Which brings me to the first person I’d like to thank: Bradley Graeme, the hero of this novel, who’s been dealing with OCD for years and is enviably sensible about it. I have no idea if I’ll ever be as good at coping as Brad is, but I do know that writing him inspired me to take better care of myself. So…cheers, mate. Couldn’t have done it without you.
I also couldn’t have done this without the help of numerous real people. Thank you to my mother for steering me through the angsty Celine years and giving me a name to be proud of; to my baby sisters, Truly and Jade, for being delightful pudding cups; to my best friend, Cairo Aibangbee, for supporting me through multiple creative breakdowns and assuring me that I did in fact still know how to write and had not actually lost my grasp of the English language.
Thank you to Chessie Penniston-Hill for her creative (and teenage) perspective, to Aaliyah Hibbert and Orla Wain for helping me to seem Young and Hip, and to Adjani Salmon for answering my emergency spelling questions.
Thank you to the wonderful authors and literal inspirations (I know, but seriously, it’s true) I’ve had the privilege of befriending since my career began. Therese Beharrie, Kennedy Ryan, Dylan Allen, Ali Williams, and so many more—your books, your kindness, your friendship, and your invaluable advice get me through every single project. I am so lucky to know you.
Many thanks to my incredible agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, for always having my back, finding solutions, and reducing my professional anxiety by a solid 90 percent just by existing. (You exist in a very badass manner.)
Thank you also to the whole team at Joy Revolution who worked to make this story happen. Nicola and David Yoon, Bria Ragin, Wendy Loggia, Beverly Horowitz, Barbara Marcus, Casey Moses, Mlle Belamour, Ken Crossland, Lili Feinberg, Colleen Fellingham, Tamar Schwartz, Jillian Vandall, Adrienne Waintraub, Katie Halata, Shameiza Ally, Elizabeth Ward, Caitlin Whalen, and so many others, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an exciting mission and for having a truly beautiful book to show for it.
Thank you to the good people of Nottinghamshire and of the Trossachs for kindly not pointing out the enormous liberties I have taken with the geographical realities of Sherwood Forest and Glen Finglas (there: now that I’ve said that, you can’t complain or you’ll seem awfully graceless).
And finally, thank you to my fiancé for…well, where to start? For driving me six hours to camp at Glen Finglas in your crumbling Volvo, and for promptly transferring us to a hotel when it turned out camping really did not agree with me. For lending me entire portions of your countryside childhood, including that time you did a Bradley (although it would be more accurate to say that Bradley does a you) out in the forest. And most importantly, for bringing me approximately 12 kilos of chocolate and 78 liters of raspberry tea over the course of writing this book. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute was powered by you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TALIA HIBBERT is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who lives in a bedroom full of books in the English Midlands. She writes witty, diverse romances, including Get a Life, Chloe Brown; The Princess Trap; and A Girl Like Her, because she believes that people of marginalized identities need honest and positive representation. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is her debut novel for teens. Talia’s interests include beauty, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm.
taliahibbert.com