Book Title: The Way Alex Sees Me:
Book Two in the Aphrodite in Disguise Gay Romance Series
Author: Dann Hazel
Publisher: The Original Press
Cover Artist: Josh Fippen
Release Date: May 27, 2025
Tense/POV: Past tense (except for Chapter One), first person POV
Genres: Dark MM Romance, Historical, Paranormal
Tropes: Love and loss, like father like son, young gay love, identity and self-discovery, second chance
Themes: Coming out, forgiveness, gay empowerment
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 94 600 words/332 pages
It is part of a series, but can easily be read as a standalone.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Running away from those we love is seldom a good idea. Still, it’s what we often do.
Blurb
High school senior Rusty Finch is in a pickle.
His grades are plummeting even though everyone says he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He and his mother Gloria are not getting along. Neither of them knows why.
He’s convinced that his mom lied to him when she said his father died when he was two. But if her story is true, why can’t she show him his father’s grave?
And now, to top it all off, he’s pretty sure he’s gay. But Bill, campus jerk and all-around bully, is absolutely certain on that point. He takes perverse pleasure in tormenting Rusty on a daily basis.
What’s a confused and impetuous boy to do?
Destroy the enemy, of course!
But for Rusty, an unintentional detour from a lonely road and into a ditch thwarts that ill-fated plan. Rusty finds himself in the hospital.
A stranger appears at his bedside. “Rusty? I’m your father.”
With those four words, his life begins to come into focus…
…only to get really blurry again when Frank comes along and sparks feelings that Rusty’s not equipped to handle.
If you like your gay romance spiced with a touch of suspense and plenty of youthful angst, you’ll love The Way Alex Sees Me.
This novel, the second book in the Aphrodite in Disguise series, is a Dark Gay Romance with elements of recent history, the supernatural, young love, family strife, and dark hidden secrets. Though embedded in the not-so-distant past, this novel speaks to timeless experience.
I cleared my throat. “That Friday? When you were out of town?”
Mom nodded. “Yes. I was visiting Erik. In Juniper.”
In my perplexity, my eyebrows met above my nose. “But why?”
She was unflinching. “Examining options, frankly. For you. For all of us. We thought—that is, Erik and I—you might like to move in with your father for a while.”
“For a while?”
“Well. For as long as you need. Or want.”
Suddenly, Mom choked up. Erik circled the bed and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
“I love you very much, Rusty,” she said as a tear fell onto my sheet. “I hope you know that. I hope my letting go is proof.”
I stared at these two incomprehensible people. I wanted to trust them. But something held me back. Resentment and hope played a furious game of tug-o-war in my heart.
“We know it’s a difficult decision,” Erik conceded. “But it’s yours. All yours. Totally yours. Your Mom and I, well, we’ll stick by you, support you, no matter what you finally decide.”
Abruptly, Erik turned away from Mom and me and returned to his former spot beside the window. He pulled the curtain back, and stared into the distance.
Then, without moving away from the window, he turned to face us again. “We want you to know, Rusty—no. That’s not entirely true. I want you to know something about me. Something you might find disturbing.”
His voice tapered off. Finally, I broke the silence. “What did you do? Kill someone for stealing a parking space?”
Long ago, I’d learned the art of deflecting tension with humor. But this time, my cynicism fell flat. Both parents stared at me. I felt like a bad little boy—especially after the stunt I’d planned to pull at school.
“I’m gay,” Erik stated simply. “I want you to know that. You have to know that before you make your decision.”
Time froze. Truly, I felt scared to death. I felt a greater separation from this world I hated. My father’s confession was the epoxy to make the taunts of my classmates stick.
I turned away and filled my cup with water from the pitcher beside my bed. I thought of my own confusion about my sexuality. Perhaps Erik was responsible for that. Perhaps the studies were correct and there was a blood connection. Perhaps I’d inherited my—proclivities—from my father.
My mother and father stood, like statues, waiting for me to respond. I know what they wanted me to say. They wanted me to say it didn’t matter. They wanted me to praise them for offering me a noble option. As long as my father was alive, his sexual orientation was irrelevant. It’s life that counts, not something as insignificant as what a man does with the set of tools he keeps between his legs.
His face flushed, Erik took two cautious steps toward my bed. “That’s why your mother and I wanted this conversation. It’s true. I want you to live with me. But I didn’t know how you’d feel about that if you knew about me.”
I stared at Erik. I tried hard to keep the granite in my face. I couldn’t let the two of them know how confused and angry I really was.
Yet, beneath my confusion and anger, I felt something like joy bubbling to the surface.
I turned to Mom, my face imploring her for answers.
“It’s true, Son. You’ve always wanted the truth. Well, Rusty, we’re laying it out the best we can.”
I was overwhelmed with questions. “But how? How could you possibly be my father?” I scowled as I shifted the direction of my questions. “You’re not my real father, are you? Not my biological father. Mom must have been pregnant already when the two of you got married. Pregnant by some other man. A straight man. Of course. You married Mom to save her reputation. It was something like that. Had to be. Right?”
My father shook his head slowly. “You are my biological son, Rusty. No question about that. Your mother and I were married before—well, before I knew who I really was. At the time, I desperately needed to believe I was heterosexual. And I wanted to prove that to everyone around me, too.”
He walked close to my bed. This time, he actually touched my shoulder. “In spite of my love for Gloria—and in spite of your birth—I began to realize that I was living a lie. I had naively pulled your mom into that lie. I hurt her terribly. I’m amazed she could ever forgive me. Amazed, and thankful. But in hurting her, I hurt you, too. It’s time to set things right.”
As a Florida-based author of both fiction and nonfiction, Dann worked as an educator on both the secondary and post-secondary levels. But since high school, when he served as a reporter for the school newspaper, he’s always had a passion for both reading and writing. Dann lives in Lake Wales, FL, with his husband, Josh (also a writer) and their adorable Eskie (American Eskimo), Flurry. She’s definitely part of the family, with boundless energy and appetite! Dann is passionate about scenic walks and jogs around a local lake, enjoying Walt Disney World, staying healthy, reading, streaming movies and provocative TV series (especially those based on novels!) and current events. His pronouns are he/him/his.
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