My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader, one that gives us the opportunity to introduce our latest literary crushes and match up their descriptions with a few pictures of a gentleman we think fits the bill. Since I'm on a Black Dagger Brotherhood kick due to the release of Lover Unleashed last week, I thought I'd share one of my very favorite characters with you. John Matthew shows up in book two of the series as a pre-transition vampire who doesn't know anything about the vampire world and has grown up on his own. He was born without a voice box, so all his responses in the below passages are either signed or mouthed. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do!
A brief description of John Matthew:
With his size, he absolutely dwarfed the three room shop–to the point where it was like he came from another planet. In contrast to his pre-trans state, the guy now had the muscle mass of a pro wrestler, although because his skeleton was so big, the weight was stretched out on long bones, giving him a more elegant look that those swoll'd up humans in tights. He'd taken to buzz-cutting his dark hair and this made the lines of his face seem harsh rather than handsome–with the dark circles under his eyes giving the hard-ass look some serious backup. (pg 12 of Lover Mine)
I tend to ignore the hair color in these descriptions and just go with a default dirty blond, I can't seem to help it! John is in a bad place in the above description and is a long way from his happily ever after, but he's one of those characters who finds their way under your skin and refuses to budge. I think William Levy fits the John Matthew I have in my head, he's got a smile that's all innocent but he's also oozing sex appeal. Not a bad combination if you ask me;)
And then suddenly all she saw was John's face.
He'd somehow managed to turn her around in his arms and they were nose-to-nose, eye-to-eye, his hands digging into her sides and her hips. With the sight of that institutional corridor replaced with his blue stare, the grab of the past was broken and she was caught by him.
He didn't say a thing. Just stayed still and let her look at him.
It was exactly what she needed. She locked onto his eyes and used them to turn her brain off.
When he nodded, she nodded back to him and he started moving forward again. From time to time, his stare flicked away from hers to check where they were going, but it always returned.
It always came back. (pg 174 of Lover Mine)
You are so beautiful, he mouthed.
But of course she couldn't see his lips.
Guess he was going to have to show her.
John took a step forward and another and another. And it wasn't just him going toward her. She met him in the middle, halfway between her point A and his point B, her form encased in the shadow thrown by his body and yet nevertheless the only thing he saw.
As they came together, his chest was pumping and so was his heart. I love you, he mouthed in the dark slice he'd cut out of the light. (pg 303 of Lover Mine)
It was hard to explain. But what was between them went further than a mating ceremony or a back carving or a witnessed exchange of commitment. He couldn't put his finger on the why of it...but she was his missing puzzle piece, the twelfth of his dozen, the first and last pages of his book. And at some level that was all he needed.
All I want is you. However that comes.
She nodded. "Well, I want the whole deal."
He kissed her again, softly, because he didn't want to hurt her. Then pulled back and mouthed, I love you. And I'd love to be your hellren.
She blushed. She actually blushed. And didn't that make him feel like he was the size of a mountain. (pg 482 of Lover Mine)
