For Kate Sweeting, love isn’t in the air. It’s in the water.
Since her father died, Kate Sweeting’s home life has been in the pits, her well-being on life support. Her future looks desolate until she and her mother, Cara, make another plan: abandon their shriveled existence for more promising prospects on the coast, where Cara can play small-town librarian-bachelorette and Kate can figure out what’s up with that secretive Blake family from the beach.
Everyone is eerily captivated with Kate and her mother, and Cara is the first to figure out why when the man of her dreams arrives all dripping and devoted and closed-mouthed about what he intends. Kate is willing to go along with their subterfuge for a while, but eventually makes a charge for the water to learn what her mother is hiding. Gabe Blake is there waiting for her…and so is someone considerably less friendly. By the time Kate navigates her way home, everything will have changed for her—what she feels, what she wants, and what she’ll risk to be with the man she loves.
I'm currently selling a book a day, which includes my first book (Updrift) and the sequel (Breakwater) in ebook, paperback, and audio versions. The world's leading vlogger according to Teen Vogue and The Guardian has named Updrift the best in-genre story he's ever read, which is a nice endorsement to have! I've published both works on the IngramSpark platform to create broader reach/appeal to bookstores and libraries; and I will introduce the third in this series, Outrush, in Nov. 2018.
The pleasure cruiser floated on billowing waves a mile off the Atlantic shore, its small group of passengers reclined in various stages of stupor on the modest deck. The sun, white-hot and high in the June sky, pummeled the seafarers with its heat, penetrating and dulling the attention of even the most preoccupied until all were calm, quiet, and drunk on their own leisure.
To her disappointment, Kate was the only child in the party, but she was used to solitude and entertained herself as she often did with a game of imaginary play. For this interlude, she lay on her stomach, her chin resting on crossed arms as she peered over the boat’s edge into the sapphire water. Her lips moved as she whispered, hoping to conjure a sea turtle or dolphin to play with, although nothing swam her way.
She became hopeful when a long, silvery blue fish appeared. It paused just past the depth where she could determine what, exactly, it was, and it swayed to catch her attention.
Too soon a brilliant, turquoise-colored fluke startled her from just below the water’s surface, the body attached to it out of sight under the boat. The tail rippled out and back again, gossamer and fantastic. Come, it beckoned. Kate reached down to touch it and slid noiselessly into the water.
Her mother told her later she heard her laughing then, and how panicked she was when she realized Kate had fallen overboard. Kate herself was unconcerned, already racing off with her new friend, a boy named Gabe, caring only for his invitation to play and the adventure he promised if she could escape from her mom. The passengers on the boat appeared impossibly far off, although she heard their shouts to let go of the dolphin, which confused her, since she was holding on to a boy. Her life vest floated, detached, useless, and well out of her reach. She yelled to everyone she would be all right, that she was swimming to shore.
| Language | Status |
|---|---|
|
Italian
|
Already translated.
Translated by Matteo Serrago
|
|
Portuguese
|
Already translated.
Translated by Izabel Mingardi
|
|
|
Author review: Izabel was the consummate professional, taking the utmost care with both her approach to the story and her execution, making sure to check and double check her work. She made smart, thoughtful suggestions along the way... and I found the final product beautiful to behold. |
|
Spanish
|
Already translated.
Translated by Cristina García
|
