Acknowledgments
To my God, my Shepherd , in whom I shall not want for anything. You are the green pastures, the peaceful waters, the restorer of my soul. You are the point and the glory and the reason for all of this. Every book is Your miracle. Every day is Your gift.
To Zach, this is number 34. Not one of them could have happened without you. Thank you for keeping me on task. Thank you for planning these releases and helping me reach word counts. Thank you for making graphics and teasers and basically babysitting me while I flail and fail and panic my way through this jungle. Thank you for putting up with frozen pizza and unfolded laundry. Thank you for loving me through the insanity. Thank you for cheering me through my insecurity. Thank you for being the best man I have ever known, the man that inspires great love stories and swoon-worthy heroes. You’re my favorite.
To Stella, Scarlett, Stryker, Solo and Saxon, you are the reason for all of this. For the late nights and the long hours and the fighting off my fears and doubts and deadlines. You are the reason I keep pushing forward, keep trying my hardest, keep deciding not to give up. I love you more than anything in this world. My prayer is that one day you find someone worth writing about and something worth sacrificing everything for.
To mom, I’m just going to say it one more time for good measure, I hope you didn’t read this book!!! But seriously, thank you for all that you do for us and for me and for my dreams. Thank you for taking my children whenever you can, for being the best Nana this planet has ever seen and thank you sincerely for the endless loads of laundry you washed and folded for me. You are the woman I aspire to be.
To Holly, my favorite assistant. Thank you for all of your hard work, for your constant checking up on me and for the creative way you spin this small job. You are an asset to my career, to my books and to my life. Thank you for all of your hard work. Thank you for taking this part time job and making a full time difference in my life.
To Katie, Tiffany and Sarah Jo, I’m sorry I talked bad about Disney. I should have trusted that wherever we are, we’re going to have the best freaking time. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Thank you for putting up with my crazy when I all but lose my mind. And thank you for understanding when I miss meetings and the beach and the important things I should remember. You all are the best friends a girl could ask for. And I am so blessed to know each of you. Next trip, I promise I won’t bring work!
To Georgia, Shelly, Amy and Samantha, you ladies are the friends I want to pick up and move next door to me. It just doesn’t seem fair that we have to live so far apart. I so appreciate your advice, your support and your sense of humor. Thank you for being a constant source of encouragement and hope in my life. And trust me when I say, I’ll shop real estate in Omaha for you any time, any day.
To Lenore, my friend, my beta reader, my all-time favorite Canadian. Thank you for just getting me, for knowing that I will never be done when I say I’m going to be done and for reading even when you’re on vacation. Thank you for your wisdom and insight and your love of all my heroes. You are my target audience, friend. And I am so happy I get to know you and walk with you through this crazy life.
To Amy Donnelly from Alchemy and Words. It needs to be said, you are the freaking grandmaster ninja of editing. Seriously, what would I do without you??? Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for putting up with my relentlessly crazy editing schedules, for taking my date changes and ending changes and frustratingly difficult life in stride. Thank you for encouraging me and listening to me and loving these stories I write. Your opinion and guidance is invaluable to me. Thank you for giving me the gift of working with you.
To Caedus Design Co, thank you for another gorgeous cover! I trust your taste and design implicitly. Thank you for always ignoring my opinions and doing what you want despite what I say. Thank you for always being on time—one of us has to be… And thank you for working so stinking hard to make my dreams come true.
To the Rebel Panel, you ladies are the best! Thank you for your endless support and encouragement. Thank you for being available always. And thank you for helping me come up with the name Sayer Wesley. I love you ladies to the moon and back. And one day I’ll bring you all to Omaha and give you the Rachel Higginson Book Tour. It will be epic. But not more so than getting to meet and hang out with each of you!
To the bloggers and reviewers, specifically, Vilma, Natasha, Maryse, Wit and Wonder and Under the Covers and all of the other hundreds of bloggers and reviewers who have helped make this series and this release a success. Your support means the world to me. Thank you for giving up your time and your thoughts and for falling in love with stories that mean so much to me. Thank you for this series especially and for putting up with that dang cliffhanger and for sticking around to read the second book. You all are the reason this job is so fun. And I count it such a blessing to work with each of you.
To the reader, you have no idea what your opinion does to me. It keeps me up at night. It gives me ulcers. It gives me an unfair amount of gray hair. It stresses me out…. Because it matters so very much. And I just want to thank you for spending your time with my books and my characters and these words I love so very much. You are the reason I write, the reason I pull my hair out with anxiety, because believe me it’s a good thing! To have you all so invested is one of the biggest blessings in my life. Every day I am reminded how crazy it is to get to have readers. And so for that, I will always be eternally grateful to every single person that picks up one of my books. Thank you, dear reader. And thank you especially to those who take extra time to leave reviews. You’re making a difference in my life and I will never take you for granted.