Acknowledgments

Thank you so much to everyone who made it possible for Mack and Connor to tell their story, especially my agent, Andrea Somberg, and my awesome editor, Alycia Tornetta, who helped me wrangle two stubborn, impossible characters into bed together when they just kept wanting to be difficult.

I came up with the idea for Mack’s character, a bartender who takes no shit, when my husband and I ate at the bar of Portobello, a vegan restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I came up with Connor’s idea of creative small plates after we celebrated our five-year anniversary at Avant Garden, a vegan restaurant in New York City. Thanks to these restaurants for inspiring me, and to Robert for always being up for a good meal—and for spending so much time talking about imaginary people with me!

Nora Metzger read earlier drafts and kept me sane, and Alison Buchbinder gave sound advice and affirmation. Balaka Basu is truly the best critique partner I could hope for. Not only did she patiently read multiple drafts, but she dropped everything to Skype with me when I was in dire need of direction. Thanks also to Jennifer Sable for sitting in Bryant Park and talking through revisions with me while eating pastries. Writing may be a solitary act, but I’d never get anything done alone. (Or without croissants.)

Most of all, thank you to everyone for coming to Gold Mountain with me and making such a beautiful place come alive.

About the Author

Rebecca Brooks lives in New York City in an apartment filled with books. She received a PhD in English but decided it was more fun to write books than write about them. She has backpacked alone through India and Brazil, traveled by cargo boat down the Amazon River, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, explored ice caves in Peru, trekked to the source of the Ganges, and sunbathed in Burma, but she always likes coming home to a cold beer and her hot husband in the Bronx.

Sign up for Rebecca’s newsletter at www.rebeccabrooksromance.com/newsletter to get a free novelette and a monthly email about Rebecca’s adventures. Don’t miss Make Me Stay, Sam and Austin’s story and book one in the Men of Gold Mountain series, available now. And Make Me Want, Abbi and Tyler’s story and book three in the series, coming soon!

Rebecca’s website: www.rebeccabrooksromance.com

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