My Book Boyfriend: Jase Garrett

MBB is an awesome weekly meme started by Missie The Unread Reader (find out more at by reading the intro post) and is currently co-hosted by Lesley over at My Keeper Shelf!

I love My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick, not only because it's a  fabulous summer read, but it introduced me to Jase Garrett who has earned himself a name on my list of all-time favorite book boyfriends!

Oh yes, he is that swoon-worthy.

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A bit about Jase Garrett

• His first name is actually Jason
• He's the third oldest Garrett
• Likes to fix things
• has wavy brown hair, green eyes, and olive skin

His first meeting with Samantha:
"Hey," he says again, sitting down next to me as though he knows me well. "Need rescuing?"
I stare at this boy. He's obviously a Garrett, and not Joel, but which one? Up close, in the light spilling from my bedroom, he looks different from most of the Garretts--rangier, leaner, his wavy hair a lighter brown, already with those streaks of blond some brunettes get in the summer.
"Why would I need rescuing? This is my house, my roof."
"I don't know. It just hit me, seein gyou there, that you might be Rapunzel. The princess in the tower thing. All that long blond hair and... well..."
"And you'd be?" I know I'm going to laugh if he says "the prince."
Instead he answers "Jase Garrett," reaching for my hand to shake it, as though we're at a college interview rather than randomly sitting together on my roof at night.

Jase has a rather unusual... hobby?
"Walking into Jase's room is like walking into... well, I'm not sure... A forest? A bird sanctuary? One of those tropical habitats they have at zoos? It's filled with plants, really tall ones and hanging ones and succulents and cacti. There are three parakeets in a cage and a huge hostile-looking cockatoo in another. vI look, there are other creatures..."

Swoon-worthy moments:
"Jase?"
"Mmm-hmm?" He lift up on one elbow, his face barely visible in the twilight.
"You have to kiss me," I find myself saying.
"Yeah." He leans closer. "I do."
His lips, warm and soft, touch my forehead, then slide down my cheek, moving sideways to my mouth. His hand comes up to press the nape of my neck beneath my wet hair, just as mine slips to his back. His skin's warm beneath the cool sheen of water, his muscles tight as he lies there, still balanced on one elbow. I curl in closer. 

After about five minutes I say, "Put this back on now." I thrust his shirt at him.
"Okay. Why?"
"Just do it."
"Unbelievably distracted by my body, Samantha?"
"Yes."
He laughs. "Good. We're on the same page, then." There's a pause. Then he says, "I said that wrong. Like it was all about how you look, and that's not it. It's just that you're so different than I thought you were."
"Than you thought I was, when?"
"When I saw you. Sitting on your roof. For years."
"You saw me. For years?" I feel myself flush again. "You didn't tell me that."
"For years. Course I didn't tell you. I knew you watched us. Couldn't figure out why you didn't just come over. I thought... maybe you were shy... or a snob... I didn't know. I didn't know you then, Sam. Couldn't help watching you back, though."

Jase studies my face, then takes my hand, pulling me down. He carefully curls around me, so my head is resting on his arm, and his head's resting on my shoulder. His fingers move slowly through my hair. The paradox of Jase is that at the same time I'm so conscious of the head of his chest against my back, and the muscles under the shorts on the legs twined around mine, I feel so safe and comfortable that I fall, almost immediately asleep. 

Honestly, it's like every time Jase appears in the book, I fall more and more in love with him! I'll have a review of My Life Next Door up within the next couple of days so be sure to check back if you want to know more about the book! :)