The Enchanted Greenhouse(126)
After all the failed spells she’d tried … she absolutely understood. At least he hadn’t trapped them inside an impermeable bubble or turned window glass to water. Happily, she hadn’t had any disasters lately, and she thought she’d learned enough to at least be more careful in the future. “It’s fine.”
“Are you happy?” he asked her.
She gave the same answer she’d given Rijes: “Yes. I am.”
She’d never imagined any of this—this island, the greenhouses, the purpose she’d found in translating the late sorcerer’s spells, the new community they were building, the plants and the dragons, the winged cat, and Yarrow. All of it. She hadn’t even known this life was out there to dream about. Now, though, it was the life she wanted.
“I’m home,” Terlu told him.
Drawing her closer, he kissed her, and she kissed him back. Above them, the snow fell gently on the greenhouse, while inside and all around them, the flowers bloomed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have written thirty books—cozy fantasy, epic fantasy, thrillers, fairy-tale retellings … books for adults, for teens, for kids … books with lots of talking animals … two （so far!） with talking plants. And the one thread that runs through every single story I’ve ever written is hope.
When I wrote The Spellshop, there was one character whom I’d left without hope: Terlu, the librarian who created Caz and was transformed into a statue as punishment. He believed she’d burned when the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium burned. And I could not stop thinking about her and worrying about her and wondering.
I wrote The Enchanted Greenhouse because I believe that everyone deserves hope and love and friendship and second chances and magic in their lives. Also, honey cakes, tiny dragons, and a winged cat.
I wrote it because I believe there is light after darkness, warmth and wonder to be found even in the coldest of winters, and kindness in the world that can heal us. It’s my hope that this book can be a bit of light and warmth and a dose of kindness that a reader might need.
In other words, I wrote it for you, whenever you need it.
Thank you to my magnificent agent, Andrea Somberg, and my phenomenal editors, Ali Fisher and Dianna Vega, for believing in me and my greenhouse-covered island! Thank you to incredible artist Lulu Chen and designer Esther S. Kim for the stunningly perfect cover! Thank you to Devi Pillai, Monique Patterson, and Will Hinton for making my books part of the Bramble adventure! Thank you to my extraordinary publicist Caro Perny and my extraordinary marketer Julia Bergen, as well as Lauren Abesames, Ariana Carpentieri, Greg Collins, Amanda Crimarco, Claire Eddy, Rafal Gibek, Shawna Hampton, Eileen Lawrence, Megan Kiddoo, Katy Miller, Emily Mlynek, Sarah Reidy, Lucille Rettino, Jessica Spracklen, everyone on the fantastic sales team, and all the other incredible people at Bramble, Tor, and Macmillan for bringing this book to life and helping it find its readers! Also, thank you to the amazing audiobook team at Macmillan Audio: Katy Robitzski, Emma Paige West, and Isabella Narvaez—and to my fabulous narrator Caitlin Davies! Thank you to my wonderful Tor UK editor, Gillian Green, as well as Grace Barber, Becky Lushey, Bella Pagan, Olivia-Savannah Roach, Sophie Robinson, Charlotte Williams, and everyone else at Tor UK and Pan Macmillan for bringing my books across the pond! Thank you to Chris Scheina and the sub-rights team, Andy Hahnemann at Fischer Tor, and all the overseas editors, translators, and everyone for sharing my stories around the world! And thank you so much to the booksellers, the librarians, and especially the readers who opened their hearts and embraced my magical islands!
Lastly, thank you with all my heart and every bit of who I am to my husband, my children, my family, and my friends. I love you all forever and always!
And thank you to my cat, Gwen, who dreams of having wings of her own.