Exclusive Excerpt: Invincible Summer by Seth King

When it comes to stories that evoke emotion, Seth King has proven expert. His novels The Summer Remains and Autumn Rising have been widely embraced by readers, and tomorrow, on November 17th, his newest book is out–a tale of first love, lasting memories and re-awakened joy. I’m thrilled to give you a sneak peek at Invincible Summer!

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Synopsis

We all remember our first love, that one affair that took custody of your heart and never really let it go. Readers around the world were touched by The Summer Remains, a heartbreaking and inspiring novel about one of these romances – but Cooper Nichols, the enigmatic young man at the center of the novel, was largely silent on the matter. Until now.

“I just can’t believe it’s over between you guys,” my best friend said as we walked down the pier. “You two were supposed to last forever.”

I stared out at the blue sea. “Oh, trust me, it’s not over. I am going to see that girl’s face in every crowd I look into, forever. And maybe a few forevers after that…”

And so begins the tale of young writer Cooper Nichols. Left in ruins after a tragic summer romance, Cooper is afraid the sun may have set on him for good – until his mother discovers a copy of Cooper’s journal he kept of that summer. As he reluctantly slips back into his own past in the pages of his notebook, Cooper starts to rethink everything he thought he knew about life, death, and all the love that can bloom in between – and what follows is a thrilling and breathtaking journey back to joy that will sink into you and stay there for the long haul.

Illuminating, romantic and soul-stirring, Invincible Summer is a testament to the miraculous power of love, in all its immortal glory and everlasting majesty. If you have ever found yourself drifting back to a long-lost romance during a quiet moment, prepare to be pulled under all over again.

“That one summer. Everyone’s got one, that fleeting season that rearranged you and imprinted itself onto your soul forever. You were mine. I swear I’ll never forget your hazel eyes. I swear I’ll never forget those few months when the winds roared. I’ll always think of you that way. And if you can, please come back to me. At the end of the day I’m just a boy who wants to get back to his first love, and I miss you. Just find a way back, please. I’ll be waiting.

Until then, I’ve got nothing…”

Excerpt

That “love” thing. I hate the word. Always have. It makes me think of overwrought Disney movies and cheesy Facebook posts and over-the-top ceremonies in overpriced event venues. But it is real. My God, it is real.

It’s what I feel when I look at my mom in her wheelchair and know I’m all she has in the world. It’s what I feel when I wake up in the middle of the night, all disoriented, and then feel my dog Hadley’s warm little body curled up against my leg and remember I am not alone. It’s what I feel when I lay on the floor with my cousin’s kids on a rainy Saturday morning and let them crawl all over me and remind me of what it was like when the purest joy of the day involved putting sunglasses on a family pet. And now it is what I feel when I look at Summer.

It’s what I feel when I rush to my front door and throw it open to see her standing there with that shy little smile on her face, ready for whatever the day is going to throw at us. It’s what I feel when I drive home from a date with her as the air around me hums with new possibilities, the headlights across the way seeming to glow with a new sparkle they didn’t have a few weeks ago, before I’d met the person that made me see a new future for myself.

“Why do you like me?” she asked under our pier the other day. I could barely even look at her, because her beauty made me ache inside for some reason.

“Sum,” I sighed as I traced my finger in circles around her arm. “Are we really here again?”

She propped her head against her other hand, defiant. “Yes. Forgive me for being realistic. I’m just a mess, and you’re…well, you.”

I stretched out my whole body and then stared up at the Florida clouds, soaking in the comfort her presence brought me. “Because with you I can just be…me, filterlessly.”

“That’s all?” she smirked.

“Well, you also have a really good set of boobs.”

She tried to act offended, but she giggled nonetheless as the waves rolled in.

As I walked home I heard her voice in the crickety silence of Neptune Beach, saw her eyes in the glare of the halogen headlamps blurring past as I turned onto Ocean Avenue. Love has never felt like this. She makes my skin feel all weird and cold, my cheeks all flustery. My mom even got all worried and asked me why I was in “such a state” when I walked into the kitchen. I knew what she was really asking – are you high right now? – and I could see the terror in her eyes that she even had to ask such a thing. Still, all I could do was smile like a little boy and look away.

This is a state of grace.

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