Today I am so pleased to welcome C.D. Rachels to Joyfully Jay. C.D. has come to talk to us about his latest release, Drive to Thrive. He has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving him a big welcome!

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Exclusive Excerpt

“I’m allowed to read while being on call during your treatments.” There’s a defensiveness to his tone, which is fair. I’m zero for two in the friendliness department.

“I know,” I reply. He looks at me and I take in how shiny his brown eyes are in the afternoon sun. “I just…like to read too, sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I haven’t in a while but um…” I clear my throat. I’m botching this conversation. I can overtake on a turn at over 100 miles per hour, and yet I can’t talk to a cute boy? “What’s your book about?”

“It’s a graphic novel. A romance.” He puts away the rest of his supplies. “About two men who fall in love. It’s a corny queer comic, but I love it,” Rocky says, still not making eye-contact.

My throat goes dry. So he probably is gay. I want to keep talking about his reading material, but I just can’t find the words. I can’t let him know the truth, that I’m attracted to dudes, and to him.

Fuck, I want so badly to come out to him, or anyone. My past anonymous hookups were never enough. I’ve never had anyone to talk to about this. I wish I wasn’t such a damn coward.

After a moment, I break the silence. “So…are you gonna check my bowels today?”

“Nope.” He slings his pack over this shoulder. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. If I keep doing a good job, maybe you’ll trust me to do it next time.” I’m equal parts relieved and disappointed.

He walks to the front door, and I give chase. “See you in two days,” he says, walking quickly.

I finally catch up and open the door. “Thanks Rocky…and um…” I look down at my feet. “I do trust you.”

I look up to see him already staring at me, his face neutral. He gives the briefest curve of his lips before nodding and walking out the door.

Once he’s in the elevator, I sigh and walk back to the living room. I drag the IV pole back to the closet and mentally kick myself. I can’t be in a public relationship with a man, I can’t digest food properly, and now it seems I can’t even have a normal conversation with my own bloody nurse. For a sports celebrity, there’s certainly a lot I can’t do.


Blurb

drive to thrive coversFormula Q Series, Book 1

Formula Q is the fastest motorsport in the world. Only the highest-performing athletes can make it to the grid. They drive fast, work hard, play hard, but off-camera, anything goes.

The public knows me as Damon ‘The Speed Demon’ Davidoff, eligible bachelor and winner of FQ titles around the world. Fans adore me and my team supports me. They don’t need to know I’m so deeply in the closet I intend to bury myself there.

Then my poor health caught up to me and my world came crashing down. I could bounce back easily if it weren’t for one little complication: my male nurse is attractive as hell.

I can suppress these feelings during the season break—I have to. I’m not going to expose my secret just because when Rocky puts his hands on me I feel a fire coursing through my veins.

As the weeks go by, I somehow let Rocky under my skin and into my heart. He’s smart, sweet, and everything I never knew I needed.

I thought I wanted a clean bill of health and to keep winning my races. Now, for the first time in my life, I want so much more. I want him, and damn if that isn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever felt.

Drive to Thrive is a male/male motorsports romance novel. It involves Christmas karaoke, New Year’s Eve parties, Las Vegas swimming pool dates, and yes, lots of racing action worldwide. It is book 1 of a series but can be read as a standalone


Bio

CD Rachels logoCD Rachels has been coming up with stories since he was little. At first it was all about superheroes and pocket monsters, but his genre of choice has expanded since puberty.

He’s been consuming young adult gay fiction since he was a teen, but within the past five years moved up to the big leagues of gay adult romance. In 2020 during quarantine, he burned through more male/male romance books than he ever had in the previous 29 years combined.

He lives in New York City with the love of his life and works in health insurance. When he’s not reading and writing, he’s playing board games and practicing music. He is honored to become a self-published author, and if you’re reading this, your support means so much to him that it’s giving him a tingly feeling (in a good way).

Follow him on Instagram: @cdrachels

Or join his group on Facebook: “CD Rachels’ Chill Discourse Room”

Catch up with Charles:


Giveaway

To celebrate CD Rachels’ new release, he is giving you the chance to win 1 of 2 e-copies of Drive To Thrive! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!

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