THE DEEP OF THE SOUND by Amy Lane

THE DEEP OF THE SOUND by Amy Lane

 

Pages:          309

Date:           July 6, 2015

Details:        A Bluewater Bay story

                   Copy received from Riptide

                   Through Netgalley

E-book

The blurb:

Cal McCorkle has lived in Bluewater Bay his whole life. He works two jobs to support a brother with a laundry list of psychiatric diagnoses and a great uncle with Alzheimer’s, and his personal life amounts to impersonal hookups with his boss. He’s got no time, no ambition, and no hope. All he has is family, and they’re killing him one responsibility at a time.

Avery Kennedy left Los Angeles, his family, and his sleazy boyfriend to attend a Wolf’s Landing convention, and he has no plans to return. But when he finds himself broke and car-less in Bluewater Bay, he’s worried he’ll have to slink home with his tail between his legs. Then Cal McCorkle rides to his rescue, and his urge to run away dies a quick death.

Avery may seem helpless at first, but he can charm Cal’s fractious brother, so Cal can pretty much forgive him anything. Even being adorkable. And giving him hope. But Cal can only promise Avery “until we can’t”—and the cost of changing that to “until forever” might be too high, however much they both want it.

My thoughts:

I’m a little bit afraid of Amy Lane’s books. All my friends tell me how angsty her books are and how wonderful that is. I’m weary of angst and don’t always deal well with it in my reading and I have to admit that may have made me slower to pick up this author’s books than I would otherwise have been.

However, I may have to reconsider that reluctance. Because the thing is, Amy Lane writes amazing stories. And I love how she uses her words. I get to know her characters as if I’ve met them face to face and can actually see the scenery as she describes it. I know that the few books I’ve read by Amy Lane so far do not really fall under the ‘angsty Orange Amy’ heading, but neither were they angst-free and I’ve loved all of them despite or maybe (shock – horror) because of the angst and the way it was dealt with.

I completely fell for both Cal and Avery. They both broke my heart, be it for very different reasons, but they never made me want to look away or put the book aside because both of them go on, despite the obstacles in their way. While they can’t see the beauty and strength in themselves, it is all too clear to the reader that these two men are heroes in their own and each other’s lives.

I don’t want to say too much else about this story as such. It was a wonderful, beautiful, at times heartbreaking but ultimately hope giving story. The Deep of the Sound took my breath away and held me captive from start to finish. It introduced me to two characters I could recognize, sympathize with and understand. It addressed tough real life issues with a wonderful balance between gravity and humour; because life is rarely all bad, and fiction should reflect that.

I loved the way this book connected to Nasha, a story that can be found in Light, Camera Cupid. While it isn’t necessary to read Nasha before reading The Deep of the Sound I would definitely recommend you do so. It will give this story an extra layer of intimacy and it will give you a huge grin on your face by the time you finish reading this book; all I’ll say here is that happy endings don’t necessarily have to be confined to the main characters J

If this book has taught me anything it is that I should stop being a coward and start reading more books by Amy Lane. Because any author who writes sentences like the one I quote below deserves my full attention – angst or no angst.

He journeyed, in his climax, from the boy who was afraid to need, to the man who trusted he could.”