Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This is a fun one – basically, the prompt (full prompt below) is to pick a relationship type, and choose characters who fit – there are some great suggestions here, but as I was looking over the characters, I landed on a heist team, because I think the characters here have some excellent skills and talents that deserve to be put to some use.
Full Prompt: Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)
Top Ten Characters
For A Heist Team
Fina
A Radical Act of Free Magic
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: July 20th, 2021
Skill: Magic – Spycraft
Review
Fina isn’t only a powerful magician – she’s skilled at spying, intelligent, and determined. When she sets her mind to something, she achieves it, no matter how long it takes. She’s perfect to have at your side for any kind of caper.
Briseis and Marie
This Poison Heart/This Wicked Fate
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Hardback & Paperback
Published: June 29th, 2021/June 22nd, 2022
Skill: Bri: Magic (Plants) / Marie: General Badass
Review This Poison Heart / This Wicked Fate
I couldn’t possibly separate these two, not after all they’ve been through! Both would be amazing to have on a heist team, anyway, and they really always do work together very well. Plus, I think they’d relish the chance at using their powers/skills for something a little bit more fun.
Marianne de Bonnard
To Steal a Heart
Genre: Historical Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: February 23rd, 2016
Skill: Tightrope Walking – Rope Climbing – Thievery
Review
This could have been another pair, but I decided on Marianne rather than including her beau, Nicolas. Not that he wouldn’t be useful, but his involvement tends to make situations a bit more messy. Anyway! Marianne is flexible, talented and adaptable, the events of To Steal a Heart proving she’s good at picking up new skills, and able to adapt to a variety of different situations. Okay, Nicolas might need to come along, but he’s just there as morale – a cheerleader for Marianne, because why not.
Laure Mesny
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me
Genre: Horror
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
Published: August 29th, 2023
Skill: Doing Whatever It Takes
Review
Not only is Laure powerful, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes. Another reason we don’t need Nicolas: as far as characters who will step in no matter how dirty things get go, you tend to only need one, and Laure trumps Nicolas. Plus, she definitely deserves a payday.
Marko and Alana
Saga
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: Various
Skill: Former Soldiers: Magic – Fighting – Shielding, etc
I adore these two. And Hazel, of course, but I think she can stay home for this one. Marko and Alana are already kind of used to doing whatever it takes to keep their family surviving and together, and I think with their individual skills and the way they work together, their addition would ensure complete ‘dream team’ status.
Viv
Bookshops & Bonedust
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: Audiobook
Published: November 7th, 2023
Skill: Soldier of Fortune
Review
Yes, I’m bringing along my favourite orc – not only a fighter, but someone used to a harder kind of life, plus…someone to talk books with! I haven’t got to Legends & Lattes yet, but I will eventually, but based on this prequel, no team would be complete without Viv.
Brynhild & Gudrun
The Valkyrie
Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: January 1st, 2023
Skill: Warrior – Witch
Review
Who wouldn’t want a Valkyrie and a princess witch on their team? These two make a great pair, and like the other pairs included here, work so well together, helping to balance each other out. There are a lot of bumps on their journey in The Valkyrie, so these two are able to tackle anything that comes their way.
What do you think? Are there are any characters you’d include on a heist team? Let’s face it, we all know how these things go – there will be ups, there will be downs, there will likely be arguments and disagreements, only for the whole team to realise they’ve become a family.
Please do link me to your own Top Ten Tuesday post, too – I’d love to see what others come up with for the relationship freebie!
Unwrapping Words 
This is a terrific list! Thank you so much for your recommendations! 🌺
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
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This is a clever list, thank you for books to add on my TBR! Bookshops and Bonedust is already there because I enjoyed Legends and Lattes!
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Thank you! Glad you liked it – I definitely need to check out L&L!
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It came out before B&B, but I think B&B is the prequel to L&L in a weird roundabout way 🤣
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Yeah it’s the prequel to L&L, I think there’s a few bits in there someone would probably ‘get’ more if they’ve read L&L first
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