Today I am so pleased to welcome Ryan Loveless to Joyfully Jay. Ryan has come as part of our Beach Read Bonanza to talk about her book, Ethan, Who Loved Carter (which OMG I adored so much!). She has also brought along an exclusive excerpt, a great giveaway, plus you can enter below for our beach read goodie bag! Please join me in giving Ryan a big welcome!
First, thank you to Jay for hosting this Beach Bonanza! Today I want to talk about the beach as used in my book Ethan, Who Loved Carter. For Ethan, the beach is a place of fun and friends. He wants to share it with Carter and soon Carter finds those same benefits. The beach is where he finds the courage to play music in public again. It’s where he feels comfortable to let his tics out. It’s where he realizes that the people he meets there aren’t judging him.
Ethan and Carter return to the beach several times in the book. It becomes their go-to location when they want to avoid hiding away. They know they will find support there.
The people Ethan befriended on the beach all met him after his brain injury. Though the book doesn’t delve too deeply into their backgrounds, the way they treat Ethan and Carter indicates what kind of people they are. That is, they are people worthy of their friendship.
Excerpt
Carter drove the wrong direction. “Where are we going?” Ethan asked.
“The beach,” Carter said. “You’re not going to hide in bed.”
Ethan couldn’t think of a reason to say no, so he didn’t. Carter reached across the console for his hand. Ethan reviewed the reasons for Carter to hold his hand now. He wasn’t about to walk into traffic, he wasn’t distracted. He was sad.
“Boyfriends comfort each other,” Carter said.
“So do moms.”
“Am I your mom?”
Ethan couldn’t resist a smile. “No.”
“Are you sure? Can moms do this?” At a traffic light, Carter touched Ethan’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. He grinned as he released him.
“No.” Ethan smiled big. “Moms do not do that.”
“Darn right,” Carter said.
Ethan squeezed Carter’s hand. He had Carter. That was a good thing. It didn’t matter what Douglas had said, didn’t matter that Douglas had confused him even further. Everyone said to be angry. They’d hidden him from that anger for so long and now that he knew the truth, they expected him to feel it.
He didn’t feel anything like anger. He only felt grief, deep and horrible sorrow for what he’d lost, even if he didn’t remember much of what Before felt like in his brain. He couldn’t remember walking without trouble, or having a mind that could focus for more than thirty seconds at a time. But he must have been able to once because he remembered doing certain things, like singing and acting and schoolwork, and all that took concentration and precision that he no longer had.
“We can make it a short night if you want,” Carter said.
“Okay.” It wasn’t even four o’clock. “Can we just see?”
“Yeah. Whatever you want.” Carter pulled into a parking spot behind the caravan. They headed for the fire pit together. When Carter took Ethan’s arm, it was to help him walk over the sand dunes, a necessary touch, but it felt nice anyway, like Carter wanted to do it. He put his other hand on the small of Ethan’s back and scratched a little. Ethan pulled his arm free from Carter’s and put it around his shoulders. That was better.
“Like boyfriends,” Ethan said.
Carter smiled up at him. “Perfect.”
Blurb
By 24, Carter Stevenson has stuttered and ticced his way to debilitating shyness. Although his friends accuse him of letting his Tourette’s dictate his life, Carter moves from Los Angeles to a quiet California town. He’ll keep his head down and avoid people. He doesn’t anticipate his new neighbor, Ethan Hart, crashing into his solitude and forcing him to get out and live.
From the beginning, Ethan makes his love for Carter clear. But he fears Carter won’t see past Ethan’s damaged brain, even though it makes Ethan more attuned to his emotions than most people. For Carter, there’s a bigger issue: He’s been burned by so-called “perfect” matches, and he won’t risk his heart again.
One way or another, Ethan’s determined to show Carter they belong together. Then Ethan receives tragic news. Suddenly he must turn to Carter for strength and support. Will Carter come through when Ethan needs him most?
Bio
Ryan Loveless is a farmer’s daughter. She has a B.A. in English from a private college in Illinois and a master’s degree in library and information science with an archival certificate from a university in New York. Raised in a conservative family, she was shocked and relieved when her coming out was largely uneventful. She has been writing since she could read and has always drifted towards M/M because she enjoyed the relationship dynamics. It’s possible that her first story was about G.I. Joe. She wishes she still had that story.
