by Anna Birch
Her apology might have taken something from me, but choosing to forgive her was to accept it back. It’s a choice to move forward.
Making these decisions for myself is new territory for me, and choosing to love Iliana is a beautiful place to start. There’s an entire lifetime’s worth of conversations we need to have, plans for next week and plans for the future, where we’re going and how we’re getting there.
But for now, I’m going to kiss the girl in my arms until she doesn’t want to be kissed anymore. We’re going to hold hands, whisper about what’s in store, and dream about the future.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not be here without Victoria Marini and the rest of the team at Irene Goodman Literary Agency; Nicole Otto; Weslie Turner, Madison Furr, Erin Stein, Natalie C. Sousa, Carolyn Bull, Dawn Ryan, Hayley Jozwiak, Jie Yang, and the rest of the team at Imprint/Macmillan. Your fingerprints are all over the pages of this book, and I am filled to the brim with gratitude for your work.
To Victoria Ying: You are incredible. Thank you for bringing Iliana, Rhodes, the Red Queen, and Alice to life!
I’d like to thank my husband Daniel, and our boys, Levi, Rhys, and Parker. You are my light; you give my life color and demonstrate love in more ways than I could ever enumerate. To my dad, Terry, and my mom, Donna: You knew I’d do this one day, and you sacrificed everything to see it happen. To David, my stepfather: You taught me what it looks like to choose your family and to love them fiercely. To Maribeth and Scott, Ellen, Nathan, and Brooks: You are my people, and I love you. To David and Lucille: You have celebrated every milestone in the creation of this book, and it has meant the world to me to have you in my corner.
To Kristin Brophy, Chelsey Papadopoulos, Jennifer Hawkins, Kes Trester, Tia Bearden, Kristin Walters, Sarah Lyu, Amy Oliver, Ashley Leath, and Beth Branch: You believed in this book when I didn’t. You saw what this book could be, and you have loved me through the darkest periods of my life. I don’t know where I would be without you.
I would also like to thank Sonia Hartl, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Emily Neal, Laura Lashley, Christine Lynn Herman, Kosoko Jackson, and the rest of my Pitch Wars family; Eric Smith, for being the first person to believe in this story, when it was just a seed of a thing; Rachel Strolle, Ashley Blake Herring, Rachel Hawkins, and Victoria Lee for your early support; Steve, Maria, Carina and Gaby Manning, Jason Myers, and the rest of my DFWCon/DFW Writers Workshop family—I don’t know how I would have gotten by during my time in DFW without you.
Finally, I will be forever grateful to Ms. Dianna Hyde, my English Composition 101 professor at Jefferson State Community College. You saw the writer in me before I saw the writer in myself. In all these years I have never forgotten the encouragement you spoke over me while I sat in your class.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Birch was born’n’raised in a rural area on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama. She traded thick forests and dirt roads for the heart of the city, where she now lives with her husband, three children, and dog. She loves knitting, brie, and hanging out with her family. I Kissed Alice is her first book. Follow her on Twitter @Almost_Anna or visit her site at annabirchbooks.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1. Iliana
Chapter 2. Rhodes
Chapter 3. Iliana
Chapter 4. Rhodes
Chapter 5. Iliana
Chapter 6. Rhodes
Chapter 7. Iliana
Chapter 8. Rhodes
Chapter 9. Iliana
Chapter 10. Rhodes
Chapter 11. Iliana
Chapter 12. Rhodes
Chapter 13. Iliana
Chapter 14. Rhodes
Chapter 15. Iliana
Chapter 16. Rhodes
Chapter 17. Iliana
Chapter 18. Rhodes
Chapter 19. Iliana
Chapter 20. Rhodes
Chapter 21. Iliana
Chapter 22. Rhodes
Chapter 23. Iliana
Chapter 24. Rhodes
Chapter 25. Iliana
Chapter 26. Iliana
Chapter 27. Rhodes
Chapter 28. Iliana
Chapter 29. Rhodes
Chapter 30. Iliana
Chapter 31. Rhodes
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
A part of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
I KISSED ALICE. Text copyright © 2020 by Anna Birch. Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Imprint. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-250-21985-5 (hardcover) / ISBN 978-1-250-21986-2 (ebook)
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at [email protected].
Illustrations by Victoria Ying
Imprint logo designed by Amanda Spielman
First edition, 2020
eISBN: 9781250219862
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Beware the jabberwock, o thief Should herein you pillage or plunder The beast descends in spite of your shrieks The vorpal blade tears you asunder
