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!

 

BeachReadBonanza_FBpostFirst, 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

Ethan, Who Loved Carter cover by LC ChaseBy 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.
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  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
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  • 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.
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