Acknowledgments

I said for years that I wasn’t going to write any more Peachtree Bluff books. Not because I didn’t love them. (I truly do. I might never write women or a town I adore as much.) But because I loved the way the series ended.

Enter: 2020. I’m not sure if it was being stuck at home during a terrifying pandemic and wanting to go back somewhere safe and familiar or if it was because the entire trilogy had been out more than a year and no new Peachtree Bluff books had been announced, but my inbox was flooded, my DMs were full, and every Facebook post had a common theme: When are you writing more Peachtree Bluff?

The holiday season was approaching, and, well, I was a little bummed. Yes, we were blessed and grateful, but staring into the tunnel of a holiday season with no parades, no big family gatherings, and no traditions as we knew them seemed impossible. If I couldn’t spend the holiday season like I usually would, where would I go to feel safe and connected, cheery and full of the Christmas spirit? Why, Peachtree Bluff, of course!

A story about a huge hurricane had been nagging at me for years, and I knew in my heart it was a Peachtree Bluff book. I started furiously writing this novel before my publisher had even said yes, which is when I realized that I had known this story for ages. It was just waiting for the right time. (Thank you for saying yes, Gallery!) And the Facebook Live I did to announce this new venture remains far and away the most popular post of my entire career.

So, it seems fitting that the first thank-you would be to you, my readers. This book is for you and because of you. Thank you for loving this quirky town and these flawed yet formidable women as much as I do. Thanks for persuading me with such passion to bring this series back. Thank you for welcoming us into your libraries, your TBR piles, and your hearts. If you’re new here, we are so excited to greet you! Because that’s the kind of place Peachtree Bluff is. Everyone belongs.

Speaking of belonging, the other place I have found to belong these past couple years? Friends & Fiction. So many thank-yous to the 40,000+ members who join us on Wednesday nights to chat live and who share their book recs and themselves all week long. Thank you especially to Lisa Harrison and Brenda Gardner whose tireless work on the Friends & Fiction book club has made it one of the loveliest corners of the internet. And, F&F Superstars Annissa Armstrong, Sharon Person, Francene Katzen, Barbara Wojcik, Marsha Garwood, Susan Seligman, and Michelle Marcus, thank you for being such an integral part of making this first eighteen months or so spectacular! Dallas Strawn, I just adore you, not only because you think to hand-deliver book plates to stores but also because you always make everyone around you smile—most of all me. And Meghen Kear, let it be immortalized here that you didn’t miss a single Under the Southern Sky virtual event! Wow! Thank you so much.

Ron Block has long been a favorite human and librarian of mine and now I am so thankful he is heading up the incredible Friends & Fiction Writer’s Block podcast. You rock, Ron! Meg Walker, how would we survive without you? Thanks for being the greatest. Shaun Hettinger and Rachel Jensen, thank you also for being an integral part of the F&F team.

But very most of all, thanks to my heroes and friends Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Patti Callahan Henry, and Mary Alice Monroe. I love you all dearly and am so grateful we stumbled into this fantastic thing together. And if it weren’t for writing sprints, I know for sure there would be no Christmas in Peachtree Bluff!

I am so lucky to have the greatest team at Gallery Books. Thanks to everyone who helped make Christmas in Peachtree happen! Molly Gregory, thank you for coming alongside me in this book and being there every step of the way to make it the best it could be. Michelle Podberezniak and Bianca Salvant, you are so great at what you do, and I am always amazed. Jennifer Bergstrom, Aimee Bell, Jennifer Long, and Abby Zidle—endless gratitude for all you do. Gabrielle Audet and Sarah Lieberman from Simon & Schuster audio: Thank you for always going so above and beyond!

Elisabeth Weed, I couldn’t have a better agent in my corner, and I’m so lucky you came into my life. Olivia Blaustein, thanks for your tireless work on all my books but most especially on this series. Good things come to those who wait, right?

Kathie Bennett, what a year! You certainly rolled with the punches and, as usual, none of the amazing things that happened this year would have happened without you—and the amazing Susan Zurenda.

Tamara Welch, I usually don’t put inside jokes in acknowledgments, but, well, just for you: You have way more than one job, my friend. And, as your Instagram handle implies, you are truly a rock star!

A million thank-yous to my mom for all the slack she picks up on our blog, Design Chic, and all she does to help my writing career. And a huge thank-you to both my parents, Beth and Paul Woodson, for being the best parents and grandparents in the whole world. Love you both! My grandmother, Ola Rutledge, began quite a few of the amazing Christmas traditions inside this book. Thanks for being the ultimate matriarch and *trying* to teach us to make all your amazing Christmas dishes. (And, I hope you know… I always hear your voice in my head when I’m tempted to eat raw cookie dough.)

To my husband, Will Harvey, thank you for answering my incessant boating and hurricane questions. And thanks for rolling with my holiday insanity, the hordes of decorations, the giant trees and even the year of the Griswolds. To my son, I hope that, one day, you’ll look back on flotillas and tree lightings, candlelight tours and Christmas markets as some of the best times of your life. I love you both and am so grateful for you.

I would not be here eight books later were it not for the tireless word-spreading and good cheer of the Bookstagram, blogging, library, and independent bookstore communities. I have so many people to thank that I will be doing it more in-depth on my blog, but I had to give a special shout-out here to Kristy Barrett, Stephanie Gray, Andrea Katz, Susan Roberts, Susan Peterson, Ashley Bellman, Zibby Owens, Judy Collins, Hanna Shields, Courtney Marzilli, Taylor Lintz, and Jennifer Clayton. And Meagan Briggs and Ashley Hayes of Uplit Reads, thank you so much for introducing me to even more of this fabulous, book-loving community!

Thank you to all the incredible book clubs out there who choose my books for their monthly reads—most especially mine: Booth Parker, Shelley Smith, Leeanne Walker, and Millie Warren. You’re always my very first book club, and your enthusiasm and glowing reviews get me ready to take on book tour with confidence! Plus, you are quite simply the greatest, most supportive friends in all the world.

Last but not least, thank you to my town of Beaufort, NC, which inspired Peachtree Bluff. And, specifically, thank you to Patricia Suggs and everyone at the Beaufort Historic Site for throwing the most memorable book launch parties—especially where Peachtree Bluff is concerned. It means more than words can say.