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 Back to You. He has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving him a big welcome!
Exclusive Excerpt
Ten minutes later, I’m washing my hands in the large communal bathroom when the door opens. I pay it no mind until a face appears in the mirror above my sink, and my heart skips a beat. A frown grows on my lips as I try to maintain my composure.
“Uh…hey Robesy.” Daisuke sounds scared, almost remorseful.
“Matsuro,” I reply curtly. I pull down some paper towels and avoid eye contact.
Daisuke doesn’t move, and I’m more than willing to barrel through him to get to the door. “Uh…happy thanksgiving?”
My eyebrows furrow. “Same to you,” I reply as I aggressively ball up the towels. After a few moments of tense silence, he moves to the side and I take that as my cue to leave. Much to my surprise he follows me out the door.
“Roll, wait.” His words freeze me in place. I’m Robesy Robespierre, the ‘Canadian Cowboy,’ Formula Q driver now. I haven’t been ‘Roll’ in almost ten years. Despite being an adult now, Daisuke thinks he can be ‘Dice’ again, but I won’t let him.
“It’s Robesy,” I mutter, not bothering to turn around.
“Right sorry. Uh…” No one’s in the hallway, so his nervous voice bounces off the walls. “Do you uh…do…you wanna hang out later?”
At this, I finally turn around. “I’m sorry—are we friends?” My voice is dripping with nearly a decade of pent-up vitriol.
“I uhh…thought we were.” Daisuke leans his head to the left like he used to do when his parents reprimanded him; it’s the classic Daisuke look of shame. “We could hang out.”
“Don’t want to.” He looks at me like I just slapped him. A small piece of me feels remorseful. I take him in for the first time: his eyes are as precious as ever, but he’s grown a few centimeters. His black hair is perfectly styled, his jaw is chiseled, and judging by the way his arms fill out his shirt, he’s packed on some muscle, too.
Fuck him for getting hotter after he broke my heart.
“Robesy, I…”
“Look, I know you’re the rookie or whatever, but we’re competitors, now. So let’s keep it professional.”
“But I live in your building! And Damon told me you two are tight. And I was hoping you and I could—”
“Could what?” I demand.
He takes a step back and I clench my fists at my side. “We could be friends? The way you and Damon are.” His voice sounds so small, and part of me is reveling in the vindictiveness of it all.
I take a step forward for dramatic effect. “Not interested.”
“But Roll, don’t you think that since we had so many good times, that we could start—”
“I’m not your Roll anymore!” I bark, staring at the ground. In an attempt to calm myself, I take a few long deep breaths. When I finally look up, Daisuke looks horrified.
Calmly, I say “Goodbye, Matsuro. See you on the track.”
I spin on my heels and quickly make my way out the door. My heart is still beating rapidly, but I always wondered what it would be like if I ever saw my former best friend again. In my wildest dreams, I imagined berating him further, hoping my words could cut him nearly as much as he cut me. But in all those fantasies, I thought I’d feel better afterward.
Blurb
Formula Q Series, Book 3
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, and play hard, but off-camera, anything goes.
The public knows me as Daisuke Matsuro, aka ‘Kid Dynamo,’ the rookie driver from Japan. What no one knows is how close I was to one other driver on the grid growing up.
As teens, Robesy Robespierre was everything to me. He was my best friend, we were closer than brothers, but I pushed him away. Now, we’re neighbors who race against each other in front of the whole world. I want a second chance more than anything, but he hates my guts.
Over time, though, that old familiar spark returns between us. After a series of unthinkable life changes, Robesy and I become closer than ever. Nothing in my world will ever be the same, but I refuse to move on without earning his forgiveness.
I thought my dream was to be a professional Formula Q driver. Now, though, all I want is to drive back to Robesy. He’s my home, this is our race, and everything is on the line.
“Drive Back to You” is a male/male motorsports romance novel. It involves best-friends-turned-enemies-turned-lovers, card games, sexual awakenings, rooftop pool dates, a romance that has been ten years in the making, and yes, lots of racing action worldwide. It is book three of a series, has a HEA, and can be read as a standalone.
Bio
CD Rachels has been coming up with stories since he was little. First, it was fanfiction, then YA queer novels, and now he’s moved up to the big leagues of adult MM romance. In 2020 during quarantine, he burned through more male/male romance books than he ever had in the previous 29 years combined.
He believes there aren’t enough BIPOC MC’s in MM romance, and he’s on a mission to change that. He lives in New York City with the love of his life and works in health insurance. If you’re reading this, he’s honored that you took the time to help support him as a self-published author.
Catch up with CD Rachels:
- Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/n7s4f7
- IG: https://www.instagram.com/cdrachels/
- Amazon Author’s Page: CD Rachels Author Page
- Facebook Author Group: CD Rachels’ Chill Discourse Room
Giveaway
To celebrate CD Rachels’ new release, he is giving you the chance to win 1 of 2 e-copies of Drive Back to You! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
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