（ANOTHER） NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Hiya, readers!

Thank you so very much for reading FREE FALL. Readers who follow me online got a front row seat to my deep and horny devotion to Luke Beaumont and Elijah Knight while writing their story. These two hooked into my heart and dragged me to their happily-ever-after with so much fierce tenderness. They taught me so much about craft, about the balance between suspense and romance, while letting me have fun with my favorite elements of the bodyguard trope: the stern and stoic protector who's secretly soft and just wants to be held. The flirty, reckless client who pretends he doesn't want to be safe when really all he's ever wanted is for someone to keep him safe!!

And they taught me so much about myself, for which I am forever grateful.

I've got a few special folks to thank for this one. I owe a debt to Sarah MacLean's "Mastering the Art of Conflict" class, which helped me keep Luke and Elijah balanced on the knifepoint of delicious tension while allowing them to stretch, grow, poke and prod each other. It truly rewired my brain, craft-wise, and I've got this story to show for it.

A huge thank you to my dear friend Jodi, who is actually from Long Island, and was so beautifully patient in walking me through the best ways to create a fictional Hamptons that was playful and flexible while also honoring some of its truest parts. I mentioned it up at the top, but Cape Avalon is an entirely fictional village in the town of (real) East Hampton and the majority of the town/village names and landmarks were similarly invented so that the location and plot could work together more effectively.

I was consuming a lot of media about queer and trans history while writing this book—specifically the Making Gay History podcast, which is so tender and beautiful. I put in a little nod to bisexual pioneer Stella Rush and named Luke and Preston's foundation after her. From the podcast: "Stella Rush (aka Sten Russel) was ahead of her time, defying the binaries (gay/straight/butch/femme) that defined the lives of women in the mid-twentieth century and resisting society's expectations—marriage, kids. She took a huge risk by writing for ONE magazine while working as a civil servant at the peak of the Lavender Scare. (If discovered, she would almost certainly have been fired.)"

My favorite moments in this book are many: when Elijah smiles at Luke for the first time!!!!; "my liege" and "sweetheart"; Elijah inhaling Luke's neck in the bookstore; Luke's flirty, semi-himbo, disaster bisexual energy that is also 100% my personality; when Luke rescues Elijah in the ocean and then tenderly cares for his wounds by the fire (!!!!!!!!!); when Elijah rescues Luke and says "you have the man that I love chained to a bathroom sink"; Luke baking Elijah a cookie cake!!!; Luke's "dark night of the soul" realizations while he was kidnapped; Elijah being like "I'm gonna John Wick this town to find my man!"…

And that kiss when Elijah rescues Luke in the bathroom. That kiss! THAT KISS!! Romance authors live and breathe for a scene like that, and I certainly did.

I had a lot of fun telling this story—and I hope you had equally as much fun reading it. My wish for all of you is a little extra whimsy in your big, full life. Enjoy the mess and the miracles.

With love from Cape Avalon,

Kathryn