Deception

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to Jesus for loving me, broken pieces and all.

Another huge thank-you to my amazing husband, Clint, who tirelessly supports and understands me. Thank you for picking up all the slack around deadlines and for deciding that my inability to concentrate on anything other than the worlds inside my head is part of my charm.

Tyler, Jordan, Zach, and Johanna, thank you for putting up with my long work hours and for proudly telling your friends and teachers that your mom wrote a book. I am so blessed to be your mom.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for understanding when I disappear off the face of the earth for weeks and for being huge fans of mine.

This book is the book that wanted to eat my soul. I can’t count how many times I wanted to just kill the thing with fire and walk away. I didn’t, though, and a lot of the credit is due to a handful of amazing people. Thank you to Kristin Daly Rens for being the kind of editor who pushes me hard and always believes in me. To Jodi Meadows for Gchats and scene reads and for saving me from the under-armor. (Worst. Name. Ever.) To MG Buehrlen for early reads, late reads, plot chats, and generally keeping me sane when nothing else could. (Ermahgerd!) Myra McEntire for reading early and fast, loving the story, and being one of my biggest fans. (Baby, you’re a firework, too.) To Heather Lindahl for beta reading and for colluding with MG to call this book Defiance II: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself. (The bag of orange Spree was awesome, too. Until you told me it was ten years old. AFTER it had been eaten.) To KB Wagers for being an awesome friend and for making sure my fight scenes are physically possible. (My own personal ninja!) To Julie Daly for being my buffer from the outside world, for managing the details so well, and for being a fan of my work. To Shannon Messenger, Sara McClung, and Beth Revis for supporting my crazy word count on the retreat (and for laughing at me over the Suitcase of Doom event). To Holly Root for remaining my champion through good and bad. To Caroline Sun for being a rock star of a publicist. And to Sara Sargent, the ninja of all things, and the rest of the team at Balzer + Bray for being in my corner and for being totally cupcake-worthy.

Thank you also to YOU, my readers. It’s been amazing to hear your response to Rachel and Logan. I’m so very blessed that my book found a home on your shelf.

And finally, thank you, Donny Miller, for letting me kill you off in book two. I told you so. ☺