A Lot Like Love

Acknowledgments

To my fabulous editor, Wendy McCurdy, for her insight, suggestions, and support, and to my wonderful agent, Susan Crawford, for her dedication and tremendous enthusiasm. Thanks as well to the entire team at Berkley, all of whom do such an incredible job and whose contributions are extremely appreciated.

A special thanks to Denise and Martin Cody, for showing me the ins and outs of running a wine store, and for being so gracious in answering all my pesky questions. Thanks as well to wine educator and sommelier John Laloganes for his fantastic wine appreciation course.

To Maria and Brian Guarraci, Matt and Melissa Boresi, Jen Adamo, and most especially to Pete Montenaro, my New York consigliere, for their insight and wonderful stories about Italian families. I only wish I could’ve used every story they shared with me – particularly the one about the tomato plant.

Thanks as well to my father-in-law, for his investigative expertise and that of his mysterious “sources,” for helping me develop the setup of this story in its early stages.

To my incredible beta readers, Elyssa Papa and Kati Dancy, for all their helpful suggestions, and an extraspecial thanks to Elyssa for the title of this book.

Thank you to my family and friends, for all their love and support, and particularly for putting up with me when I’m on a deadline. And finally, to my husband, for always listening, helping, advising, and being all-around amazing.