There was a part of her that wished the nasty dressmaker was right. Serafina stared at her reflection, and her heart sank. Her friend turned Serafina gently until they faced the full-length mirror behind her.

“You could never be anything but beautiful. “What a horrid woman she is,” Serafina’s best friend Emma said as she sidled up next to her and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, Miss Windle,” Serafina said softly as the dressmaker huffed off to scribble figures into a little notebook on the table a few feet away. “And it shall not be my fault, I assure you.”

“If you continue to lose weight as you have, Miss McPhee, I cannot guarantee that you will look beautiful on your wedding day,” the woman snapped. Serafina McPhee flinched as the seamstress tugged a few fingers of fabric tighter around her midsection and shoved a pin through the layers to hold them in place. I could hardly breathe without you, let alone be brave enough to try this. You are my sounding board, my best friend, my assistant and the love of my life. You have taken the leap with me in every way imaginable. Weird Girls Forever!Īnd finally and most of all to Michael Petersen. To Beth Neuman for raucous games of Cards Against Humanity and amazing talks that make me remember I am human as well as a writer. Your generous sharing of information and occasional handholding made a huge difference. I love you! To my friends who encouraged me in this change, Grace Callaway, Delilah Marvelle, Heather Boyd, Vicki Lewis Thompson and Lila DiPasqua. To Millie Bullock, not just the best copyeditor, but the best Mommy ever. To Mackenzie Walton, my fearless, kind and awesome editor. Secondly, to all those who helped in the process of the book. I hope you will love all the upcoming books and come along with me as you have on all the other journeys. So there are a lot of people to thank for making this book, this choice and this life possible.įirst, I want to thank you readers for giving me a strong enough platform to even begin to make this choice. It's funny, though, when you go 'indie' you don't do it alone. Someone once said you jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down. This is an exciting, thrilling and terrifying time for me. After many years and many kinds of publishing, I have decided to go full indie.

The Other Duke by Jess Michaels