If fate had to give me something, if it already knew whether or not my future would ever include a baby of my own, then I knew I had to accept this gift, to nurture it, and to never hold myself apart.

Life wasn’t easy. We all had our hardships, our setbacks. But if Manuelito could come through everything that had happened to him, still wanting to share, still smiling at us with shining eyes, then surely I could let myself believe that everything that had happened — Finn, his death, Gavin’s run to Mexico, my forced move to San Diego — was necessary for us to arrive at this moment, this boy, and the new family we had formed.

THE END

While this is the end of Gavin and Corabelle’s story, you will see them again (and witness their wedding!) in Tina’s book — Forever Sheltered.

Tina may think she will never trust another man enough to fall in love, but she didn’t count on Dr. Darion Marks, a pediatric oncologist whose emotionally demanding job and personal tragedies have forced him to avoid romantic entanglements. Their relationship turns explosive when Tina learns the secret Darion is keeping from the hospital staff, proving that love can heal even the most shattered hearts.

To be there when they discover each other, and to know when Forever Sheltered will be released, join my mailing list for book announcements and excerpts as I write their story.

Meet other Forever Series book fans on the Facebook page.

I have promised my daughter Elizabeth that I will write Elektra Chaos next, so I will get it out this spring. It’s the final segment of my series for 8-12 year olds featuring children facing challenges. Elizabeth has epilepsy caused by brain damage when her twin sister died while I was pregnant. This will be the story that she wants me to tell. She is on the cover.

Love to all of you,

Deanna

A huge thanks to the nurses and patients I talked to who dealt with pneumonia in all its varied states. You kept me straight on how this illness can go — especially Audrey Coulthurst., Andrea Felsinger, Lynn Kennedy, and my family nurse Aunt Kay.

A huge shout out to my friends Valerie Garcia and Irma Kramer for helping me figure out what a three-year-old from Tijuana would call a lollipop, among other informal Spanish phrases (notably *not* the curse words — the help on that asked to be anonymous!) Google failed me on those things, and my college Spanish textbooks weren’t exactly helpful.

I wish I could travel around the world to kiss the people of NAS Photography for digging up all the outtakes from their shoot with the models who were on the cover of Forever Innocent. Your work is unbelievable. It was a joy to find a never-before-seen image (SHHHH that I bought a third one — no one can know what it is for!)

I want to give a very special thanks to my little beta group who could have hired an assassin and taken me out before I ever got a chance to write such a controversial story line for a pair of characters that readers insisted should get their star-spangled happily ever after. They knew back in October what I was planning to do with Rosa’s son, and after the initial shock wore off, they were supportive and helpful as I tried to make sure the story was as tight as possible — Chrissie Room, Meagan Henning, Kristin Hinshaw, Kayla Ann Yow, and Kristin Warner-Longoria.

Last-minute beta readers Jammie Cook and Kristin Hinshaw saved the book from having another cliffhanger. I apparently don’t get the concept! You can thank them for the epilogue, as well as Mimi Strong, who literally talked me down FROM the cliff after I realized I had done it again and didn’t know what to do to make the book end more neatly.

Several people were instrumental in the phenomenal success of Forever Innocent: Mimi Strong, HM Ward, Kelly Walker, and Aestas. Early mentions of the book to YOUR fans made all the difference. I am grateful.