Acknowledgements

It takes a village to get a book into the world. Heck, if you’re me, it takes a village to do damn near anything. I am abundantly blessed to have the village I do and especially want to thank one group in particular with this book. To my BNI family, my Shark brothers and sisters, thank you for welcoming me into your community and constantly pushing me to be a better version of myself. You make me confident to introduce myself as a writer and inspire me each week.

Experiencing a dream come true without my dad here to witness it has been bittersweet to say the least, but how lucky I am to have a mom and sister who carry him with me as I do to cheer me on a little extra in his absence. Mom, Nikki—only the women who were loved by Paul McLean can know what we know. Thank you for reflecting him and all the best moments of our family back to me always.

Thank you also to my husband, Mark, for supporting my crazy notions like writing these books in the first place and being brave enough to just smile and nod as readers work out which of the men you are in this series. Thank you for being my first, my last, my everything. I like you and I love you.

Thank you to my mother-in-law, Candy, for handing me a romance novel years ago and sparking my realization that I could write like this for a living. And then thank you for being one of my first readers no matter how uncomfortable some of the scenes made you. I must also thank you for showing me this beautiful world so I could write about it.

Brittany and Nicci—my first readers and first fans! It’s hard to believe I’ve been bugging you guys about these books for nine years now, but I truly wouldn’t have finished nor published them without you. Thank you for 20+ years of friendship and here’s to 20+ more.

Thank you to my team at NineStar, especially Elizabeth and Rae. Your belief in me as a writer and efforts to get my stories into the world will rank among the best things a human has ever done for me.

To my kids, who I once again hope will not read these books for a very long time, thank you for being the joy of my life. Where you lead, I will follow.

And to the rest of my family and friends who have rooted for me for years, months, or even the newest readers who are just now finding me, thank you for reading this and giving me purpose.