Ready For You (37 page)

Back Matter

They say the stubborn ones always fall the hardest…

See what happens when Liv’s new neighbor turns out to be more than she could have ever bargained for.

The Ready Series continues with…
 

Ready or Not
 

Coming in October 2014

But, first…a brand new standalone from bestselling author J.L. Berg

Within these walls, he became my solace, my sanctuary and my strength.
 

I am not strong.
 
I am just a survivor of circumstance.

Isn’t that what we all do?
 
Survive?

Each of us has our own set of circumstances to muddle through.
 
Mine are just more…complicated.
 

I’ve been weak and fragile since the day I was born with a severe heart defect.
 
I’ve seen the inside of a hospital room more than my own.
 
Within these walls, I’ve spent my childhood and adolescence.
 
As others my age learned to ride bicycles and kiss boys, I was hooked up to monitors and IVs fighting for my life.

I was drowning, a prisoner to the illness that owned me, until he appeared, like a modern day knight, covered in a pair of scrubs with pudding cups shoved in the pockets.
 

He thinks he’s blocked out the rest of the world with his tattoos and hard exterior, but I see the real Jude, the one he so desperately wants to forget.
 
He may not have grown up in these hallways, but he’s just as trapped as me.
   

Despite everything, we’re not that different.
 
We all wander through life, from one moment to the next, hoping to find a glimpse of heaven in the midst of hell.

My name is Lailah Buchanan, and this is my story of finding hope, peace, and finding love in the most unlikely of places.

Within These Walls

Coming August 2014

Playlist for Ready for You

Say Something
- A Great Big World

What Now
- Rihanna

Wait for You
- Elliott Yamin

Nothing Left to Say
- Imagine Dragons

Let Her Go
- Passenger

Comin’ Home
- City and Colour

Still Into You
- Paramore

I Gave You All
- Mumford and Sons

Kiss Me
- Ed Sheeran

Wrecking Ball
- Miley Cyrus

Unconditionally
- Katy Perry

Let Me Go
- Avril Levine and Chad Kroeger

White Blank Page
- Mumford and Sons

The One that Got Away
- The Civil Wars

Coming Home - Part II
- Skylar Grey

Bad Habit
- The Offspring

Broken
- featuring Amy Lee - Seether

Cry Me a River
- Justin Timberlake

Goodbye Girl
- The Civil Wars

Nothing
- The Script
 

Not Over You
- Gavin DeGraw

Twice
- Little Dragon

Gorilla
- Bruno Mars

Till Kingdom Come
- Coldplay

See You Again
- Carrie Underwood

Gone Too Soon
- Daughtry
 

Acknowledgements

Each time I sit down to write acknowledgments, I have this overwhelming sense of
wow
.
 
Writing this part of a book is always the last step.
 
Every single word has been written, edited and proofed and it’s not until minutes before I’m ready to send it to my formatter that I sit down to write out my thanks.
 
So, right now, in this moment, the manuscript is literally almost finished.
 

It’s a crazy feeling.
 
It never gets old and I will never stop writing these immensely long acknowledgements to thank each and every person who has once again gotten me to this point.
 

There isn’t a single person on the planet I can thank more than my husband.
 
He is more than a life partner—he is my soul.
 
Babe, thank you for letting me chase my dreams even though I’ve probably become a little more insane in the process.
 
I love you.
 
Forizzle.

Secondly, thank you to my two adorable children.
 
They’ve put up with my crazy travel schedule this year and handled having a slightly forgetful mother like a champ.
 
Girls, I promise I’ll remember every single dance class next year.
 
Probably.
 
Wait, what were we talking about?

I have an amazing family.
 
They give me endless support.
 
I truly appreciate everything they do.
 
A special thanks to my sister-in-law Julie for being my super assistant in New York!
 
I love you!
 

Leslie—dude, I don’t know what else to say but I fucking love you.
 
Every best friend I’ll every write will always have a piece of you because, in my eyes, the word friendship cannot be defined without you in it.
 
<3

I’ve been lucky enough to make an amazing amount of friends through this journey.
 
Nothing helps you through a terrible review like the support of another author, and I have some wonderful author friends.
 
Carey Heywood…seriously, I don’t know what I’d do without you.
 
You are never allowed to move.
 
Ever.
 
Harper Sloan, Syreeta Jennings, Lynetta Halat, Mellissa Collins, Heidi McLaughlin, Lisa Paul, Penny Reid…I love you ladies!!
 

Beta readers are the most under appreciated people on the planet.
 
They suffer through typos, take copious amounts of notes, critique sensitive authors, and they do it all for the love of reading.
 
To my talented beta readers—Evette Ashby, Shera Layn Bell, Michelle Kanan, Christy Townzen, Sarah Cook, Ami Brown, Jenni Barnds, Whitney Baer, Jennifer Wolfel and Carey Heywood—thank you SOOOO much for all of your hard work!

I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for some truly amazing blogs.
 
A special thanks to TotallyBooked, Tyhada Reads, Sassy Girls Books, Sinfully Sexy Book Review, Love N. Books, Reader’s Candy, All Romance Review, The Rockstars of Romance,
 
Anna’s Attic, Three Chicks and their Books, Book Lover’s Obsession and Wolfel’s World of Books. I could go on and on forever.
 
Bloggers rock.
 

To my amazing editing team - Jovana Shirley and Ami Deason, thank you for loving Ready for You and putting your heart and souls into making it shine.
 
I love you both of you, even though you’re probably both editing the crap out of my acknowledgements right now!

A book isn’t complete without a cover and the people who help create mine are truly amazing.
 
My insanely gifted photographer, Kelsey Keeton, thank you for creating yet another gorgeous photo shoot.
 
Cameo and Zach Hooper—Your love and adoration for each other radiates through every image the camera captures.
 
Thank you for allowing me to share that with the world. Sarah Hansen—I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you are the cover whisperer.
 
You seem to know exactly what I want even before I do.
 
Thank you for another gorgeous design.
 

 
Self Publishing Editing Service and Formatting - Stacey Blake, thank you for making my words beautiful in print!
 

A big thanks goes out to Shanyn Day and the rest of the InkSlingers PR team.
 
Thank you Shanyn for putting up with my 5,000 emails and helping me get the Ready Series out to the world!
 
Another big thanks to my agent, Jill Marsal for always being there when I need a helping hand.
 

Lastly, (whew!) I have to thank my readers—the few who have been with me since I published, or maybe even earlier.
 
The many who stumbled upon one of my books on Amazon…and the cherished who have emailed me late at night in tears because my words have touched their soul. Thank you for allowing me to become part of your lives and investing in the stories I write.
 
I can’t begin to tell you how much you’ve all changed my life and the lives of my family.
 
Telling my girls that dreams really do come true has never felt so good.
 
<3 JL

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About the Author

J.L. Berg is a California native living in the South.
 
She’s married to her high school sweetheart and they have two beautiful girls that drive them batty on a daily basis.
 
When she’s not writing, you will most likely find her curled up with her iPad reading, in a yoga studio or devouring anything chocolate.
 

Other Books by J.L. Berg

When You’re Ready

Ready to Wed (A Novella)

Never Been Ready

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