1968
A Love Story
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
"And the girls out there are beautiful ... all healthy with terrific figures. And don’t tell me it isn’t so ... I’ve seen them." He was about to say that he didn’t care for the California Girl with the California Look, but decided to torment her a little first. "Well, yeah," he said nonchalantly. "And I suppose you’ve dated quite a few of them." "Yes, I guess I have," he said, mustering a straight face. "And I hear they’re pretty fast." "Yep, pretty fast. I’ve picked up a few things from them." He meant it to sound absurd, but her troubled expression indicated otherwise. He tried reassurance. "Hey, I was only teasing you." It didn’t work. "C’mon, Paige ... no California girl could possibly measure up to you." "Right. Uh-huh. Sure." "I’m not kidding. I was taunting you before, but I’m not now. I think you’re the most adorable girl I’ve ever met." He considered this for a moment. "No, let me be more precise. You are the most adorable girl I’ve ever met." He was admitting more now than he had intended, but didn’t care. He had held back all afternoon, and had to tell her the truth now, even if it meant showing his hand. He could no longer carry the ache. He stepped in front of her. "You may be interested to know, Miss Howard, that, well, all afternoon I’ve wanted to kiss you." There. The cards were finally on the table. He held his breath, and his heart pounded hotly in his ears. It had all come down to this moment, as he nervously awaited her response. It was not a long wait. "Oh, yeah?" she said, eyes riveted on his. "Well, isn’t that convenient? All afternoon I’ve wanted you to kiss me." Holland shuddered. "You, uh, you have?" "Uh-huh," she replied, averting her eyes bashfully. "Well, then . . ." "Well, then?" she said, looking imploring at him, eyes searching his face. His left forefinger crooked and slipped beneath her chin, gently coaxing her face upward. Her eyes looked at him for a moment, then she closed them and parted her lips to accept his. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was the most lovely, tender kiss of a lifetime. The one that followed was very different. His hands went to her shoulders to pull her up against his lips, and her hands went behind his head to affix his lips to hers. It was a long kiss, a searching kiss, and when it was over he was dazed and weakened by it. "That was nice," he said softly, his forehead against hers. "No, that was very nice," she correctly softly. "Could I do that again?" "You’d better." So they embraced again, then lay down beneath a spreading elm on a bed of leaves like gold coins, their arms entwined around each other.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
What happens when big-city boy leaves the city for the first time to meet small-town girl? THE YEAR IS 1968: the year Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King are murdered-- campus protests-- the height of the Vietnam War. DOUGLAS HOLLAND is the only son of a lower-class Jewish family in sprawling, frenetic Los Angeles, and a recent college graduate. Doug has no trouble getting dates, but the ultra-sophisticated L.A. women repel him. He longs for a beautiful, sunny, more conservative girl. Doug Holland has never been in love. SO HE IMPULSIVELY GRABS a rural college scholarship, in a last ditch attempt to escape the madness of Los Angles and the shallowness of L.A. women. But he never imagined what awaited him in tiny Athens, Ohio. CLASSICALLY BEAUTIFUL and Christian, Paige Howard, an entering freshman from a small Ohio town, is decidedly upper class. Paige seeks someone sincere as well as attractive – different from the immature boys wanting backseat sex. But Paige is a sorority girl with a predetermined set of values and ideas. – Enter Doug. ON MEETING, Doug and Paige discover that, despite considerable differences, what they have been so fervently seeking is each other. But trouble brews. It is Doug’s idealism and stubborn unwillingness to compromise his principles that dooms the relationship. When Paige rejects him, Doug’s anguish is so great he volunteers for suicidal duty in Vietnam. But then Paige, unaware, comes to realize she has made a terrible mistake. Is she too late to stop him? The stand-up-and-cheer climax provides the answer. 1968 – A Love Story is not only topical, ala Forrest Gump. It has that one element that sets apart such classics as The Graduate, An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, and Sleepless in Seattle-- POIGNANCY And it’s funny: Doc Hollywood meets Northern Exposure. You’ll laugh and cry. You will feel this simple, compelling story. And your heart will soar.
About the Author
John Edison Schwab grew up in West L.A. in the Sixties. He went on to earn B.A. and M.A. degrees in creative writing and has taught writing on the university level. Mr. Schwab lives on the Monterey Peninsula in California. He has already published a work of non-fiction. This is his first novel.