This is the first romantic comedy I’ve ever written – and it started as a wild experiment to see whether I could write one at all. I’ll forever be grateful to Dushi Horti, a HQ editor at the time I submitted the work, for seeing something worth working with here. Dushi carried the book through to acceptance and then carried it further into a big and bold structural edit, and there are so many moments in this story that wouldn’t exist without her guidance (some of my favourite moments, in fact). I’m grateful to HQ as a whole for their continued work on the novel to bring it into your hands now, lovely readers, because these people work tirelessly to bring stories into the world and I think that makes them kind of superheroes. A huge thank you to sensitivity reader Philippa Willitts too.
It would remiss of me not to thank my own friends, who in one way or another have informed some of the characters in this book. Harriet – my brilliant and bold big sister – alongside Daria, Claire, Katie, Talis and the token male, Dan Burton, who reminds me so often what it means to be gentle in the world. But no acknowledgements would be complete without Beth; my Lily-Betty-Cora-Molly-Faith rolled into one. Beth, thank you for the belly breaths and the reminders; the rants and the reality checks. Where I’d be without the lot of you, I truly dread to think.
Finally, whether you’re a new reader or a reader who has hopped over from my crime writing, I’d like to thank you. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever written and, because of that, it means more than I can possibly say that it’s made it this far in the world. Reader, I hope you’ve loved my band of loud feminist friends, and I hope you have your own to hold you steady.