lenagrey7

“Love hurts. Love scars. Love wounds and mars any heart not tough or strong enough to take a lot of pain... Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain...I know a thing or two, I learned from you...Love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot...Some fools think of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness. Some fools fool themselves, I guess. They're not foolin' me...Love hurts” ~ Roy Orbison (Love Hurts)

'Something Like Rain' by Jay Bell is the eighth book in the epic puzzle that is his 'Something Like’ series. This book focuses on William and Jason and events surrounding them from William's perspective.

William and Jason are attracted to each other from the first time they meet at the gay youth group meeting. At the time, William is punishing himself for the accident which left Kelly, his current boyfriend, crippled. As penance William stays with Kelly long after they should have gone their separate ways, resenting it more every day. Another reason William resents Kelly is that he has always wanted to be in the Coast Guard and has trained every day for years perfecting his swimming skills. When the accident happens, William is forced to put those dreams aside in order to take care of Kelly.  That, along with his attraction to Jason, leads him to cheat on Kelly rather than face him directly. William is not being fair to Kelly, Jason, or himself. When Kelly finds out, he's much more graceful that William expected him to be.

William and Jason can be together now and become very involved with each other. William says he loves Jason, but he is still planning on going into the Coast Guard, putting his need to feel important and be a hero before being with Jason. Jason, like everyone else, takes second place while William pursues his dreams come hell or high water. Even his new love isn't enough to deter his desire to be a “coastie”. William will be gone for four years and wants to focus on training without any distractions.

Although they try to stay in touch, the longer William is away, especially after his one-night stand with a stranger, the more unfair William believes he's being to Jason. Rather than discuss it with Jason, the next time William comes home, he has lunch with Jason and doesn't even kiss him good-bye. William thinks it's for the best but Jason has no choice in the matter.

I really had a hard time with William's behavior. He may have meant well, but his inability to communicate his feelings hurt a lot of people, Jason in particular. After all he has gone through, I really want to see Jason find happiness. I don't think William is a bad person, he just doesn't know how to express himself - but he's certainly not my favorite character. Instead of facing situations after considerable scrutiny of all of the possible consequences, he just does whatever he feels is best. That's not a good formula for a relationship. I'm amazed Jason sticks with him as long as he does.

It was good to visit with Tim and Ben again as well as the other characters I have grown to either love or dislike in the stories.  It was a treat sharing Tim and Ben's happiness and their unique zaniness made me smile. Fans of the series will appreciate this lengthy sequel, made up of personalities and relationships contained within this prolific series, filling in yet more of the blanks. For those new to the series, it's long and involved and you may want to check the reading order of the books to know the most efficient way of reading them. Thanks, Jay, for adding even more detail to events in the 'Something Like' series.