The Homewreckers(142)

Hattie thought about what Makarowicz had told Emma Ragan, about love and loss and finding a way to keep on living. She hooked her thumbs through the belt loops at the back of Mo’s jeans like it was the most natural thing in the world, and she caved. Standing in the driveway of the house she’d shared with her first, lost love, she discovered, to her wonderment, that she’d found love again, right here.

“Okay,” she said, when they’d paused kissing, because they could hear Ribsy inside the house, barking to be let out. She laced her fingers between his. “Okay. I’m all in too.”





Acknowledgments & Thanks


Writing and researching a novel is always hard work, but doing so during a pandemic seemed a Herculean task. Which is why I’m so grateful to the following for their advice and expertise; G. M. Lloyd, Gwinnett County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Terry, Gordon Center, Billy Winzeler and Bob Timm, Anita Corsini, Alyssa Kaufman Kopp, Brittany Bailey, Scott Efird, and Carolyn Stillwell. Any errors or misunderstandings of facts are mine alone.

This year (2022) marks my thirtieth year of being a published author, and The Homewreckers is my thirtieth book. I’m so blessed to have had this career, and to have had the support of family, friends, and my publishing team.

Stuart Krichevsky is still the best damn literary agent on the planet, so thanks to him and his co-workers at SKLA. Meg Walker at Tandem Literary is a marketing superhero and a dear friend/sister. I’m forever grateful for the entire team at St. Martin’s Press, led by the indomitable Jennifer Enderlin, who I’m lucky enough to have as publisher and editor; for the publicity prowess of Jessica Zimmerman and the marketing mojo of Erica Martirano; and of course, for another fabulous cover from Michael Storrings.

Huge thanks to my Friends and Fiction sisters, Patti Callahan Henry, Kristin Harmel, and Kristy Woodson Harvey, who let me lean on them when the going got tough, and to our 60,000-strong Friends and Fiction community.

To say that the past year was a challenge would be a laughable understatement. No way could I have done any of it without the love and support of my amazing family. Tom Trocheck is my rock and my refuge, and Katie and Mark, Griffin and Molly and Andy are always the light of my life.

And thanks, as always, to my dear readers, for allowing my childhood dreams to come true and for allowing me to keep spinning stories for all these thirty years.