Author Name: Becca Burton
Book Name: Something Like a Love Song
Release Date: November 19, 2015
Buy The Book:
Interlude Press Web Store: store.interludepress.
Blurb:
One tragic night left Landon and Dylan’s dreams of happily ever after in apparent ruin. Forced to overcome physical and emotional trauma, the young lovers turn to a network of family and friends as they attempt to rebuild their lives. But can their one constant—their love—survive the changes both undergo on the road to recovery?
Pages or Words: 308 pages
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance
Excerpt:
Landon's bed is in the center of the room, and Dylan’s heart begins to pound in his chest as he takes a step forward, hesitates. Landon looks so small, tucked into the middle of the bed, and everything about the scene is unnatural and wrong. His head is wrapped with thick bandages, for which Dylan is grateful—he isn't sure he could handle that. Just the thought of what's happening to Landon, to his fiancé, is enough to make his throat constrict, his chest tighten.
A ventilator tube parts Landon's lips, and his chest rises and falls in equal, rhythmic whirrs. IVs line his arms; the wires snake from under his hospital gown. His freckles stand out starkly against the unnatural pale hue of his skin, except where the deep purple of a bruise creeps from under the bandages and swells down to his left cheekbone. It seems impossible that only hours ago they were laughing in the park, holding hands and eating ice cream from the small corner stand; it’s like some distant memory, a fading dream. But the ache deep in Dylan’s chest, the way his stomach is knotting itself, the too-clean smell of the hospital burning his nose, Landon's face, battered and bruised—Dylan can't look away—all this is too real to be a dream, no matter how badly Dylan wants to just wake up, wants all this to go away and everything to be okay.
"You can touch him, if you want," Brittany says, her voice soft. "We need to make sure to reduce extra stimulation, to allow his brain time to recover, but it's okay to hold his hand."
Dylan looks up at her. Her smile is kind and understanding. Then he turns back to Landon and takes a small step forward. Landon's hand is right there, resting above the covers, and Dylan doesn't know why he's so nervous; he's held Landon's hand more times than he could begin to count. But, surrounded by machines and tubes, Landon has never looked so utterly fragile, as if he could shatter at the lightest touch.
"It's okay," Brittany says from behind him, and Dylan squeezes his eyes shut, tears pricking behind his eyelids. "You won't hurt him."
Landon's skin is cold; his hand is unnaturally still. Even in sleep Landon's hand would always find Dylan's, their fingers would curl together like a reflex.
Not now.
"I'm so sorry," Dylan whispers, holding on a little tighter. "I'm so..."
His voice catches, the words bottling up in his throat, unable to escape. Landon's chest rises, falls, in, out.
In, out.
"You're so hurt, and it's my fault," Dylan manages, his voice barely audible above the machines keeping Landon alive. "It's all my fault and I'm..." He exhales slowly. "I'm so sorry."
He swipes his thumb across Landon's knuckles, over the dips and grooves, and vaguely notes that Brittany has left them alone. He sinks down into the small chair beside the bed, not letting go of Landon's hand.
"You need to fight, okay? I need you here, with me, and I can't..." There's nothing left inside him except an empty, hollow feeling and the knowledge that Landon can't hear him. Landon’s engagement ring is in a dish on a table beside the bed, along with his watch, and Dylan fishes them out and tucks them into his pocket.
Character interview
Today I'm happy to welcome Landon and Dylan from Something Like A Love Song by Becca Burton to Bayou Book Junkie!
Gentlemen, thanks so much for agreeing to this interview. It's a pleasure to have y'all here! Tell us a little about yourselves!
Dylan: Hi, thank you for having us. We feel very honored to be here. As you know, Landon and I feel very passionately about raising awareness on traumatic brain injuries. Currently, I’m working as a graphic designer at a small company in Minneapolis, and Landon… we’ll I’ll let him tell you.
Landon: Hi there. Right now I’m working part time as a child life specialist in the children’s hospital, but I’ve become involved in the TBI support group I attend, and finding ways to raise awareness and support others going through what I went through.
What has been the greatest challenge in your relationship?
Dylan: I think, in relation to Landon’s injury, our biggest challenge has been communication. It took us so long to navigate the road to recovery, and learn to really talk to each other, and we’re still working on it all the time.
