Thank YOU for taking the time to come on this crazy journey with Rowan and Sloane, and for spending time in their world. I hope you enjoyed the wild ride. It was an absolute JOY to write this story, and I had the best time bringing these characters to life. I hope that joy came through on the page for you.
Endless thanks to my agent, Kim Whalen, and everyone at The Whalen Agency for always being such an incredible source of support and guidance. Kim, you’ve championed me and my work since our very first conversation, and I am so grateful for everything you’ve done to bring Butcher & Blackbird and the Ruinous Love Trilogy to readers all over the world. And to Mary Pender and Orly Greenberg at UTA, I’m so excited to partner together and discover new ways to bring this story to life! Thank you for falling in love with these characters as much as I did.
To Sierra Stovall, Hayley Wagreich, Andrew Rein, and the entire team at Zando: Thank you for asking me to hop aboard the pirate ship and sail the seas with you. I’ve never been so excited to get on a boat in my life (and anyone who has ever sailed with me can verify that). I can’t wait to see what we conquer next!
In the UK, I am so grateful to the team at Little, Brown UK, particularly Ellie Russell and Becky West, who have been enthusiastic supporters of the Ruinous Love Trilogy from the moment they first got it in their hands. And in Hungary, a special thanks to András Kepets, who set in place the first domino that brought these partnerships to life.
Big thanks to Najla and the team at Qamber Designs, who created the stunning covers for all three books in this series. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with everyone on that team—they did an amazing job of capturing the essence of these stories!
Such huuuuge thanks to the amazing ARC readers and social media supporters of Butcher & Blackbird for taking the time to come on this journey with Rowan and Sloane. It means so much to me that you want to be part of this story’s life and evolution. Your videos, messages, pictures, drawings, and comments keep me going every single day. I had really no idea where this would end up, and it’s been THE MOST FUN ride because I’m on it with you.
Extra special thanks to Arley, who is always my go-to for sharing early chapters and whose feedback made Butcher & Blackbird into a better story. Arley—you really helped me find the balance I was hoping to achieve, and I thank you! And to Jess for being an early champion of Rowan and Sloane and for always checking in on me. You always seem to pop up when I need your little boost of sunshine the most. Jess, your calming energy and unwavering support mean the world to me!
I’m so fortunate to have made friends with some incredibly talented authors along the way. Their guidance and encouragement have helped me get the most out of the crazy ideas floating in the “glitter brain soup” in my head. To Trisha Wolfe: your willingness to share advice helped me push through, even in the early days when I was like, “What the fuck even is this story?!” And to my friend Lauren Biel, who helped me get THE MOST out of David. When I was like, “Is this lobotomized guy a step too far?” Lauren was like, “ABSOLUTELY NOT.” This pint of cookies and cream is for you, you hot bitch. Please check out Lauren’s dark hitchhiker romances—start with Hitched! And Lauren—where the hell is my boxcar man?!
Last, but certainly not least, to my amazing boys: my husband, Daniel, and son, Hayden, who help carve out time so I can write, bring me coffee and smoothies, and give the best hugs. I love you, my boys. (Hayden, don’t you dare read this. I’m talking to the universe.)