First and foremost, thank you to Elana Cohen for offering a second (and third) opportunity for me to move forward as a published author. I’m tremendously grateful for your support of the stories I want to tell—and the way I want to tell them.
Another big thank-you to my agent Victoria Lowes, for your dedication and persistence. Thank you for doing what you do with endless grace.
Thank you to Lori M. for beta reading First Step Forward and providing sharp, insightful feedback that was essential in making this book stronger. To Carly Bornstein of CB Editing, thank you for providing a manuscript review that was both comprehensive and workable—your notes helped better define these characters and their story.
To the entire Pocket Books team, thank you for making these books sparkle and shine, from beginning to end. A special thank-you to Marla Daniels for stepping in to steer the ship on this one for a bit.
Thank you to every reader who picked up the True titles and by doing so, helped make this new series a reality—I hope you come to love the Grand Valley stories. Your continued support is what makes all of this possible.
And to Warren . . . thank you for making it easy to write about good guys with great hearts—who say what they mean, mean what they say, and stay true to what matters most.