Giveaway
We have two great giveaways today! First, Ryan has brought a copy of Ethan, Who Loved Carter in English, German, or Italian to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Monday, June 15th at 11:59 pm EST.
This post is also part of our Beach Read Bonanza. Enter at any and all of the stops during the month of June for 12 chances to win a beach bag full of goodies, including a Kindle! Comment on the Beach Read Bonanza posts to enter.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
The beach is a perfect place to do so many things, isn’t it? to relax, to find new friends, even to find yourself by a quiet sea…
Thank you for the post and the giveaway. The book sounds great.
I really love the blurb of this book, i love books with characters who have some kind of disability . The excerpt is great and i put this book on my TBR list. Thanks for the giveaway chance of winning a copy.
The books sounds great! Will be adding it to my TBR!
Oh yes, I remember this.It was one of my early experiences of m/m romance and part of what I like so much about the genre: characters that stand out in a crowd one way or an other. I loved this one, but it made me spill more than a few tears too, and think about how a single event or action can change a human’s life forever.
And unless it’s not obvious, I already own this one, so don’t count me in for the book giveaway, let someone else experience it. It’s a great book!
I have this book it is really a wonderful story with such well written characters I loved it.
I’ve heard such great things about this book. Probably a good beach read since I could always use the excuse of getting sand in my eyes if there are some tears. 🙂
I love this book! 🙂
This one’s been on my wish list since it was released. Thanks so much for the giveaway!
I have this one already too and really like it. Such good characters!
Please do not enter me for winning a copy of this book, as I already have a copy and also fell into temptation and bought the audible version as well 🙂 This is quite a heartbreaking read, but also full of love and hope 🙂
Love the excerpt!
Sounds like a great, emotional read. Can’t wait.
This has been on my wishlist for a really long time. Thanks for the giveaway!
Great excerpt! Thanks for the chance to read this book!
I loved the excerpt. Made me smile.
Great excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway.
Loved the excerpt, adding to my TBR
I’ve heard many amazing things about this book. Thanks for sharing the excerpt with us!
Thanks for another book to add to my wishlist and TBR. I have seen this one around, but hadn’t really looked at it before. Thank you for the excerpt too!
I loved Ethan Who Loved Carter! I read it a while ago, but still think about it now and then. Thanks for the post and this fun tour.
This is a great book. It’s been a while since I read it, looks like I need to pull it out and re read. Thanks for posting. This is a fun tour and some great authors.
The book sounds wonderful; please sign me up for the contest.
Thank you for the excerpt! I haven’t read this one yet. I’ve added it to my wishlist.
This book has been on my wishlist forever. Now, that I’ve read an excerpt, I can’t wait to read it!
I adore this book. I volunteer twice a week with special needs adults. Some of my guys have suffered traumatic brain injury and this book really gave me an insight I had not thought of. The group I work with has 74 service users and there are 7 long term relationships involved. We give them the resources and support they need to have happy and healthy relationships. It was so good to read a love story that showed the depth of love and respect involved in this book.
I loved and own Ethan, who loved Carter so don’t enter me for a chance to win that book. but do sign me up for the beach read bonanza part of it.
I already have Ethan, Who Loved Carter, so please don’t enter me for that part of the drawing. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a love story about very realistic characters with disabilities.
I have had this book on my wish list for awhile! Loved the excerpt and can’t wait to read it! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
I’ve heard amazing things about this book. Would love a shot at winning a copy.
This sounds fantastic. I would love a chance to win a copy. 🙂
This one has been on my TBR/TBB list for a long time! Please count me in.
This is on my TBR list. I’d love to have a chance to win a copy. Thanks.
Sounds good ,thank you !
I haven’t read a book with a MC with Tourette’s. I would be interesting to see how their relationship develops.
I loved this book!
I haven’t read this book yet, but after reading the excerpt I’m going to put it on my wish list!
This book sounds intriguing, I’d love to read it! 🙂
Been wanting to read this!!! Fsntastic
I love books that have characters with people with disabilities. This book is a must read.
I feel like I’ve heard a LOT of good things about this book, so I’m not sure why I haven’t read it yet!
sounds interesting
I have not read this book as of yet, but I would love to soon. I love the beach too – it’s perfect for relaxing, reading, and soaking up sun!
Being a Special Ed teacher and a parent of an adult son on the Autism spectrum, I love main characters that have challenges. I’ll be adding this to my wishlist.
Aww they seem so sweet together.