Thanks to the voters for again supporting AAR’s Annual Reader Poll. If Snow-Kissed makes you long for something lighter and cozier-but with lots of heart-check out her duology with Maggie Robinson, Holiday for Two.” I turned down the invitation, due to deadline pressures, and then, of course, the next morning, woke up with the first scene of the book in my head and a need to know what that granite counter between the couple was, keeping them apart. I would also like to give a shout-out here to author Elyssa Patrick, whose invitation to participate in a snowbound-themed Christmas anthology sparked this story. Thank you so much for being willing to embrace them and their story, and for the honor of this award. So I want to thank readers, above all, for opening their hearts to this couple, because I know that agreeing to cry is not always easy to do. At the same time, I felt that the story really needed to be told, and that it’s a story about the true power of love and endurance and hope, in all the bad times. (And since I edit stories dozens and dozens of times, that’s saying a lot.) My stories aren’t usually heart-breakers in this way! So to have it named Best Tearjerker-I feel both very honored that it spoke to others, too, and very guilty for putting people through that. I think I cried all the way through writing it, and through every single edit. “Writing this story was almost like a huge bout of weeping itself-impossible to stop the flow.

Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand