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?
Author Name: Becca Burton
Book Name: Something Like a Love Song
Release Date: November 19, 2015
Pages or Words: 308 pages
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: C.B. Messer
This is a beautiful story of enduring love. This was a story that truly shows how two people who love each other can overcom
e anything. Dylan was a really well written character. He has so much love for Landon and it shows throughout the entire story. There was never any questioning on his part about not being with Landon. He was a rock and my heart went out to him. There was some mention of him dealing with his feelings of guilt throughout the story, but it’s very clear throughout that he doesn’t stay with Landon out of guilt. Landon on the other hand has such a hard road of recovery. I like the insights to his feelings of inadaquacy and frustration. I was really thrilled to read how the characters came to terms with a “life before” vs “life after.” This is definitely a story to be read with a box of tissues.
4 pieces of Eye Candy
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, surround
ed 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.
Author Interview:
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Becca Burton, author of Something Like a Love Song. Hi Becca, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Thank you for having me. Something Like a Love Song is my first novel, a story about two long time boyfriends who find themselves facing a life changing tragedy and have to find the courage and love for each other to fight through.
While this is my first novel, I have posted many stories online, and have been writing ever since I learned how. I currently work as a nurse in a Neonatal ICU, and medicine has been a big interest in my life, and always seems to find a way into my writing. I am passionate about diverse, LGBTQ fiction, and am very excited to contribute to this genre.
- What is your least favorite part of the publishing/writing process?
This is a hard question because there was nothing that I really disliked about the process. I guess the first round of editing and rewrites was the hardest part, because I really had to take a step back and think about what I wanted to accomplish or convey with a scene, and what was important to keep or to cut. It’s hard to cut scenes, especially when I put a lot of work into them, but I had to learn to really think about what was best for the book!
- As an author, is there one subject you would never write about? What would it be?
I don’t know if there’s one particular subject. I’m sure there are lots of subjects I don’t know enough about to write about them. I don’t think I could write accurately about many things that I haven’t experienced in my life… not that I’ve been through everything I’ve written about, but I think there are certain situations that require enough care and sensitivity, and are so close to some people, that it would be very difficult to write them without experience.
- When did you first realize you wanted to write?
I think it’s something I’ve always known! Even when I was really little, I was always making up stories and writing them down in books made of construction paper. From there the stories started to become longer and more elaborate, and now I can’t imagine not having writing in my life. It’s been there for so long, it’s just a part of who I am!
- How long did it take to write your book?
The original story that I posted online I wrote over the course of several years. When I adapted that story for this book, it took me about two months to write it. It both helped and hindered that I had the first version of this online, because I wanted to make it original, but I also wanted to keep it true to the heart of the story that people had loved. So it was a difficult two months of writing!
- For Fun: Where is one place you’d like to visit you haven’t been before?
Someday I would love to go to Ireland or Scotland. I have friends that have been to both, and the pictures I’ve seen are so gorgeous! It looks like an absolute fairy tale place to go on vacation and especially for some writing inspiration! I feel inspired just thinking about it!
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
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
20-Nov: Three Books Over The Rainbow, Mikky’s World of Books, Happily Ever Chapter
23-Nov: Jessie G. Books, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Michael Mandrake, Boys on the Brink Reviews
24-Nov: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Divine Magazine
25-Nov: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, MM Good Book Reviews
26-Nov: Bayou Book Junkie, BFD Book Blog
27-Nov: Alpha Book Club, The Blogger Girls, Elaine White
30-Nov: Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Dawn’s Reading Nook, QUEERcentric Books, Love Bytes
1-Dec: My Fiction Nook, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
2-Dec: Gay Media Reviews, Just Love Romance, Inked Rainbow Reads, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy
