Spotlight on ‘Summers & Winters’ by Heather Dowell
By Sharon Stevenson: Supernatural Story SpinnerFind this on her website: http://sharonstevensonauthor.com/
Today’s book spotlight is on the
debut YA Romance novel ‘Summers & Winters’ by Heather Dowell. This
is the first in a series and sounds like a light romantic read with a
good sense of humour. Read on for more information and an extract…
Synopsis:
I thought leaving Las Vegas to move to South Carolina was going to be one of the worst days of my life. A pivotal moment I wished not to have. But as it turns out, coming to South Carolina would be the highlight of my life. Just like every other love story, it started with a boy.
Extract:
“Thank you so much for dinner,” I tell Mitch.
"No problem, I'd love to take you out every night."
“That’d be nice.”
We head out the door and I start walking toward the car, but Mitch takes my hand in his and we head for the beach. I almost retract my hand. I’m still getting used to this whole out in the open concept.
He smiles and gives me a light squeeze. “Heather, do you remember me saying I’d take you to the beach?” I nod. “Well, this isn’t Myrtle, but it is a beach.”
I bite my lip and look up at him through my lashes. He’s always so dang thoughtful.
“You’re going to ruin your dress shoes,” I tell him as we walk over a wooden bridge and onto the sand. He smiles and runs his hand through my hair before planting a light kiss on my forehead.
He slides off his dress shoes and hides them under the bridge. “Hand me your flip-flops.”
I do as he says and watch his luscious body bend over once more. I curl my toes as he straightens and then loosens his tie. Next, he untucks his button up shirt and bends back over to roll up the hem of his dress pants right above the ankles. It’s so nerdy and sexy all at the same time.
“Now that I won’t ruin anything, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a sunset stroll?”
He does a halfway bow and sticks out his hand, palm up.
“Is this how you get all your women?” I tease. He straightens and tries to hold back a laugh.
“No, but now that you mention it…”
I sock him in the arm.
“Come on.”
“There are a lot of sticks.”
“Afraid of cutting your feet?” I nod. “OK, I have a solution for that.”
He bends his knees and picks me up like he’s about to carry me over the threshold. He seems relaxed and unstrained as he carries me over to the smooth part of the beach. I run my hand over his corded bicep and feel his taut muscles. I look up into his deep blue eyes and he slows, heading out into the water, but I’m only focusing on his eyes. His eyes meet mine and I shudder. Our gazes hold. He continues to move steadily forward. I’m surprised he’s still able to carry me as I’m not exactly light, but he makes it seem so effortless, like it is something he was born to do. I feel fragile but in a good way, because it also makes me feel beautiful. I raise my hand to his cheek. He stills and gives me a gentle kiss.
“Are you ready for me to put you down?” he asks.
I look around. We are no longer on the shore. We’re about fifty feet out into the ocean, and he’s standing on a strip of relatively dry land, a sand bar.
“How?”
“This is what is called low tide, when the water starts to recede from the shore. It’s kind of messy during low tide, but it shouldn’t be too bad right now. Do you wanna take you first step into the ocean?”
“Depends. How cold is it?”
“You tell me,” he laughs, putting me down. My toes dip into the water. It’s a little cold at first, but I get used to it quickly. My toes sink into the sand as I look at them, still holding onto Mitch’s shoulder with my hand.
“I wanna take a picture of you,” he says, taking out his camera phone.
“OK.” I release him.
Mitch takes a few steps back and then begins to take pictures. The wind has picked up and my hair is not staying put. Neither is his. It’s not hard to smile looking at him. I love the wind going through his hair. I wanna be the wind – caressing every inch of him. I give up on taming my hair and shift between different poses.
“I wanna get some naturals of you. Don’t pose, just do whatever is natural.”
I look around to see how far this sand bar goes. I start to follow it. There are a few seagulls or pelicans; I don’t really know coastal birds, at the end of the sand bar. I get closer, and one of them snaps its head up to look at me. I get down on my knees, pulling up the hem of my dress so that it doesn’t get wet. The temperature of the water no longer fazes me as I inch forward. I reach out to one of the birds and it flies away, the others following. I lean back on my calves and drop to hem of my dress. I no longer care if it gets wet. I just want to enjoy this. I want to take this all in.
I close my eyes for a minute, breathing in the salty air and listening to the waves crash on the shore. I run my hands through the cool sand. Arms wrap around me from behind.
“I’m so lucky to have you,” Mitch tells me.
I look up into his eyes. “I’m the lucky one.”
I take his phone from him. I can’t believe he’s sitting in the moist sand, wearing dress pants. His mom is going to kill him. But now that he is, we might as well have fun with it. I snap several pictures of him, and then I sit in his lap to take some with him. He wraps his arms around my waist and I lean back into his chest. I feel his breath on my neck and I feel like I’m floating as I snap pictures of us. I just start snapping without even looking at the camera.
I spin around to face him and rest my head on his neck as he smoothes my hair. I hand him his phone back and unbutton his dress shirt from top to bottom as we both breathe heavily. I slide it down his arms and it rests only on his wrists. He’s wearing a white beater tank underneath and I edge it up with my thumbs. He slides his dress shirt off his wrists and slides it under his bottom, freeing his hands. I remove his tank and he puts it under him as well.
His eyes travel from my eyes to my lips to my chest and then to his phone. We have to be careful not to get it wet. I take it from him and slide it under my bra where it will be safe.
“I’m never washing that phone,” he laughs.
“I would hope not. You’d ruin it.”
“Well, right now, I’m really jealous of my phone.”
“I want you to be this phone, but if I let you do that with no barrier, I’ll be done for. I won’t be able to stop. I’m having a hard enough time controlling myself as it is.”
“Kiss me,” he pleads.
“So demanding!”
“What did I tell you about stealing my lines?”
“Hum, if I recall you said you don’t use lines, you only tell the truth.”
“Do you remember everything I say?”
“Maybe,” I grin.
“Alright, that’s it. I’m kissing you whether you like it or not.”
He places both of his hands tenderly on my face.
“As if I could ever not like it.”
His lips meet mine. His thumb slides down my neck, and when he finds my breast he cups it with his hand, gently caressing it. His other hand chooses that moment to slide down my side as he moves his lips down to my neck, I can’t stop the moan that escapes from me. His touch is all too wonderful. I want more.
I slide my hands down his smooth pecs and then trace his abs with my index finger. His breath hitches. I reposition myself so that I’m straddling him as we begin to kiss with sudden urgency. I lean forward causing him to lie back in the sand. The water is closing in on us. I feel it creep onto my stomach as Mitch’s hands glide down my back, finally resting right above my bottom.
I let out a small giggle midway through a kiss.
“What is it?”
“You don’t have to be so nice. I like you. You don’t have to ask permission for everything.”
“I just don’t wanna disrespect you. This isn’t about sex for me. It’s more than that.”
“I know, which is why I don’t mind if you take a little initiative.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He plants both of his hands on my behind and squeezes.
“Just keep your hands above my clothes.”
“Whatever you want, Baby.”
I kiss him harder as he runs his hands all over my body. Then I feel the ocean water soak my bra. I look up and the sand bar is completely gone, with some fairly good-sized waves off the horizon. We both jump up and run toward the shore.
“Looks like low tide is over,” Mitch says ringing out his shirts.
“How are we going to explain this?” I ask, motioning to my dress that has sand all over the backside due to Mitch’s caresses.
“Give me the phone and take a full dip.”
I hand it to him and run right back into the water, letting it consume me. I swim out into it until I can no longer touch the bottom. The sun is starting to set, and Mitch was right, it’s so much better watching it from the beach. I linger for a little while longer before Mitch swims in after me.
“We need to get back before dark, or Brian will send out a search party.”
I give him a kiss, we grab our shoes and head back to the car.
Author Bio:
Hey everybody. My name is Heather Dowell and I was born in Tennessee on March 12, 1990. My family moved around frequently when I was a kid, mostly from county to county, so I’ve had a lot of experience with being the new kid. I graduated from Portland High School in Portland, TN in May 2008. Shortly after my 18th birthday, I enlisted in the United States Navy. I went to boot camp in Greatlakes, IL, which is a short train ride away from Chicago. I went to Chicago with my sailor friends as often as I could. I really enjoyed the city.
I’ve lived in Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, and Florida. If you count the womb, then I’ve also lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, that’s part of the reason why I chose for Heather Winters of “Summers & Winters” to live in Las Vegas. I asked myself, “How would my life have been if I grew up in Vegas?”, and created a whole new world.
I served four years on the USS Carney(DDG-64) in Mayport, FL and lived in Jacksonville, the largest city in the US. I met some of the most wonderful people on that ship, and that is when I really started writing. In my upcoming book “The Newcomer”, I transformed my real friends on the Carney into mythical creatures, like Mermaids, Vampires, Trolls, Fairies, Werewolves, and some creatures of my own creation, that are battling the Evil Black Dragon and his minions in order to keep them from conquering the world and dominating the human race.
I write books of almost every genre, all with a little hint of Romance, so if you are into that sort of thing, you should definitely try out one of my books.
I’m currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Elementary Education at Western Kentucky University. I have a passion for teaching children and for writing novels. I also love music and I’m a flag girl in the Big Red Marching Band. I’m married to a wonderful husband, and I love seeing my family every weekend. Family and friends are very important to me. You can probably see that through the characters that I have developed. They’re all very unique and some of them are based on people I know. Some of the events stem from real events in my life as well, but I twisted them into a very fictional story. I hope you enjoy my work, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading.
