Acknowledgments

First, thanks go to you, Reader, for ignoring your phone, computer, tablet, TV, and other distractions to spend a few hours with these characters.

Thank you to the incredible crew at Crooked Lane Books: Matt Martz for believing in this book. Anne Brewer for making it so much better than it was. Jenny Chen for shepherding it through the publication process. And Melanie Sun for the beautiful cover design.

Thank you to my agent, Sharon Bowers, for helping me to continue doing what I love.

As always, a huge debt of gratitude goes out to the amazing writer friends who encourage, support, and inspire this literary journey: Wendy Delsol, Kimberly Stuart, Kali VanBaale, and Carol Spaulding-Kruse.

And thanks to Steve, Jake, and Ellie for everything else.