The Paradise Problem (110)
Holly Root is usually the first person to hear all our crazy ideas, and that’s because she is both our biggest cheerleader and unafraid to tell us when an idea is Not It. We heart you, Holly. Our PR rep, Kristin Dwyer, puts up with us every day; when we say we’re a handful, we mean that we text a lot of questions that should probably be emailed and sometimes forget that we are in the Precious’s box and start talking about BTS. But we love her more than Daenerys loves Drogon.
Jen Prokop is a freelancing editorial genius. She finds all our weak spots, guides us in a way only someone who lives and breathes romance can, and does it all with superhuman speed. You are an absolute treasure.
We were there for the Simon & Schuster 90th anniversary and we can’t wait to be there for the 100th and beyond. Not many authors are lucky enough to feel like they have a true publishing home, but we do. Jen Bergstrom, we could not love and respect you more. The team you have built at Gallery is the best because that is what you inspire in people. You are wise and fierce and kind and hilarious. Thank you for always being our champion.
Abby Zidle, we have thanked you in so many books and finally, finally we get to thank you for being our editor! It took us playing the long game, but we are nothing if not persistent. We value your romance brain, your strategic guidance, your hard work, and your wisdom. Thank you for being our voice in the room and the jokes in our inbox.
WE LOVE YOU, GALLERY BOOKS: the wizardess behind the curtain Jen Long, editorial Yoda Aimée Bell, whip-cracker Frankie Yackel, brilliant hype woman Lauren Carr, whiz kid Eliza Hanson, marketing genius Mackenzie Hickey, social mastermind Abi Cardello, savvy badass Anabel Jimenez, our personal goddess and savior Christine Masters, and of course John of the Mustache Vairo—we adore you all. Sales folks, we owe you dinner and drinks, but especially Leora Bernstein for the hype, always. Thank you, Sally Marvin, Paul O’Halloran, Fiona Sharp, Lisa Litwack, and Anne Jaconette. Audio division, imagine us speaking sweet nothings into your headphones: Lara Blackman, Sarah Lieberman, Gaby Audet, Louisa Solomon, Taryn Beato, Sophie Parens, Chris Lynch, Tom Spain, and Desiree Vecchio. Last but not least, Jonathan Karp, we know you’re the big boss and we’re sorry we got so intense when we found out you also love BTS. But what can we say? When we love something, we go hard.
Thank you, Heather Baror-Shapiro, for getting this book into the hands of readers across the globe. Mary Pender-Coplan, you are an actual unicorn. Matt Sugarman, we never want to sign anything without your eyeballs on it first. Thank you both for always looking out for us.
Maria Hardjanto, thank you for naming our fictional island. We hope you can easily imagine Pulau Jingga nestled in the gorgeous archipelago of Indonesia. Martha Henley, thank you for the information about post-cancer rehabilitation, ports, and recovery milestones. You will always be our hero and Bombshell. If we got any details wrong in either case, the errors are ours and ours alone.
Thank you, Kate Clayborn, for being a pillar to lean against and the source of many of Lo’s most restorative mantras. Thank you, Susan Lee, for your generosity of goodies and energy, and for always being down to commiserate, cheerlead, and celebrate; 2024 is your year. We couldn’t do this without you both.
To our best friends, whose memes, playlists, and concert companionship got us through the adventure of this book—please never leave us. Ha-ha but no really: Erin Service, Katie Lee, Ali Hazelwood, Sarah MacLean, Jen Prokop, Rosie Danan, Julie Soto, Jess McLin, Jennifer Carlson, Brie Statham, Amy Schuver, Mae Lopez, Alisha Rai, and Christopher Rice. We love you all!
Our gorgeous, wonderful readers! We saw so many of you this year and we still have so many hugs to give. Thank you for reading, for coming to events, for waiting in lines, for shouting about our books, for sharing your stories and experiences with us, and coming along on this ride. Whether you read, blog, make TikToks, record podcasts, have a book club, leave reviews, ask for our books in stores, or just talk about them with your friends, we couldn’t do this without you.
Booksellers and librarians, you deserve front row seats at your favorite shows, green lights at every intersection, only good hair days, and three wishes per calendar year. Thank you for all your work and helping get our stories into the hands of readers.
Our seven favorites are all enlisted, but we’ll see you soon. Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook, we’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: ARMY will always wait for you.
Our families aren’t surprised that our acknowledgments get longer with each book because they listen to us talk about how lucky we are all the time. Our kiddos were much smaller when we released Beautiful Bastard in 2013; now they are in college or driving and even the youngest, who was three when our first book came out, is taller than Christina. Our husbands have survived many, many deadlines and somehow still smile when we talk about our newest book. Thank you, K, R, C, O, and V, for being the beating heart of CLo.
My sweetest Christina, this was the year that taught us when we thought we were already flexible, something would come along and bend us in half. Thank you for doing this with me, for always putting in the work on the page and across the table, and for trusting me with your words and heart and hopes. I cherish you.
To my favorite face, my Lolo, thank you for always being the person I look up to the most. I’ve said before that the best part of being half of CLo is getting to read your words first, and it’s truer now than ever. Thank you for your patience and encouragement and for believing in me when I don’t. You are Xanadu-level magic and I love you more than I have words to say.