In The Pines
By Josie Livengood
Currently Querying
In the summer of 2014, Emily is forced to leave California to spend the summer with a great aunt she’s never met in a small, East Texas town. The shy, anxious teenager desperately wishes to stay in California to mend her rocky friendships but comes to love her independent and tough, yet caring, Aunt Maxine.
Maxine and Emily bond over Maxine’s stories from her first summer on the cattle ranch in 1971 — from overcoming others’ skepticism of a woman running her own ranch to the fun adventures she had with her best friend, to her complicated relationship with a childhood frenemy, Tom, and her experiences that shaped her into who she is, Emily learns a lot about (and from) Maxine. But Emily soon discovers Maxine isn’t the simple rancher she seems.
A few years later, Emily returns to East Texas and is desperate to uncover the secrets her great aunt has been holding for decades, but Maxine, ever the stubborn woman, grapples with Emily and what’s right — protecting the ones you love from a shocking truth, or being truthful no matter what.
“In The Pines” is a coming-of-age story about family, self-discovery, faith, and love in its many forms.
Not the real cover, this is a placeholder made through Canva for marketing purposes
Will you enjoy this book? Absolutely if you fall under any of the following:
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- You love a good female-driven story with complex relationships.
- You're a fan of dual POVs and dual timelines (early 1970s and late 2010s).
- Family secrets keep you on the edge of your seat.
- You like a little bit of romance but nothing over PG-13.
- You love coming-of-age books and main characters who are stepping into adulthood and new chapters of life.
- You enjoy reading books that contain themes and messages about faith.
- You like books set in small towns in East Texas, where there are tall pine trees, old oak trees weathered from children playing in them, and rolling waves of green grass for miles.