A.J. Strickland, a native of Palo Alto, California, recently moved with her grandmother, for whom she acts as sole caregiver, but the event with the greatest impact in her life was the unexpected death of her mother in 2018. “Throughout my life, I faced many changes, but my one constant was my mom. When she died, I felt untethered, adrift at sea without the one person in my life who knew me best and loved me unconditionally. Losing her really tested my relationship with God. It was from my mom that I learned how special the mother-daughter bond is. To honor her, I try to bring out that loving bond in this book.”

A.J. loves crafts, gardening, cooking, reading, and designing. She collects anything dealing with fashion or interior design—specialties in which she has degrees. She is currently working on her next novel—the first book in an action/adventure series. (And under another pen name, she’s working on her first stand-alone romance novel.)