Release Tour incl Exclusive Excerpt: Rayne Hawthorne – The Call of Azure

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Gabriel

I can do this.

Lots of people have hookups rather than relationships. I mean, I’ve had them in the past, I just didn’t realize that’s what they were at the time. It’s not my fault that I assumed those encounters were going to turn into something more even though the men I was with didn’t end up feeling the same.

Tonight, I’m not going to let myself fall into old patterns, and nothing is going to change my mind. I’m going to completely forget that I believe in love. I have a job I enjoy, my performance art, and friends that would burn down the world for me – even if I do worry sometimes that one of these days they’ll finally leave me too.

Tonight is the start of a new life and a new me. No prince charming required.

Yep…I can do this.

Liam

There was a time not all that long ago when I felt lost and out of control. Like the world surrounding me wasn’t real, and I wasn’t sure how to survive in it after all that I’d seen. These days, things are a bit better. I have my bakery where my work is repetitive and focused. One step after the other, the same steps as yesterday, the same steps tomorrow. It’s calm and consistent and ordered. I need that. Still, there are moments it’s not enough. That’s okay though, because when even the bakery won’t calm me, the water will.

I’ve always felt a sense of peace when I’m near the water. I lose myself under the surface or sit and listen to the waves and wonder if my heart and mind will ever manage to settle. If I’m still capable of joy and love and peace. If I’ll ever really find a way to belong in this world. Or if memories and emotions will push and pull like the endless turning of the tide until the sharp edges of pain and loss that have shaped so much of my life are worn smooth and there is nothing left of me but a pebble tossed up on the shore.The Call of Azure is a 100000 word, MM, slow burn, contemporary romance filled with found family, mutual pining, snark and sass, fake swears, a feisty dog, soup, performance art, and of course a HEA. There is also just the tiniest bit of unexplained magic that is deliberately open to reader interpretation.

Unexpected Love

A Trilogy

This contemporary romance series consists of three novels. Each book follows a different couple, but there are cameos/minor overlapping plots. They are meant to be read as a series rather than as stand alone books.

While each couple gets a hard-earned HEA, there is plenty of angst and heartbreak along the way. As each couple is unique, the levels of angst vs. humor will vary with each book.

“Hey Emma, is everything al…” His voice stutters briefly before a smile so wide and brilliant it could light up the night sky appears as he clears his throat and continues. “…alright? We usually don’t get either you or company visiting our little cave.” No. No. No, no, no, no. There is absolutely no way the universe can hate me this much. I always stop at red lights, I use humane mouse traps, I catch spiders in cups and take them outside even though I risk having a heart attack every time I do it. I truly don’t think that I deserve to be tormented. I guess the universe sees whatever flaw everyone else does, and since it can’t simply abandon me, it has to find other ways to torture me. Well done, universe. Very, very funny indeed. The giant, gorgeous man I’d been fantasizing about while ogling what I thought was a similarly shaped stranger in a merman tail only a few minutes ago steps close with his hand outstretched. His hair is pulled into a high, wet bun, and stray drops of water are still winding their way down his neck before disappearing under the robe, and it takes everything I have to not imagine what it would be like to follow their path with my tongue. Of course, the universe knows I’m no longer dating, so it keeps dropping the most tempting morsel I’ve encountered since I entered my new “Gabriel doesn’t need love or romance or a man to make him happy” phase, into my life. “Hello again, Cupcake’s dad. I’m Liam. We should probably learn one another’s names at this point, don’t you think?” A loud groan escapes as I take his hand, shaking it firmly, and quickly letting it go before I get caught up in the way it’s somehow warm even though he’s wet and it’s not exactly a sauna in here, or the fact that it’s so large it almost engulfs mine, even though I’m not exactly a tiny human myself. “Gabriel.”  

Rayne writes emotionally charged, character-driven spicy queer stories. After decades working in mental health, their goal is to tell queer adult love stories that include realistic, flawed characters who experience the same emotional obstacles and physical and mental health struggles that affect us all at times while offering the romance and happy endings we all long for.

www.raynehawthorne.com

@raynehawthornewrites (insta and BSKY)