To my editor, Tori Ellis—I’m so grateful to have found you. I look forward to sharing many more of my stories with you. When you find some time, sit down with snacks and wine and watch Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. It’s a staple ;)

To my cover designer, Sarah Hansen (Okay Creations)—Thank you for turning my vision into a masterpiece. I love it so much. And since this is the first book in this series, I’ll see you again ;)

To my beta readers: Jenn Pressler—love you, Mama. Andie Bale, Em Torrey, Keeley Witham, Gunvor Meller, and L.A. Cannon, thank you for being the first sets of eyes on this story and for devoting time to perfecting it.

A special thank you to Em Torrey for being my lawyer-speak go-to. Beth Dutton would be proud.

And a very special and specific thank you to L.A. Cannon for treating my words as if they were your own. Your attention to detail and the time you spent with my manuscript means everything. I hope you know, I’ll be begging you to beta for every story I write, until the end of time.

To my ARC and Street team, you ladies are rockstars. Thank you so much for taking time in your lives to promote my words. The feedback I get from you all makes me a better author, and I appreciate each and every one of you.

To a very special bookstagrammer and dear friend, Vanessa Troy (@thereadervee)—thank you for tirelessly pimping my work. Your devotion means everything. Love you, friend, from the bottom of my heart.

To Andrew Biernat—thank you for being the physical embodiment of Aleck Fox. The minute I saw you on Instagram being all goofy and handsome, I knew you were the only model to portray him.

And to Wander Aguiar—thank you for capturing the smolder.

To the other authors whose words I read almost daily: Thank you for giving me worlds to escape to. You inspire me to create and make me a better writer in the process.

And most importantly, to YOU, my readers—you are the lifeblood of why I do this. I look forward to connecting with you through stories that make you cry, bite your nails, swoon, and compare every man in the world to my grumpy alphas.

Keep on reading. Keep illuminating the darkness with your light. Unless you’re like me and love the darkness—then blossom there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.L. Kenna is an emerging author of steamy romance of all subgenres. She’s an avid reader, which is what sparked the embers of her love for writing. And when she’s not writing all the words or has her nose stuck in a book, she’s dancing with her family in the living room; snuggling with her kids and husband under a mountain of cozy blankets in front of a movie; or talking about music, movies, and books with her husband over a hot cup of coffee or a chilled glass of wine.