Of Thorns and Beauty by Elle Madison
Elle’s Acknowledgments
Where do I even begin? I feel like this part is always difficult because there are so many unsung heroes that go into making a book what it is.
Robin, this is our sixth co-write! Can you believe we’ve made it this far? Six books down and a million more to go. I’m so grateful that we’re in this together. Even when writing is hard, and we’re arguing about non-essential plot points, I can’t imagine it any other way. Thank you for being my forever octopus, my Stardew Valley co-farmer, my best friend and co- author!
To my husband, my main squeeze, the love of my life and father of my children... There are never enough words to explain how grateful I am that I have you in my life. You are my rock, my warm blanket and my shoulder to cry on when I am overwhelmed. Thank you for always being there for me, for helping me sort through frustratingly difficult plot-holes with ease. Thank you for always boosting my confidence and listening to me go on and on and on and on and on about bookish things. But mostly thank you for loving our children and taking care of our family while I’m crumbling under the pressure of deadlines and edits. I love you more than waffles.
Jamie and Brianna. You two... I seriously don’t know where we would be without you.
Jamie, your constant reassurances and insight mean the world and I am so grateful that I know you. Thank you for putting up with us, forgiving us, and fixing us when we need it most. I miss you and love you more than you used to love peanut butter whiskey. ;)
Brianna, this book would never have made it to the release date if it hadn’t been for you. Thank you for helping us with plot issues and errors and being so very methodical and careful with our book baby. You saved it from the mess it was and I will always love you for that.
To Jill, my bestie and second biggest supporter. Thank you for always having Marco-polo dates with me when I’m up working at 4 am. For listening to me complain when the characters wouldn’t do what they were supposed to do. And for re- reading so many times and even when this story wasn’t very good. You have been here since the very start of this whole author journey of mine and your insight, support and swooning over our stories is invaluable. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for being you.
Ivy, you are a rockstar and a wonderful human. Having your friendship has meant the world to me, and having you on our team has been so so so helpful! You keep us organized and in check and are constantly slapping us around (verbally, of course) when we are too hard on ourselves. Thank you for jumping into the middle of our chaos and helping us to make sense of it all. Also... you deserve a medal for all of times you re-read the beginning of this book. I love you to the moon and back! <3
Lissa, you are irreplaceable! You have been a loyal reader from book one when our writing was new and rougher around the edges. Thank you for the fan art, the gifts, the messages of encouragement and support and reminding us that we can do this, even when we don’t believe it ourselves. <3
Joy, Charlee, Amanda, Michelle, Allyssa, LeAnn - you ladies are the best bookish friends a girl could ask for. Thank you for listening to us complain, check for errors, support us and believe in us. You each played a different, but very vital role in helping us get this far, even if you didn’t realize you were doing it at the time. So thank you.
Kate, thank you for being so kind and supportive and for actually wanting to help us with this story! You are an amazing human. Blessed be the fruit...
Sarah, thank you for pushing so hard to win a spot in this book. But really, we were the real winners here... This story would not have been the same without Gideon! We needed him, Zaina needed him and our readers need him too. I’m so happy that we were able to include him in this story, quirks and all. <3
And finally, our ARC team and Drifters and Wanderers…
Where would we be without you?? Thank you for offering hours of entertainment and laughs when we were losing our sanity. Thank you for gushing over Zaina and Einar and even for your anger when we left you with another ridiculous cliffhanger... That just means you’re invested, right?
We love you all and are grateful for the loving support you’ve given us. You make us feel like real authors!