I’ve always wanted to use the name Christina, after the gorgeous woman with the tumbling dark hair who works in a shop on Nantucket. Actually, I wanted to use her first and last names, but that could get tricky. But my Christina also appeared as magically as Wink, and I just hitched onto them and let them take me into the story.

Okay, it wasn’t all magical. I truly could not have written this book without the help, suggestions, and advice from my brilliant editor, Shauna Summers, and from the ever-quick-witted Meg Ruley and Christina Hogrebe. Now that I think about it, maybe it was magical, because those three women knew exactly what was needed and what to do. Thank you, Shauna, Meg, and Christina.

I realize every day how fortunate I am to be with the Ballantine team. Gina Centrello, Kara Welsh, and Kim Hovey, I send you pots of gratitude. Lexi Batsides, you have always been so helpful, and so quick! Thank you. Allison Schuster and Karen Fink, you’ve done marvels with the publicity, especially during that stretch of time when I wasn’t always conscious or lucid. Really, you two are champions.

I’ve been fortunate to have Madeline Hopkins as copyeditor. Or is it copy-editor? A friend sent me the most marvelous, witty, and helpful book titled (or is it entitled?) Dreyer’s English, about the correct use of punctuation and grammar and all the bits and pieces that make a book comprehensible and enjoyable. If you’re a writer, buy it. If you like to laugh, buy it. But back to Madeline Hopkins—thank you so sincerely and enormously for your careful work. And Jennifer Rodriguez, thank you. You both made a great difference in this book that I care about so much.

Thanks to Sara Mallion, Chris Mason, Alexandra LaPaglia, and more recently Susan McGinnis (who I’ll just quickly mention played Miranda’s secretary in Sex and the City) for all your help with publicity and general stuff.

Jill, Deborah, Martha, Tricia, Janet, Sofiya, Toni, Antonia, Mary, John, and Mark, I prize every moment I get to be with you.

Josh, David, Sam, Tommy, Ellias, Adeline, Emmett, and Annie, you guys are just WOW!

And my husband, Charley—what a miracle that we found each other. In the evenings, when we sit in our comfortable, slightly sagging armchairs, each reading a book while our cat Callie purrs next to Charley, it is heaven.

Finally, I hope my Facebook readers know how precious they are to me. They brighten my life and make my world larger, and more beautiful. Thank you all.

by nancy thayer

Let It Snow

Surfside Sisters

A Nantucket Wedding

Secrets in Summer

The Island House

A Very Nantucket Christmas

The Guest Cottage

An Island Christmas

Nantucket Sisters

A Nantucket Christmas

Island Girls

Summer Breeze

Heat Wave

Beachcombers

Summer House

Moon Shell Beach

The Hot Flash Club Chills Out

Hot Flash Holidays

The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again