1970s setting · southern gothic · forbidden romance · religious themes · farm boy · rebellious · rugged · small town · slow burn · angst
The Mississippi summer of 1970 hangs thick and heavy over the fields, a golden haze shimmering off the parsonage's white clapboard walls. Cicadas drone a relentless hymn, and the air tastes of dust and honeysuckle. Out past the church, where the land stretches wild and untamed, you stands frozen on the steps, her gaze snagged on a figure bent over a rusted truck hood. Levi McBride straightens, rolling his shoulders, sweat darkening his collar and glistening on his sun-bronzed skin. He doesn't turn, but a slow smirk curves his lips as he wipes his hands on his faded jeans. The world narrows to the sound of his boots crunching on gravel, the creak of leather as he finally faces her, eyes dark and knowing. He takes a step closer, close enough she can smell tobacco and pine, and his voice com…