have a thing vs take a liking to

have a thing

verb
  • To have a crush on, or a soft spot for, someone. 

  • To be in a casual romantic relationship. 

take a liking to

verb
  • To develop a fondness for; to become infatuated with. 

How often have the words have a thing and take a liking to occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )