My Book Boyfriend: Doyle

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader. Its a chance to pay homage to the hotties that haunt the pages of the novels we love. The men who stay in our thoughts late at night, who plague us during our long hours at work, who cause us to stare off into the starry night and sigh, because we want them here with us. Yes ladies, its the Book Boyfriend.

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This week's book boyfriend is: 

Doyle: a.k.a Darkness

From Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry Series

I know I already did a book boyfriend post about Doyle, but he is seriously the most swoon-worthy guy in the history of hot guys. I was just starting out with blogging when I first featured him as my book boyfriend, and I feel like I didn't do him justice last time. I found an even sexxxayyyyier model and I re-read the entire series so that I could include (almost) each and every swoon worthy quote and moment that I could find.Actually, I lied. These quotes and moments are only from the first three books. That means that there are 5 more books of awesome Doyle quotes, so you will likely see him again. And just so you all know. He is MINE...I will not justify any of you stealing him. Or I WILL hunt you down. Please enjoy, because I certainly do. Without a doubt, Doyle flat out does it for me in every way shape and form. If I could have one wish, it would be that Doyle was real, and that he was mine.

Stats: 
Name: Doyle
Nicknames: The Queen's Darkness, Darkness, Baron Sweet-Tongue
Age: Unknown...around 1000
Heritage: Mostly Royal Sidhe...with a bit of Phouka and Hound of the Hunt thrown in.
Jobs: Captain of the Queen's Guard, then Merry's Guard
Build: HUGE...in every aspect. Broad shoulders, rippling layers of muscles, and calloused hands from centuries sword-fighting. *shudders*


Doyle is exactly who and what Merry needs as a partner to rule. He's strong, he's smart, he's politically savvy, and he's dangerous. He is a king in truth and not just a figurehead. There are constant instances throughout the book where Merry is floundering, or struggling with something and then Doyle is there, exactly in the way she needs him to be, whether it's to catch bullets in his beautiful chest, supply advice, or simply hold her hand so she doesn't throw up the blood she just drank to secure a treaty with the goblins.

Descriptive Quotes:

The bedroom door opened soundlessly, and as if I'd conjured him by my thoughts, Doyle eased into the room. When Doyle wanted to, he moved like the fall of night itself, soundless, weightless, undetectable, until you realized the light was gone and you were alone in the dark with something you couldn't see.

Doyle stayed kneeling, half-naked, his hands limp and empty resting against his thighs, surrounded by a sea of his own hair. He should have looked helpless, or feminine or something, but he didn't. He was a piece of night come to life. He looked like something carved out of the elemental darkness, as if he had risen as one of the first things to ever draw breath, before light even thought to exist. 

A huge reason that I love Doyle is that not only is he there for Meredith, but he is an amazing leader for the rest of the guards. He's like a combo dad/big brother figure and it makes him come off more powerful, more in-control, and just...better than any of the guards combined. There is a moment when he and Meredith both swear to protect the other guards over a sleeping Frost that just makes you catch your breath...it was SO powerful in such an understated way...you could practically feel the shape of the characters' destinies changing as these two made such a powerful oath...holy hotness...

"Say that you wish him dead and it will be so. Pick a body part of your choosing, and I will fetch it for you."

One thing that I think draws me to Doyle more than any others, is that he is almost identical to an ex-boyfriend of mine well..minus the rippling muscles, and swoon-worthy quotes...Regardless, Doyle reminds me of a guy I was with for about 6 years, who I had been best friends with for much longer, and who was the first guy I've ever fallen in love with. Doyle is depicted in such detail that I can pick out individual facial expressions and body language that describes my ex so well that it's like Laurell was using him as a template when writing Doyle. It isn't just Doyle's physical description that reminds me of the ex...(for our purposes we will now call my ex Jack )...Doyle likes to play the same mind games on Merry that Jack was so fond of pulling on me. For example, Doyle doesn't sleep with Merry for months, claiming that he wanted to intrigue her into finding him more special or some such nonsense...that is so totally a Jack-like move...he would do odd things like that to me all the time, and it seemed like he did them just to confuse me or get me to obsess over him. Despite all the games, Jack remains the single most significant relationship I've ever had, and because of that, Doyle just seems to come to life more than any character I've ever known...Plus he's more magical and sexy than Jack could ever be lol...I mean it's not every guy who can shape change parts of his body into animal form...when he says he's hung like a horse...well...he means it :P

Just Plain Doyle:

"Meredith." His voice was always low and dark like thick candied liqueur for the ear instead of the tongue. He said my name once, but for the first time in centuries his voice wasn't neutral. That one world held uncertainty, a question, and a hope. "Merry."He spoke my name once more, and it turned me around to face the bed and what lay waiting for me among the burgundy sheets.  

He held me in his arms and spoke softly as I began to drift off.
"You do not mind that my grandmother was a hound of the wild hunt and my grandfather a phouka?"
"No." My voice was thick with sleep.
Then I asked, "Could I really end up having puppies?"
He paused. "...It is...unlikely."

Oh Doyle, you make me smile. In fact, there is no way he wouldn't make any woman smile. He's the perfect combination of all things you want in a man. He's strong but caring. He's loving but not clingy or jealous. He's build like a beast, and is willing to use those beastly muscles to either defend you to his last breath or leave you breathless. On top of that, he knows how to use a gun, a sword, knives, magic, pretty much any weapon ever invented...including his own...tehe.

I was almost asleep, when I felt him hold me tighter, as if I was his security blanket instead of the other way around...

*le sigh* Dearest, Darlingest, Doyle, You make my heart happy. I'm also making myself swoon all over the place just thinking about him so I think I'm going to have to go get the next Merry Gentry book off my shelf so I can get back to my darling Darkness. So what do you guys think of MY book boyfriend? Total hottie pants yes? Of course he is. :)