At First Hate by K.A. Linde

Acknowledgments

At First Hate was born out of a lot of love. I deeply love tales about classism and how we deal with the power dynamics when we were raised with them. Additionally, stories about smart girls, really smart girls bring me a lot of joy. Navigating the confines of being smart but not too smart or just embracing it and deciding you don’t care what anyone thinks. It’s a lot for a person to handle and it creates an identity in and of itself. “Smart girl” Also, as many of you know I worked at UNC in 2012 and then I was the head coach of the Duke Dancing Devils. So, the rivalry between the two teams is ingrained in me! It was fun going back to North Carolina!

Plus, I loved getting to incorporate cameos from so many of my other series into this one. When I realized Marley went to school with Jack, college with Bekah and Ramsey, and grad school with Penn and Camden, I couldn’t help myself but write them all into the story. Hope you caught them all, but if not, go back and look for them!

Thank you to everyone who helped me with this one. Especially my editor, Jovana Shirley, who remembered that Hurricane Sandy hit Massachusetts in 2012. Becky Kimmerling, for all the help plotting this bad boy out. Staci Hart, for coming to Lubbock for a week to help me knock out the last 30k words of this after my puppy got cancer. It was some of the hardest weeks of my life, and it was much easier to get through it with you there. Also, for the kick ass cover! Rebecca Gibson and Anjee Sapp, who read early versions of this book. I appreciate that Rebecca never backed down from how mean I had to make Derek. And Anjee for loving Ash so much that every instance of him brought you fresh waves of suffering. I promise to write more of him just for you. (and me…who am I kidding? I love Ash Talmadge.)

As always, my husband Joel for cooking, cleaning, and laundry during this madness. For going to all the vet visits with me. For lots of hugs while I cried about Hippo. And for telling me I could do it, but maybe I needed more time and that was okay. You’re the best.