{Guest Post+Review+Giveaway} The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick @HuntleyFitz

Welcome to Day #8 of The Boy Most Likely To(ur)!

1. The scene where Tim comes home to find Alice asleep in his bed-and she kicks him:

“You can get under the covers, you know,” I whisper.

“Better not.” Her voice is low.

“You’ve never been safer with me than you are now.”

Her quiet laugh shakes the bed, but not painfully anymore. Alice shifts, her wavy hair tickling my cheek. Warm skin, soap, damp hair that smells like rain and leaves…All the rain sheeting down…it’s like we’re in a cocoon, wrapped up, falling into sleep.”

2. Andy asking Tim for dating advice:

Then she says in a rush: “whenyouarekissingsomeonelikereallykissinghthemwheredoyouputyourhands?”

–This is a tie with Andy comforting Alice when Alice has just learned about the latest Boy Most Likely screw up:

“Alice, c’mon. You can have a bad day. Without it being your period or you being a ballbuster—see, I said it—or a wimp or calling yourself names. Although, if it would help, we can call this guy names.”

3. Alice and Tim’s scene in the tent:

“Do I have to dare you?” He asks quietly. His hand, resting there. For a moment I stare at it, my stomach giving a small, jolting flip. Calluses. A little cut on the pad of the thumb. No Band-Aid, of course. Something so Tim about that hand.

“No.” I say. “This is more truth than dare.”

4. Mr. Garrett giving Alice the purple heart:

“I never saw myself as Cinderella slaving away, Dad. I’ve done all this gladly—“

“And dutifully, and resentfully, and impatiently, and lovingly and many other ways, Alice. I know. Open the package.”

5. The Epilogue: 

“Maybe you can just find what you need in little pieces, in people who show up for one crucial moment—or a whole chain of them—even if they can’t solve it all.”

“Then I feel a steadying hand on my ankle and hear a rustling sound, as someone, some guy, climbs up the trellis and onto the roof, my own secret place.

“Hey,” he says again, sitting down next to me as though he knows me well. “Need rescuing?”

“You have to kiss me,” I find myself saying.

“Yeah.” He leans closer. “I do.”

“I don’t get what half these descriptions mean….what’s a vibrating ring?”

“Sounds like the part that breaks on the washing machine. What’s extra-sensitive? That sounds like how we describe George.”

In movies, no one ever gets self-conscious at this point, thinking they should have brushed their teeth. In movies, it’s all beautifully choreographed, set to an increasingly dramatic soundtrack.

In movies, when the boy pulls the girl to him when they are both finally undressed, they never bump their teeth together and get embarrassed and have to laugh and try again.

But here’s the truth: In movies, it’s never half so lovely as it is here and now with Jase.

I take the scratchy paper and blow my nose. I know my face is red and swollen and now that I’ve started crying, I think it’s very possible I won’t ever be able to stop.

“That’s it.” Tim pats me awkwardly on the back, more like he’s trying to dislodge something stuck in my throat than comfort me. “Whatever’s going on, it’ll be okay….but I can’t believe ditching Jase is gonna help.”

I cry harder.

With a resigned expression, Tim sheers off more paper towels.

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Stop by Babbling About Books and More tomorrow for Day #9 to take a quiz to find out which Huntley Fitzpatrick character you’re most like!

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The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Pages: 432
Published by Dial Books on August 18, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, contemporary, Romance
Source: eARC from Publisher

A surprising, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door—great for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han 

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To
 find the liquor cabinet blindfolded,
 need a liver transplant, and
 drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To . . .
 well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.
And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this novel is for readers of The Spectacular Now, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Paper Towns.

This will be a mini review (although I feel like even when I say mini, I end up talking and talking and talking….) because one, I think by now Huntley Fitzpatrick books are well known and beloved for being beautiful stories and two, this review can get spoilery real quick, and I don’t want that to happen. Which is why I wanted to read the Boy Most Likely To so badly. I have not experienced any of Huntley’s books yet, and I thought that since this was a companion book and not a sequel to the Boy Next Door that this would be the perfect opportunity. And I am really glad that I did read it first because I have a feeling that it positively influenced my reading experience.

I thought this book was going to be a fluffy contemporary romance, and it really wasn’t. It was a contemporary romance but it dealt with meatier issues, which gave the book more denseness, if that makes sense. It was a full bodied contemporary, and I was really digging that about the book. Tim and Alice were so not your typical characters. Tim felt a lot older than he was to me. Probably because he was dealing with some very grown up things, all on his own. And Alice…took some time to grow on me. I’m not sure if that is because I didn’t read the first book and didn’t get to see her as a background character before or what. I never disliked her, I just didn’t immediately see her as the leading lady. I really warmed up to her though as the book unfolded.

What I loved about The Boy Most Likely to was that it not only featured great characters and was very much about their journey as individuals, but it also had a nice slow burn romance. (think crock pot on the lowest setting…this was reallyyy slow burn.) But Huntley’s writing also put a spotlight on so many different relationship dynamics- families, siblings, friends, girlfriend/boyfriends. And that was what made this book so wonderful. If you are looking for a contemporary with a bit of grit and some depth try the Boy Most Likely To. I think you are very likely to love it.

P.S. this turned out to be a full length review, and not mini at all. Such is the curse of being verbose.

@HuntleyFitz shares her favorite scenes from The Boy Most Likely To & My Life Next Door @BookBriefs #Giveaway #BMLT #MLND #YA Share on X

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To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win

Note: Book Briefs Contest Policy applies.  All of the prizes, terms and conditions of the giveaway should be contained in the rafflecopter below. No Purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.

• One (1) first prize winner will receive a YA Goodie Basket filled with all three of Huntley’s books (The Boy Most Likely To, My Life Next Door, and What I Thought Was True), Pushing the Limits and Crash Into You by Katie McGarry, Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally, and The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
• Two (2) second prize winners will receive audiobooks of The Boy Most Likely To and What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick plus swag
• Enter via the rafflecopter below
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• Ends 9/18 at midnight ET
• For the blog post comment entry, answer the question: What is your favorite scene from BMLT or MLND?

September 7th – Bookhounds YA

September 8th – Novel Novice

September 9th – YA Interrobang

September 10th – A Backwards Story

September 11th – Once Upon a Twilight

September 14th – A Life Bound By Books

September 15th – Alison Can Read

September 16th – Book Briefs

September 17th – Babbling About Books and More

September 18th – Angieville