by J. K. Rock
I opened the door as soon as I handed it to him, not ready to talk about what it meant right now.
In front of us, our friends had gathered near the Warriors’ display—a retrospective of volleyball matches they’d won, complete with a small net for mini-games. Piper and Hannah were spiking the ball to Cam and Julian. Brittany and Rachel chased each other with Nerf guns. Brooke and Nia were making up a new dance with some help from the Mermaid girls.
It was fun chaos and so noisy I couldn’t hear myself think. And I couldn’t imagine a nicer way to end my last year at Camp Juniper Point until Nick slung his arm around me.
“Love you back,” he whispered for my ears only.
I’d never been so happy. We joined our friends, grabbing some cans of silly string from one of the Pirates. Things were about to get out of hand at the End of Summer Bash.
Totally. Freaking. Perfect.
Acknowledgements
From Joanne
To Dean, for encouraging me to follow my Muse, no matter what path she ventures down. To my sons for making the journey a pleasure: Taylor for always caring enough to ask about my work (and patiently listening while I talk about it), Camden for texting me encouraging words on days that I think I can’t write anymore, and Maxim for lifting my spirits by suggesting story ideas so offbeat that I laugh long afterward. I am so proud of you boys, you can’t begin to imagine. Thank you to the savvy book sellers who make the Camp series a success by mentioning it to the customers who will love it most, especially Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Leavitt of The Flying Pig Bookstore in Vermont, who hosted a fabulous launch for us. We are so grateful. To Barbara Vey of Beyond Her Book, for her support since the first time I met her, and to my agent, Barbara Collins Rosenberg, who is a much-needed voice of wisdom and encouragement. Thank you also to Amy Guglielmo, who invested so much time and her considerable fabulousness toward helping Karen and I launch this series with flair. Finally, thank you to the community online who have cheered us on since before our first book came out. We have tried to keep up with the bloggers on our “Rock Star Bloggers Hall of Fame” Pinterest board, but we know we’ve missed some of the awesomely supportive reviewers, bloggers, readers and fans who share their love of Camp Juniper Point. Your posts, emails and tweets have made our time at camp so special.
From Karen
Thank you to my loving husband, Greg. There is no greater gift than knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m also am so grateful to my amazing daughter, Danielle, who never stops pushing me to be the best that I can be and reminds me to never stop chasing my dreams. I love you both so much. Thank you as well to my wonderful in-laws, my father, and sisters, Jeanne and Cathy, for being such a caring family to me. A hug and huge shout out to to my wonderful and supportive writer and blogger friends like Amy Guglielmo, Lucy Cooney, Jacqueline Tourville, Kayleigh-Marie Gore, Gaby Navarro, Dale S. Rogers, Jen Cooke Fischer, Brooke Watts DelVecchio, Lola Verroen, Marci Curtis, Cindy Ray Hale, Rachel Harris, Trisha Leaver, Lindsay Currie, my wonderful editor Patricia Riley and the rest of my writer family at Spencer Hill, and our amazing street team, The Rock Stars, whose talent, support and positivity have been a great source of inspiration and encouragement!
About the Authors
J.K. Rock is the pseudonym for writing partners—and sisters-in-law—Joanne and Karen Rock. Sharing a love of young adult fiction, marathon shopping and men with the last name “Rock,” the two teamed up to write Camp Boyfriend and found they had a whole lot more to say than what could fit in one book. Look for them in matching t-shirts at book signing events around the country or chatting with their Facebook street team, the Rock Stars. FMI, visit jkrock.net.
In a quest to provide her eighth grade students with quality reading material, former English teacher Karen Rock read everything out there and couldn’t wait to add her voice to the genre. In addition to co-authoring young adult books, Karen is a Harlequin Heartwarming author. Her second novel, His Hometown Girl, is an April 2014 release, with more to come in the months ahead. When she’s not busy writing, Karen enjoys watching Supernatural marathons, cooking her Nona’s family Italian recipes, and occasionally rescuing local wildlife from neighborhood cats. She lives in the Adirondack Mountain region with her husband, her very appreciated beta-reader daughter and two King Charles Cavalier spaniels who have yet to understand the concept of “fetch,” though they’ve managed to teach her the trick! Hmmmm…wonder how that happened?! Check out her website at www.karenrock.com, her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/karenrockwrites, and follow her on twitter @KarenRock5. She’d love to meet you!
Joanne Rock fell in love with reading at a young age and stayed out of trouble—mostly—as a teen thanks to long stints at her local library where she routinely checked out as many books as a bicycle basket would carry. She still pronounces all the names of the Greek gods incorrectly because she learned them through reading- a small price to pay for the vast amount of knowledge she gained from books! She started writing when the voices in her head kept her awake at night, demanding she tell their stories. A successful romance author, she’s penned many books for a variety of Harlequin series and has been nominated for the prestigious RITA award three times. Learn more about her work at joannerock.com or follow her on Twitter @JoanneRock6.