Title: The Boy Most Likely To
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Date Started: September 21
Date Finished: September 25
Format: Hardcover from local library
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.
Like with What I Thought was True, I was really excited to read The Boy Most Likely To, and if it was possible even more so because this was a true ‘companion’ book to My Life Next Door. Instead of dealing with Sam and Jase, you had Tim – Sam’s best friend’s brother – and Alice – Jace’s older sister. I liked the dynamic that those two had in MLND and I couldn’t wait to see where there story went.
And when the book started it looked great. Alice was dealing with her life post-father’s accident. But things aren’t looking good when the bank sends a letter saying that Grace – Sam’s mom – won’t be paying any more of Mr. Garrett’s hospital bills. And at the same time there’s Tim, who moved out of his parents house and whose dad gives him until Christmas to ‘become a man’ aka get his shit together. And so far, things are looking good. He moved in above the garage at the Garrett’s place. He’s trying to stay sober. He quit smoking. And he’s been flirting, rather successfully with Alice, who seems to tolerate him a little bit more.
It was great. And then….Hester shows up. Hester is a girl that Tim knew back at one of the schools he got kicked out of during his dark days. And apparently, at a party, they drunkly hooked up…and surprise. Tim is a dad. *wipes hand over face dramatically* Look, I know that this sort of stuff happens, goodness knows I went to a high school where every new semester someone new showed up pregnant (thank you, school district’s abstinence only, sex-ed policy), but…
*sigh* I really don’t like contemporary/romance novels when kids get involved. It throws everything, and I do mean everything – from the character’s character development, to romantic plot lines – off. And sure, in this book, the baby bomb wasn’t too bad. It did add some interesting tension between Alice and Tim, and it did help Tim’s character development, I just wished that this wasn’t where the plot was going to go. They couldn’t have focused on Brad’s stalker like behavior instead?
Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Even though I didn’t like the kid angle, this book was still rather good. Alice and Tim have an interesting relationship and it was also nice to check in on Sam and Jase. Maybe another companion book about Nan?
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