Summer of the Oak
Moon
by Laura Templeton
Publication date: May
5, 2015
Publisher:
Month9Books, LLC.
Rejected by the exclusive women’s college she has her heart set
on, Tess Seibert dreads the hot, aimless summer ahead. But when a chance
encounter with a snake introduces her to Jacob Lane, a black college student
home on his summer break, a relationship blooms that challenges the prejudices
of her small, north Florida town.
When Jacob confesses that Tess’s uncle is trying to steal his
family’s land, Tess comes face to face with the hatred that simmers just below
the surface of the bay and marshes she’s loved since birth. With the help of
her mentor Lulu, an herbal healer, Tess pieces together clues to the mysterious
disappearance of Jacob’s father twenty-two years earlier and uncovers family
secrets that shatter her connection to the land she loves.
Tess and Jacob’s bond puts them both in peril, and discontent
eventually erupts into violence. Tess is forced to make a decision. Can she
right old wrongs and salvage their love? Or will prejudice and hatred kill any
chance she and Jacob might have had?
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Jacob
scooted his chair forward until his knees touched mine. The tingles of
electricity flared into a storm that hit me like a blow to the stomach, nearly
taking my breath away. When he once again took my hands, I let him. I could let
him touch me, I told myself, and still not see him again. But I chewed my lip
as I considered that maybe I was lying to myself.
His
eyes on mine, Jacob drew my left hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “I
don’t want to let you go. And I don’t want to be ‘friends.’ I’m in this for
real, Tess. Are you?”
Seeing
Jacob brought danger, there was no doubt about that. I wasn’t so concerned
about me—I doubted Finn would do much to me, despite his threats. But Jacob was
another story. Our relationship would put him in danger. I didn’t know who
vandalized Hank Sims’ truck, but the incident showed that Port Saint Clare wasn’t
immune to racial crimes. And Jacob’s and my relationship wouldn’t be some
faraway event, like the attack in New York. It’d be right here, under everyone’s
noses. You couldn’t hide anything in this town.
On
the other hand, every bone in my body screamed yes. I wanted Jacob. I needed him in my life. His hand, which now
rested on my cheek, didn’t help my resolve.
“But
... this isn’t going to help your case with Uncle Finn about the land. We’ve
got to find a way to save that, you know.”
Jacob
didn’t answer. Instead, he took my face in his hands and kissed me. His clean
scent—of peppermint and salt marsh and river—filled me with a longing I
couldn’t suppress. I never wanted to let him go. I couldn’t let him go.
“Yes,”
I whispered against his cheek when he pulled away. No explanation was needed—he
knew what I meant. I was in this for real, too. His kiss this time was less
tentative, and I let myself drown in the sweet feel of his lips on mine.
But
despite Jacob’s kisses, it didn’t take one of Lulu’s potions to tell me that
eventually I was going to regret that answer.
Laura Templeton lives near Athens, Georgia, with her husband,
son, and a menagerie of animals. When she’s not writing, she enjoys gardening,
learning to figure skate, and taking long walks on the quiet country roads near
her home. Something Yellow is her debut novel, and her creative nonfiction has
appeared in various publications.
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