Book Links:
Amazon US www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKFL5T4
Amazon UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BKFL5T4
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17901072-summers-winters
Synopsis:
I thought leaving Las Vegas to move to South Carolina was going to be one of the worst days of my life. A pivotal moment I wished not to have. But as it turns out, coming to South Carolina would be the highlight of my life. Just like every other love story, it started with a boy.
Extract:
“Thank you so much for dinner,” I tell Mitch.
"No problem, I'd love to take you out every night."
“That’d be nice.”
We head out the door and I start walking toward the car, but Mitch takes my hand in his and we head for the beach. I almost retract my hand. I’m still getting used to this whole out in the open concept.
He smiles and gives me a light squeeze. “Heather, do you remember me saying I’d take you to the beach?” I nod. “Well, this isn’t Myrtle, but it is a beach.”
I bite my lip and look up at him through my lashes. He’s always so dang thoughtful.
“You’re going to ruin your dress shoes,” I tell him as we walk over a wooden bridge and onto the sand. He smiles and runs his hand through my hair before planting a light kiss on my forehead.
He slides off his dress shoes and hides them under the bridge. “Hand me your flip-flops.”
I do as he says and watch his luscious body bend over once more. I curl my toes as he straightens and then loosens his tie. Next, he untucks his button up shirt and bends back over to roll up the hem of his dress pants right above the ankles. It’s so nerdy and sexy all at the same time.
“Now that I won’t ruin anything, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a sunset stroll?”
He does a halfway bow and sticks out his hand, palm up.
“Is this how you get all your women?” I tease. He straightens and tries to hold back a laugh.
“No, but now that you mention it…”
I sock him in the arm.
“Come on.”
“There are a lot of sticks.”
“Afraid of cutting your feet?” I nod. “OK, I have a solution for that.”
He bends his knees and picks me up like he’s about to carry me over the threshold. He seems relaxed and unstrained as he carries me over to the smooth part of the beach. I run my hand over his corded bicep and feel his taut muscles. I look up into his deep blue eyes and he slows, heading out into the water, but I’m only focusing on his eyes. His eyes meet mine and I shudder. Our gazes hold. He continues to move steadily forward. I’m surprised he’s still able to carry me as I’m not exactly light, but he makes it seem so effortless, like it is something he was born to do. I feel fragile but in a good way, because it also makes me feel beautiful. I raise my hand to his cheek. He stills and gives me a gentle kiss.
“Are you ready for me to put you down?” he asks.
I look around. We are no longer on the shore. We’re about fifty feet out into the ocean, and he’s standing on a strip of relatively dry land, a sand bar.
“How?”
“This is what is called low tide, when the water starts to recede from the shore. It’s kind of messy during low tide, but it shouldn’t be too bad right now. Do you wanna take you first step into the ocean?”
“Depends. How cold is it?”
“You tell me,” he laughs, putting me down. My toes dip into the water. It’s a little cold at first, but I get used to it quickly. My toes sink into the sand as I look at them, still holding onto Mitch’s shoulder with my hand.
“I wanna take a picture of you,” he says, taking out his camera phone.
“OK.” I release him.
Mitch takes a few steps back and then begins to take pictures. The wind has picked up and my hair is not staying put. Neither is his. It’s not hard to smile looking at him. I love the wind going through his hair. I wanna be the wind – caressing every inch of him. I give up on taming my hair and shift between different poses.
“I wanna get some naturals of you. Don’t pose, just do whatever is natural.”
I look around to see how far this sand bar goes. I start to follow it. There are a few seagulls or pelicans; I don’t really know coastal birds, at the end of the sand bar. I get closer, and one of them snaps its head up to look at me. I get down on my knees, pulling up the hem of my dress so that it doesn’t get wet. The temperature of the water no longer fazes me as I inch forward. I reach out to one of the birds and it flies away, the others following. I lean back on my calves and drop to hem of my dress. I no longer care if it gets wet. I just want to enjoy this. I want to take this all in.
I close my eyes for a minute, breathing in the salty air and listening to the waves crash on the shore. I run my hands through the cool sand. Arms wrap around me from behind.
“I’m so lucky to have you,” Mitch tells me.
I look up into his eyes. “I’m the lucky one.”
I take his phone from him. I can’t believe he’s sitting in the moist sand, wearing dress pants. His mom is going to kill him. But now that he is, we might as well have fun with it. I snap several pictures of him, and then I sit in his lap to take some with him. He wraps his arms around my waist and I lean back into his chest. I feel his breath on my neck and I feel like I’m floating as I snap pictures of us. I just start snapping without even looking at the camera.
