The Cupid Chronicles (21 page)

With sincerest thanks to:

My beautiful sister, Noreen Mahoney, the biggest heart in Brewster, and to Mike, Ryan, and Jack Mahoney; my editor, Alyssa Eisner, Willa's true fairy godmother, and to Courtney Bongiolatti, Greg Stadnyk, Elizabeth Law, and Katie McGarry of Simon & Schuster; my agent, Tracey Adams, and to Josh and Abby Adams and Karen Riskin; my brother, Jerry Murtagh, Deeplooker; my son, Christopher, who said “it's like poetry, but it's music”; my god-daughter, Lauren Murtagh, for the “wishing fountain,” and to Kevin, Col, Liam, and Brendan; Sheila Murphy for “community rent”; Lenny and Barb Noel for the “honey-do list”; Kim McMann of the Troy Public Library for reminding me how we “signedout” books; Leslie Saperstone of the Guilderland Public Library for years of encouragement; and to all librarians, booksellers, and teachers who match us with good books; my critique buddies, Debbi Michiko Florence, Kyra Teis, Nancy Castaldo, Ellen Laird, Karen Beil, Rose Kent, Liza Frenette, Lois Feister Huey, Jackie Rogers, Robyn Dennis, and Helen Mesick; Jennifer Groff, luminous librarian, writer, and friend; my dancing buddies, Kathy Johnson, Ellen Donovan, and Paula Davenport; and especially to my amazingly supportive and loving family: my sons, Chris, Connor, and Dylan, and my husband, Tony Paratore.
You are my greatest joys.

Coleen Murtagh Paratore
is the author of the acclaimed
The Wedding Planner's Daughter
and
How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales.
She makes her home in Albany, New York, with her husband and three sons.

She is a believer in community rent, Cupid, and the magic of Cape Cod.

CONTINUED FROM BACK COVER

Willa's best friend, Tina, is positive that her compatibility test, expertly designed to pair up every girl in school with her “perfect match,” will raise money
and
get everyone coupled up for the Midwinter Night's Ball. Willa, an old-fashioned romantic, is not so sure. But with a little help from Shakespeare, a Southern beauty queen, and Cupid himself, romance is striking all over Bramble.