Blog Tour; Inside Darkness

Welcome to the blog tour for Inside Darkness! I’m Hudson Lin and I’m here to share some behind the scenes sneak peaks about my debut novel, available June 11th. Leave a comment on the tour posts for a chance to win a $10 gift card from Amazon!

 

He’s come in from the field, but the darkness has followed him home.

After a decade as an aid worker, Cameron Donnelly returns home jaded, tired, and with more than just a minor case of PTSD. Plagued by recurring nightmares but refusing to admit he has a problem, Cam quickly spirals into an alcohol-infused depression, and everyone around him is at a loss for how to help.

Journalist Tyler Ang met Cam on a reporting assignment in Kenya, and their first encounters were rife with hostility and sexual tension. Back in New York, their paths continually cross, and each time, Cam’s brokenness reminds Ty more and more of his own difficult childhood. Letting Cam in goes against Ty’s instinct to live life autonomously, but the damaged aid worker manages to sneak past his guard.

Their relationship is all sharp corners and rough edges, and just as they’re figuring out how to fit together, a life-threatening accident puts it all in jeopardy. If they want a future together, both will have to set aside their egos and learn to carry each other’s burdens.

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I enjoyed this book. I liked the relationship and how realistic the PTSD felt. Even though Cameron and Tyler made me want to shake and then slap them both. Multiple times. Neither one of them was very good at opening up and admitting that they needed the other. It was frustrating. They were good together, yet they lied to themselves over and over again about how much they didn't need the other. 

 

Hurt/Comfort are touch and go for me. Especially when it's clear one of the characters doesn't really mean to be the source of comfort for the other. Ty was reluctant for anything more than sex with Cam. But they were drawn to each other again and again and whatever it was between them couldn't be ignored. 

 

Besides being angry at both Cam and Ty for much of the book I did like them. I loved the story and I loved them together. 

The pain Cam lives through is real and my heart broke for him. While everyone experiences PTSD differently the way Hudson Lin writes it is so real and raw your heart aches right along with Cam's. While he pissed me off I couldn't stay mad at him because it was his illness that had a lot to do with way he acted. That might not be an excuse for all things it allows the reader to understand him better. 

 

Ty had his own struggles and reasons to stay away from Cam. No one wants to entangle themselves in a situation that could hurt them. It takes a strong person to look past the pain and see the beauty that lives dormant underneath. 

This book does not give a cure all for mental illness. It does not have the fantasy that falling in love can make things better. It shows how hard Cam worked to live his life and not let his illness control him. It showed how hard he had to work to push past the pain and let Ty love him. To admit that he loved Ty. It was real. 

I look forward to reading more of Hudson Lin's work and hope she continues on a path that opens people's eyes to PTSD and other mental illnesses. Books like this are so important and so needed. Ty and Cam don't have an easy time but that is what makes them great because they fight through everything that stood in their way and got help together and apart in order to live as healthy and as happy lives as possible. 

-Abri 

About Hudson Lin

Hudson Lin was raised by conservative immigrant parents and grew up straddling two cultures with often-times conflicting perspectives on life. Instead of conforming to either, she has sought to find a third way that brings together the positive elements of both.

Having spent much of her life on the outside looking in, Hudson likes to write about outsiders who fight to carve out their place in society, and overcome everyday challenges to find love and happily ever afters.

When not engrossed in a story, Hudson knits, drinks tea, and works the nine-to-five in the beautiful city of Toronto, Canada.


Connect with Hudson:


Website: www.hudsonlin.com


Twitter: @hudsonlinwrites


Facebook: www.facebook.com/hudsonlinwrites

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Inside Darkness, Hudson is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 16, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!