Dylan: I think, in relation to Landon’s injury, our biggest challenge has been communication. It took us so long to navigate the road to recovery, and learn to really talk to each other, and we’re still working on it all the time.
Landon: I would agree with Dylan. There are many time I still don’t know my own limitations, and when I’m pushing myself too hard or not enough. Talking to Dylan about this, and learning to let him help me has been a big challenge for me.
What are your favorite qualities about your partner?
Dylan: Are we talking physical because then there would be too many to name. (Dylan laughs). In all seriousness, I admire Landon’s strength and courage. Not many could go through what he went through and still have the drive to help others and make the world even a little bit better.
Landon: How am I supposed to follow that? I guess Dylan’s words pretty much show what I admire about him. I haven’t been the… easiest person to deal with, but he’s always been there for me and believed in me. Without Dylan, I honestly don’t know where I’d be right now. Not here.
What's your partners sexiest feature?
Dylan: Where do I even start? Maybe the way his hair gets all rumpled in the mornings, or when he starts dancing around the room in his underwear late at night. Actually it might be the sensitive spot right above his collar bone, or the way he blushes when I…
Landon: All right, that’s enough. What is Dylan’s sexiest feature? His intelligence, his resilience… no wait, let’s be honest, it’s his butt. Yup. Just his butt.
What's your funniest memory?
Dylan: Hmm, good question. Oh! Definitely when we went on vacation to Disney World and Landon got distracted, probably by something shiny, and ended up lost. I had to find him in the lost child desk between a toddler and a five year old. The sad thing is, he had made friends with them already.
Landon: Thanks for that, Dylan. I think mine would be on the same trip, and Dylan picked up his suitcase from baggage claim and didn’t realize until we got back to the hotel room that it wasn’t his bag. It was full of nursing bras and bottles and diapers, and the look on Dylan’s face when he realized was worth the whole mishap.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
Dylan: We’ll I’d really like to be married to this awesome guy that I know. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but he’s pretty rad. Beyond that, I hope in five years we’ll be even happier than we are now. It doesn’t really matter where we end up, as long as we’re still together and going strong.
Landon: I hope to continue making improvements in my recovery, and helping others with theirs. There are so many things I want to do that I don’t think I realized until after going through this, and even if I can’t do them all, if I can make a tiny difference I’ll be happy. Also being married would be pretty swell. Maybe having like… twelve dogs also. Don’t look at me like that Dylan, you love dogs.
Tracy's Review:
5 Stars
*copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by author/publisher via Pride Promotions in exchange for an honest review*
This book is like no other I have ever read. Dylan and Landon are a young gay couple, who are viciously attacked in a dark alley. Landon is left with a severe brain injury and trauma. The story is told from multiple points of views. Told mostly from Dylan's POV, but we also hear sporadically from Dylan and Landon's moms, Landon's sister, and brother, and also Landon's caregiver, Janessa.
The author takes us from right after the accident through Landon's slow and difficult recovery. We see how each of these young men struggle to cope with Landon's limitations. The author takes us through the heartbreak, frustration, guilt and anger they face. But what you feel most is the love and determination they have to take their lives back and show themselves that their attackers haven't won. They haven't kept them down.
This was such an emotional story. You could feel the love between Dylan and Landon. This very enjoyable story that held me captivated from the first page to the last. Highly recommended!!
Meet the author:
Becca Burton penned her first Nancy Drew fan fiction at the age of nine and has been an avid writer ever since. Currently working as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse, Becca is a recent Oregon transplant from the Midwest. Becca has a weakness for coffee, the smell of old books, rainy days and her cat, Luna. Something Like a Love Song is her first novel.
Where to find the author:
Facebook: facebook.com/missbeccaburton;
Twitter: @missbeccaburton
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: C.B. Messer
Tour Dates & Stops:
19-Nov: Lee Brazil, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My, Velvet Panic, It’s Raining Men, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Hearts on Fire
23-Nov: Jessie G. Books, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Michael Mandrake, Boys on the Brink Reviews
2-Dec: Gay Media Reviews, Just Love Romance, Inked Rainbow Reads, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy
Rafflecopter Prize: Grand Prize: $25.00 Interlude Press Gift Card. First Prize: 5 e-copies of 'Something Like a Love Song'
Thanks for the review,questions and giveaway!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBecca here - thank you for the lovely review and interview!
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