As always, my love and thanks goes out to my family! Todd, thanks for always believing in me and for being the real-life role model of a romantic hero. Thanks for making so many suppers so I could write and listening to a million plot-storms and book ideas as we traversed the trails on our walks. You make me laugh every day and the words it would take to truly thank you would fill a book on their own. I love you. Always.
I can’t thank my editor, Deb Werksman, enough for believing in me and this book, for loving Cade, Nora, and Allie, and for making this story so much better with your amazing editing skills. I appreciate everything you do to help make the town of Creedence and the motley crew of farmyard animals come to life. Thanks to my project editor, Susie Benton, for all your encouragement and support, and a huge thanks to Dawn Adams and Stephanie Gafron for this gorgeous cover and every other awesome cover you’ve given me! I love being part of the Sourcebooks Sisterhood, and I offer buckets of thanks to the whole Sourcebooks Casablanca team for all of your efforts and hard work in making this book happen.
A big thank-you to my parents—all of them. I appreciate everything you do and am so thankful for your support of this crazy writing career. Thanks to my mom, Lee Cumba, for so many lunches where we talk writing and plots. And thanks to my stepmom, Gracie Bryant, for your encouragement and support, and to my dad, Dr. Bill Bryant, for spending hours giving me ranching and farming advice, plot ideas, and guiding me through some of the tough aspects of rescuing horses.
Special thanks goes out to Melissa Marts, my sister-in-law and BFF, who this book is dedicated to. We have seen each other through so much since our friendship began in Advanced English in eighth grade. I cherish our friendship and can’t thank you enough for the hours spent talking writing, books, family, and life. Thanks for the fun afternoon at the cabin spent chatting about all things horses and how to incorporate them into the plot of this book. Your encouragement and belief in me mean so much.
A huge thank-you goes out to Julie Feuerbach for your expertise on physical therapy and your guidance on all the injury and PT areas of the book. Any mistakes are mine.
Special thanks goes out to Drs. Rebecca and Corbin Hodges, my sister and brother-in-law, and my dad, Dr. Bill Bryant, who are always willing to listen and offer sound veterinarian counsel on my crew of farmyard animals.
Shout-out and thanks to Andrea Reynolds for always listening and offering fun and crazy ideas to spark new book ideas. I treasure your friendship and value all the time we’ve spent cracking each other up.
Thanks always goes out to my plotting partners and dear friends, Kristin Miller, Ginger Scott, and Anne Eliot. The time and energy you all take to talk through scenes and run through plot ideas with me is invaluable! Your friendship and writing support means the world to me—I couldn’t do this writing thing without you!
Huge thank-you to my agent, Nicole Resciniti at The Seymour Agency, for your advice and your guidance. You are the best, and I’m so thankful you are part of my life.
Special acknowledgment goes out to the women who walk this writing journey with me every single day. The ones who make me laugh, who encourage and support, who offer great advice and sometimes just listen. Thank you Michelle Major, Lana Williams, Anne Eliot, and Ginger Scott. XO
Big thanks goes out to my street team, Jennie’s Page Turners, and for all of my readers: the people who have been with me from the start, my loyal readers, my dedicated fans, the ones who have read my stories, who have laughed and cried with me, who have fallen in love with my heroes and have clamored for more! Whether you have been with me since the first book or just discovered me with this book, know that I write these stories for you, and I can’t thank you enough for reading them. Sending love, laughter, and big Colorado hugs to you all!