Title: Swallows of Mostar

Author: Neira Fazlovic

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 11/04/2025

Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 216

Genre: Contemporary, YA/NA, sports, LGBT, sapphic, Sports romance, cliff diving, summer read, college, contemporary, Bosnia, Herzegovina

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Description

Two years after she moved to Mostar, a historic small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, eighteen-year-old Franka Garcia still struggles with loneliness, language barriers, and terrible grades. After she accidentally falls off the famous Old Bridge, Franka is rescued by Mirna, a wickedly intelligent, but exasperated teenager obsessed with cliff diving.

Despite training all her life and frequently besting her peers, being a girl means Mirna can never participate in the centuries-old tradition of diving off the Old Bridge. But stubborn and determined Mirna won’t give up so easily.

After Franka’s near-perfect accidental dive, Mirna reluctantly takes on the challenge of teaching her all she knows about cliff diving. If Franka and Mirna want to compete, they must enact their unorthodox plan to take down the patriarchal system forbidding them from diving. Falling in love was never part of the plan.

Swallows of Mostar
Neira Fazlovic © 2025
All Rights Reserved

In the warm morning sun, Franka stood at the wall of the bridge. The river seemed to be miles below her, but calmer than usual, ready to accept her daughters.

She and Mirna agreed on matching black swimsuits to look more uniform and aesthetically pleasing.

“Are you ready?” Mirna asked.

“I can’t do much worse than the first time,” Franka said with a smile, even if they all knew that was far from the truth. “Now I know what I’m doing.”

“Same rules apply,” Mirna repeated what she had said a million times before, her voice almost cold to make up for the anxiety that made the rest of her shake in fear. “There is nothing to be afraid of,” she added, to herself as much as to Franka.

“But still, please be careful.”

“I will,” Franka promised with a smile. “Are you okay?” she asked Mirna who was still slightly vibrating. “I mean, you’re the one who got injured the last time.”

“Last time, I was diving angry,” Mirna said. “Now I’m happy.” Her grin engulfed the whole city again and made the world seem like a better place.

“Come on, girls, we are wasting good lighting here!” Ado yelled. He was under the bridge already, ready to make the best video possible.

“Okay, it’s time,” Mirna said, even though her face was white as a sheet. Franka understood her well enough by now. She wasn’t afraid of the dive, but of being caught before they could do it.

But Franka forgot how to be scared. Why should she be scared when she could be excited? Her heart threatened to beat its way out of her chest, but that adrenaline was her drug of choice, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

They climbed over the fence, separated a few meters from each other, so they could both land safely.

“Three! Two! One!” Franka yelled as they agreed and made that leap forward.

Adrenaline took over her body, and it knew exactly what it was doing, far better than Franka herself. The water wasn’t her enemy anymore. Neretva would welcome them, to break their fall and help them relax after an amazing feat.

Franka’s body contracted like she demanded it to without much of a fight. A somersault was now child’s play for both of them. She straightened her body again just as the river took her.

The blue world around her was mesmerizing as she opened her eyes in the water. Freezing cold threatened to paralyze her as the currents began to drag her farther away, but this time Franka was ready for them, so she fought them off and swam back to the real world.

“Jebeno predobro!” Mirna yelled when Franka finally surfaced. It really was effing amazing, unlike anything she had felt before, her body filled with energy and power. She could take on the world right now!

Mirna pulled Franka into a hug and Franka hugged her back, even though they were still in the water. In Mirna’s arms, she was safe, no matter where Neretva’s currents took them.

“We really need to talk about your language!” Ado yelled from the shore, but his mouth opened in shock to let them know he was equally impressed. “That was amazing! We have something special on our hands.”

 

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Neira Fazlovic is a writer of books about lesbians, ghosts and science. Veterinarian by trade (and soon to be a PhD), she has been writing since she was thirteen. She is a great fan of cats, typos and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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