Welcome to my stop on the book tour for Chrystalla Thoma's Azure!
Keep reading for an excerpt of the book.
The last sentence in the excerpt is 'Holy hells, was that a date?', which has me thinking about dates. Can you remember the first date you and your other half had? I can!
It was August 5th 2005, and he had finally asked me to go to the movies. I remember honestly thinking he wasn't going to turn up, so when I saw him waiting at the bus stop for me I was really chuffed. We bought our tickets for the movie (The Devils Rejects, cuz you know, you have to see a scary movie don't you!), then we went over to the pub for a drink before the movie started. I was so nervous!! I was 19, he was 20, and that was the first time we'd spent alone together, apart from meeting up for our cigarette breaks at work! He worked a few shops up from the one I worked in, so I tried to time my breaks when I saw him leave too! I know, stalker-ish right! Haha, we often joke that I stalked him lol! Anyway, the date went great, and despite our nervousness, we didn't actually see much of the movie ;p 8 years later and we're still together with 2 beautiful children, so I'm glad that first date went well!
Title: Azure (Drowning In You)
Author: Chrystalla Thoma
Genre: New Adult Romance
Publisher: Self
Published
Formats Available In: Digital
Blurb: A terrible mistake haunts
college student Olivia Spencer. To escape the past, she travels to
the Mediterranean island of Crete, hoping for the courage to start
anew.
By the sea, she meets sexy and
enigmatic Kai. But there’s more to Kai than meets the eye — and
nobody wants to talk about it. The locals shun him, accusing him of
magic. Kai, apparently, belongs to the sea, no matter how crazy that
sounds.
Kai isn’t free to be with her or live
his own life, and this is how he will stay, unless Olivia can break
his curse and save him — in doing so atoning for those she failed
in the past.
Contains mature content. Ages 17+
Excerpt:
Kai marched up to her table and whipped
out his notepad, not looking at her. He stared at it as if it held
all the secrets in the universe. “Why aren’t your friends with
you?”
His cold tone was like a slap. “Do I
have to answer the question or will you get me something to drink
anyway?”
He glanced up, brows arching, and
swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I was just... When I saw how far you
swam...” He shook his head and lowered his gaze. “Never mind.”
Hell. He’d been really worried about
her. The anger left her as fast as it had come. “Markus had a
heatstroke. He’ll be fine. Kirsten is nursing him back to health.”
He nodded, a jerky movement. “What
can I get you?”
“A lemonade, please.” She waited
but he didn’t look up, only nodded again and turned to go. “So
you’re Panos’ little cousin.”
He stopped, his broad back to her,
muscles bunching across his shoulders. “What did he tell you?”
“That I should hook up with him
because he’s a man and you’re still a boy.”
His stance relaxed and he shook his
head. “He’s an idiot.”
She snorted. “He’s very funny.”
Damn, she felt weird, talking to his back. And ass. His cute
ass. “And he’s nice. Like you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Sure I do. You help me. Look out for
me. You seem nice.” And hot. And kinda sad.
He turned around, his pretty lips
pressed tight. “Appearances can deceive.”
“Then yours is particularly
deceptive.”
A smile flickered at the corners of his
mouth and she took it as a good sign. “Look, I know appearances
aren’t everything. That all that shines isn’t gold and all that.”
“Is that why you threw your gold ring
into the sea? Was it a fake?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. The
ring had come from a true place, a true feeling — only not hers. At
least she thought so. “It’s a long story.” And she didn’t
feel much like talking about Justin, especially to Kai.
He took a step toward her, his gaze
intense. “I have to work.”
“Oh? Sorry I’m keeping you.” She
glanced around at the other tables. Nobody seemed to be looking for a
waiter. “You’d better go, then.”
“I finish my shift at four.”
Was that what she thought it sounded
like? “So you wanna go for a coffee afterward?”
“Yeah, sure.” He tapped his pen on
the notebook, head cocked to the side, his eyes gleaming. “I want
to hear the story. Will you be here?”
“I’ll come back,” she promised
and watched him go, biting her lip nervously.
Holy hells, was that a date?
About Chrystalla Thoma:
Chrystalla is Greek Cypriot (hence the
strange name) and likes writing about bratty, angsty boys and spunky
girls in fantasy and science-fiction worlds. She writes mainly for a
young adult public but not only (heed the warnings!)
She's currently preparing a non-fiction book about dragons, because the truth must out, and is juggling two series ("Elei's Chronicles" and "Boreal and John Grey").
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