Thank you, first to everyone at Penner who worked with me on this title. It’s a special one—the one that got me my agent. Thank you, Fran, for believing in this story and me. To Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston for starring in my favorite movie, For Love of the Game. I can’t play any sports, but there’s something about sport-related movies that inspires, builds us up, and makes us want to achieve more. So, thank you to Matt, for making me watch them . Thank you to my girls for giving me time to write and edit even though it tends to keep me pretty busy.
Thanks to Bob, my work bestie, for making me laugh and knowing a LOT about baseball. Enough that I didn’t even have to use Google. If this gets made into a movie, I’ll totally buy you a flat of beer. If not, my appreciation is your gift.
Thank you to my pre-readers, who see all of these words before they’re ready: Brenda, Tara, & Tiff. Thank you to Christy who helped me cut 25,000 words from this, then add them back in.
Thank you to my readers. I hope you enjoy this story and the characters in it. In the same way Frankie wanted to feel connected and the way she made the boys and Ryan feel like they had a place and a purpose, you guys make me feel like I belong in this bookish world. I’m so grateful for that.