If it wasn’t for the inspiration, gentle support and outright arm-twisting of others, this book would never have been written. I would be sorely remiss if I didn’t thank the following people: Paul and Karen Treick, who let me read long past my bedtime; Beth Boon, Sara Viss and Debbie Miller—sisters, friends and readers with impeccable taste; Ruth Batts, in the running for the world’s sweetest grandmother and a faithful reader, too; librarians everywhere, but particularly in Henry County, Ohio, and Stanislaus County, California; my Treick and Rodewald relatives near or from Newton, Wisconsin, who possess only the best and none of the worst qualities of the characters in Watankee; Carol Slager, Dr. Mike Vanden Bosch and Dr. James Schaap, who inspired me at just the right time and in just the right ways; The English Ladies: Cameron Burton, Alisha Wilks, Jenna Valponi, Amie Carter, Michelle Charpentier and the inestimable Mary Swier; Aaron Hamburger, Elizabeth Searle, Boman Desai and my fellow Stonecoast slaves to the written word; Ted Deppe, for saying, “I think there’s something there...why don’t you keep writing?”; Suzanne Strempek Shea (the best cheerleader any writer could ask for); Beth Slattery and Paige Levin—for gewürztraminer-fueled Yahtzee sessions and talking me more than once off a hypothetical ledge; Robb Vanderstoel, who read early drafts; Rex Cline, who steered me in the right direction; my DeBoard and Davenport in-laws, but especially John DeBoard; Alanna Ramirez (who deserves a million thanks and has good karma coming in spades); agent extraordinaire Melissa Flashman at Trident Media Group; my wise and überpatient editor Erika Imranyi and all the folks at Harlequin MIRA, including Michelle Venditti; my creative writing classes at Ripon High School; teaching colleagues who must have resisted the urge to roll their eyes every time I talked about writing; baristas at The Queen Bean and Starbucks; the friends who faithfully “like” my book updates; the three people who read my blog; and finally—Will DeBoard: husband, best friend, first reader of everything, extrovert to my introvert, grounded to my flighty, and fearless navigator of everywhere we’ve ever been. Thanks doesn’t begin to cover it.