Dear Readers,

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for reading my story - my very long, drawn-out, and unnecessarily complex love-story! >.<  Thank you for suffering through this monster with me!  You have no idea how many times throughout this past year where I just wanted to quit.  To just wrap things up in a nice little bow and call it good.  Things became so bad, I recall moments where with every update I purposely created outlets in the plot for "just in case".  "Just in case" I chickened out and couldn't forge on.  "Just in case" I hit a roadblock and ran out of connecting ideas.  The longer I wrote, the more uncertain I became.  I've never written a story of this depth and breadth before... and I don't think I'll ever write something like this ever again.

A lot of readers have come and gone and for many of you this will be the end of the road.  I knew going in that not everyone will be up for a triology, so I tried to make every Sun-kissed part stand on its own.  So yes... it was always going to be a happy ending (I only read stories with happy endings, lol).  I just hope there was enough closure for you - that most of your questions were answered and that the majority of tensions were resolved.  Although I'll miss seeing your interactions, I want to thank you for all the support you've given me.

Sun-kissed is based loosely on my life and those who are very close and dear to me.  The strict parents, the quick un-wanted marriage, the successful star student that samples her first taste of failure - yes, that was all me.  But in writing this, I've learned something of myself.  I still have issues dealing with death.  Although there's no "proper" way to grieve, I'm sure there's some decorum out there that I've broken once or twice.  The Amina that lost her father in this story was a nod to my cousin (whom I grew up with).  She lost her mother nearly a decade ago and the way I dealt with her loss still fills me up with shame.  For several months, she drank to oblivion and partied her aggression a