Rayne's Return

Love in Mission City, Book 4

De: Gabbi Grey

Narrado por: Michael Dean

Everett

After my infamous half-a-night stand with the mysterious Rayne, I moved on with my life. Success as a lawyer demands long hours and giving a hundred and ten percent to the job. I do carve out enough time to hang out with friends some weekends, but it's depressing to watch them pairing up while I'm relentlessly single. Then one morning, the man I can't forget shows up bruised and bedraggled at my office door. Rayne has a whopper of a story to go with the bruises, and seeing him again strikes wild sparks I can't deny, but can I trust a man who ditched me without a word? Or will he be gone again by morning light?

Rayne

As a private investigator, I've done some dubious jobs for some very questionable people. The assignment that brought me into Everett's world was one of the worst. Now, someone's trying to kill me and until I figure out who and why, I need a safe place to hide. All I could think of was Everett. The hot, by-the-book lawyer I hooked up with once doesn't owe me a thing, but he's the only person I trust. I'll do my damnedest to keep danger from reaching him, and hope like hell I can walk away in the end with my heart intact.

Rayne’s Return is a gay romantic suspense novel with an uptight by-the-book lawyer and a PI who never manages to stay out of trouble. The age-gap opposites attract novel is the fourth in the Love in Mission series.

©2025 Gabbi Grey (P)2025 Gabbi Grey

Suspense, danger & sexual chemistry...

Rayne and Everett meet again two months after their tryst at a Halloween party, and Rayne is injured and hiding out from some bad guys.... there is a lot of tension and danger, a mystery, reciprocal hurt/comfort, and a need for trust building all around, including a sweet but damaged German shepherd who's had a rough past. These two seem made for each other, and everyone in Mission City -- the larger circle of friends we have come to know -- seems to be convinced of it before they are. While the story stands alone, reading the prior Mission City novels and shorts can only add to the experience, as many of those characters appear here. I've come to love this small town, and return to it each time with pleasure. The narration by Michael Dean is wonderful.

Great story

Book 4.5/5
I’ve read many of this author’s books, and I love how in every one we get to see characters from previous books. It makes me want to go back and read the ones I’ve missed.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Everett and Rayne are both likable characters, although it does take a little ‘getting to know you’ for each of them. Despite the plot, the book is overall pretty low angst, which I appreciate. I adored the storyline with Champ. I was invested throughout and it ended satisfactorily.

Overall, the narration was good. However, there were many spots where I struggled with it. The narrator does not use a significantly different voice for the two main characters, and so there are times where it got confusing about who was speaking. Additionally, differentiating between spoken dialogue and inner monologue was almost impossible at points.

Good

Michael, Dean did an excellent job just like he did with Rayne Check, The story was a little bit more involved, then the quick read we had with the first one.

Who is Rayne and what is he running from?

On the run, Rayne returns to Everett and Mission City...

This is book 4 in the series, Love in Mission City by Gabbi Grey. Michael Dean did the narration of this one and did a fantastic job, as usual. He's one of my favorite narrators!

To answer the question I posed in Rayne Check, a short story set in this world, you do not have to listen or read Rayne Check before reading or listening to this one. It will give you insight on how they met and the animosity Everett feels, which is an added bonus but not a necessity.

I will say I wanted to slap Rayne upside the head for being so stubborn in revealing more about what has happened to him. I loved Everett's family and how they opened their arms to Rayne and treated him like one of the family.

This story dragged in parts and bringing in several past characters was unnecessary to me. I know that bringing in past characters from other books is a current theme for authors and most readers love this. I want to focus on the main characters and their story. I want to understand who they are and how they got to where they are today. These are my pet peeves and like I said above most readers love this, I read it all the time in other reader's reviews.

Would I recommend this book, yes! If you love Gabbi Grey and this series set in Mission City I'm sure you'll enjoy this one as well.

Opposites attract, age gap, secrets abound, just who are the bad guys

Exciting!

An exciting and suspenseful story. Lovely 2nd chance! Good plot that kept you engaged. Wonderful listen

More about Rayne

Listened to Rayne Check first. It's a short story and quick listen to that I think does a great job of setting the scene for this one. It helps explain Everett's reaction to him. Was a good mix of second chance romance and a mystery of why Rayne is on the run. Michael Dean is great as always and brings these guys to life. I haven't read the rest of the Love in Mission City stories. Think it's about time for me to dive in.

I Enjoyed It

I enjoyed this book much more than the first story, Rayne Check. In it, Everett spotted a masked Rayne at a Halloween party and the chemistry between them led to a very steamy encounter before Rayne disappeared right afterward. Now a couple months later and Everett still can't get Rayne out of his head and nothing nothing else about him or how to contact him. When suddenly the man himself shows up badly injured and in fear for his life. He has his walls up, and Everett is still bitter that he was ghosted. The story had suspense, mystery, secrets, and danger. I liked how their relationship developed.

Michael Dean did a good job narrating this book.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

Michael Dean voice is pure greatness.

Rayne's Return: Love in Mission City, Book 4 by Gabbi Grey 🎧Narrated by Michael Dean
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
I loved listening to a more in depth story between Rayne and Everett. Listening to their story was super fun. For a better understanding of their story it is better to listen first to Rayne Check. Michael Dena did a great job of narrating Rayne’s Return, the way he gave a different tone to each character was amazing. The emotion he poured on each character and in every situation, made this whole listening experience amazing. Differently a must listen audiobooks.

Blast from the past

Everett tried to forget about his one-night stand with a guy named Rayne—especially since all his friends have started to find their other halves. But one day, Rayne shows up at the only place he knows is safe: Everett’s door. The chemistry between them is undeniable. They just need to get past whatever it was that brought Rayne to Everett’s doorstep, bloody and bruised.

Loved this!

I really enjoyed the prequel to this book and was very excited for this. I luved the book! I really enjoyed seeing Rayne and Everett develop their relationship. I liked trying to figure out all of the pieces to the story. There are lots of characters in the book that most likely are from prevous books in the series. I feel like I may have have missed some of the references, but overall I think this can be enjoyed as a standalone. For me, though, my TBR list just got longer.