I spin around to face him and rest my head on his neck as he smoothes my hair. I hand him his phone back and unbutton his dress shirt from top to bottom as we both breathe heavily. I slide it down his arms and it rests only on his wrists. He’s wearing a white beater tank underneath and I edge it up with my thumbs. He slides his dress shirt off his wrists and slides it under his bottom, freeing his hands. I remove his tank and he puts it under him as well.
His eyes travel from my eyes to my lips to my chest and then to his phone. We have to be careful not to get it wet. I take it from him and slide it under my bra where it will be safe.
“I’m never washing that phone,” he laughs.
“I would hope not. You’d ruin it.”
“Well, right now, I’m really jealous of my phone.”
“I want you to be this phone, but if I let you do that with no barrier, I’ll be done for. I won’t be able to stop. I’m having a hard enough time controlling myself as it is.”
“Kiss me,” he pleads.
“So demanding!”
“What did I tell you about stealing my lines?”
“Hum, if I recall you said you don’t use lines, you only tell the truth.”
“Do you remember everything I say?”
“Maybe,” I grin.
“Alright, that’s it. I’m kissing you whether you like it or not.”
He places both of his hands tenderly on my face.
“As if I could ever not like it.”
His lips meet mine. His thumb slides down my neck, and when he finds my breast he cups it with his hand, gently caressing it. His other hand chooses that moment to slide down my side as he moves his lips down to my neck, I can’t stop the moan that escapes from me. His touch is all too wonderful. I want more.
I slide my hands down his smooth pecs and then trace his abs with my index finger. His breath hitches. I reposition myself so that I’m straddling him as we begin to kiss with sudden urgency. I lean forward causing him to lie back in the sand. The water is closing in on us. I feel it creep onto my stomach as Mitch’s hands glide down my back, finally resting right above my bottom.
I let out a small giggle midway through a kiss.
“What is it?”
“You don’t have to be so nice. I like you. You don’t have to ask permission for everything.”
“I just don’t wanna disrespect you. This isn’t about sex for me. It’s more than that.”
“I know, which is why I don’t mind if you take a little initiative.”
“Oh, yeah?”
He plants both of his hands on my behind and squeezes.
“Just keep your hands above my clothes.”
“Whatever you want, Baby.”
I kiss him harder as he runs his hands all over my body. Then I feel the ocean water soak my bra. I look up and the sand bar is completely gone, with some fairly good-sized waves off the horizon. We both jump up and run toward the shore.
“Looks like low tide is over,” Mitch says ringing out his shirts.
“How are we going to explain this?” I ask, motioning to my dress that has sand all over the backside due to Mitch’s caresses.
“Give me the phone and take a full dip.”
I hand it to him and run right back into the water, letting it consume me. I swim out into it until I can no longer touch the bottom. The sun is starting to set, and Mitch was right, it’s so much better watching it from the beach. I linger for a little while longer before Mitch swims in after me.
“We need to get back before dark, or Brian will send out a search party.”
I give him a kiss, we grab our shoes and head back to the car.
Author Bio:
Hey everybody. My name is Heather Dowell and I was born in Tennessee on March 12, 1990. My family moved around frequently when I was a kid, mostly from county to county, so I’ve had a lot of experience with being the new kid. I graduated from Portland High School in Portland, TN in May 2008. Shortly after my 18th birthday, I enlisted in the United States Navy. I went to boot camp in Greatlakes, IL, which is a short train ride away from Chicago. I went to Chicago with my sailor friends as often as I could. I really enjoyed the city.
I’ve lived in Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, and Florida. If you count the womb, then I’ve also lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, that’s part of the reason why I chose for Heather Winters of “Summers & Winters” to live in Las Vegas. I asked myself, “How would my life have been if I grew up in Vegas?”, and created a whole new world.
I served four years on the USS Carney(DDG-64) in Mayport, FL and lived in Jacksonville, the largest city in the US. I met some of the most wonderful people on that ship, and that is when I really started writing. In my upcoming book “The Newcomer”, I transformed my real friends on the Carney into mythical creatures, like Mermaids, Vampires, Trolls, Fairies, Werewolves, and some creatures of my own creation, that are battling the Evil Black Dragon and his minions in order to keep them from conquering the world and dominating the human race.
I write books of almost every genre, all with a little hint of Romance, so if you are into that sort of thing, you should definitely try out one of my books.
I’m currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Elementary Education at Western Kentucky University. I have a passion for teaching children and for writing novels. I also love music and I’m a flag girl in the Big Red Marching Band. I’m married to a wonderful husband, and I love seeing my family every weekend. Family and friends are very important to me. You can probably see that through the characters that I have developed. They’re all very unique and some of them are based on people I know. Some of the events stem from real events in my life as well, but I twisted them into a very fictional story. I hope you enjoy my work, and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading.
Book Links:
Amazon US www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKFL5T4
Amazon UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BKFL5T4
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17901072-summers-winters
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