Crushed (33 page)

A huge thank-you to Kim Cowser, who gets way more than her fair share of my ignorant questions, and to Katie Rice for being so cheerfully on top of things. Lastly, thank you to Gina Wachtel, who’s one part genius, one part role model, one part friend. To anyone else at Penguin Random House who touched this book who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet . . . THANK YOU.

I’ll admit to writing in somewhat of a vacuum—I’m not the collaborative, chatty sort in any sense of the word. And the beauty of writing contemporary romance is that you don’t have to worry about the proper titles of nobilities, or which king reigned when, or the various names for carriages in the 1800s.

But in writing this book, I did come up with one element that completely stumped me: cars.

Michael’s car is his prized possession, but you know what’s weird? Typing in “cool cars for rich kids” into Google wasn’t nearly as helpful as I’d hoped. For this, I count myself
incredibly
lucky to have a car-nerdy friend like Ross Treleven, who not only gave me a car model to use, but actually gave me options based on Michael’s character. Ross, I’m extremely grateful for your car savvy. Except at dinner parties, in which case,
shut it
.

Lastly, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge my behind-the-scenes support system: Nicole Resciniti, my amazing agent, who I feel ridiculously lucky to have as my partner. Jessica Lemmon, my daily chat buddy, who lets me ramble and rant about anything and everything without batting an eye. And, finally, my wonderful husband, who always strikes the right balance between “What can I get you?” and “I’ll stay out of your way” whenever I’m in the zone.

I love you all. Smooches and hugs.

LL

By Lauren Layne

Sex, Love & Stiletto

After the Kiss

Love the One You’re With

Just One Night

The Trouble with Love

Redemption Series

Isn’t She Lovely

Broken

Crushed

Oxford Series

Irresistibly Yours
(coming soon)

Prior to her writing career,
USA Today
bestselling author Lauren Layne worked in e-commerce and Web marketing. She wore cute shoes and actual outfits, like an adult. Then she was like,
nope,
changed into her pajamas, and started writing romance novels for Penguin Random House and Grand Central Publishing.

Lauren believes in sarcasm, weekday happy hours, and happily ever afters, the latter of which she writes full-time from her Manhattan apartment.

laurenlayne.com

Facebook.com/LaurenLayneAuthor

@_LaurenLayne

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