Publication Date: June 1, 2025
When they met in the fourth grade, it was love at first sight for Mitchell Brody and Jessica Ramirez. He was the freckle-faced kid who stood up for her honor when he silenced the class bully who’d been teasing her because of her accent. She was the new kid whose family moved to San Juan Island, Washington, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and whom Mitch had thought was the most beautiful girl in the world.
She was his salvation from a strict upbringing. He was her knight in shining armor who had always looked out for her. Through the many years of porch-swinging, cotton-candied summer nights, autumn harvest festivals, and hand-in-hand walks planning for the ideal life together, they were inseparable…until 9/11, when the real world interrupted their Rockwell-esque small town life, and Mitch had joined the Marine Corps.
This is not just the story of a wounded warrior finally coming home to search for the love, and the world he abandoned twenty years before. It is also the story of a man who is seeking forgiveness and a way to ease the pain caused by every bad decision he’d ever made. It’s the story of a woman who, with strength and determination, rose up from the ashes of a shattered dream; but who never gave up hope that her one true love would return to her. As she once told an old friend: “Even before we met all those years ago, we were destined to be together in this life, and we will be together again, because even today we’re connected in a way that’s very special, and he needs to know about it before one of us leaves this earth.”
“It isn’t easy to edit when you’re crying, let me tell you! But I’m not complaining! This was so beautiful and emotional. It really struck a deep chord in me. It’s an impressive book, and I truly enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the opportunity (to have been your editor)” ~Bryn Donovan
From an early age, Mitch Brody and Jessica Ramirez formed a close bond as they mapped out a future together.
That future was interrupted by Mitch’s service in the Marine Corps. Seventeen years later, a broken Mitch returns to San Juan Island.
Author Richard I Levine builds the characters by using a flashback method, which revisits key moments. Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea uses foreshadowing to indicate future challenges.
While Mitch and Jessica still share a connection, unfinished business from the past must be confronted. With Mitch suffering bouts of PTSD and episodic conversations with his dead brother, he’s not the same man he was before combat.
Because there are so many events packed into the story, some of the plotting is challenging to follow, such as the drama with Nikolai. On the other hand, it might have been helpful to tell us more about Mitch’s complex relationships with his father and brother.
Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea delivers a powerful portrayal of the power of love, but keep the tissues handy.
Richard I Levine is a native New Yorker raised in the shadows of Yankee Stadium. After dabbling in several occupations and a one-year coast-to-coast wanderlust trip, This one-time auxiliary police officer, volunteer fireman, bartender, and store manager returned to school to become a chiropractor.
A twenty-five-year cancer survivor, he’s a strong advocate for the natural healing arts. In 2006 he wrote, produced, and was on-air personality of The Dr. Rich Levine Show on Seattle’s KKNW 1150AM and after a twenty-five-year chiropractic practice in Bellevue, Washington, he closed up shop at the end of 2016 and moved to Oahu to pursue a dream of acting and being on Hawaii 5-O.
While briefly working as a ghostwriter/community liaison for a Honolulu City Councilmember, a Hawaii State Senator, and volunteering as an advisory board member of USVETS Barbers Point, he appeared as a background actor in over twenty-seven 5-Os, Magnum P.I.s, NCIS-Hawaii, and several Hallmark movies. In 2020, he had a co-star role in the third season episode of Magnum PI called “Easy Money.”
While he no longer lives in Hawaii, he says he will always cherish and be grateful for those seven years and all the wonderful people he’s met. His 5th novel, To Catch the Setting Sun, was inspired by his time in Hawaii.
Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea is Levine’s first foray into the romance genre.
