory! Bad Livvie!), another slow, tender build back together, and new problems (Caleb! Vampire Mom! Who’s your bro?) just to make us wait even longer. Way to go to build a romance, Port Charles! Hearts and flowers coming your way, Rafe and Alison!

Until next week, I hope you all find someone warm and snuggly for Valentine’s Day. And if you can’t find that certain someone, all is not lost. You can eat a box of Godivas, rewind your favorite soap couple on video, or pick up a romance novel. Or all three. And eat chocolate, watch videos and read aloud romance novels with your partner. Now that’s romance!

X O X O

The Queen of Hearts

 Comments/feedback?
Email me  QueenofHearts@soaptownusa.com

 

 

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